Homemade

Apple Pie

This weeks recipe is for a simple apple pie – nothing fancy about the recipe, just a standard but tasty recipe for you try during the autumn period or any time of year.

I know that apple pie isn’t the most autumnal pie but when else can you enjoy pies? September-November is honestly pie season for me (even more so than pumpkin spice, fight me…).

For this recipe, I’ll be using my basic shortcrust pastry recipe. It’s a sturdy and reliable recipe that has never failed me – nor should it fail you (trust me on that, it’s one of recipe must haves). Inside of the pastry, you’ll have the apple filling (duh), which is simply apple, sugar and spices – the key to a good apple pie is keeping it simple! This way the apple won’t be completely mushy, they’ll be perfectly cooked, with a slight crunch!

I won’t lie, this recipe was made back in August of 2020 while I was having a baking session where I also made a red velvet cake, banana bundt cake and salted caramel gingerbread traybake amongst other bits – check out the recipes, you might find something you like!

The key for this weeks recipes, keeping it simple. Sometimes making things super complex doesn’t do anything but muddy the water…

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Pastry –

Don’t forget to check out my shortcrust pastry recipe.

Apple filling:

750g Apples.

125g Light or dark brown sugar (whichever you prefer).

1 tsp Ground cinnamon.

1-2 tbsp Water (optional, only if needed).

Additional bits :

1 Egg, for egg wash.

Brown sugar, to sprinkle on top the pastry

Method:

Before you get started on any part of this recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. I recommend starting with making the pastry (this can be done 1-2 days in advanced), weighing up all of your ingredients and grabbing any equipment you need, such as a mixing bowl and a sharp paring knife.

As mentioned above, you will want to make the pastry, which can be made in advanced, saving you precious time and effort on the day you want to make the apple pie. I won’t be sharing how to make the pastry as I have recipe which has more detail on there, which I’ll link here.

Once the pastry has been made and chilled, you can go ahead and work with it. Onto your work surface, sprinkle a small amount of flour, then you can go ahead and place the dough onto it. You’ll then want to roll the dough out to be around the same thickness as a pound coin, which is perfect for this recipe as you’ll need to roll the pastry out to be bigger than the tin and if you use a 10 inch pie tin like me, it all falls into place perfectly.

You can then drape the pastry over the pie tin, I find rolling the pastry onto a rolling pin the easiest and safest way to work with the dough but you do it however you need to.

Press the pastry into the grooves of the pie tin, be gentle as the pastry may be delicate to work with (but don’t worry if you tear the pastry, you can patch it up easily). Then using the sharp paring knife, you can then go ahead and trim away the excess from around the edge of the tin – make sure you bring it back into a ball shape, wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge – we’ll use this up later.

Don’t forget to dock the bottom of the pastry case and place into the fridge to chill while you make the apple filling (which only take a few minutes, so chill the pastry case for 30 minutes, then work on the filling).

To make the apple filling, its super straightforward. Grab a large bowl and place in the brown sugar and cinnamon (you can also add other spices, if you’d like to) and give the two a good mix until well incorporated.

You can then go ahead and add in the apple slices, ensuring that they all get fairly coated in the brown sugar mixture then you can add them all in to the chilled pastry case – it may look a lot and bulge up, don’t worry, they’ll shrink as they cook.

Place it back in the fridge for short while, just while you make the top.

For the top of the apple pie, you can do it however you like, leave it plain, a lattice or just a plain top, like I’m doing. Roll the pastry out to be the same thickness as the pastry case and then drape it on top, crimping the edge, so the lid is secured to the case – just use a fork. Don’t forget to slice 2 slits in the middle of the pie, to release any steam that will occur while baking.

To use up the last of the pastry, feel free to give the edge and centre a more decorative finish. I went with some oak leaves to go around the edge of the pie, as well as a few in the centre but this is completely optional.

Give the whole pie a good egg wash, ensuring a good coating is applied – then you can go ahead and sprinkle on some sugar, I like to use brown sugar but use whatever you want to.

