Simple

Easter Oreo Brownies

As part of my Easter collection of recipes, today I’m sharing my recipe for these super easy Easter Oreo brownies.

I’m not sure about you, but when they start releasing all of the Easter themed sweets and chocolates, I’m a sucker for trying them. That’s where I noticed these Oreo filled eggs – similar to a Cadbury’s creme egg but an Oreo filling, which doesn’t taste too bad. If you are looking for these Oreo eggs, you can find them with all of the other easter treats in the supermarket.

The recipe I’m sharing is for my classic brownies, which are quick and easy to make, perfect for when you’re short on time.

When it comes to adding the Oreos and eggs on top, I decided to add mine before they went into the oven. As you can tell, the filling of the eggs coloured and didn’t look the best but tasted absolutely fine. I recommend that you add the biscuits and eggs when there’s about 5-10 minutes remaining on the baking time.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients

280g Butter, melted.

90g Cocoa powder.

450g Granulated white sugar.

4 eggs.

180g Plain flour.

8-10 Oreos, roughly chopped.

Topping:

4-5 Oreo Eggs, quartered.

4-5 Oreos, chopped roughly.

Instructions

Start by doing some prep. Weigh up your ingredients into small bowls, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and line your 9×13 inch baking tray with some parchment/greaseproof paper.

To start on your brownies melt the butter either in a small saucepan over a low/medium heat or in the microwave until its fully melted, either method will work well.

Into the saucepan/bowl melted butter, add the cocoa powder and mix it all together until it’s well combined and smooth in consistency. Transfer the mixture to a bowl if needed.

Now go ahead and add in all of the granulated sugar and mix until they are combined. The texture will change, becoming more granular but this is normal and will change later in the recipe.

Add in your eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. As you incorporate the eggs, the consistency will change to become more liquid-like. Once the eggs have been fully incorporated, add in your vanilla and mix to incorporate.

Into the bowl, add in flour but pass it through a sieve to remove any lumps that may be in the flour and add in the chopped Oreo’s and mix them together until everything is well combined and you can’t see a trace of a single ingredient.

Transfer the brownie batter into your lined 9×13 baking tray and level it out as best you can using a small cranked/offset palette knife (or the back of a spoon will work just as well).

Once level, add your Oreo egg’s and chopped Oreos onto the top of the brownie batter, then place into the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven, seeing as all ovens are different to one another).

Once fully baked, allow to cool down in the baking tray for a while, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Eventually, once they have cooled down, cut your brownies into squares or rectangles and enjoy!

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.

Pineapple Cream Tarts

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

This week I’m sharing a super straightforward recipe for a batch of classic pineapple cream tarts.

These tarts are made up of only 4 different components; starting with the shortcrust pastry, a layer of pineapple jam, freshly whipped cream then a simple icing for the top (and more traditionally, you can add a few green 100’s and 1000’s on top but this is optional).

I’ll be completely honest with you, I hadn’t heard of these before my mom asked me to make them. I had to get her to tell me what they were and did a little bit of research on the internet (which didn’t result to much).

They aren’t that hard to make as all the components are pretty easy to make and with a little time, you’ll have a batch of classic pineapple creams in no time.

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Pineapple Jam:

432g Pineapple pieces, juice drained and reserved.

50g Sugar.

50g Water.

Cook on the hob over a medium-high heat.

Pastry:

1 Egg, large.

90g Granulated sugar.

225g Butter, cold.

375g Plain flour

Pinch of salt.

Once the dough is made, wrap in clingfilm and then chill in the fridge for about an hour, roll out to 5mm thickness then cut out 3 inch rounds and place into your cupcake tin. Bake the off at 180˚c/350˚f for around 25-30 minuets (or until golden brown round the edges).

Cream:

200ml Double cream.

50g Icing sugar.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

Icing:

300g Icing sugar.

Pineapple juice (add a little at a time until you achieve the required thickness).

Yellow food paste (to colour the icing).

Methods:

Before you get into the recipe, you’re best to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all your ingredients, preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and get any equipment you may need, such as a saucepan and wooden spoon as well as a cupcake tin.

Pineapple Jam:

For the “jam”, you’ll obviously need pineapple. Seeing as it was winter when I made this recipe and fresh pineapple wasn’t in season and the one’s available in the supermarket weren’t very nice, so I went with canned/tinned pineapple pieces, these work equally as well.

Take your pineapple pieces and place into a sieve/drainer to separate the pineapple juice from the fruit – don’t discard the juice as you’ll need some later on.

