Baking with Elliott

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Although Autumn hasn’t officially ended quite yet, this is the last pumpkin recipe I’ll sharing this year and the last recipe I’ll be sharing before my annual Christmas series of bakemas starts on December 1st.

These muffins have everything you would need or like about autumn; pumpkin, spices and a warm satisfying feeling while you’re enjoying it.

Starting with a spiced pumpkin muffin batter, which has a tangy cream cheese filling and a little crunch from the pumpkin seeds on the edge. They’re quick, easy and inexpensive to make – perfect if you’re looking to use up any pumpkin puree or just fancy a treat that’s ever so slightly seasonal (although, they can be enjoyed all year round, of course).

The idea for these came around after a friend of mine saw something similar on Instagram and challenged me to replicate them using my own take, so I did. I can’t remember the original videos creator, otherwise I’d have linked it here.

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Muffin batter:

160g granulated sugar.

120ml oil (flavourless and colourless).

2 eggs.

275g pumpkin puree (homemade or store bought).

1 tsp vanilla extract.

400g plain flour.

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda.

1 tsp ground cinnamon.

Cream Cheese Filling:

200g soft cheese (at room temperature).

1 tsp vanilla extract.

1 egg.

20g plain flour.

25g granulated sugar.

Decoration:

Pumpkin seeds.

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 muffin pan with liners, getting any equipment ready (such as a large mixing bowl and whisk) and preheating the oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start, I like to make the cream cheese filling, just so its ready when we need it. To start the cream cheese filling, take a bowl and place in the soft cheese and whisk on its own until slightly lighter in consistency.

Now add in the egg and vanilla extract and whisk until fully incorporated into the mixture. This does change two consistency of the mixture but is completely normal at this stage,

Add in the sugar and flour, whisking well until it has been fully incorporated into the mixture – once made, set the mixture aside, just until you have the muffin batter made.

To make the muffin batter, simply take a large mixing bowl and place in the sugar and oil, whisking very well together until they are combined – this does take a little time but once its achieved the consistency, you’ll be able to notice. The sugar should have dissolved in the oil mixture.

Add in your eggs and whisk incredibly well, this will noticeably change the consistency of the mixture but at this stage, its fine.

Gradually add the pumpkin, whisking well in-between each addition. Once all of the pumpkin has been incorporated, you can add in all of the dry ingredients, folding them in until they are fully incorporated.

Once you have your muffin batter and the soft cheese mixture, you can finish them off. Simply take your lined muffin pan and fill the cases around 2/3 or 3/4 of the way full, repeat until all the cases have been filled. Place the soft cheese mixture into a piping bag and pipe a generous amount into the centre of each muffin.

Take some pumpkin seeds and sprinkle them aprons the outer edge of the muffin, use as many or as few as you’d like.

Place into your preheated oven and bake them for 18-20 minutes (or until a tester comes out clean.

Once out of the oven, allow to cool a little, then enjoy. They’re nice warm but just as enjoyable cold!

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.

Apple Crumble and Custard Bars

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Ingredients:

Base and crumble topping:

190g rolled oats.

220g plain flour.

1/2 tsp baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.

220g butter.

165g light brown sugar.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

Apple Filling:

2-3 medium sized cooking apples.

50g granulated sugar.

Small amount of water.

Creme Patisserie:

250ml Whole milk.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

60g egg yolks.

50g caster sugar.

30g plain flour.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to start by doing some prep. Preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, weigh up all of your ingredients and prepare any equipment you may need, such a large mixing bowl and spatula.

Before you get started on making the crumble or apple elements, you will want to make the creme pat layer which goes in the centre.

To start on the creme pat, simply take a pan and place in the milk, place on the hob. over a medium heat and allow to come almost to a boil. While you wait for that to come to a boil, in a operate bowl place the egg yolks and sugar, whisk them together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency. You can then add in the flour to the egg mixture, whisk until its fully incorporated into the mixture.

Once your egg mixture is done and the milk has come to a boil, simply pour around 1/3 of the milk into the egg mixture and whisk well until fully incorporated. This to help temper the temperature of the picture, if you add all of the hot milk straight in, you will more than likely scramble the mixture. So add your first 1/3 to temper the mixture, then you can go ahead and add the rest steadily as you continuously whisk the mixture.

