Old School

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Hearts

Left a Valentine’s Day treat until the last minute? Don’t you worry, I have you covered!

Today I’ll be sharing my recipe for a batch of chocolate chip shortbread hearts, buttery with the perfect amount of chocolate. Although what’s not to love?

These are ideal to make as a last minute snack or as part of a bigger gift. Feel free to change the chocolate, I went with milk but dark or white would work well too!

If you’re looking for other Valentine’s Day recipes don’t forget go check out macarons (Italian meringue method), pink velvet cupcakes, red velvet cupcakes and chocolate valentines day cake.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

175g Plain flour.

120g Butter.

60g Granulated sugar.

Pinch of salt.

100g Chocolate chips (I opted for milk).

Method:

Before you get into the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Weigh up the ingredients, line a baking tray with parchment paper and get any equipment you may need like a mixing bowl or food processor ready.

When it comes to making the dough, you can do it one of two ways. One will be suing a food processor and the other is by hand, I went with the food processor method for convenience and I have really warm hands, nevertheless, which ever method you choose will work just as well.

Method one (by hand) – into a large mixing bowl, place the flour, salt and butter. In-between your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until they are combined. It will resemble a sand like consistency, this is what you’re looking for.

Add in the granulated sugar and start to form dough, because of making the dough by hand you have the advantage of not over-mixing the dough.

You can then go ahead and add in the chocolate chips and work them into the dough.

Method two (food processor) – into the door processor place the the flour, salt and butter. Then pulse until they have combined and the mixture should have a sandy look about it, this is perfect.

Go ahead and add in the granulated sugar and pulse until the mixture starts to come together, try your best not to let the dough develop too much!

Lightly flour your work surface and transfer the dough onto the floured surface. Add the chocolate chips and briefly work them into the dough, the less you work the dough, the better.

Regardless of the method you chose, you will want to take the dough and get into a thick disk shape, then wrap it in clingfilm and place in the fridge for about an hour.

Once the hour is up, flour your work surface and remove the dough from the fridge. Take your rolling pin and proceed to roll the dough out until its around 1cm in thickness. It’s also the ideal time to preheat your oven to 190˚c/375˚f.

Take a 1.5-2 inch heart cookie cutter and cut out as many as possible from the first roll. I recommend that you only re-roll the dough only once, as after that the dough becomes overworked.

Now you can take your lined baking tray and place the cut outs onto it, I managed to get 15 on my tray but that amount will vary for you. In saying this, my baking tray is just a standard size, yours may be bigger or smaller.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minute or until they start to go a nicely baked colour around the edges.

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.

Sticky Toffee Pudding Tray Bake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Autumn is just around the corner, so why not prepare by making yourself a tray of this sticky toffee pudding tray bake?

This is the perfect recipe to make when you have a little extra time, not loads just enough to make dinner and cake, y’know? It’s a quick tray bake cake, packed with dates and sultanas, then topped with a pecan caramel sauce. You can enjoy this fresh from the oven or the day after, reheated. Either way, it’ll taste good!

The addition of pecans isn’t all that traditional or important but I like the taste and texture they add, so feel free to skip these if you don’t like or can’t have nuts.

Without any further ado, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Sticky Toffee Pudding:

150g Sultanas.

300g Stoned dates, chopped small.

2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda.

50g Butter.

400g Light brown sugar.

4 Eggs.

400g Self raising flour.

Caramel Sauce:

50g Butter.

350ml Double cream.

400g Light brown sugar.

50-100g Pecans.

Method:

Before you get started on any element of the recipe, it’s best to do some prep work first. Start by preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, line your 9×13 baking tray, boil the kettle and weigh up your ingredients.

Start by working on the sticky toffee pudding, place the chopped stoned dates, sultanas and bicarbonate of soda into a small/medium bowl, then pour enough boiling water in to cover the contents of the bowl (You place the fruit and bicarbonate into the water to help soften the skin, making it not so chewy and easier to digest, so it’s an important step. Don’t skip it).