Add the pieces of pineapple into a saucepan and then add in the water and granulated sugar and give a quick mix, then place this onto a medium heat and allow to come to a simmer.

You may notice that the fruit breaks down and this is normal. Once the mixture has become soft and will break when ‘mashed’ with a spoon.

Pour into a jar and allow to cool completely before you intend to use it.

Pastry:

The pastry isn’t exactly hard to make, all you need to do is beat the sugar and egg together, then set it aside until later on.

Into a bowl or food processor place the flour, salt and butter then combine them together by either rubbing the butter into the flour or pulsing them together in a food processor (I went with the food processor method, purely for convenience plus I have warm hands).

Once they are combined, add in the egg/sugar mix and work it into the flour/butter mixture. This will bind the dough together, work them together until almost fully combined then tip out onto a floured surface to knead the pastry together.

You’re looking for a clear dough, with no traces of a single ingredient. Wrap in cling film/plastic wrap then chill in the fridge for around an hour, this is to allow the butter to firm up and the gluten to relax.

After the hour in the fridge, take your dough out of the fridge and chop it roughly in half, keeping half out and rewrapping the other half and placing back in the fridge until you need it later.

Roll out your dough until you’ve achieved 5mm in thickness, once achieved, cut out your circles of pastry for each pie. Use a 3-inch cookie cutter, this gets you the perfect shape/amount for each cup on the cupcake pan.

I made 12 tarts but feel free to make more or less to suit your occasion – bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes (or until golden brown).

Once your pastry cases have baked, you’re best to allow them to cool completely before using.

Cream:

For the whipped cream, start by grabbing a medium size bowl, add in your double cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract and give it all a good whisk together until it’s stiff peaks.

This only takes a couple of minutes, so try not to take it too far otherwise you’ll over whip the mixture and it will have a granular mouthfeel and not look smooth.

Once whipped, place into a piping bag until needed later.

Next you can take your pastry cases and the pineapple jam (which is easiest to handle once it’s in a piping bag, but feel free to use spoons) and place a small amount of the mixture into the base of the case (you can use more pineapple but this will result in a smaller amount of whipped cream).

Then on-top of the pineapple, you can pipe on the whipped cream and level/smooth it off as best you can so you can finish them off.

Icing:

To make the final part of these tarts, you’ll want to get yourself a large bowl and place in the icing sugar and add a small amount of the pineapple juice that you reserved from earlier on and mix.

Then add a small amount of yellow food colouring paste. Add just enough liquid so the mixture is thick enough to flow but will hold its shape when piped on top of each tart. Allow the icing to set, then they are ready to eat.

Valentine’s Day Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you are in need of a cake to make for Valentine’s Day, look no further.

This layer cake is super simple to make and assemble. The cake is made-up of three layers of chocolate sponge cake, which are brushed with simple syrup, then filled and finished with the same Nutella Italian buttercream (which is a smoother and creamier buttercream, less sweet then basic buttercream). The cake is then finished with a white chocolate drip, meringue kisses, chocolate chips, edible glitter and sugar paste hearts.

Of course, you can personalise the cake to suit you or the person you’re giving this too, it’s really up to you. In place of the finishings I used, feel free to us chocolate, fresh fruit and/or flowers.

Before you get into the cake making, you’ll want to do some prep. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and lining your tins, if you decide to.

Once all the prep is done, you can get on with making the cakes.

Place your butter and sugar into your mixing bowl of choice (I opted for my stand mixer, but feel free to use a bowl and a hand mixer) and then beat the two together until they are well combined and have become lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency. Then add in your eggs, one at a time, beating well in between each addition. If you notice your mixture is starting to scramble, don’t worry. You can fix this by adding a small amount of your weighed out flour.

Now that the eggs have been fully worked in, stop the mixer and give the bowl a good scrape down, this is just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on. Then add in your dry ingredients, passing them through a sieve first to remove any lumpy ingredients (cocoa powder can be quite lumpy). Start to incorporate the dry ingredients on a low speed to start and as you see them beginning to incorporate, you can higher the speed from low to medium-high and adding the milk in increments, this is to help with the consistency of the batter (Try not to over-mix the cake batter once the flour is incorporated, otherwise this will result in a tough textured cake).

Divide the cake batter between your 6 inch cake tins, I weigh the cake batter and divide it as equally as I can using digital scales but if you don’t have these type of scales, feel free to eye ball it and roughly estimate the amount in each cake tin. Smooth off the tops of the cake batter in the tins then place on the middle shelf in your preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes (or until a tester comes out clean).