Transfer the mintier into the pan and place back on the heat over a medium heat and continuously whisk this well, mostly as it will cook out the flour, thicken and happens very quickly. The last thing you want to happen is for it to catch on the bottom.

Now that the creme pat has formed and is thick, transfer into a bowl, covering with clingfilm touching the surface of the creme pat, so a skin doesn’t form. Allow cool fully before you use it.

The apple filling is super simple and tastes so much better than the stuff you can buy elsewhere. Simply peel, core and cut your apples into roughly equal sized pieces and add them into a pan with sugar and water, stir together, then place on the hob over a medium heat, allowing to cook for a little before interacting with the pan again.

The mixture should be broken down, so a apple sauce with chunks and apple still – not smooth at all! Allow to cool fully before you use it.

Start by melting together the butter, light brown sugar and vanilla extract (this can be done in a microwave or in a saucepan on the hob), while thats melting, combine the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

This is really simple but into the dry ingredients, pour the wet and mix until, fully incorporated. All of the oats should be coated in this mixture, they should have taken on a golden brown colour.

Now this is where you need to divide the mixture – into 1/3 and 2/3. The 2/3 is for the base of the apple bars and the other 1/3 is for the crumble topping.

Take a 9×9 inch square baking tin, line it with parchment and place in the 2/3 of crumble mixture, pressing down and spreading into a roughly equal layer. Bake in your preheated oven for 15 minutes

Then remove from the oven and top with the apple filling, spreading until as level as can be, topping that with the creme patisserie, again spreading out as level and possible. Now sprinkle over the 1/3 of the crumble mixture, giving even coverage, then place back into the oven and bake for a further 15-20 minutes (or until the filling is bubbling around the edge)..

Remove from the oven and cool fully before slicing up and enjoying. These can be enjoyed cold or slightly reheated for a more enjoyable crumble bar experience.

Pumpkin, Banana and Chocolate Chip Loaf

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Well, we are officially in November – haven’t the months flown by!

So, today I’m sharing my take on a loaf cake I made by mistake to prevent food waste – which turned out very well and went down a real treat with those who got a slice.

It’s a little much and it sounds like it would be dense as heck but surprisingly, its not – it has the perfect texture for a cake containing banana and pumpkin.

I know, it’s a reach of a pumpkin recipe but with it being autumn and all, I have to make use of the colder and darker days by ensuring you’re getting your fill of pumpkin recipes, otherwise what sort of food blogger would I even be?

If you have some bananas sitting there, just getting freckly and brown, don’t throw them out, use them in this loaf – you won’t regret it!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

100g softened butter.

175g light brown sugar.

1 egg.

2 freckly bananas (or slightly more advanced, browning bananas will also work wonderfully).

100g pumpkin puree.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

225g plain flour.

1 tsp baking powder.

1 tsp ground cinnamon.

1/2 tsp ground ginger.

1/2 tsp ground mixed spice.

100g chocolate chips (for in the cake).

A dash of chocolate chips for the top of the loaf.

Method:

Before you get started on this loaf cake, you can go ahead and do some prep. I like to start by weighing up all of my ingredients, lining my loaf pan, getting any equipment I need and not forgetting to preheat the oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start on the recipe, take a mixing bowl and place in the butter and light brown sugar. Beat the two together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency – this usually takes around 5-7 minutes for me.

Once the mixture is lighter and fluffier, you can give the bowl a good scraping down. This is just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Now you can add in your egg and mix on a medium speed until he egg has been fully incorporated. Now as the mixer is speeding around, you can gradually add in the pumpkin, mixing until its fairly distributed throughout the mixture. Then add in your bananas, in doing this, you may find your cake mixture looks split or curdled – this is normal, especially considering how much moisture has been added to the recipe.

Don’t forget to add in your vanilla extract, mix until its been fully worked into the mixture.

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

Now add in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips, then fold everything together, using a spatula. I prefer this method, especially with this loaf – it prevents me from over-mixing the loaf and it becoming tough textured.

Once you have your cake batter, transfer into your lined loaf pan and level out the cake batter as best as you possibly can. Now take some chocolate chips and sprinkle them all over the top – you can add as many or as few as you’d like – then transfer the loaf pan into the preheated oven and bake for 40-45 minutes (or until a tester comes out clean).

After about 10 minutes, promptly remove the loaf from the pan and allow to cool fully before you attempt to slice it up.

