Baking with Elliott

Now we are officially in the autumn season, we can enjoy all things spiced and pumpkin – starting today!

I have the easiest pumpkin banana bread ever – like seriously. It’s a flavourful cake with the perfect density and balanced spice, what’s not to like?

I know you may not think of pumpkin and banana together BUT when you combine them and make this easy loaf, you’ll wonder how you haven’t had it before now… I have also added milk chocolate chips, just to add some more flavour, texture and something interesting to it.

When you think about it, banana and chocolate work well together and so do pumpkin and chocolate so when you combine all three of them, in the right balance – you have a winning combination.

As I mentioned earlier, this cake is dense but not in a bad way. It won’t stick to the roof of your mouth or feel heavy. The pumpkin replaced the egg in the recipe, so it stays surprisingly light for a dense cake.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

100g butter.

175g granulated sugar.

100g pumpkin puree.

2 banana, whole or mashed.

225g plain flour.

1 tsp baking powder.

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.

1/2 tsp ground ginger.

1/2 tsp ground mixed spice.

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg.

1/4 tsp ground cloves.

100g milk chocolate chips

Optional –

Top the loaf with chocolate chips and banana chips.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe,e you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up your ingredients, lining a loaf tin with parchment and get any equipment you may need ready, such as a stand mixer and spatula. Preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start on the recipe,e take a mixing bowl and place in the butter and sugar – beat them together until they are combined, they don’t have to be super light and fluffy.

Add in the pumpkin puree and mix until its been worked into the mixture. You may notice the mixture separates, this is normal due to the amount of moisture has been added and incorporated.

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

Add in the flour, spices, baking powder and banana, then mix on a low speed to start with, working your way up to a medium-high speed, just until a clear cake batter forms.

Take the chocolate chips and add them in, folding them in by hand to prevent the mixture from becoming over mixed. Just mix until they are fairly distributed throughout the batter.

Transfer the cake batter into your lined loaf pan and level it out as best you can. Place into the oven on the middle shelf and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre.

Once baked, allow to cool fully.

Slice up 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.

It’s now unofficially the season of all things warm and cosy – these salted caramel cupcakes hit the spot just perfectly!

I know you may be thinking ‘I don’t like salted caramel’ or that its overrated and I get that but I don’t care, I still made these and want to share the joy with you.

Starting with a light brown sugar cupcake (the light brown sugar adds a slightly more caramel flavour), filled with salted caramel, topped with a caramel Italian buttercream and finished with a drizzle of salted caramel chocolate spread, copper star sprinkles and a couple of salted pretzels.

It’s easy to think that these cupcakes could be overly sweet and toothachingly sweet to eat but you’d be wrong. The buttercream is slightly different and is more on the side of a buttery taste and the use of salt in the salted caramel actually helps to cut through the sweetness – which is always welcome. It’s perfectly balanced, which is kind of like finding that sweet and salty.

If these cupcakes sound like your sort of sweet treat, why not give them a try? You won’t regret it – I promise. Even those who don’t really like salted caramel were able to enjoy these cupcakes – so you have nothing to lose!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

175g butter, at room temperature.

175g light brown sugar.

2 eggs.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

175g plain flour.

1 tsp baking powder.

1 tsp salt.

Filling:

Caramel or salted caramel sauce for the filling (whichever you prefer).

Caramel Buttercream:

125g granulated sugar.

30ml water.

35g egg yolks.

1 whole egg.

250g butter, at room temperature.

100g salted caramel sauce.

Decoration:

M&S salted caramel chocolate spread (or something similar).

Copper star sprinkles.

Mini salted pretzels.

Methods:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep. Weigh up all of your ingredients, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and get any equipment you may need ready – such as a stand mixer and spatula.

Start by beating the butter and light brown sugar together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

You can then go ahead and add in the eggs, one at a time beating well in-between addition. Add in the vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated.

Give the bowl and good scrapping down just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully incorporated.

Go ahead and pass the dry ingredients through  a sieve, this will remove any big lumps from the mixture and won’t ruin your final result.

Mix all of the dry ingredients into the batter and mix just until a clear batter has formed – try not to over-mix at this stage, otherwise the cupcakes will have a tough texture.

