Old School

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.

Red Velvet Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

This American classic cake is a super simple and straightforward one to make. Today I’m sharing my take on a red velvet cake! I’m not going to try and claim this cake as a traditional version, as it isn’t – it’s my interpretation.

The cake is a staple in most bakeries, cafés and coffee shops. Almost all of them will have this for sale by the slice which is nice but why do that when you can make the cake at home and have fun while doing it?

You may know this cake for being a little different… It uses bicarbonate of soda as the raising agent and has both chocolate and vanilla flavours as well as a bright red cake finished with a thick and creamy cream cheese icing – the perfect combo!

If you like the tangy flavour of the brightly coloured cake partnered with the rich cream cheese icing, this is the cake for you!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cake:

Red Food paste/gel.

20g Cocoa powder.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

125g Butter.

300g Granulated sugar.

3 Eggs.

190g Plain flour.

1/4 tsp Salt.

125ml Buttermilk.

1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda.

1 1/2 tsp White vinegar.

Simple syrup (optional):

100g Granulated sugar.

100ml Water.

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract.

Cream cheese icing:

375g Icing sugar.

70g Butter.

105g Soft cheese.

Methods:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep. I recommend you start by weighing up all of the ingredients, lining the 6 inch round cake tins with some parchment paper (or butter and line them), preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and grab any equipment you may need, such as a mixer, mixing bowl and silicon spatula.

To start on the cake, you’ll want to grab a small mixing bowl and place in the red food colouring gel/paste, vanilla extract and cocoa powder. Mix everything together until you have a dark red thick paste and set aside until you need it later on.

Then in another bowl place the butter and granulated sugar, then beat together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

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.

Now you can take the red cocoa powder mixture you made earlier and add all of it into the mixing bowl and mix on a medium-high speed until the mixture has become a solid red colour.

Add in your eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. Once all of the eggs have been added and are incorporated, you will want to give the bowl a quick scraping down.

Then you can go ahead and add around a third of the flour, mixing that in until its fully incorporated then alternate with the buttermilk until you have none of either left over. One thing to note is that you should start with dry and end with dry.

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

Then you can go ahead and add in the bicarbonate of soda and directly on top add the white vinegar – this should fizzle and react (this is completely normal, it’s a chemical reaction. Fold those two into the cake batter until it’s been fully worked in.

Split the cake batter between your two lined cake tins and place into the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until they are well risen (and a tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre).

While the cakes are in the oven, you can make your simple syrup. To do so, grab a small-medium saucepan and place the sugar, water and vanilla extract, giving them a good mix to combine.

Then place on the hob over a high heat and allow to come to a boil, then simmer for around 1 minute and then remove from the heat and transfer into another bowl/cup to cool down fully.

Now is also the perfect time to make your cream cheese icing!

To start on the cream cheese icing, grab a clean mixing bowl and place in the icing sugar and butter – mix the two together until they come together and the mixture is ‘crumbly’ looking.

Then you can go ahead and add in the soft cheese, start the mixer on a low-medium speed just to allow that cream cheese to incorporate. Once it has been incorporated, crank the speed up to high speed and mix for as long as needed to achieve the perfect consistency – which is when the icing holds its shape. If your cream cheese icing seems a little too thin, add a little more icing sugar and mixing helps to achieve the perfect consistency

Once your icing is made, you can then set that in the fridge until you need it later on.

Now that your cakes are made, you will want to allow them to cool fully before you do anything with them – this gives you time to get washed and cleaned, ready to ice and decorate the cake in a little while.

A couple of hours later, you should be more than ready to finish the cake off. You should start by removing the cakes from the tins and levelling them off but don’t forget to keep the bits you’ve cut off as we will need some of the crumbs later on.

Brush each of the cakes over with the simple syrup on a cooling rack and give them a few minutes.

Take your cake stand/plate/board and spread a small amount of cream cheese icing into the centre of it and place on top your first layer of cake (pressing down slightly to secure in place) and top that with a good amount of the cream cheese icing and then sandwich the second layer of cake on top.