While your cakes are in the oven, you can go ahead and make your Italian buttercream. I personally like this buttercream more than your standard buttercream as it’s smoother, more buttery and less sugary/sweet.

To start the buttercream, get yourself a small saucepan and place in the water and granulated white sugar, then place onto the hob over a medium-high heat until it reaches 121˚c/250˚f. Make sure you keep an eye on the temperature, don’t allow it to go above or below the required. While your sugar and water comes up to heat, place your egg yolks and whole egg into a mixing bowl (if you’re using a stand mixer, use the whisk attachment for the best results) and whisk them together until they are very well combined, you will be able to tell one the volume has increased by 3 or 4 times what it was initially and it will be paler in colour.

Once the sugar and water has come up to temperature, you can then add it into the egg mixture. Turn the speed of your mixer down to low and slowly pour the hot sugar mixture in, try not to get it down the side of the bowl, if possible. Once all of the sugar mixture has been added, turn the speed back up to high and whisk for a few minutes until the mixture has cooled down. You’ll be able to tell when the mixture is cooled enough, by touching the bottom of the bowl with the back of your hand. If it isn’t too hot for you to handle, you can start adding your butter, if it’s too warm, continuing whisking for a couple of minutes. Once the mixture is cooled enough, add the butter a little at a time, whisking in between each addition. Make sure your butter is fully worked in before you stop the mixing process. Give the bowl a quick scrape down, then add in the Nutella and cocoa powder, give a good mix to incorporate. Once they’ve been fully worked in, give the bowl another good scrape down. You can then set the buttercream aside or place in the fridge until you need it later on.

I also recommend making your simple syrup at this stage, as it will give it time to cool completely before using. To make the simple syrup, you’ll want to place equal amounts of granulated white sugar and water into a saucepan and allow it to come to a boil, then remove from the heat and allow to cool before you intend on using it.

Once your cakes are fully baked, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool completely before you try to trim them. Now is the perfect time to wash up all your dishes and utensils that you’ve used.

Once everything has been made and is cool and read to use – you are now ready to assemble the cake. So get all the separate parts ready and grab yourself a cake stand or plate!

Start by getting your layers of cake and level the tops of them using a cake leveller (or a serrated knife works equally as well) and generously simple syrup each layer. Set the layers of cake aside while you prep the stand – to prep the stand you’ll want to get your cake stand/plate of choice, then place a small blob of buttercream and spread it out using a offset spatula and place your first layer on cake onto it and press it into place. Top the layer of cake with a good amount of the buttercream and repeat this with the remaining cake layers. Once all the layers have been sandwiched together, you can give the coat a crumb coat. A crumb coat is a thin coat of icing which locks in all the crumbs so they don’t appear in the final layer of buttercream – once you’ve applied the crumb coat you can then set it in the fridge for a short while, just until it firms up.

Apply the final layer of buttercream and get it as smooth and perfect looking as possible – using a palette knife to spread the icing on and a scraper to smooth and level out the icing (watch the video for a more detailed view on it). You can then make the white chocolate ganache, which will be used for the drips later on. So, the ganache is really easy. Place your double cream into a saucepan over a medium heat and bring almost to a boil, then pour over your white chocolate and allow it to sit for a minute. You can then start to stir it together using a teaspoon or a small spatula until its smooth and has come together, it will have changed colour to a yellow-ish tone but don’t worry, once you add the food paste it will change. I used Wilton christmas red and it came out the perfect tone of pink for my cake but feel free to use pink food paste.

Take a teaspoon of the white chocolate and drip between 1/4 and 1/2 of it down the cake, repeat this all around the cake. For a visual effect, alter the length of the drips by making some longer and other shorter but feel free to make it suit you and your occasion.

To finish the cake, I place a few meringue kisses on top, then pipe some of the remaining chocolate buttercream at the sides of the meringues, then around the remaining exposed edge, I generously sprinkle a mixture of milk and dark chocolate chips and finish those with a sprinkle of edible glitter and for the spaces on the top and side I add a few sugar paste heart cut outs. This is how I opted to finish my cake but feel free to make your cake suit you and your occasion.

I will leave all the ingredients below, for those interested in making this recipe .

Cake:

230g Butter.

300g Granulated white sugar .

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

5 Eggs.

300g Plain flour.

40g Cocoa powder.

2 1/2 tsp Baking powder.

70ml Whole milk.

Buttercream:

250g Granulated white sugar.

