Easy

White Chocolate & Fudge Cookies

If you’ve come looking for a recipe on how to make these super simple white chocolate and fudge cookies, I’ve got you covered.

As stated above, these cookies are super simple to make and don’t require a lot of either time or ingredients. These cookies are perfect for almost any cookie craving, it starts with the perfectly baked cookie, which has a generous amount of white chocolate chips and fudge pieces studded throughout them. Oh yeah, did I forgot to mention that they have a fudge filling? That’s right, even more fudge packed into them, what’s not to like?

I understand that you might not be able to find white chocolate chips or fudge pieces where you are, so feel free to improvise by using a chopped up bar of white chocolate or chopped up soft fudge. For the fudge centre, I recommend using butter fudge as this is softer than other fudges and works perfectly in this recipe but feel free to use whatever you have or can get your hands on.

Anyway, the mixing process doesn’t require a whole lot, a little time and effort and you can have yourself a batch of amazing cookies! The longest thing in the whole process is actually the baking period, why must you take so long to bake?! This recipe wasn’t intended for this week, but they were really tasty and thought I should share these with you as soon as possible.

All jokes aside, you don’t need any fancy equipment and these would make the ideal recipe to make with kids. To start this recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, weigh up all of your ingredients (this saves you time and prevents you from making a mistake with the exact amounts) and prepare your baking tray by lining it with either baking parchment/greaseproof paper and set that aside until its needed a little later.

To start the cookies, you’ll want to get your mixing bowl of choice and place your butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar into a bowl and beat them together over a low-medium until they are well combined, you can tell once its done as there won’t be a trace of a single ingredient. Once the mixture has come together, add your egg and vanilla and mix that again on a low-medium speed until the egg and vanilla are very well incorporated. Give your bowl a good scrape down and then add in the plain flour and baking powder and mix them in over a low-medium speed until the dry ingredients are almost fully incorporated, then add in your white chocolate chips and fudge pieces and fold these in using a spatula, do this until the cookie dough has become clear (no traces of a single ingredient, all fully worked in to one another. You can then give your counter a wipe down and get your prepared baking tray ready.

Once you’ve got your cookie dough ready and baking tray, you’re good to go. The dough doesn’t need to be chilled before being used, so you can use it straight away. Scoop up 2 balls of dough per cookie, onto one of the dough balls, place a piece of butter fudge and place the second ball of dough on top of that one and round them up using the palms of your hands and then place them onto your baking tray. I places 6 cookies onto a standard baking tray but feel free to configure how many you can place onto a baking tray. Bake in the preheated oven for around 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

As soon as you remove from the oven, place a generous amount of white chocolate chips and fudge pieces on top of each cookie and allow to cool slightly before eating them. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack, allow to cool for as long as you’d like (or can resist) and then enjoy them. They are best enjoyed once out of the oven for around 10 minutes – they are best enjoyed with milk or alone.

I will leave all the ingredients and measurements down below along with a brief version of whats above, if you want to save yourself some time reading exactly what you have to do.

Ingredients:

75g Butter.

75g Granulated sugar.

75g Light brown sugar.

1 Egg.

1 tsp Vanilla.

175g Plain flour.

1/2 tsp Baking powder.

50g White chocolate chips.

50g Fudge pieces.

12 pieces butter fudge (or other variety of soft fudge).

Methods:

Start by preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, weighing up all your ingredients and lining your baking tray with baking parchment/greaseproof paper.
Start by getting your mixing bowl ready and placing your butter granulated white sugar and light brown sugar into the bowl and beating over low-medium speed until its combined.
Once combined, you can add your egg and vanilla and beat that over a low-medium speed until they have been incorporated into the mix.
Scrape down the bowl and add in your flour and baking powder. Mix this in on a low-medium speed until its almost fully combined, then add in the white chocolate chips and fudge pieces and fold these in by hand using a spatula. Do this until a clear dough has formed.
Once a dough has formed, get your prepared baking tray and scoop up your dough. For each cookie, you’ll want to get 2 scoops of dough, onto one half of the dough place a piece of butter fudge and place the second dough ball on top, then round them off using the palms of your hand. Place onto your baking tray and fit around 6 cookies onto a standard baking tray.
Place your cookies into the preheated oven and bake for 15-18 minutes (or until golden brown).
Straight out the oven, place a generous amount of the white chocolate chips and fudge pieces on top of each cookie and allow to cool slightly on a cooling rack before eating.
Once cooler, enjoy by itself or with a glass of milk.