Usually for cake Is like to do a crumb coat but I hardly ever do it with this cake, theres no real reason. I just take my icing and generously slather it on to the sides and top of the cake and roughly smooth it out – it doesn’t have to be perfect. You’ll want to make sure theres enough icing on top to do the swirl… This is commonly seen on a lot of bakery style cakes (its a simple and professional way of finishing the cake).

Then with some of the cake crumbs from earlier on, sprinkle them around the top edge of the cake, like a border of red velvet crumbs.

That’s how I make my red velvet cake – easy right? Why don’t you try it soon – its always a crowd pleaser whenever I make it!

Victoria Sponge Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I’ll be showing you how to make a Victoria sponge cake, it’s a classic. If you’ve baked any cake before, I can almost guarantee that you’ve attempted this at one point or another.

If you haven’t heard or tried this cake before, where have you been? I mean its such a simple and straightforward cake, yet its the perfect cake to make for most occasions – that’s for certain!

You can get one of these cakes made in next to no time at all, well if you follow my recipel. The method used to make this cake is the creaming method, this is where you mix the butter and sugar together until they become lighter and fluffier in consistency, then you add in the eggs and extract followed but your dry ingredients then bake your cakes and allow them to cool. Finish the cakes by sandwiching them together with freshly whipped cream (or buttercream) and your choice of jam – don’t forget the light dusting of icing sugar.

Sound like something you’d like, you’ve got this!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients –

Cake –

200g Butter.

200g Granulated sugar.

1 tsp Vanilla bean paste/extract.

3 Eggs.

200g Plain flour.

1 tsp Baking powder.

Filling –

3-4 tbsp Jam (Strawberry or raspberry work well, but it’s your choice).

200-250ml Double cream, whipped (you can sweeten it with 1/2 – 1 tsp vanilla and 75-100g icing sugar).

Finish –

Icing sugar (to dust).

Method –

Before you start, you’ll want to do some prep work. I recommend starting by weighing up all your ingredients, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and prepare your 6 inch cake tins and get any equipment you may need such as a stand mixer and silicon spatula.

Place your butter and sugar into a mixing bowl of choice and beat them on a medium/high speed until they are well combined and the colour and consistency of the mixture has changed to become lighter and fluffier.

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

Then you can go ahead and add in your eggs, one at a time beating well in-between each addition. You’ll also want to add in the vanilla at this stage.

Once everything is combined, scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl.

Sift in your dry ingredients and fold them in using a spatula (or mix on a low speed) being careful not to overmix the batter when incorporating the dry ingredients – otherwise your cakes won’t have a light and fluffy end result, instead they’ll be tough in texture.

Divide the batter between your two 6-inch cake tins and bake in your preheated oven for 25-30 minutes (or until a tester comes out clean).

When your cakes are baked, allow them to cool in the tins for 10 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Take your double cream and add in the vanilla extract and icing sugar and whisk on a high speed until you reach a stiff peak consistency, this is the ideal consistency. It’s firm enough to support the second layer of cake, without failing and making a mess.

Add your whipped cream onto the cake, I opted to use a piping bag and pipe the cream on but feel free to do it however works for you. Add your jam on top of the cream and sandwich the cakes together. Finish the cake with a light dusting of icing sugar and enjoy.

Tottenham Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

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

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

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

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

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

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cake:

220g Butter.

220g Granulated sugar.

4 Eggs.

220g Plain flour.

1 tsp Baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

Icing:

400g Icing sugar.

50g Raspberry jam, seedless and slightly warmed.

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

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract.

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

Method:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cornflake Tart Recipe | School Cornflake Tart

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

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

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

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

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

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

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Pastry:

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

Cornflake Filing:

230g Golden syrup.

110g Butter.

80g Granulated sugar.

A pinch of salt.

170g Cornflakes.

250-300g Strawberry jam.

Methods:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Biscoff Rice Krispie Treats

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

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

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

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

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

45g Butter.

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

180g Rice Krispies.

50g Biscoff spread.

50g Biscoff biscuits, roughly chopped.

8 Biscoff biscuits.

Method:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Crumpets

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today, I’ll be showing you how to make a batch of crumpets – they’re really easy to make and having all the time in the world, why not knock a batch up?