Place the butter and light brown sugar into a mixing bowl and beat until they are combined. They won’t be light and fluffy; the ratios aren’t correct for this to work.

Once combined, add your eggs one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. You will notice that the consistency of the cake batter becomes much more liquid like, this is completely normal.

Next, it’s time to add the flour, but first you’ll want to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, this is to incorporate any bits that haven’t been fully worked in.

Now you can add the flour, passing through a sieve first. Mix in on medium-high speed.

Drain the water out of the fruit and then add the fruit into the mixture and fold/mix it in until its well distributed.

You can then take your cake batter and add it all to the prepared 9×13 cake tray, levelling it out using a small cranked/offset palette knife. Then place into your preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes (or until a tester comes out clean when inserted).

Once the cake has around 5-10 minutes baking remaining, it’s the perfect time to make the caramel sauce. To start on the sauce, you’ll want to get a small-medium saucepan and place in the butter, double cream, light brown sugar and pecans. Place it on the hob over a medium-high heat. Stirring occasionally until everything is melted and started to combine, then you can start stirring continuously until you have a smooth (and nutty sauce).

Once the cake is out the oven, pour over the hot caramel sauce. Spreading it out as best you can using a silicon spatula, you can enjoy this now while it’s warm or enjoy the following day either cold or reheated.

That’s all for this week 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 next week 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!

Bread Pudding/Traditional Bread Pudding

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

I know this may not be for everybody but today I’ll be showing you how to make traditional bread pudding.

My traditional bread pudding contains light brown sugar, eggs, ground mixed spice and ground cinnamon alongside an abundance of dried fruit (currants, raisins, sultanas, mixed peel and glace cherries). This is one of the things whenever I make it, it doesn’t last very long.

You don’t need an awful lot of ingredients and if you have some day old (or stale) bread, you’re ready. Using day old/stale bread allows it to absorb more of the milk, which only makes this taste better- it’s moist.

I got 12 very generous portions from my 9×13 tin, but if you cut it differently, you may get more or less pieces from the bake, depending how you slice it. If you’re using a 9×13 inch tin, make sure its deep sided, otherwise it’s a waste of time.

If you like bread pudding, this recipe might be for you. I know that depending on where you are from in the UK, your take on bread pudding may vary. I’m from Birmingham and traditionally its quite light but mines a little darker from the spices and sugar I use.

Now you’ve got your bowl ready, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

1kg Bread (day old/stale white bread), chopped.

1,200ml Whole milk.

400g Raisins

300g Currants.

300g Sultanas

100g Mixed peel.

100g Glace cherries.

2 tbsp Ground mixed spice.

4 Egg.

280g Light brown sugar (plus additional for sprinkling on top before baking).

Method:

Before you get into making the bread pudding, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by getting your oven preheated to 180˚c/350˚f, weighing up your ingredients and lining your 9×13 inch tray with some parchment/greaseproof.

To start on the actual bread pudding, place all the chopped bread into the largest mixing bowl you have, then add in the milk and combine the two using your hands. It may take about 5-7 minutes to get them well combined, once done it should be quite mushy and sloppy (I know, not the best words to use but it’s honestly what it’s like).

Once that has been achieved, you can then add in the raisins, currants, sultanas, mixed peel, glace cherries and ground mixed spice. Then mmix all of those ingredients in by hand, this doesn’t take too long but you want them to be equally distributed between in the mixture.

Add in all your eggs and light brown sugar, then mix it in again until they are fully worked in and you can’t see a trace of a single ingredient, if you do, continue mixing until you can’t.

Take your lined 9×13 inch cake tin and pour the bread pudding mixture into the tray and level it out so it bakes evenly.

Sprinkle over a small amount of light brown sugar, this is to add a crunchy top, so feel free to leave it out if you don’t want it.

Place into the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes, you will know once it’s done as the top will look perfectly crunchy and will be firm to the touch.

