Baking with Elliott

Nothing is quite as warm and festive as gingerbread, right? Today I’m sharing my recipe for a gingerbread cake.

It may not be your traditional style of cake but I wanted to still make something gingerbread flavoured and well, this is the end product. This is the perfect alternative to a traditional fruit cake (which many don’t really like).

The cake consists of three layers of gingerbread cake, sandwiched and coated with a spiced vanilla French buttercream. The buttercream is what ties this cake all together, its vanilla but with a slight hint of cinnamon and ginger.

This takes a little time but when its on the christmas table, it will stand out but in the right way.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

450g plain flour.

3 tsp baking powder.

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda.

3 tsp ground ginger.

175g butter.

175g black treacle.

175g golden syrup.

1 egg.

300ml whole milk.

 

Buttercream:

250g light brown sugar.

62ml water.

70g egg yolks.

1 whole egg.

500g butter.

2-3 tsp vanilla extract.

1 tsp ground ginger.

1 tsp ground cinnamon.

 

Decoration:

Blonde chocolate spread – for the drip.

Halo gingerbread sprinkle mix.

 

Method:

To get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. I like to start by weighing up all of my ingredients, lining my 3×6 inch cake tins with parchment paper and get any equipment I may need such as a stand mixer and spatula ready. Don’t forget to preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start on the cake, simply take a saucepan and place in the butter, light brown sugar, black treacle and golden syrup. Place this on the hob on a medium heat and allow the butter to melt, then start stirring this until smooth and melted.

While the saucepan comes does its job, into your mixing bowl, place the plain flour, raising agents and ground ginger. Mix together until they are well combined.

In a separate bowl, add in the milk and egg. Whisk well together until combined – set aside until needed.

Allow the liquid mix in the saucepan top cool for 5-10 minutes before using.

Taker your mixing bowl with he dry ingredients in and start the mixer on a medium speed, then gradually and carefully add in the liquid mix. Mix until everything is well combined.

Now add in your milk and egg mixture and mix together until well combined.

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

Divide the cake batter between the 3 cake tins, I eyeballed it but you can actually measure and weigh to ensure more accuracy.

Bake for the oven for 25-30 minutes (or until a tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake).

While the cakes are in the oven baking, you can go ahead and make the buttercream, which is a French spiced vanilla buttercream.

To get started on the buttercream simply place the light brown sugar and water into a saucepan and mic together until combined. Place on the hob over a medium-high heat, it should reach 121˚c – it takes a little time.

While you’re waiting for the sugar mix to come up to temperature, you can take your mixing bowl and place in the egg yolks and whole egg. Whisk on a high speed, until they are well combined. They should have increased in volume, quite considerably and be much paler in colour.

Once they are both ready, you can go ahead and turn the mixer speed down to low/medium and steadily add in the sugar mix – this is extremely hot. Please be careful while working with it. After it has all been added, crank the speed up to high and whisk until the bottom of the bowl can be touched with he back of your hand.

Now you can touch he bowl, gradually add in the butter, mixing well in-between each addition. As you add the butter towards the end, it should thicken, this is usual with my recipe.

Add in the vanilla extract and mix well, then the ground spices and mix until they have been fully worked in.

Scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl, incorporating any bits that may not have been fully incorporated – set aside into a bowl and chill until needed.

Once you have everything made and ready, you can start the decorating.

Simply take your board/stand/plate and pipe a small amount of buttercream into the centre of it and place the first layer of cake, pressing it down to secure it in place. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the outer edge of the cake, then fill the centre and smooth it out as best as you can, ensuring it’s level. Then repeat the process with the layers of cake, not forgetting to pipe the buttercream around the sides and on top of the cake.

Smooth and level out the buttercream as much as you can, use a small offset palette knife to create a swirl on top of the cake.

Around the bottom edge of the cake, use some of the sprinkles to create a small border that will add colour and dimension.

Chill in the fridge for 10-15 minutes, just to allow it all to firm up a little.

Then warm up some blonde chocolate spread and make a drip all around the top edge, try to make them of varying lengths. On top, around the same edge, pipe rosettes,a s many or as few as you’d like. Don’t forget to top the rosettes with the same sprinkles  and you’re done!

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.

Today I’m sharing my take on a panettone bread and butter pudding. This is the perfect dish to make on Christmas Day evening, it uses leftovers and makes the perfect pudding to share with friends and family on and over the holidays.

As many may be aware, Christmas is the time of indulging and have a good time, which sometimes leads to over buying bits and pieces you may not need and therefore leading to food waste. To prevent this, I make use of the baked goods as best I possibly can. You may remember I made a batch of mini panettone, well I made them with the intentions of making this recipe.