I was hungry the other day and really wanted crumpets, but it’s not an essential is it? So, I found my old college work books and looked for a recipe. Low and behold, there was a recipe for crumpets! I hadn’t made these since I was in maybe first or second year of college… You’re looking a 6 or 7 years ago (yikes).

Anyway, if you’re not sure what a crumpet is, are you alright? Crumpets (or sometimes known as pikelets. I think this is a regional thing, here in the West Midlands, they are known by both names) are a small yeasted breakfast bread, which is baked on a hot plate (or frying pan). They are instantly recognisable as they have holes all over the top of them, this allows whatever you spread on them to permeate through – salted butter is the way to go with these, it’s a classic.

These are normally pretty readily available in the supermarkets but with the current Covid-19 situation, finding anything is still pretty difficult. That’s why making your own is the best thing to do – plus that way, you know what’s going into your food and it tastes a lot better!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Strong bread flour.

530ml Water, at 37˚c/99˚f.

25g Fresh yeast.

8g Salt.

25g Sugar.

155ml Water, at 37˚c/99˚f.

Method:

Before you get into making these crumpets, you’re best to do some prep work. Start by weighing up your ingredients and getting any equipment you may need, such as a whisk and mixing bowl.

To start own the crumpets, grab yourself a large mixing bowl and into it place the flour and salt. Then give them a good mix until they are combined.

Then you can go ahead and add in the yeast, sugar and 530ml of water. Whisk until a smooth batter forms, this isn’t like other breads as it’s a loose consistency but it’s completely normal.

Once smooth, you can go ahead and cover the bowl with some clingfilm (or like I have, a plastic food bag because I ran out of clingfilm) and leave somewhere warm to ferment for 40-50 minutes.

You will notice that the mixture will have risen well and look a little messy, that’s perfect. The fermenting time is done.

Go ahead and add in the second weight of water, which is 155ml and whisk until the water has been fully incorporated and the batter is perfectly smooth.

The mixture needs between 5-10 minutes to rest, so just leave uncovered on the side while you prepare the frying pan.

Grab yourself a small/medium frying pan and a 10cm/4 inch egg ring/bottomless cake tin. My egg rings weren’t deep sided enough, so made a slightly bigger crumpet using my 4 inch cake tin.

Lightly grease your frying pan and the ring you’re using and place the ring in the drying pan over a medium heat on the hob..

Once the frying pan is preheated, you can go ahead and pour the batter in, filling the ring about 1/3 of the way full as these do rise a little while baking.

You will think nothing is happening at first but as they start to bake, you’ll notice bubbles start to form all on top of the crumpet, thats perfect. This happens over a few minutes, once they are almost done, you should be able to burst a bubble in the centre and it won’t fill back in, if it does, it needs longe.

Once they have done on the one side, remove the ring and flip onto the other side just to colour and finish them off.

Now that it’s done, transfer onto a cooling rack. Although these can be enjoyed while fresh, I preferred to let mine cool fully and then reheat them in the toaster and slather in butter.

From this amount of batter, you should be able to make around 10 generously size crumpets. These are way better than the ones you can buy from the supermarket – let me tell you.

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 Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

Traditional Hot Cross Buns

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Seeing as Easter is just around the corner, why don’t you give these easy hot cross buns a go? I promise, they’ll beat the ones you can buy at the supermarkets.

If you like hot cross buns, this is the recipe for you. Although these are more traditionally eaten on Good Friday, you can get a practice batch or two made so you can serve up the perfect ones when the time comes.

If you don’t know what a hot cross bun is, I’ll give you a brief rundown. They are basically a sweet bun, which is spiced and studded with dried fruit. They are traditionally eaten on Good Friday to celebrate the end of Lent – the cross on top of the bun is to represent the crucifixion of Jesus.

When you consider all of what’s going on in the world at the moment, making a batch of these up to be enjoyed with your friends and family, may just be the best idea, especially if you’re in isolation.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Buns:

500g Strong bread flour.

5g Salt.

50g Fresh yeast.

75g Butter.

75g Granulated sugar.

1 Egg.

175ml Water, warm.

175g Dried fruit.

2-3 tsp Ground mixed spice

Cross paste:

Small amount of flour.

Water (as much as needed).