65g Water.

70g Egg yolk.

1 small Egg.

500g Butter.

200g Nutella.

25g Cocoa powder.

White chocolate ganache (drip):

100g White chocolate.

100ml Double cream.

Red or pink food colouring paste.

Decoration:

I used meringue kisses (recipe coming soon), chocolate chips, edible glitter and sugar paste hearts but you can use whatever you like.

Mince Pie No-Bake Cheesecake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Are you looking for a no-bake cheesecake with a difference this holiday period?

Look no further, I have you covered. This mincemeat cheesecake is both festive and weird because why not?

If you know me and my baking (or no baking) habits, you’ll know that no-bake cheesecakes are one of my favourite things to make and eat, simply because of how easy they are to make and simple they are to make.

Today’s cheesecake is well… possibly the weirdest flavour combination possible. Mincemeat is somewhat like marmite, you love it or hate it – most people hate it. I like mincemeat and cheesecake so why not have a crossover between the two? Have I taken it too far?

As with all cheesecakes, it’s all about the base. I used a spiced digestive biscuit base, I’m not sure these exist but it’s just a combination of ground spices and digestive biscuits. As usual, you blitz the two together, then add the melted butter and blitz again to combine. You can do this using a food processor or place the biscuits and spices into a food zip bag and use a rolling pin to crush the biscuits, transferring the biscuit crumb into a small bowl, adding in the melted butter and giving it a mix with a spoon or silicon spatula. Use whichever method works best for you.

Transfer the buttery biscuit base into a deep sided 8-inch cake tin, you can line the base if you’d like too. Once all the buttery biscuits are in the tin, you’ll want to press them down as best you can using either a cup measurement or the back of a spoon until its tightly packed into the base of the tin. Place in the fridge and allow to chill in there while you make the cheesecake filling.

To make the cheesecake filling is super easy, into a large bowl place your soft cheese, mincemeat and spices and mix them all together using a whisk. Keep whisking it together until it’s all come together and is well combined, then you can add in your double cream and whisk it into the mixture until it’s become thicker in consistency and can hold it’s own shape.

Place the cheesecake filling on-top of the biscuit base, once it’s all in the tin, try and level it off as best you possibly can using a small offset palette knife or the back of a spoon, once level, set in the fridge and allow to chill for around 6-8 hours (or overnight).

The next day, remove the cheesecake from the tin and place it onto your plate or cake stand of choice, now it’s time to finish/decorate the cheesecake. I kept it simple by piping rosettes of fresh cream all the way around the edge of the cheesecake and place a good amount of mincemeat in the centre but feel free to finish the cheesecake however you like, it’s yours to customisable.

Ingredients:

600g Soft cheese (full fat).

300g Mincemeat.

2 tsp Ground cinnamon.

½ Ground mixed spice.

½ tsp Ground cloves.

300ml double cream

Additional mincemeat.

Methods:

Weigh up all your ingredients and line your tin with parchment paper (if you choose to use it).
To start on your cheesecake, you’ll want to start on the base. Crush your biscuits into crumbs using either a food processor or a rolling pin and a food zip bag.
Melt some butter in a saucepan over a low-medium heat or in the microwave, then add to the biscuit crumbs and mix them together until they are fully worked together.
Transfer the biscuit mixture into the cake tin and press it down using a cup measure or the back of a spoons will work equally as well. Press down the mixture compressing it well.
Start on the cheesecake filling by placing the soft cheese, mincemeat and spices into your mixing bowl of choice and whisk them all together until they are fully incorporated.
Add in all of your double cream and whisk until the mixture is thicker in consistency, if you’re doing this by hand, you’ll notice that the mixture becomes “heavier” to mix.
Once you’ve got the filling thickened, place it on top of the biscuit base and level it off as best you can using a small offset palette knife or the back of a spoon should work as well.
Set the cheesecake in the fridge and allow it to chill there for around 6-8 hours.
The following day, I removed the cheesecake from the cake tin and set it on my plate (feel free to use a cake stand or board, if you’d prefer.
To finish the cheesecake, I pipe rosettes around the edge and fill the centre with mincemeat – this is fully customisable so feel free to make it work for you.

Thank you for checking out my recipe for this (weird) chreesecake recipe – I hope you get to make it soon.

Italian Buttercream

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

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

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

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

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

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Granulated sugar.

125ml Water.

140g Egg yolks.

1 Whole egg.

1000g Butter, at room temperature.