Allow to cool down completely before slicing up, its best enjoyed cold on its own. Well, that’s how I choose to enjoy it personally.

Cornflake Tart Recipe

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for the perfect recipe for a cornflake tart, look no further, I’ve got your back.

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 recipe is my take on the traditional version of a cornflake tart, 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 a cornflake tart is, I’ll give you a quick run down of what exactly it is. It’s a pastry case which is topped with jam (I opted for strawberry, which is what i remember but feel free to use any berry jam) and then topped with cornflakes that have a sugary sweet syrup stirred throughout them. So, it’s 3 simple layers of shortcrust pastry, jam and sweetened cornflakes, you might even have the stuff in to make it!

If you haven’t made your own pastry before, don’t worry. I have a great recipe for my own shortcrust pastry that I use for all of my pie and tart crusts, it’s yet to fail me! Don’t be intimidated by the thought of making pastry, it’s simpler than you’d think. Here is a link to my recipe, it’s got all the information you need to know, along with tips and tricks on how to make this turn out perfect for you each and every time!

Once you’ve made your pastry and allowed it to chill in the fridge, you’ll want to take roughly about half of it and roll it out until it’s about an inch bigger than the tin you’re using, I opted for a disposable 6 inch/15cm tray but feel free to use whatever you have. Once the pastry is rolled out, I then place it in the tray and press it down so it’s in place and then trim away the excess from around the edge, then dock the bottom of the pastry using a fork, this is just to stop the pastry from having air pockets while baking. The final stage before we bake this is to place it in the fridge for around 1 hour, then bake it off at the required temperature. *I only chilled mine for a short period, so the longer you chill it for, the less it will shrink*.

While your pastry case is baking in the oven, it’s best to make the filling. Place the all the ingredients (except for the cornflakes and jam) into a small saucepan and melt them together over a medium heat, stirring well. Once it’s all melted and well combined, the mixture will be a deep orange colour. Pour this mixture over your cornflakes and stir the two together until they are well coat, it doesn’t take very long at all.

Once the pastry case is out the oven, spread a good amount of your jam on top of it, then spoon on your cornflake mixture. I like to add mine gradually so I don’t make a mess, but feel free to do it your own way. once you’ve added all the cornflakes on top of the jam, I like to gently push them down a little, so its more compact. Pop this back in the oven for a few more minutes, just so the cornflakes become more golden brown, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before enjoying.

Ingredients:

Cornflake Filling :
115g Golden syrup.
55g Butter.
20g Granulated sugar.
20g Demerara sugar.
A pinch of salt.
85g Cornflakes.
100-150g Jam (I used strawberry but feel free to use any red berry jam).

Method:

Make your pastry (using my recipe, if you’d like) and allow that to chill in the fridge for 1 hour before use.
After 1 hour, roll out half of the pastry, just until its about 1 inch/2.5cm bigger than the 6 inch tin/tray you’re using.
Press down the pastry into the tin and trim away the excess from the sides. (If your pastry has ripped or torn, fix it at this stage).
Dock the bottom of the pastry, using a fork. This prevents pockets of air forming while the pastry is baking.
Chill in the fridge for around an hour, then bake in your preheated oven at 200˚c/400˚f for 15-20 minutes.
While the pastry is baking, make your cornflake filling. Place the golden syrup, butter, granulated sugar, demerara sugar and a pinch of salt into a small saucepan and place that over a medium heat until everything has melted and come together, stirring well.
Remove the liquid mix from the heat and pour over the cornflakes, stirring well until the cornflakes are all well coated in the syrup mixture.
Once the pastry case has been removed from the oven, spread over a generous amount of jam (I opted for strawberry but feel free to use your preferred flavour) and then spoon on your cornflake mix, pressing it down slightly once all the mix is in the case. Place back in the oven for a following 5-7 minutes (or until the cornflakes are starting to turn a golden brown colour).
Allow to cool completely before you enjoy it, to serve enjoy it on its own or with custard, cream or ice cream.