Bake in your preheated oven for 45-50 minutes – It should be well coloured and smell great, once ready.

Once the apple pie has baked, I recommenced leaving the pie to cool fully. It can be reheated later on and served with cream or custard.

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.

Wholemeal Bloomer

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

While we are in the midst of autumn (and a second national lockdown pending), homemade bread is one of those simple pleasures. That’s why I’m sharing my recipe for a super simple wholemeal bloomer.

If you’re not sure what a bloomer loaf is, it’s a loaf of bread thats baked on a baking tray rather than in a tin. It’s shaped but finds its way into the perfect bloomer shape while proving – it’s not complex at all, it’s very simple.

Wholemeal bread for me just gives more of an autumnal feeling, in the strangest way it’s ‘warming’. A couple of thickly sliced bloomer with some soup – what a winning combination – give it a try and tell me otherwise.

If this sounds like something you’d like to make – grab your ingredients and have a lazy afternoon as you make this.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Wholemeal flour.

8g Salt.

25g Fresh yeast.

30g White shortening.

10g Granulated sugar.

310ml Water.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up the ingredients, lining your baking tray with parchment paper and getting any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer.

To start on the recipe, grab a mixing bowl and place in the wholemeal flour and salt – whisking the two together until they are well combined.

You can then go ahead and add in the fresh yeast, white shortening, granulated sugar and water.

Mix the ingredients together on a low speed to start with for 2 minutes, followed by 6 minutes on a medium-high speed. Once finished with the mixing process, the dough should be easy to work with (maybe a little soft/sticky, this will go away).

Now sprinkle flour onto your work surface with a small amount of wholemeal flour and place the bread dough onto it and knead until it has become smooth and elastic.

Bring the dough back into a ball shape and place into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm and leave somewhere warm to prove for around 60 minutes or until it has doubled in size.

Once the dough has finished its first prove, you can go ahead and flour your work surface and knock the dough back. This is the process of removing the gases that have built up in the dough during the first prove.

After the dough has been knocked back, bring back into a ball shape then roll out into an oblong shape – cover loosely with clingfilm and leave to prove again for a further 45 minutes or until it has pretty much doubled in size.

While the dough is proving, you can get tidied up and preheat your oven to 230˚c/445˚f. You’ll know the dough has done proving as you’ll be able to gently press the dough and it’ll spring back.

After the second proof, you can remove the clingfilm from off of the dough and make score the dough. I think more traditionally its around 7 cuts but I went with 6 – if you’re making this for home, you can make as many or as few cuts as you’d like. Bake in the preheated oven for around 30-35 minutes.

To test if the bread is done, turn it upside own and tap the bottom – if it sounds hollow, thats a good sign and shows the bread is baked, remove from the oven and take off the baking tray and place onto a cooling rack to cool down fully.

Once cooled down, you can then go ahead and slice the bread to your desired thickness and enjoy it however you like.

Halloween Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Although halloween this year may be a little different, there’s no reason not to celebrate. That’s why I’m sharing my recipe for a super simple halloween themed cake.

This is the perfect cake to make if you’re doing anything for halloween, it’s got the perfectly festive colours of purple, green and orange. It starts with 3 layers of coloured vanilla cake, sandwiched and finished with a standard vanilla buttercream and its then decorated with a white chocolate drip, buttercream rosettes and meringue decorations.

I’ll be honest, this cake is a remake of a cake I made back in 2017… I didn’t like the cake enough to share until this year when I found the old pictures and thought I could remake it and make it better. I added a white chocolate drip and meringue decorations.

This would be the perfect cake to make if you have a large household or are able to share it with your friends and family, especially if they celebrate halloween.

Anyway, lets’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Meringue decorations:

2 Egg whites.

Granulated sugar (double the weight of the egg whites).

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

Cake:

375g Butter, at room temperature.

375g Granulated sugar.

6 Eggs.

2 tsp Vanilla extract.

375g Plain flour.

1 1/2 tsp Baking powder.

45ml Milk.

Food colouring paste (or gels).