Scone Recipe

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for a simple and straightforward recipe for plain scones, I have the perfect recipe for you right here.

These are really quick and simple to make, you can whip a batch up in under 60 minutes, what’s not to love? Incase you haven’t ever tried a scone before, I’ll give you the rundown on what they are exactly. Scones are a slightly sweetend confection, which are that interesting on their own, however, when they are partnered with clotted cream and jam it makes them a whole lot more interesting.

These scones are smaller than the ones you’d get in tearooms but are roughly the same size as the ones you’d find in supermarket bakeries here in the UK (which is still a decent size, it’s bigger than bitesize but smaller than the giant versions). The filling is also pretty simple, it’s just clotted cream and jam (I went with strawberry jam as I think this is the most traditional plus it’s what I had made not to long before this recipe) and depending on where you are will depend on whether you place the jam first or the cream first… To be honest, it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day, you’re still going to eat it either way.

The process behind these scones isn’t hard at all and best of all, you don’t even need any specialist equipment. All you need are your hands, this is the best way to make them but feel free to use a food processor if you have one.

To start, you’ll want to weigh up all of your ingredients, preheat your oven to 200˚c/400˚f and prepare your baking tray with greaseproof paper/baking parchment.

place your milk into a small-medium bowl and add in the sugar and mix until the sugar is fully dissolved, then set aside (ideally in the fridge, until you need it. Try and keep the cold ingredients as cold as possible). Into a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder and salt and give a brief mix, then add in your cold cubed butter and work it in by rubbing the butter and flour together until they come together. To tell if this stage is done, you’ll notice a slight change in colour (a slight yellow-ish tint) but the most noticeable change would be the consistency, it will become more of a bread crumb or sandy texture. Once the correct consistency has been achieved, you can then add in your milk/sugar and mix this in using a spatula or you can do this by hand. Try not to overmix at this stage, as it’s very easy to do, so once a dough forms, you can stop mixing it.

Generously flour your counter, then add your scone dough onto the floured surface and knead a bit of the flour into your dough if its sticky. Just knead until the dough becomes smooth, try not to overmix as this will result in a tough textured scone. Roll out your dough slightly, it won’t take many rolls to get it to the right thickness (the right thickness would be around 3cm) you can then cut out your scones, I chose the plain edge but feel free to use the crinkled edge if you want to (use the 2 1/2 – 3 inch cookie cutter). Transfer your cut outs onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and brush the tops of the scones with egg wash (the egg wash I recommend using is simply a egg beaten in a small bowl) and then bake them in your preheated oven for around 15-20 minutes, they should be golden brown once they are fully baked. Once baked, allow to cool on the baking tray for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Once they have cooled completely, you can then slice them in half and place your clotted cream onto once half and the jam onto the other half. Sandwich the two together and finish the scones with a dusting of icing sugar. They are really that simple, nothing to complex about them at all, so I really hope you get to make a batch soon!

Ingredients:

250g plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

45g butter

45g sugar

150ml milk

1 egg (for egg wash)

Methods:

Start by preheating your oven to 200˚c/400˚f, weighing up your ingredients and preparing your baking tray with greaseproof paper.
To start the scones, place the milk into a small-medium bowl and add in the sugar. Whisk the two together until the sugar is dissolved in the milk, you can then set this aside (I recommend placing it into the fridge until you need it).
Into a large bowl, place your plain flour, baking powder and salt and give it a brief mix.
Into the dry ingredients, add in the butter and rub the dry ingredients and butter together until they become combined. You can tell when this stage is achieved but checking the colour of mix (if it’s got a slight yellow-ish tint, then you’re good) or the most obvious way is to check the consistency. If its a bread crumb or sandy texture, that’s what you’re looking for.
Once you’ve reached the correct consistency, you’ll want to add in the milk/sugar mixture and stir it in using a spatula just until a dough forms (try not to overmix at this stage, otherwise it will result in a tough textured scone).
Roll out your dough so its roughly 3cm thick, then using either a plain or crinkled edge cookie cutter (thats between 2 1/2 inch and 3 inch works well) cut out your shapes and place on a baking tray (if you re-roll the dough, make sure you only do it once, you should yield between 8-10 scones.
Once your scones are on the baking tray, brush the top of each scone with the egg wash and then place in your preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Once baked, remove from the oven and allow the scones to cool for a few minutes on the tray before transferring them onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Once fully cooled, slice the scones in half and top one half with the clotted cream and the other with your jam and sandwich them together and finish with a dusting of icing sugar.
Make yourself a hot drink and enjoy your freshly finished scone.

So thank you for reading my blog post today, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, please show your support by sharing this recipe with your friends and family. If you do make any recipe of mine, don’t forget to share your pictures with me!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for a chocolate chip cookie recipe that won’t disappoint, you have come to the right place.

This recipe is super simple to make and best of all doesn’t take too long to make either, you’ll be able to have a batch of these made up in under an hour. What’s not to like about these?!

As I mentioned above, these cookies are quick and easy but are also budget friendly. Another great thing about this recipe is that it freezes really well, you can make the dough and get your scoopfuls done and freeze them and whenever you want to pull them out the freezer you simply place them onto a baking tray and bake in your preheated oven (a great idea around the holiday season or for school bake sales, it’ll save you time when you haven’t got it!). The other way is to bake the cookies off and then freeze them if you don’t intend on eating them right away (best to place them into a freezer bag) and whenever you want them, you take them out and defrost them. That way you can have your cookies whenever you like!

Just like the minimal ingredients, then method if the same. Just a few simple steps and you’re done!

Before you get into making these, you’ll want to do a bit of prep work. Preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, prepare your baking tray by either lining it with greaseproof/parchment paper or generously buttering the tray and the final bit of prep is to weight up all your ingredients (this eliminates the chances of getting the measurements wrong and save you faffing around while making the dough.

Into your mixing bowl of choice, place the butter and both sugars and beat on a low-medium speed until they have become well combined. Once combined, you can then add in your egg and vanilla and mix that again on a low-medium speed until its well combined. Next you’ll want to add in your dry ingredients but before you go dumping them into the bowl, you’ll want to sieve them. Sieve them directly into the bowl and then fold them in using a spatula until almost fully incorporated, this is where you’ll want to add your chocolate chips in and mix until you have a clear dough. (by a clear dough, I mean there are no traces of any of the ingredients, they are fully incorporated.

Now that you’ve got your dough, you’ll want to use a cookie or (small) ice-cream scoop, (these are readily available online for pretty cheap) and scoop up the mixture filling the scoop all the way. Remove the dough from the scoop and round it up using your hands, then flattening into a disc shape. If you want to get even more chocolate into these, add a few more chocolate chips on top, pressing them down lightly (here is where you could freeze them to bake off at a later date). Place onto your prepped baking tray, I used a standard size one and got 12 onto it. You can then place the tray into the oven and allow to bake for 10-12 minutes (I found that around 11-12 minutes was perfect for me).

Remove your cookies from the oven (add some more chocolate chips on top, pushing them into the cookies while they are warm, maximise the amount of chocolate) and allow to cool on the tray for 4-5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack so they can cool completely. You can enjoy them slightly warm or completely cool. These will be best eaten on the day they’re made but will last for up to 3 days in a airtight container (at this stage you can freeze them.

Ingredients:

75g Butter.

75g Granulated sugar.

75g Light brown sugar.

1 Egg.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

175g Plain flour.

1/2 tsp Baking powder.

1/8 tsp Salt.

150g Chocolate chips.