Method:

Before you get into the baking, it’s best to do some prep. Start by weighing up all your ingredients, getting your equipment such as your mixer ready and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Into your mixing bowl, place the strong bread flour along with the salt and mix the two together until they are well combined.

Next, you can go ahead and add in the yeast, butter, granulated sugar, egg, water and ground mixed spice.

Mix on a low speed until a clear dough has formed. Then you can go ahead and add the dried fruit and mix until it’s fairly distributed into the dough (try not to over mix as it may crush the fruit).

Flour your surface with bread flour and pie the dough a brief knead, then go ahead and round it off and place into an oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm.

Allow the dough to proof for about an hour or until roughly doubled in size. If possible, place the dough somewhere warm, it will help the yeast work.

While you’re waiting for your dough to proof, you can have a little tidy up and wash up the dishes. It will save you time later on plus it doesn’t hurt to be organised.

Once the dough has proofed, flour your surface and knock the dough back. This is simply the process of removing the gases that have built up in the dough during the first proof.

Shape the dough off into a ball shape and weigh it. Take that weight and divide it by 12, so for me it was 90g per bun. Scale off dough off at 90g each (make sure to keep the dough covered, to prevent it skinning over).

Round the balls of dough off, so they are more rounded and bun shaped, if that makes sense. Place onto a standard size baking tray, which has been lined and place them in a 3 across by 4 down format, this way, they’ll batch up a little while baking.

Give the dough room to proof up, so make sure the spacing between the balls of dough is roughly equal. Now is the perfect time to consider preheating your oven to 220˚c/430˚f.

Cover them with some clingfilm and allow to proof up a second time for around 30-45 minutes or until they have proofed up to be touching/batching.

While the buns are proofing, now is the best time to make the cross paste (which is really easy). Into a mixing bowl, place a some bread flour and add a small amount of water and mix until a thick but pliable paste is formed. I recommend adding a little water to start with as you can always add more but can’t take away.

Place the paste into a piping bag, not fitted with a nozzle (you’ll just snip the end off later, once it’s needed.

Once the buns are proofed, remove the clingfilm from on the buns, then you can take your piping bag with the paste in, and cut a small hole in the end. Pipe a line through the centre going horizontally and vertically.

Place the buns into the preheated oven and bake for 14-16 minutes or until they are golden brown.

While they are in the oven baking, you can quickly make the glaze. Into a bowl place equal parts boiling water and honey and give it a mix until combined. You’ll want to have this made just in advance as it goes on the buns while hot.

Now that they are baked, remove from the oven and straightaway brush the glaze over, then allow to cool for 5 minutes on the tray before transferring to a cooling rack to cool fully.

That’s how you make hot cross buns, pretty easy right? with a little time, you can have these Easter favourites homemade. Is there anything better than homemade bread?

So, 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 Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

Traditional Irish Soda Bread

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for a traditional style soda bread, look no further. Today I’m sharing my recipe for a brown soda bread.

There are plenty of varieties when it comes to soda bread, so it’s not a one size fits all kind of situation. You can get soda breads made with white, brown and wholemeal flour and even a mixture – I really think it depends on where you’re from as they have their own variation.

This bread does have a different texture and taste to other breads but thats what makes it special. The other thing to note is that this bread doesn’t contain any yeast but does contain bicarbonate of soda as a leavening agent and the use of buttermilk in place of water – these small differences make the bread unlike many other products.

If you make this loaf, make it in advance. Then you can have a full Irish breakfast and enjoy the bread to help soak up that hangover.

For the wheat bran, take some wholemeal flour and sift it. The bits left over in the sieve are what you’re looking for, keep them in a bowl until needed later on.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Brown bread flour.

20g Wheat bran.

15g Black treacle.

3g Salt.

30g Bicarbonate of soda.

15g Granulated white sugar.

40g Butter or shortening.

390ml Buttermilk, cold.

Method:

Before you get into the making and baking, you’re best to do some prep work. Weigh up all your ingredients, line a baking tray with a piece of parchment paper and get any other equipment ready, like a stand mixer or spatula.

Into your mixing bowl of choice, place the brown flour, salt and butter and mix over a low speed for about 1 minute.