Buttercream:

450g Butter, at room temperature.

900g Icing sugar.

1-2 tsp Vanilla extract.

Simple Syrup:

200g Granulated sugar.

180ml Water.

10ml Vanilla extract.

Decoration:

White chocolate spread (for the drip).

Methods:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some preparation. Weigh up all of your ingredients, line or butter and flour your cake tins/line your baking trays with parchment, preheat your oven to 130˚c/265˚f an 180˚c/350˚f (for the cakes), then grab any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer (or hand mixer) and mixing bowls.

Meringue:

To start on the recipe, I like to make the meringue decorations as they take some time to bake. Start by grabbing your clean mixing bowl and placing the egg whites into it, then beating them until they are fairly frothy.

You can then go ahead and add in the granulated sugar, roughly a tablespoon at a time, allowing the sugar to be incorporated before adding anymore sugar.

Once you have all of the sugar incorporated, you’ll want to check if the meringue is ready. Take a small amount and rub it between your finger and thumb, if you feel any granules of sugar, continue to whisk until you can no longer feel any granules of sugar.

When ready, place the meringue mixture into a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip and get ready to pipe. Onto the first lined baking tray, you can pipe small meringue kisses (and top them with sprinkles or other bits, if wanted) and onto the other tray, pipe a squiggle which should look like a ghost.

Place the trays into a the 130˚c/265˚f oven and bake for 40-60 minutes or until they peel away from the baking paper. Once baked, leave somewhere to cool until needed later on (store in the fridge if you intend on using them at a later date).

Cake:

To start on the cake, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and grab a mixing bowl. Into the mixing bowl, place the butter and granulated sugar and beat them together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency (this normally takes about 7-10 minutes). The mixture should be smoother, lighter and fluffier (if you can see or feel any granules of sugar, continue to mix until you can longer feel them).

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.

You can then add in your eggs, roughly one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. Try your best not to add in too much egg at anytime, otherwise you may curdle or split the mixture.

Then you can go ahead and add in the flour and baking powder, passing it through a sieve, just to remove any lumps that may be in the dry mix.

Mix the dry ingredients until they are fully incorporated, then stop, try not to over mix the cake batter too much (otherwise the baked cake will be tough in texture).

Into three separate bowls, add 15ml of milk and a colour into each (make sure the colour is very concentrated. Then divide the cake batter between the three bowls and incorporate the milk and colour into the cake batter – once the cake batter is coloured and ready, transfer into your lined (or buttered and floured) cake tins.

Spread and level out the cake batter as best as you possibly can, then place into your preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until well risen and when a tester is inserted into the centre, it comes out clean.

Buttercream:

The buttercream is super easy to make. Start by grabbing a clean mixing bowl and placing the butter into it, then beat on a high speed for 7-9 minutes or until the butter has become lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Once the butter has achieved the perfect consistency, you can go ahead and add in half of the icing sugar and mix o a low speed to start, working your way up to a high speed. Repeat this for the remaining half of the icing sugar.

Just before you finish mixing, add in the vanilla and mix until its been fully incorporated.

Crumb coat the cake with a layer of buttercream, then separate the buttercream equally between three bowls and colour each of buttercream with purple, green and orange. Cover and set aside until needed later on.

Simple syrup:

Place the water, sugar and vanilla extract into a saucepan and place on the hob over a high heat and allow to come to a boil. The mixture should thicken slightly once done.

Allow to cool before using.

Once its cooled, level your cakes and brush over your layers of cake.

Assembly:

To assemble the cake, start by taking your plate/stand and dolloping a small amount of buttercream onto the plate/stand and spreading it out. This is just to secure the cake cake in place, so it doesn’t move while you’re decorating it.

I like to start by placing the purple layer of cake onto the plate/stand, then top with vanilla buttercream and jam (repeat this stage with the remaining cake).

You can then go ahead and give the cake a crumb coat, this is just a thin layer of buttercream used to lock in all of the crumbs, so none get into your final layer of icing and ruin your decoration.