Method:

Prepare by preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, lining your tray with greaseproof or parchment paper or generously buttering the tray and weighing up your ingredients.
Place the butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar into your mixing bowl of choice. Beat them all together over a low-medium speed until well combined. Feel free to use a wooden spoon, electric hand mixer or stand mixer.
Once well combined, add in your egg and vanilla extract and mix on a low-medium speed until well combined.
Scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl, this is to incorporate any bits that haven’t been fully incorporated from earlier on.
Add in your plain flour, baking powder and salt. Pass them through a sieve to remove any lumps and then once all of the dry ingredients are in the bowl, fold/stir them in using a spatula just until the flour is almost fully incorporated. Add in your chocolate chips and stir/fold these in until the dough is clear.
Once you’ve got your dough, you can then use a cookie or (small) ice cream scoop to scoop up small amounts of the dough then round them up using your hands, then flatten them (they will spread a little but not a lot while baking, you can freeze at this stage if you like).
Bake them off in your preheated oven for 10-12 minutes (I found 11-12 minutes was perfect for me).
Remove the tray from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the tray for 4-5 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. This recipe makes 24 cookies.

Viennese Whirls

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

I have the easiest and most straightforward recipe for these classic treats. Today I’m showing you how to make a batch of homemade Viennese whirls.

If you’re from the UK then you probably recognise these from a well known cake brand, which is available in in most supermarkets. Forget about those, once you make a batch of these up for yourself, you will not look back!

The biscuits themselves only require 4 ingredients, so they are cheap, quick and easy to make. They can be enjoyed on their own or with the vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam fillings, which compliment the biscuits pretty nicely and the other thing to know about theses that they are fairly bigger than the ones you’d get in the box from the supermarket (I’m a greedy git), so feel free to lower the amount of filling compared to what I used.

The mixing process is easy, it doesn’t matter if you’re using a wooden spoon, electric hand mixer or a stand mixer. It’s the piping that can be a bit difficult and this is because of the amount of flour which is used in these biscuits, it’s a lot. The dough can easily be handled with your hands but to get the signature piped look on top you need to use a piping bag and star tip nozzle, I recommend using a open/wide star tip as to a closed star. If you find your dough hard to pipe out, use the warmth from your hands to warm the dough through the bag (if you try and pipe the dough while it’s too stiff then you will be pushing too much pressure towards the bottom of the bag and it will more than likely split open plop a good amount of the dough out of the bag).

So to get started, you’ll always want to prepare your baking tray, I drew around a circle cutter so my biscuits would be roughly accurate in size to one another, this is ideal if you’re not sure on sizing them. Also, don’t forget to weigh up your ingredients and preheat the oven to 190˚c/375˚f. Now you can start by placing the butter and icing sugar into your mixing bowl of choice and beat the two together until well combined. Then add in your first weight of flour and mix that until well combined, scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl, then add in the second weight of flour and mix it in until well combined and thats the dough done. Place a open star nozzle into a piping bag and add around about a handful or so of the biscuit dough. If the dough isn’t piping well, use the heat of your hands to warm it up just enough to pipe out your rosettes. These don’t really spread in the open so feel free to pip quite a few onto one tray and place them in your preheated oven and bake for around 18-20 minutes (or until they start to colour around the edge.

As for the filling, I have recommended using vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam but feel free to replace those if you don’t like my choice. Make your buttercream while your biscuits are baking, start by placing the butter into a bowl and beating until lighter in colour and consistency. Scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl and place roughly half the amount of icing sugar and beat until fully incorporated, repeat this stage with the remaining icing sugar. Once all the icing sugar is fully incorporated, add in the vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste an mix until well combined, if your buttercream is a little too thick, add a splash of milk just to get it to a more spreadable consistency. As for the jam, feel free to use whatever you’ve got, homemade or shop bought will work well here.

For the assembly of these biscuits, pair your biscuits up and onto one half of them, pipe on a good amount (or a generous amount if you have a sweet tooth) and then pipe on a small amount of jam in the centre of the buttercream and gently place the other biscuit on top of the filling, sandwiching them together. Just before you tuck into one, you’ll want to give them a justing of icing sugar to finish them off, now sit back and enjoy one of these.

Ingredients:

Biscuits:
225g Butter.
45g Icing sugar.
115g Plain flour (1).
145g Plain flour (2).