Add in the bicarbonate of soda, black treacle, granulated white sugar and butter milk, then mix on a low-medium speed for 3-4 minutes until a dough forms.

You’ll know the dough is perfectly mixed when it’s similar to scone dough.

Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and give it a brief knead, just to help work the final few bits in. Bring it into a ball shape.

While it’s on the counter top, flatten the ball shape into a disk, turning to keep it as circular as possible.

Place onto a lined baking tray and rearrange the shape if needed.

Now you can cut the dough in either a ‘+’ or ‘x’, cutting all the way through, so this using a plastic or metal scotch scraper.

Dust the top of the loaf with the wheat bran and leave on the counter top for 20 minutes, then you can place the bread in the oven and bake it off at 220˚c/430˚f for 25-30 minutes.

Once baked, the bottom of the bread should sound hollow. Remove from the baking tray and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

Slice the bread into slices and enjoy it on its own with butter or as part of a full Irish breakfast.

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 Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

Iced Buns | Iced Fingers

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you have grew up in the UK at any point, you may recognise these – they are a classic.

Today I’ll be sharing my recipe for iced buns/iced fingers (if you have another name for them, let me know), these are a simple yet classic treat.

It starts with an enriched bread roll, which is topped with a sweet white icing. It’s such a simple yet sweet treat. If you ask you grandparents, parents or other family members, they’ll remember these. It’s almost like they are irresistible – if you want to take them one step further, you could add a spot of jam into the middle of each of them!

Sharing a recipe like this shows you how simple and straight forward these treats are, no fancy equipment is needed and with a little time you can have a nostalgic bake done. If sweet breads aren’t your thing, don’t you worry. In the coming months I’ll have a selection of savoury breads to share with you all!

I really hope you get the chance to make these buns, they are much better than the ones you can buy in the supermarket!

There is one thing I wanted to add into the intro as it does explain something. The day I was making these I had an food delivery booked with a supermarket and just as I was about to place these buns into the oven, I realised there would be more than enough time for these to bake before the delivery slot but with me being me and my luck, the delivery driver came early and my buns baked for a little extra… Moral of the story, manage your time better! 😂

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Bread:

500g White bread flour.

5g Salt.

50g Fresh yeast.

75g Butter.

75g Granulated sugar.

1 Egg.

175ml Water, warmed.

Icing:

400g Icing sugar.

Water or milk, enough to get a consistency which spreads but holds it’s shape.

Method:

Before you get into the baking, make sure to do some prep work. Start by weighing up your ingredients, lining your baking tray with parchment paper and get any other equipment you may need like a mixing bowl or a spatula.

Into your mixing bowl, place the flour and salt and whisk the two until well combined. Then you can go ahead and add in the fresh yeast, butter, granulated sugar, egg and water.

Mix on a low speed for about 1 minutes before working your way up to a medium low until a clear dough forms, which is about 4-5 minutes.

Transfer the dough from the mixing bowl onto a lightly floured surface and give a brief knead until its smooth and elastic. You can then go ahead and place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film and allow it to proof for 45-60 minutes or until roughly doubled in size.

Once the dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl and place onto a lightly floured surface and knock the dough back. This is the process of removing the gasses that have built up in the dough while it was proofing.

Bring it back into a ball shape and weigh the dough, then go ahead and get a total weight, then divide it by 10 – weigh up those individual amounts of dough.

Take the mounds of dough and round them off using your hand and work surface, then roll out into a sausage shape, just big enough to sit two within close proximity on the tray.

Place them all onto the tray and cover with cling film and allow to proof for a second time but this time for 30-45 minutes (or until they can be gently pushed and it springs back out).

When there is about 15 minutes remaining to the second proof, you can preheat your oven to 200˚c/390˚f. When the times right, remove the clingfilm from on top of the proofed dough and then place into your preheated oven and bake off for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown (not like mine but you know, haha).

To make the icing, place the icing sugar into a mixing bowl and add a small amount of water at a time, mixing until it achieves a consistency which allows it to spread but also hold its shape.

Place it into a piping bad and pipe the icing over the buns, now you can control how much or how little icing each bun has.

Allow the icing to harden up a little before you enjoy them!

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 Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

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