2 tsp Vanilla bean paste/extract

Method:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pumpkin Pie

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s officially autumn! The days are shorter, leaves are falling from the trees and it’s now acceptable to add baking spices to everything possible, including today’s recipe, which is for a pumpkin pie.

Although it may not be the official start of autumn at the start of September, I’m all for embracing the influx of pumpkin and spices because why not? It’s only for a couple of months each year, so sure, gorge yourself on the autumn flavoured goodies!

This is a staple pie for most Americans over thanksgiving but its not so common here in the UK, so making your own is something you have to do. A slice of pumpkin pie with some whipped cream is the perfect treat on a cold evening – trust me.

I’ll be sharing my own pastry recipe along with the pie filling recipe. Whether you’re looking for something new to try or for a recipe that actually works, why not give this a try? It’s all very easy to make and will honestly make the perfect dessert this autumn.

Are you having trouble finding the cans/tins of pumpkin puree, don’t worry, I have a recipe for that! Don’t forget to check out my recipe for pumpkin puree.

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

425g Pumpkin puree.

250g Light brown sugar.

2 Eggs.

30g plain flour.

354ml Evaporated milk.

1 tsp Ground cinnamon.

1/2 tsp Ground ginger.

1/2 tsp Ground nutmeg.

1/4 tsp Ground cloves.

1/2 tsp Salt.

Method:

Before you get started on this recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. I like to start by weighing up all of my ingredients, grabbing any equipment I may need, such as a 9 inch pie dish, spatulas and a large mixing bowl.

For the pastry, I recommend you check out the shortcrust pastry blog post I have, it goes into detail about how to make it.

Once you have the pastry made, you can then go ahead and and roll it out until its around 5mm thick and drape over your 9 inch pie dish. You can then press the pastry into place, trimming away the excess (don’t throw it away).

You can take the excess pastry and use it to make a decorative trim. I used some leaf cutters I bought from eBay, which were the perfect size to fit around the edge of the pie. This is optional and if you’d like, you can leave the edge plain. As for the left over pastry, you can re-roll the pastry into a ball shape, wrap in clingfilm and place in the freezer.

Place your unbaked pastry case into the fridge while you make the pumpkin pie filling – you’ll also want to preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

Into a large mixing bowl, you will want to go ahead and place in the pumpkin puree, light brown sugar, eggs, plain flour, ground spices and salt. Whisk it all together until its combined, it should be smooth and one consistent colour.

Then you can go ahead and add in the evaporated milk and whisk that in until its fully incorporated, this doesn’t take very long but ensure that it’s fully whisked in, otherwise your pie filling will bake streaky looking.

Take the pie case from the fridge and have your pumpkin pie filling to hand. Then you can go ahead and pour the pie filling into the pie case, trying your best not to get any on the trim.

Then you can place in the preheated oven and bake for around 60 minutes, once baked you can test if the pie is done two different ways. The first is to insert a knife into the centre, when removed it should be clean and the second way is to gently jiggle the pie, if the filling doesn’t jiggle, the pie is baked. As the pie is cooling down, sometimes a crack will appear on top of the pie.

Once fully baked, allow to cool fully before you serve and enjoy it.

When it comes to serving this pie, just some freshly whipped cream is needed (perhaps a pinch of pumpkin pie spice on top of the cream). You can enjoy it however you like.

Jam and Coconut Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

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

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

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

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

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cake:

230g Butter.

230g Granulated sugar.

230g Plain flour.

1 tsp Baking powder.

4 Eggs

150g Desiccated coconut.

Milk (only if needed).

Topping –

60-80g Jam (whichever flavour you like)

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

Method:

Before you get started on making this cake, you’re best to do some prep work. Start by lining your 9×13 inch tin with parchment paper, weigh up all of the ingredients, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and get any equipment you may need such as a mixing bowl and spatula.

To start, take a mixing bowl and place in the butter and granulated sugar. Then beat the two together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

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

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

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

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

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

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cold Coffee:

1 – 1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee.

4-5 tbsp Boiling water.

Cupcakes:

175g Butter.

175g Plain flour.

1 tsp Baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

175g Granulated sugar.

3 Eggs.

75g Walnuts, roughly chopped.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

2-3 tbsp of the cold coffee mixture.

Buttercream:

125g Butter.

300g Icing sugar, sifted.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

1-2 tbsp of the cold coffee.

Finish with Walnuts.

Methods:

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

Cold Coffee:

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

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

Cupcakes:

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

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

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

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

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

Buttercream:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Simple

Footer