Bake them in your preheated 190˚c/375˚f for 18-20 minutes.

Filling:

Buttercream:
150g Butter.
300g Icing sugar.
1 tsp Vanilla extract/bean paste.
(optional – milk).

Strawberry jam (but feel free to switch this to a jam or spread you might prefer).

Method:

Biscuits:

Weigh up all of your ingredients, preheat your oven to 190˚c/375˚f and line your baking trays with greaseproof/parchment paper.

Start the biscuits by placing the butter and icing sugar into your mixing bowl of choice and beat them together until well combined and lighter in colour.

Scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl, to incorporate any bits from earlier on. Then add in your first weight of flour in and mix that in until just combined.

Scrape down the bowl again to incorporate any bits that have worked up the bowl. Add in the second weight of flour and just mix that in until its just combined.

Prepare a piping bag by placing a 12mm open star nozzle at the end and place a good amount of the dough into the piping bag.

Pipe out the dough onto your lined tray (draw some templates if you want to get your biscuits more uniform), these don’t spread very much while in the oven so leave a small space in-between each biscuit. Place the tray in your preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes (or until they start to colour around the edges).

Once fully baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking tray, then transfer them over to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Buttercream:

Weigh up your ingredients in advance.

Place the butter into a mixing bowl an beat it over a medium-high speed until lighter in colour and consistency.

Once lighter, you’ll want to add in around half of your icing sugar (make sure you’ve sifted it first, to remove any big lumps) and beat that on a low speed working it up to a high speed, scrape down the bowl and repeat this stage for the other half of the icing sugar.

Add in the vanilla (and milk if the buttercream is too stiff, this will help loosen the buttercream down) and mix until well incorporated.

Place the buttercream into a piping bag with a 12mm star nozzle and set aside until its needed.

Assembly:Pair your biscuits up with

Italian Buttercream

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

I’ll be sharing my recipe for a super simple buttercream like no other… It’s my Italian buttercream, I know you’ll love it!

This buttercream is super simple to make and it only requires minimal ingredients, which is perfect. It’s different to other types of buttercream as it doesn’t require any special ingredients or method and at the end, you will have one of the best buttercream you’ll ever make.

I have been making this buttercream ever since I made it for the first time at college to decorate a cake with. I love it because its super smooth and rich but very stable and easy to work with. It’s super versatile as you can flavour it with extracts like vanilla or feel free to add in melted chocolate or even spreads and it will still be the perfect buttercream to decorate your cakes, cupcakes or traybakes with.

The only thing to know about this buttercream is that you will need a food/sugar thermometer and a copious amount of butter, I’m talking a James Martin amount.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Granulated sugar.

125ml Water.

140g Egg yolks.

1 Whole egg.

1000g Butter, at room temperature.

2 tsp Vanilla bean paste/extract

Method:

Before you get started on any aspect of the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. I recommend starting by weighing up all of your ingredients, grabbing your stand/hand mixer and don’t forget to grab a spatula and thermometer.

To start on the recipe, grab a small-medium saucepan and place in the water and granulated sugar and mix the two until combined, then place on the hob over a medium-high heat. You want this mixture to reach 121˚c, it takes a short while.

While you’re waiting for your mixture to come up to temperature, you can work on the egg part.

Whisk together the egg yolks and whole egg over a medium-high speed until everything is combined and the mixture is a pale yellowish colour and increased a significant amount.

Once your sugar mixture has come up to 121˚c, you can remove it from the heat and steadily pour it over the egg mixture over a low speed. Once all the mixture has been added, crank the speed upto a high and whisk until you can touch the bottom of the bowl with the back of your hand.

Now that the mixture has whisked together and is cool enough, you can start adding your butter, piece by piece. At first, you may notice the mixture looks quite loose and this is normal. As the butter is added and incorporated, the mixture will thicken and start looking like a buttercream.

Add in the vanilla and whisk until everything has been fully incorporated.

If you think the mixture is too loose, don’t worry. Continue to mix it over a high speed until it thickens and place in the fridge and chill until firm.