Place in the fridge, just to allow the buttercream to firm ups around 40-60 minutes will be fine.

Take the coloured buttercream and place into piping bags, this will make it easier to work with the decoration.

when you’re ready to apply the final layer of buttercream, you can do it however you like but I like the correspond the colours inside with the colours outside, so I will do purple, green and orange (in that order). I start by placing my cake on to a turntable, so I can spin the cake and get a more level and consistent layer.

I pipe on all of my layers, so they are like rough levels, you can always straighten them out if they aren’t as straight as you’d like. Then take a cake smoother/scraper and level the icing all amount the cake, so it will all become smooth and level out. You may need to go around the cake a few times, just to perfect the finish.

Place back into the fridge and allow the buttercream to firm up for a bit, about 40-60 minutes should be ideal.

After the time in the fridge, you can finish the cake. I like to do the drip first, so I melt the white chocolate spread in the microwave for a few seconds until its more liquid, then place the melted spread into a piping bag and drip it from the top, down the side of the cake. You can use more spread to create a longer drip or less if you want a shorter drip. Don’t forget to spread some of the chocolate spread on-top of the cake.

You’ll want the place the cake back in the fridge for 10 minutes, just for the drip to firm up.

Once you’re ready to finish the cake, you can go ahead and take the remaining buttercream and place it all into a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle, then pipe your rosettes onto the top of your cake, pipe as many or as few as you’d like – it’s up to you.

Then finish by placing the meringue decorations all over the top of the cake, you’ll know where a cake need some decoration.

Salted Caramel Gingerbread Traybake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

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

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

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

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

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cake:

175g Butter.

150g Light brown sugar.

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

200g Plain flour.

1 tsp Baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

3 Eggs.

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

100ml salted caramel.

Caramel:

100g Butter.

150g Light brown sugar.

100ml Double cream.

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract.

Sea salt (flakes or rocks will work well)

Method:

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

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

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

Allow this mixture to cool fully before you use it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

50/50 Bread

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you eat a lot of bread and want to try something a little different, why don’t you give this 50/50 bread a try? You get the best of white and wholemeal bread in one loaf – what’s not to like about that?

This bread is perfect for those who just like bread. If you like wholemeal but find it too heavy or you like white bread but want something a little healthier, why not combine the two and get a loaf of bread thats lighter than wholemeal and a little healthier than white bread – that way you get the best of both worlds!

I know that this bread is readily available in most supermarkets in the UK (I’m not sure about else where in the world) but why buy something filled with preservatives an added nasties when you can make it yourself, pretty easily at home? It’ takes next to no time, perfect for those lazy winter days/nights that are coming up!

This is the perfect loaf of give a go if you’re new to bread making as it can be made by hand or stand mixer (no bread machines, they’re honestly a waste of time). It uses only simple ingredients, which if you’re a baker should have in anyway, so why not try something new? At the time of making this recipe the UK was in a national lockdown, so was using everything I had in storage up before I bought more (when this recipe is due to be shared, there will probably be new guidelines and some sort of lockdown, so use the time to learn a new skill).

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

250g Strong White bread flour.

250g Wholemeal flour.

5g Salt.

18g Fresh yeast.

30g White shortening.

12g Milk powder.

10g Granulated sugar.

310ml Water.

Methods:

Before you get into this recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up your ingredients, lining a loaf tin with a strip of parchment paper and getting any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer and scotch scraper ready.

To start, grab your mixing bowl and place in the white flour, wholemeal flour and salt. Give them a brief mix together until they are combined.

You can then go ahead and add in the fresh yeast, white shortening, milk powder, granulated sugar and water and then mix on a low speed for 2 minutes followed by a high speed for a further 6-8 minutes, depending on how your dough is looking. The dough should be well formed and not sticky – the bowl will be almost perfectly clean.

Lightly flour your work surface with some flour and just give the dough a brief knead just to ensure the dough is fully ready.

Then place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and leave somewhere warm and leave it somewhere warm for around 60 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size. Please use the time I have given as a guide, depending on the climate of your location, it may take more or less time to prove up.