At any time, once the cake has cooled, you can enjoy slices (as thin or as thick as you’d like) with your drink of choice.

Ghosty Brownies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

However you may or may not be celebrating Halloween this year, make sure you have some treats made. Of course, you could play it safe and buy store bought but where is the fun in that?

These Halloween brownies are perfectly festive, they’re sporting standard colours for the season and bets of all, it contains a chocolate ghost on top of each portion – perfect for the day!

The brownies themselves, don’t take too long to make and can be shared with your friends and family as you’re celebrating. If halloween isn’t your thing, it doesn’t mean you can’t have cake, does it? Get a batch made today – otherwise you’ll regret it!

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

210g butter, melted.

340g granulated sugar.

3 eggs.

1.5 tsp vanilla extract.

65g cocoa powder.

150g plain flour.

200g milk chocolate chips.

240g white chocolate/blonde chocolate spread, coloured purple, green and orange.

Method:

Before you start making anything, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up your ingredients, preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and getting any equipment you need ready such as a mixing bowl and a whisk. Don’t forget to line your 9 inch baking pan with parchment paper.

To start on the brownie batter, you’ll want to add your melted butter and cocoa powder sugar into large mixing bowl and whisk the two together until well combined.

Then go ahead and add in the granulated sugar and mix it in until it’s fully incorporated. Give the bowl a good scrape down, this is just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in.

Add your eggs and mix until they are fully incorporated. As the eggs are incorporated, the mixture will become smoother and glossier. You will also want to add in the hazelnut syrup and vanilla extract in at this stage.

After that you can add in the plain flour and chocolate chips, then fold those in using a spatula, this will lower the chances of over mixing the brownie batter. Once your brownie batter is ‘clear’ from any single ingredient, stop mixing.

Go ahead and grab your lined baking tray and transfer the brownie batter directly into it. Spread and level it out as you need, take the coloured chocolate spread and add dollops directly on top of the brownies in random formations, then take a butter knife and swirl the chocolate spread throughout the brownie batter. Then place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, it should be a little more baked around the edges.

Once the brownies are baked, leave them in the tin and place your chocolate ghosts on (you can also sprinkle over some halloween sprinkles but this isn’t needed), pressing slightly into place and let them cool fully. Then place in the fridge overnight, this helps to make the brownies extra dense and easier to cut up – this isn’t essential but really helps.

When you’re ready to slice the brownies up, you can cut them up into however many pieces you wish. I cut mine into squares, that way you get the most out of each brownie – the dense, fudgey and biscuity goodness. The more sweet treats the better – don’t even try to disagree.

Red velvet cheesecake blondies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Halloween is just around the corner, lets celebrate with these blondies.

A little different to the usual blondies, these are better and perhaps a little more festive. They’re bloody red and tasty – what more needs to be said.

You do kind of get the best of both worlds with these blondies, theres a red velvet blondie, swirled with cheesecake, which is delicious and weirdly works well with the blondie.

These are one of the halloween treats I’m making this year but feel free to make them for any other holiday also.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Blondie Batter:

200g white chocolate.

130g butter.

160g granulated sugar.

190g plain flour.

1/2 tsp salt.

3 eggs.

10g cocoa powder.

Red food colouring.

1.5 tsp vanilla extract.

100g white chocolate chips.

Cheesecake swirl:

166g soft cheese, room temperature.

50g granulated sugar.

20g plain flour.

60ml sour cream.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

1 egg.

Method:

Before you get into making the blondies, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, line your 8 inch square tin and preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and get any equipment you intend on using. I recommend colouring your white chocolate spread now, to save time and get the job done.

Into a heatproof bowl, place your butter and white chocolate and melt them over a bain-marie (which is over a medium heat) or in a microwave in 10 second intervals, try your best not to get the mixture too hot. If this happens, the mixture may split.

Once the butter and chocolate are melted, add in your sugar and straight away whisk it in, until it has been fully incorporated.

Now you can add in all of your eggs and vanilla extract and whisk until everything is smooth and the consistency has become looser in consistency.

Add in the cocoa powder, whisk until its fully incorporated. Then you can also add in the red food colouring and whisk until the mixture is red.

Now you can add in all of your eggs and vanilla extract and whisk until everything is smooth and the consistency has become looser in consistency.