You can then use this buttercream to decorate your cakes, cupcakes and traybakes. If you make the full recipe, it’s enough for a large cake, I’d half or quarter the recipe for cupcakes and traybakes.

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.

Jam and Coconut Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I’ll be showing you how to make a super simple jam and coconut sponge cake.

This recipe is the one you’ll see craft bakeries and may remember from your school days. It’s a simple coconut sponge cake (which is light and fluffy), topped with your choice of jam and finished with a sprinkling of desiccated coconut.

As I’ve already mentioned, its a simple sponge cake which is easily elevated by the jam. If you like the sprinkle sponge cake, you may like this one as they are fairly similar and they will certainly give you a nostalgic feeling as you eat them.

If you’re looking for other school or retro recipes, don’t forget to check out chocolate concrete, sprinkle sponge cake and chocolate hedgehogs. I promise that these recipes will unlock memories you’ve forgotten.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cake:

230g Butter.

230g Granulated sugar.

230g Plain flour.

1 tsp Baking powder.

4 Eggs

150g Desiccated coconut.

Milk (only if needed).

Topping –

60-80g Jam (whichever flavour you like)

80g Desiccated coconut (use more or less, whatever takes your fancy).

Method:

Before you get started on making this cake, you’re best to do some prep work. Start by lining your 9×13 inch 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, take a mixing bowl and place in the butter and granulated sugar. Then beat the two together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Now you can add your eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. Doing it this way lowers the chances of the mixture curdling.

You can then go ahead and add in the plain flour and baking powder, passing them through a sieve first (this just helps the cake to be lighter and fluffier). Then you can go-ahead and add in the desiccated coconut – mix it all together until a clean cake batter has formed.

Go ahead and give the bowl a good scraping down, this will just incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from before.

Take the cake batter and transfer it into your lined 9×13 inch cake tin and spread it out until its fairly consistent. I like to use a offset palette knife, but the back of a spoon would work equally as well.

Then you can take the cake tin and place into your preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean, when inserted into the centre. The cake should have risen a good amount and be a consistent golden brown colour on top.

Allow the cake to cool fully in the tray before you finish the cake off.

To finish the cake, you’ll want to make sure your jam is spreadable. You can give it a good mix or warm for a few seconds in the microwave, then add the jam on top of the cake and spread it out, ensuring there is good coverage, you can use more jam is you feel it’s needed. Then to finish the cake, take he desiccated coconut and sprinkle it on top of the jam.

Sprinkle Sponge Cake | School Sponge Cake | Old School Traybake

by bakingwithelliott 11 Comments

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

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

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

This recipe is my take on the traditional version of the old school traybake, it’s a really quick, easy and cheap recipe to make and will go down well with many who get to try it. If you’re not sure what this cake is, I’ll give you a quick run down.

This cake is a basic sponge cake which is topped with a even simpler glacé icing and best of all, it can be made and finished within 60 minutes – what’s not to love?

For the cake, I used the all in one method (which isn’t as preferred as the creaming method), place all of your ingredients into a bowl and mix them until a cake batter has formed.

Compared to the creaming method, which starts with you creaming the butter and sugar together, then gradually adding the egg then the dry ingredients. You can use either method, they will both work well and usually I would use the creaming method for cakes.

The icing is a simple glacé icing or water icing, which is just icing sugar and water. It makes for a sweet and crisp icing the works remarkably well with this cake in particular.

You pour this in the centre of your fully baked and cooled cake, then spread it out using a cranked/offset spatula or the back of a spoon to spread and level the icing as best you can and finish it with the sprinkles – this cake is so simple, you don’t need to be a master baker or anything.

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

Ingredients:

220g Plain flour

1 tsp Baking powder

Pinch of salt.

220g Granulated sugar.

4 Eggs.

220g Butter.

2 tbsp Milk.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

Icing:

400g Icing sugar.

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

Rainbow sprinkles.

Method:

Cake:

Start by doing some prep work. Preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, weighing up all your ingredients and preparing your tray with butter and flour, which is either 8×12 inches. (These can be found in the supermarket 6 trays for £3 or so).