Don’t forget, if you make anything using my recipes, feel free to share your creations with me over on Twitter and Instagram!

Chocolate Concrete

by bakingwithelliott 3 Comments

If you’re looking for a nostalgic recipe for chocolate concrete, you have come to the right place. I have the recipe that’ll hit the spot!

As mentioned above, this recipe is another recipe that has been around for many years and enjoyed by many people. If you were at school any time between the 1970s and the 2000s, then you should remember this being served at lunch times every now and again. If you remember this, do you remember pink custard? Chocolate concrete and pink custard are a match made in heaven.

I’m not sure if this is a local or national thing, people from (and around) the West Midlands know it as chocolate concrete and others know it as chocolate crunch, whichever you know it as, here is the perfect recipe for you to make at home. If you’re not sure exactly what it is, well… It’s a traybake biscuit x cake, it’s not one or the other, it is it’s own thing. You can enjoy it on it’s own or with a serving of pink custard.

This is probably one of the simplest things to make, like ever. It only requires a few ingredients, minimal mixing and a short time in the oven… Why don’t you make a batch? So, to make the chocolate concrete dough, place all of your ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix until a clear dough has formed. That’s it, seriously it’s that simple. You place that into your 8 inch/20cm square cake tin, bake in the oven at 175˚c/350˚f for 25-30 minutes. While your concrete is cooling down, you can make your custard. It doesn’t take that long to make, you will want to make it just before you intend to serve it. I’ll leave the full method down below, if you’re interested in making them.

Once fully baked and out the oven, you’ll want to scatter a generous amount of sugar on top and allow it to cool completely before you serve it. This is best served either on it’s own or with a generous serving of the pink custard.

Ingredients –

Chocolate Concrete:

445g Plain flour.
1 tsp Baking powder.
50g Cocoa powder.
250g Granulated sugar.
370g Butter.
1 Egg.

Bake at 175˚c/350˚f for 25-30 minutes.

Pink Custard:

200ml Whole milk.
2 Egg yolks.
20-30g Granulated sugar.
1 tsp Vanilla extract/bean paste.
1 tsp Plain flour.
Food gel (to colour).

Method:

Chocolate concrete:

Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, preheating your oven to 175˚c/350˚f and preparing your 8 inch/20cm square tin with greaseproof paper/parchment paper.
Place the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, sugar, butter and egg into your mixing bowl and mix them all together until a clear dough forms.
Once your dough is ready, transfer it from your mixing bowl to your lined tin and press it into all the corners and try and get it as level as possible by pressing it down using a spatula or cup measurement.
Place the tin in your preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and scatter over some granulated sugar and allow to cool completely before cutting.

Pink Custard:

Start by weighing up all the ingredients you will be using to make the custard.
Pour the milk into a medium saucepan and place it onto the hob over a medium heat until it reaches a boil.
In a medium sized bowl, place the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla extract/bean paste and flour and mix until it’s well combined and become one consistent colour.
Once your milk has come to a boil, add a small amount of the milk to your egg mixture and whisk constantly. This is to temper the egg mixture so it doesn’t scramble when you add the remaining milk.
Add the remaining milk and whisk to combine. Once combined transfer the mixture back to the sauce pan.
Add a small amount of colour paste and whisk that in until combined, then return to the heat and stir is with a spatula constantly until the mixture thickens. *please note the custard doesn’t thicken very much, this is because it’s a pouring custard*.

Serving:

Slice your chocolate concrete up into squares or rectangles and enjoy it either on it’s own or with a generous amount of the freshly made pink custard on top and tuck in straight away.

Don’t forget, if you make anything using my recipes, feel free to share your creations with me over on Twitter and Instagram!

Sprinkle Sponge Cake | School Sponge Cake | Old School Traybake

by bakingwithelliott 7 Comments

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

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, 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).

Old School

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