Transfer the cake batter into the cases, I choose to use a piping bag but you can also use spoons to scoop the mixture in. Ensure they are filled around 3/4 or 2/3 of the way full, then transfer the cupcake tray into the preheated oven and bake for around 20-22 minutes or until well rises (or better, when a tester is inserted into the centre, it comes out clean).

While the cupcakes are baking, its the perfect time to make the buttercream.

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. I also add in the caramel, mixing until its 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.

So, to finish the cupcakes you’ll want to start by coining out a hole in the centre, being careful not to remove all of the centre. Generously fill that with some caramel and repeat the process for all of the holes.

Then pipe your buttercream on top, however you’d like and finish them fully. I like to drizzle over some chocolate salted caramel spread, sprinkle over some copper star sprinkles and add some pretzels – 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.

I don’t know about you but when the end of August comes around, for me personally, it signifies the end of summer and the unofficial start of autumn BUT before we get there, I may as well share the last few summery feeling recipes.

These lemon blueberry rolls are the best thing too make – even when the weather is warm. They’ll go down a real treat, as they’re good to have as a light breakfast, afternoon snack or evening treat – what’s not to like?

It all starts with an enriched dough, which has lemon zest added. Filled with a blueberry jam, rolled up and baked. Topped with a simple vanilla cream cheese and lemon zest – fresh and zesty without being too much.

If you’re fortunate to live somewhere that has a warm climate, then you’ll find your dough will rise easier and quicker than somewhere in a colder climate.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Dough:

500g strong white bread flour.

8g salt.

7g dried yeast.

75g butter.

75g granulated sugar.

1 egg.

175ml water.

zest of two lemons.

Filling:

200-250g blueberry jam (smooth or with bits).

Icing:

86g plain soft cheese.

60g butter.

200g icing sugar.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

Lemon zest (to finish).

Method:

Before you get into any baking, you’ll want to do some prep work first. Weigh up all the ingredients, lightly oil a bowl and get any equipment ready, such as a stand mixer and spatula. When the time comes, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start on the the recipe, you’ll want to start on the bread dough, place the bread flour, salt and lemon zest into a bowl and give it a good mix to incorporate the two together.

You can then go ahead and add in the yeast, butter, sugart, egg and water – then mix everything together on a low speed for 2 minutes, followed by a further 6 minutes on a medium-high speed. Once completely mixed, the dough should be soft, if it’s overly sticky, add a little flour.

Flour the work surface with a generous amount of bread flour and place the dough onto it. Knead the dough until the dough is smooth and elasticated.

Place the dough into the lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl with cling-film and allow to proof/prove for around an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

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

Now the dough has been knocked back, bring the dough into a ball shape and start to roll the dough out using a rolling pin. The dough may resist being rolled out, this shows the gluten has formed, its all good. You’ll want to roll the dough out to roughly 40cm x 60cm – it’ll be rectangular.

Take the blueberry jam and spread it all over the dough, until you have a generous and level amount spread on the dough.

Slice the dough at around 1 inch for each roll – repeat for the remaining dough until you have all if your rolls. Roll up each roll.

Place the rolls into a lined deep sided tray 9×13 inch tray, they should all comfortably fit into this tray.

Cover the tray with cling film and allow to double in size. Prove for around 30-45 minutes – these will batch while baking, this is normal.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown.

While your rolls are baking in the oven, it’s the perfect time to make the cream cheese icing which will top the rolls.

Into your mixing bowl, place the cream cheese and butter – mix together using a spatula or whisk until all of the ingredients have become fully combined – this doesn’t take very long at all.

Once you have been mixing the cream cheese icing for around 2-3 minutes, you should notice that the mixture goes from a yellowish colour to a lighter yellow but more white colour and should be much lighter and fluffier in consistency. Set the cream cheese icing aside until its needed later.

Now that the lemon rolls are baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool down, almost fully before you finish them off.

Once the rolls are almost cooled down, you can start to add the cream cheese icing on to the buns. I start with a little on each and adding more as its needed – add as much as you’d like.

Then to finish the rolls, you’ll want to zest over the zest of a lemon. This is optional but I really like lemon, so why not?

Well, that’s how you make lemon blueberry rolls my way. They are quick and easy to make, which makes them more enjoyable. If you make too many, bake them off, then wrap them with some cling film and place into the freezer. You can keep the rolls in the freeze for up to 3 months, just make fresh cream cheese icing when you take them out.

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.