After a long time of people asking for a bread and butter pudding since my bread pudding recipe has been one of the most viewed recipes on my blog since it was published (madness for a recipe that I actually thought wouldn’t do very well).

I like to keep things short and sweet as nobody has time to waste around the holiday season, so why not get this made soon. Its the perfect pudding to make after christmas but keep up the festive spirit.

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

 

Ingredients:

6-8 mini panettone.

Butter (a generous amount to grease pudding bowl and butter the bread).

70g sultanas.

2 tbsp demerara sugar.

1 lemon, zested.

1 tsp ground mixed spice.

3 eggs.

300ml milk.

150ml double cream.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

icing sugar (optional, to dust).

 

Method:

Before you eat started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. I like to start by weighing up all go my ingredients, getting any equipment I may need, greasing my pudding bowl generously with butter and when the item comes, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start on the recipe, take your mini panettone and slice them in half lengthways , repeat the process until you have them all done.

Then take the panettone halves and generously butter them with unsalted butter (use salted butter if you’d like) – set aside until needed later on.

Into a bowl, add the eggs, milk, cream and vanilla extract into a bowl and whisk until everything is fully combined. Set aside until needed a little later on.

Take your buttered pudding bowl and start to layer in your buttered panettone halves into it, not forgetting to add the inclusions (a little with each addition. You will need to make sure there is even coverage all over, any bits left over can be scattered over the top and will work its way in). Repeat the process until you have added everything into the pudding bowl.

Now take the liquid mixture and pour over the top of the panettone, ensuring the tops of the bread have been coated in the mixture. Cover with clingfilm and leave to rest for 60 minutes.

After the resting period, remove the clingfilm, cover with foil and bake in your preheated oven for 40-45 minutes – at the end of the baking period, the mixture should be puffy, this is normal for this recipe.

This is best served fresh from the oven and served with cream or ice cream, whichever you prefer.

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.

 

T’is the season for sharing – so here are some gluten free brownies, perfect for any occasion but even better this Christmas.

I know that having an intolerance or allergy to gluten makes things much harder, especially when trying to find something you’d like that isn’t restricted. I know many places now offer some sort of gluten free option but often its very boring and lacklustre.

These brownies may be simple but trust me, they are perfect to make and share with your friends and family, especially those who can’t consume gluten.

The one thing these brownies have thats different it texture. Due to them being gluten free, the texture isn’t quite the same as a standard brownie, it may feel a little more granular, so not as smooth but this isn’t too badly noticeable.

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

 

Ingredients:

210g butter, melted.

340g granulated sugar.

4 eggs.

1.5 tsp vanilla extract.

65g cocoa powder.

150g gluten free plain flour (my personal favourite is Doves Farm).

200g milk chocolate (chips or roughly chopped bar, plus extra for on top of the brownies).

 

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. I like to start by weighing up all of my ingredients, lining a 9×9 inch square cake tin with parchment and get any equipment I may need. Don’t forget to also preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start on the brownies, place melted butter into a bowl and add in cocoa powder and mix the two together until they are well combined. The mixture should be smooth and glossy – this is what you’re looking for – it should also slightly thicken.

Add in all of the granulated sugar and mix until its been fully incorporated into the mixture – you will notice a change in consistency, it will become much more granular due to the amount of sugar being added at once.

Now you can add in your eggs and vanilla extract, whisk until everything is fully combined. The mixture should have taken on a looser consistency due to the amount of moisture being added – this is fine and what is expected.

Give the bowl a good scraping down – this is just to incorporate any bits that haven’t been fully worked in from earlier on.

Now take the flour and chocolate chips and add them in. Fold them into the wet mix until you have a brownie batter – this should look good enough to eat (but don’t, or do – I can’t tell you what to do).

Take some chocolate chips and scatter them generously on top – more chocolate because what not? You don’t need a reason to add more chocolate to anything. Anyone who says otherwise, shouldn’t be trusted.

Transfer the tin into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until slightly more baked looking around the edges and a little more undone in the centre.

Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool. For the best brownies, cool to room temperature, then cover with clingfilm and chill in the fridge overnight. It enhances the flavour and makes them much easier to slice up.

Whenever you’re ready, slice into as many or as few pieces as you’d like. I like 9 as its a a good amount and they’re generous portions.

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.

Cookies, they’re always a good idea right? Especially these Terry’s white chocolate orange cookies.

I remember when they were released but they couldn’t be found for love or money, so I finally found them with plentiful supply, so thought I’d put them to use with these cookies.

As a cookie should be, its both crispy on the outside and softer in the centre – studded with the roughly chopped chocolate orange and finished with them, its really packed. If you like the recombination of chocolate and orange, these cookies are on the list, for sure.

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

75g butter, at room temperature.

75g light brown sugar.