While the dough is proving for the first time, its the perfect time to get cleaned up and ready to work with the dough again.

Once the dough has proved, you can then take it from the bowl and place onto a lightly floured work surface and knock it back. This is just process of removing the gases rear built up in the dough during the first proof. Bring the dough back into a ball shape and roll into a fat sausage shape, just big enough to fit into a loaf tin.

Place the dough into the lined loaf pan and cover loosely with clingfilm and prove for a second time, this time for around 45 minutes or until the dough has proofed up nicely.

While the dough is have its second proof, you can go ahead and preheat your oven to 230˚c/445˚f.

Once the dough has finished its second proof, you can go ahead and remove the clingfilm from the top of the dough. Place it in the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the bread has become well coloured.

To check if the bread is fully baked, turn it out of the loaf pan and tap the bottom. When you tap the bottom, it should sound hollow. If it doesn’t, place it back in the oven to bake for a little longer.

Otherwise, you’re done! If you can resist cutting into the bread while its warm, wait until its fully cooled down and then enjoy it as if it were a loaf of normal bread.

Apple Crumble No-Bake Cheesecake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

I’m taking two of my favourite desserts and combining them into one! Today I’ll be sharing my recipe for a super easy apple crumble no bake cheesecake!

This cheesecake is like all of my other no-bake cheesecakes, super easy to make and takes next to no time to make it. The only downside to this style of no-bake cheesecake is that they need time in the fridge (6-8 hours is best), this is to help it firm up as it doest contain gelatine!

I wanted to combine apple crumble and cheesecake and thought about which way may be the best to achieve that, so that’s how this apple crumble no-bake cheesecake came to be. It starts with a simple but tasty buttery biscuit base, which is then topped with creamy and tangy apple cheesecake filling, which is finished with a spiced crumble mix, whipped cream and some stewed apples.

I know that Autumn is usually heaving with recipes containing pumpkin and spices but I’ve decided against that this year as there is only so much pumpkin you can handle, right?

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Base:

125g Digestive biscuits.

50g Butter, melted.

Cheesecake:

300g Soft cheese.

75g Icing sugar.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

200ml Double cream.

150g Cooked/stewed apples.

Topping:

200ml Double cream.

1tsp Vanilla extract.

25g Icing sugar.

Crumble Topping

25g Light brown sugar.

25g Granulated sugar.

20g Oats.

35g Plain flour.

40g Butter.

1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon

Pinch of mixed spice.

Methods:

Before you get into any element of the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of the ingredients, preparing your cake tin with a circle of parchment paper (this is optional) and get any equipment you may use ready.

To start on the recipe, you’ll want to work on the base first.

Take your digestive biscuits and place them into a food safe bag, then take a rolling pin and gently press it into the biscuits until they break down using a rolling pin until a crumb or sandy looking consistency is apparent. If you’re doing this by hand, its okay to have a few big chunks in the mixture, don’t worry too much.

Transfer the biscuits crumbs into a small/medium bowl and then go ahead and melt the butter, either in a saucepan on the hob or in a microwave safe bowl, in the microwave. Add the butter directly into the biscuit crumbs and mix the two together until fully combined – it will resemble wet sand.

Take your 6 inch round cake tin and pour the mixture straight into it, then compress it down using a small cup measurement or the back of a spoon, until its compressed and level, then place into the fridge to chill while you make the cheesecake filling.

Start by taking a large mixing bowl and placing the soft cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract and whisking them all together until they are fully combined. The mixture should be thick enough to hold its shape and not be too loose.

Now you can go ahead and add in the apple and whisk it in until its fully incorporated. Then you can add in the double cream and whisk until the cream has been worked in and the mixture has thickened – it should be able to hold its shape well.

Remove the cheesecake base from the fridge and add the cheesecake filling directly on top of the base, then spread it out to get it smooth and level as possible. I find a small cranked/offset spatula or the back of a spoon works best.

Place into the fridge and chill for a minimum of 6-8 hours but feel free to leave it for longer.