Start by placing all your ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix together on a low-medium speed to start with. Working your way up to a medium-high speed until everything is combined and a clear dough has formed (there shouldn’t be a trace of a single ingredient).

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

Give the bowl a good scraping down, then mix in any ingredients that haven’t been fully worked in – trying your best not to over-mix the mixture (otherwise the cake will be tougher in texture).

Add the cake batter into the tray and level it out as best you possibly can using a small offset/cranked palette knife and then place into the oven and allow to bake for around 25-30 minutes (or until a tester comes out clean).

Once out the oven, allow to cool completely before finishing.

Icing:

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

Finishing:

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

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

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

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

Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you’re a fan of coffee and walnut cake, these cupcakes may just be your new favourites.

I’ve taken the classic coffee and walnut cake and turned it on its head, giving you smaller portions, perfect for those time you don’t want an entire cake or you’re making these for a party or fundraiser.

You get everything in these cupcakes you would in the standard cake, simply smaller. I also find the amount of coffee is perfect for flavouring an colouring the cupcakes, however, I’m not a big coffee drinker (so a little goes a long way).

If you prefer a stronger coffee flavour, you can use more instant coffee, just adjust it to suit you as best you can. If you use too much coffee it may make the cake more bitter, I don’t recommend using more waters that will have a

These have always been a popular cupcake when I make them, even liked by people who don’t normally consume coffee, so I can assure you these will go down a treat.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cold Coffee:

1 – 1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee.

4-5 tbsp Boiling water.

Cupcakes:

175g Butter.

175g Plain flour.

1 tsp Baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

175g Granulated sugar.

3 Eggs.

75g Walnuts, roughly chopped.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

2-3 tbsp of the cold coffee mixture.

Buttercream:

125g Butter.

300g Icing sugar, sifted.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

1-2 tbsp of the cold coffee.

Finish with Walnuts.

Methods:

Before you get into making any element of these cupcakes, I recommend you do some prep work. Start by weighing up your ingredients, preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, line a cupcake tray with liners and get any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer and a spatula.

Cold Coffee:

Making the coffee mixture is the easiest part of this recipe. You simple add boiling water to the instant coffee and mix until it has dissolved – set aside and allow to cool down fully before you continue to use it.

You can make this a day in advance just store in the fridge until you need it, although I recommend using it at room temperature.

Cupcakes:

To start on the cupcakes, you’ll want to grab yourself a large mixing bowl and into it, place the butter, granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, vanilla extract and cold coffee. Beat over a medium-low speed to start, working your way up to a medium-high until a clear cake batter has formed.

A clear cake batter simply means you can’t see a single ingredient on its own, all of the ingredients have combined and have formed a cake batter.

Once you have a clear batter, you can go ahead and add in the chopped walnuts and fold them in using a spatula until they are fairly distributed throughout the dough.

Grab your prepared cupcake tray and scoop/pipe the batter into the cases, filling them roughly 2/3 or 3/4 of the way full – they will rise while baking in the oven.

Place the cupcake tray into the preheated oven and bake for around 20-22 minutes or until they are well risen and a perfect golden brown all over. You may also want test the centre with a tester, to ensure they are fully baked. If the tester comes out clean, the cupcakes are fully baked. Remove from the oven and allow to cool fully before you finish them off.

Buttercream:

While the cupcakes are cooling down, it’s the perfect time to make your buttercream.

Grab yourself a mixing bowl and place in the butter, beating it on its own for around 5-7 minutes, or until it’s lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Then you can go ahead and add in around half of the icing sugar and beat that in until its fully incorporated and become lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency. You’ll want to repeat this step with the remaining icing sugar.

Add in the cold coffee and vanilla extract into the bowl and mix it in until its fully incorporated. Feel free to add the liquids a tablespoon at a time, to help with the consistency.

You can then transfer it into a piping bag fitted with your nozzle of choice or into a bowl and place into the fridge. This can be made in advance, to help you save time.

If you’re decorating the cupcakes right away, pipe swirls of buttercream on top and finish with either a whole walnut or chopped walnuts, its really up to you.

Easy

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