75g granulated sugar.

1 egg.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

250g plain flour.

1/2 tsp baking powder.

200g terry’s white chocolate orange, roughly chopped (plus extra for on top of the cookies).

 

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, weighing up all of your ingredients, line your baking trays with parchment paper and get ay equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer (with a beater attachment), spatula and ice cream/cookie scoop.

To get started on the cookie dough, take a mixing bowl and place in the butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Then beat them all together until they are well combined. – the mixture should be lighter and fluffier, in colour and consistency.

Once you’ve achieved that 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 incorporated.

Then add the egg, beating well – you will notice the consistency change as you add the eggs in, this is completely normal and you shouldn’t worry about it too much, unless the mixture has scrambled (which it shouldn’t do).

Then go ahead and give the bowl another scraping down, again just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Now add in the plain flour, baking powder and salt, passing them through a sieve first, just to remove any lumps that may be in the dry mix. You can then add in the chocolate orange.

Fold all of the drey ingredients in by hand, this is to achieve the best consistency possible. Try your best not over mix the dough, as it will ruin the texture of the cookies.

As the dough doesn’t need chilling, you can process it straight away. Take your scoop and scoop up a generous amount of the cookie dough, ensuring its’s level with the scoop – then roll it in your hands until its smooth, flatten and fill the centre of the cookies with cranberry sauce then round off and place onto a lined baking tray and bake them off.

When you place the cookies onto the baking trays, allow them to have space around them as they do grow and expand while baking and you ideally don’t want them to batch together.

Once you have your trays filled, you can go ahead and place them into your preheated oven and bake for 18-22 minutes. I recommend checking them at 18 minutes but they may need more time.

Immediately once they are removed from the oven, top each cookie with a 2 segments and allow to firm up.

Although it may be tempting to eat these straight from the oven, allow them to cool to the stage where you can pick them up at least. They are best enjoyed warm or at least reheated!

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.

These mini panettone are super cute and easy to make and they are the perfect thing to make as an alternative to something super sweet.

Panettone is an enriched sweetened bread thats enjoyed over Christmas and New Year, originating in Italy. Although, I’m not Italian and this recipe may not be 100% authentic, its still, the thought that counts.

I have seen panettone become much more popular in the past couple of years, especially in supermarkets, they’re offering various flavours but today I’m sharing a pretty simple and tradition version that only contains orange zest and raisins.

If you’re looking for something that can be made on a lazy day, this is the recipe for you. It takes some time but I promise that in the end it shows and is well worth it.

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

 

Ingredients:

600g strong white bread flour.

6g salt.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

7g dried yeast.

180ml milk.

150g egg.

 

110g caster sugar.

1 egg.

240g butter, at room temperature.

 

1 orange zested.

220g raisins.

 

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. I like to start by weighing up all of my ingredients, getting my cases ready and getting any equipment I may need ready (such as. stand mixer and dough hook). You will also need to preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To get started on the dough, take your mixing bowl and place in the flour and salt and mix the two together. Then you can go ahead and add in the vanilla extract, year, milk and egg.

Mix the ingredients on a low speed to start with for about 2 minutes, followed by 4-6 minutes on a higher speed. Once the dough has formed, you will notice its a tight dough – don’t worry this is normal for this recipe.

Cover the bowl with clingfilm and allow to ferment for 40 minutes (b y the end of that time, it should be well risen).

Just before there end of that time, you can mix together the egg and sugar. Then add that directly into the mixing bowl, on top of the dough and mix until the egg mixture has bene incorporated.

Then start to add your butter, mixing well in-between addition. Repeat the process until all of the butter has gone.

Give the bowl a good scraping down and cover with clingfilm again, then ferment for a further 40 minutes – it will grow considerably in size.

Knock the dough back with a spatula, then add in your orange zest and your raisins and mix until they’re fair;y distributed throughout the dough.

Scale your dough at 100g per ball, then round them off into a much more rounded shape, placing into the cup. Repeat the process for all of them, then cover with clingfilm and allow to prove for 20-30 minutes, the dome of the dough should be pretty level with the top of the case.

Once the have reached that, remove the cling film and generously and carefully brush the tops with egg wash. Place into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. A little longer if they look like they need it.

Enjoy them warm or allow to cool fully – the choice is yours. Keep an eye out for another recipe that uses these very panettone – coming soon!

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.

 

Did you forget all about the dessert for Christmas Day? Fancy something different? This Terry’s white chocolate orange no-bake cheesecake is just the treat to make.

Regardless of how you’re celebrating (if you are at all) Christmas this year, why not have a no-bake treat? I loive this style of cheesecake mostly due to the lack of effort it really requires, a little time, then chilling in the fridge, thats the longest and most important part.