While your cheesecake chills in the fridge, you can go ahead and make the crumble.

The crumble is super easy. To start, grab a food processor and place in the flour, granulated sugar and light brown sugar – blitz everything together until combined.

Now you can add the butter into food processor and blitz until the butter has been worked in, transfer into a bowl and add in the oats, stir until everything has been combined.

Place the crumble onto a lined baking tray and place into a preheated oven and bake until its well coloured. Allow to cool down fully before you intend on using it.

Whenever you’re ready to finish the cheesecake off, you’ll want to decorate the cheesecake however you like. I went with something a little different, I added a layer/border of crumble around the edge, then a piped whipped cream around the centre, covering the edge of the inner circle and filled the centre with cooked apple but you do it however you like!

Apple & Blackberry Loaf

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

This weeks bread recipe is for something a little bit different – today I’ll be sharing my recipe for a blackberry and apple loaf!

When I say this recipe is a little different, it’s because the bread is naturally coloured purple and this is through the use of blackberries (which are still in season, I think). Normally when you add additional ingredients which may colour or tint the dough don’t add that much colour, this isn’t the case with blackberries.

This bread is made with an enriched dough, which means it’s going to taste good (the addition of butter and eggs) – this recipe also features fresh blackberries and dried apple. I like to use dried apple as it allows you to have the flavour but not the moisture of fresh apples – when you add too much moisture into a recipe, you have to balance the amounts out and it can get confusing very quickly. To make a long story short, use dried apples instead of fresh for this recipe.

I know that this flavour combination is a little out there and you may associate it with more sweet dishes like a apple and blackberry crumble, it’s very well balanced and tastes amazing once baked – you’ll have to trust me on that one!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Strong white bread flour.

50g Fresh yeast.

75g Butter.

75g Granulated sugar.

15g Milk powder.

1 Egg.

150ml Water (Luke warm).

100g Fresh blackberries.

20-30g Freeze dried apples (I use Liobites).

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, lining a loaf tin with parchment paper and get any equipment you may need ready, such as a stand mixer (or mixing bowl) and spatulas.

I like to start with the dough. To make the dough you’ll want to start with taking a mixing bowl and place in the bread flour and salt, giving them a brief mix just to combine the two.

Then place the remaining ingredients into the bowl and mix them all together on a low speed to start with (for 2 minutes approx), working your way to a high speed (for 6 minutes) until a dough has formed. The dough should be soft, if it’s sticky, don’t worry too much, we should be able to fix this in a little bit.

Flour the work surface with a generous amount of bread flour and place the dough onto it. Knead the dough until the dough is smooth and elasticated. This may take some time, but the dough will become easier to work with as some of that flour is incorporated.

Place the dough into the lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl with cling-film and allow to proof until the dough has doubled in size, for me this is usually about an hour but depending on the climate where you live this time may require adjusting.

Once the dough has completed its first proof, you’ll want to generously flour your worktop and place the dough onto it. You can then knock the dough back, this is just the process of removing the gases that had built up during the first proof.

You can then go ahead and bring the dough into a ball shape, then roll it into a fat sausage shape or a loaf shape, just big enough to fit into a standard loaf pan.

Cover loosely with clingfilm and place somewhere warm to proof for a second time. The dough should only need about 45-60 minutes but depends on the climate where you live – if you live somewhere warmer, the dough will proof quicker.

Preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, around 15 minutes before you intend to use the oven.

After the dough has proofed, it should be well risen and ready for the oven. Just before you place it into the oven, sprinkle over some oats and then go ahead place it into your preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Remove the bread from the oven and empty straight onto a cooling rack and tap the bottom of the loaf – if it sounds hollow, thats a good sign and shows the bread is baked.

Allow to cool until fully cooled down, then you can slice it up and enjoy it however you like. I like it toasted with butter but you can use it however you like!

Cherry Bakewell Flapjacks

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

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

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

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

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

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

175g Butter.

175g Light brown sugar.

175g Golden syrup.

1/4 tsp Almond extract

350g Oats.

50g Ground almonds

50g Cocktail or glace cherries, halved.

(up to) 200g Cherry jam.

Method:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sourdough Bread

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

This week for the bread recipe, I’ll be sharing my recipe for a super easy sourdough loaf at home!

You may remember that last week, I shared my sourdough starter recipe with you – this is a very important component in sourdough bread. So, if you want to make a batch of sourdough bread, you will need to make a starter.

This style of bread has gained popularity over the past few years, even being sold at smaller craft/artisan bakeries but what’s the point in that? You can make it home with some time and effort… Don’t get me wrong, it may take you a couple of attempts to get a loaf that looks like a bakery style version but trust me, it’s fully worth it.

The thing I love about this bread is how easy it is to make and the simplicity of the ingredients you need to make such a recipe. All the ingredients I mention below are pantry essentials, so you should have most of them in. This is honestly one of the perfect recipes to make if you’re looking for something to make that doesn’t require a lot of your time, the perfect weekend bake!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

250g Strong white flour.

4g Salt.

125g Sourdough starter.

125ml Water.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep. Make sure that you have made a sourdough starter and it’s at the perfect place to work with, weigh up all your ingredients and grab anything else you may need like a mixing bowl and a scotch scraper.

To start on the dough, you’ll want to grab your sour starter and test it to ensure its ready to be used. All you need to do for the test is get a small bowl of water and scoop a teaspoon or table spoon of the sour starter into it – you’re looking for it to float. If it doesn’t, then your starter isn’t correct and you will need to make it again.

Into a clean large mixing bowl, you will want to add the water and sourdough starter and mix together until combined using a spatula or a whisk (whichever works best for you).

Then you can go ahead and add in the bread flour and salt and mix the dough by hand until everything is fully combined and a dough has formed. The thing to note about this dough is the fact it’s fairly wet/loose – this is normal and will partially fix itself later on.

You can the cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave it at room temperature to ferment for about 60 minutes (or until it has risen well).

Take the dough and place it onto a lightly floured or lightly oiled work surface and use a scotch scraper to round and smooth the dough out – you will want to try and not to handle the dough too much, use a scraper to do most of the work. Once you have achieved a smooth ball, set aside for a moment while your prepare the next stage.

For the net stage, you can use a fancy proofing basket which cost £25+ online or a simple hack is to use a medium sized bowl and place a clean cotton tea-towel inside. Flour the tea-towel well with some bread flour. Place the ball of dough into the tea-towel upside down, so the bottom of the dough is showing, then flour the side of the dough you can see with more bread flour and cover with the remaining tea-towel.

Leave somewhere at room temperature and leave to proof until the dough is almost touching the top of the bowl, around 40-60 minutes was the sweet spot for me but that time may vary, depending on the climate of where you live.

When the dough has almost reached completion, you can go ahead and preheat your oven to 230˚c/445˚f – you can also place a small baking pan of water onto the bottom of the oven at this point.

Once it has proofed, you can then go ahead and line a baking tray with paper and place them directly on top of the bowl, then flip it over so the tray is on the work surface and the bowl is on top. Remove the bowl and gently remove the tea-towel (if you didn’t flour the tea bowl very well, it will stick to the tea-towel and ruin all of the work you have put into it).

Take a sharp small blade or knife and cut the dough however you like. I went with a super simple and straightforward cut across the middle.

Then you will want to take a metal bowl, one thats ovenproof and big enough to fit over the dough and place directly over the dough and place into the oven, then bake.

After about 20 minutes, you’ll want to remove the tray of water and the metal bowl from on top of the bread, them bake for the remainder of the time.

Once it is out of the oven, you can then leave it cool completely on a cooling rack.

Slice into it and enjoy!

Apple Crumble Cupcakes

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

You know what’s better than one baked good? Two of them combined into one!

Today I’ll be sharing my recipe for a batch of super simple apple crumble cupcakes… If you give these a go, I promise that you won’t regret it. They are like a bite of autumn in each bite.