Like most of the no-bake cheesecakes I offer on my blog an d YouTube channel, they all start with a buttery digestive biscuit base, topped with a super smooth and creamy no-bake cheesecake and finished with freshly whipped cream rosettes and white chocolate orange segments.

Does this sound like your sort of treat? Why not make it? You probably have most of the ingredients to hand too.

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

 

Ingredients:

Base:

250g digestive biscuits.

100g melted butter.

 

Cheesecake Filling:

600g soft cheese.

100g icing sugar.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

1 tsp orange paste.

200g white chocolate orange.

300ml double cream.

 

Topping and decoration:

300ml double cream.

50g icing sugar.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

White chocolate orange segments (as many or few as you’d like).

 

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, grabbing your 8 inch round cake pan and grab any equipment you may need such as a hand mixer and mixing bowl/stand mixer and bowl.

To start on the recipe, you’ll want to work on the base. Take your biscuits and crush them into a fine crumb, it should resemble sand – I used a food processor but feel free to place the biscuits into a food safe bag and crush them until you get a sand like consistency.

Now add the melted butter and combine the two until they are fully incorporated – you’ll know once they are combined as the mixture will now resemble wet sand.

To make the filling, place the soft cheese and icing sugar into a mixing bowl and beat together until well combined. Add in the vanilla extract and or sage paste into a bowl and beat until they are fully incorporated. Now add in the white chocolate and whisk until fully incorporated. Finally add in all of the double cream and whisk well until he mixture holds its shape, very well.

All of the ingredients should be well combined and the mixture should be pretty thick – being able to hold its shape.

Take your base and top it with the cheesecake chilling, spread and levelling it out as best as you can. Then place into the fridge and chill for 6-8 hours or even better, overnight!

When you intend on serving, you’ll want to finish the cheesecake off. Simply make some sweetened whipped cream for on top.

Into a mixing bowl. place double cream, icing sugar and vanilla and whisk on a high speed until the mixture reaches stiff peaks but not anymore, otherwise it may become unpleasant in texture.

Pipe as many or as few rosettes on top of the cheesecake, I went with 8 generous portions. Top each rosette with a segment of white chocolate orange and set bar in the fridge until needed – consume within 24 hours (due to fresh cream being highly perishable).

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.

Christmas is quickly approaching, so why not get into the Christmas spirit even sooner by making these candy cane cupcakes.

We’re a full week into bakemas already – I can’t believe it! I know that cupcakes aren’t as fashionable as they once were but hey, its Christmas and its the perfect way to enjoy cake, sharing it fairly.

These cupcakes were a last minute bake, I found the candy canes in my Christmas treat box, so thought id make a batch of cupcakes with them. They’re a chocolate and peppermint cupcake, topped with a peppermint and vanilla swirled buttercream, finished with festive sprinkles and a mini candy cane.

I won’t lie, these are by far one of the more festive things I have made this year and they all got consumed pretty quickly!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

 

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

175g butter, at room temperature.

175g granulated sugar.

2 eggs.

1.5 tsp peppermint extract.

150g plain flour.

25g cocoa powder.

1 tsp baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

Milk (1 tablespoon at a time, if needed).

 

Buttercream:

125g granulated sugar.

31ml water.

35g egg yolk.

1 whole egg.

250g butter, at room temperature.

1-2 tsp peppermint extract.

1.5 tsp vanilla extract.

Red and white food colouring.

 

Decoration:

Festive sprinkles.

Mini candy canes.

Method:

Before you get started on any element of the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. I like to start by weighing up all of my ingredients, lining a muffin pan with festive cupcake cases, getting any equipment you need, such as a stand mixer and preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To get started on the cake batter, you’ll want to take a mixing bowl and place in the butter and sugar. Beat the two together until hey are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency – mix on a medium-high speed.

Once you’ve achieved the consistency you’d lie, you can add in your eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. Repeat the process until you have used all the eggs, also don’t forget to add in the extracts.

Give the bowl a good scraping down, to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in earlier on. Mix on a low speed to start, working up to a medium-high. You may need to add a tablespoon of milk at a time to achieve the perfect consistency.

Transfer the cake batter into the cupcakes cases and fill them about 2/3 of the way full and then place into the preheated oven and bae for 20-22 minutes.

While the cupcakes are in the oven baking, you can work on the buttercream.

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.

Split the buttercream and colour one hand red and the other red. Into the red, add peppermint extract and into the white, add vanilla extract.

Alternate blobs into the piping bag (fitted with your nozzle of choice.

Once the cupcakes are baked and cooled, you can go ahead and finish the cupcakes off. Simply pipe your rosettes on top of the cupcakes, sprinkle over as many or as you’d like. Finish each cupcake with a mini candy cane on top of each!

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.