A light and flavourful apple brown sugar cupcake, filled with a homemade chunky apple filling, topped with a creamy vanilla buttercream and finished with a homemade brown sugar crumble and more of the chunky apple filling.

Now the weather is cooling down, it’s the ideal time to make more filling and comforting foods – these cupcakes are perfect. The use of spices, brown sugar and apple really make these cupcakes feel a little more seasonal.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Apple Filling:

1 Large cooking apple, chopped into small cubes.

30-50g Granulated sugar (use the amount of sugar that suits you best).

15-30ml Water.

Cupcakes:

90g Butter, room temperature.

90g Dark brown sugar.

1 Egg.

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract.

90g Plain flour.

1/2 tsp Baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon.

1/4 tsp Ground mixed spice.

20g Freeze dried apples.

Buttercream:

125g Butter, room temperature.

250g Icing sugar.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

Crumble:

35g Granulated sugar.

35g Dark brown sugar.

30g Oats.

50g Plain flour.

60g Butter.

Method:

Before you get started on they recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Weigh up all of the ingredients, grab any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer and food processor and line your trays/cupcake tray with parchment/cases. It’s also the perfect time for you to preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f

You can start where you like regarding the recipe, I would recommend that you make the apple filling to start, as it will need time to cool down.

To make the apple filling, take a large cooking apple and peel, core and cube. Then place into a medium-large saucepan and add in the sugar and water, heat over a medium-high heat and just cook until the apples have soften and the sugar/water have made a thickened syrupy consistency.

Transfer the apple filling into a jar until it’s needed, later on.

To start on the crumble, you’ll want to place the plain flour, granulated sugar and dark brown sugar into a bowl and mix them together.

Once they are combined, you can then add the butter, which is in small pieces. Once all the butter has been added, you can rub it together until the butter has been incorporated and the mixture has become crumblier looking – now you can add in the oats, stir until they have been incorporated.

Remove the crumble from the bowl and place onto a lined baking tray. If your crumble has lumps that are large, use a silicon spatula to break them down into smaller bits. Bake the crumble in the oven until it’s well coloured – around 10-12 minutes.

Now you can start on the cupcake, which is super easy. Take the butter and dark brown sugar and beat together until they are well combined – they’ll be lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Then you can go ahead and add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix that in until it’s fully incorporated.

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 from earlier on.

Add the the plain flour, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon and ground mixed spice along with the freeze dried apple pieces. Mix it all together until everything is combined and there isn’t a trace of a single ingredient.

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

Grab your cupcake tray you lined with cases earlier on and spoon the cupcake mixture into the cases – filling them around 2/3 or 3/4 of the way full. Then you can place them into your preheated oven and bake fr 20-22 minutes (or when a tester comes out clean, when inserted into the centre).

While your cupcakes are in the oven, it’s the ideal time to make buttercream (which is really easy).

Take a mixing bowl and place in the butter and beat that until its lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency (around 5-7 minutes), then you can scrape the bowl down and add in half of your icing sugar – mixing until it has been fully incorporated, then scrape down and repeat with the second half of the icing sugar.

Add in the vanilla extract and mix until its fully incorporated – set aside until you need it later on. I like to place my buttercream into my piping bag, fitted with a nozzle.

Now that everything is made, wash up and have a general clean up. Allowing everything to cool down fully before you use it.

Once everything has been made and has cooled down, you can start to finish the cupcakes off.

I like to start by coring out the centres of my cupcakes using a cupcake corer (feel free to use an apple corer, which works just as well). Then taking a generous teaspoonful of the apple filling and filling the centre of the cupcakes – repeat this for all 6 cupcakes.

On top of the filled cupcakes, you can pipe on your buttercream – you do this however works best for you. I just went with a very straightforward and simple swirl.

While the buttercream is still tacky, you can take spoonfuls of the crumble mix and press it around the edge of the buttercream, ensuring theres a good coating of the crumble.

Then to finish, you can take a small amount of the apple filling and spoon some on top of the cupcakes and you’re done!

Homemade

Footer