Next you can add in the plain flour and salt. Mix until the dry ingredients have been fully incorporated, try your best not to over mix – set aside until needed a little later on.

To make the cheesecake element, take a mixing bowl and add in the soft cheese, whisk to loosen the consistency, then add the other ingredients, gradually.

Take your lined cake tin and pour your blondie batter into the tin and level it out as best you can.

Take dollops of the cheesecake mixture and swirl it though out the blondie batter as much or as little as you’d like.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre

Once they are fully baked, remove from the oven and finish them off. Take pieces of the mini egg chocolate bar and mini eggs and place them on top, pressing them into the blondie. Allow them to cool down fully before you try and remove them from the tin. Once completely cooled down, place the tin into the fridge (this is to help them be as dense and fudgy as possible) overnight or until the following day.

Death by Chocolate Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Halloween is less than a week away, meaning only one thing – halloween baking!

This is one of my favourite times of year, mostly because its autumn and people are celebrating something that isn’t Christmas.

Although this bake isn’t the spookiest, its the darn tastiest – for sure. Consisting of 3 layers of chocolate cake, chocolate creme patisserie layers and a chocolate French buttercream, what’s not to like? Everything is super easy to make, this will certainly make a statement on through taste alone.

This isn’t for the fainthearted, only a true chocoholic would indulge in this cake due to its sheer chocolatey-ness that comes packed in.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cake:

350g butter, at room temperature.

350g granulated sugar.

6 eggs.

300g plain flour.

50g cocoa powder.

2.5 tsp baking powder.

1.5 tsp vanilla extract.

milk, optional (only if needed).

Chocolate creme patisserie:

250ml whole milk.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

60ml egg yolks.

50g granulated sugar.

30g plain flour.

20g cocoa powder.

100g dark chocolate chips.

Chocolate French buttercream:

250g granulated sugar.

62ml water.

70g egg yolks.

500g butter, softened to room temp.

35g cocoa powder.

125g milk/dark chocolate chips, melted and cooled.

Chocolate drip:

150g dark chocolate.

50g milk chocolate.

200ml double cream.

Method:

Before you get started on this recipe, you will want to do some prep. There are multiple elements to make, such as the cake, custard and buttercream – all requiring their own method, it takes time but when assembled and together – is well worth it. I recommend you start by weighing up all of your ingredients, lining your cake tins with parchment paper, getting any equipment you may need, such as a stands mixer, saucepan, whisk and spatula. You will also want to preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚ƒ.

To get started, I like to start with the cakes – this is what takes the longest usually but you can start with any of the elements.

To start on the cakes, take a large mixing bowl and place in the butter and sugar, beating the two together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency (this usually takes around 7-10 minutes depending on your climate and temperature of your ingredients).

Once the butter and sugar mixture is light and fluffy, you can go ahead and start to add the eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. Repeating the process until you have used up all of the eggs. Now is also the perfect time to add in the vanilla extract – mix until its fully worked into the mixture.

Now take the dry ingredients and add them into the bowl, mixing on a low speed to start with, working your way up to a medium-high speed (just until a clear cake batter has formed).

Take the bowl and give it all one good sprang down, this is just to incorporate any of the bits that may not have been fully mixed in from earlier on. Then take the batter and divide it between the cake tins – ideally using a digital scale but by eye will work well if you’re confident. Spread and level out the cake batter as best you can, then place into the oven at 180˚c/350˚f for 30-35 minutes (or until a tester comes out clean, when inserted into the centre).

Anyway, while the cakes are baking in the oven, you can make the chocolate creme pat and chocolate French buttercream, in no particular order.

To make the buttercream, its really simple. I won’t type up the whole method and ingredients on this blog post but you can find them here. The only difference is the addition of cocoa powder and melted chocolate.

For the creme pat, I have a recipe already typed up for it – so check it out here. The only difference is the addition of cocoa powder and melted chocolate.

If you’re using simple syrup on the cake sponges, simply place equal amounts of water and sugar into a saucepan, bring to the boil and then cool fully before intending to use.

Once you have everything made and ready, you can start the assembly of the cake. To start, take a cake stand/board/plate and place a small blob of buttercream into the centre, then place your first layer off cake onto it, pressing down to secure it in place. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the outer edge off the cake (and a thin layer for inside of the ring), then fill in the centre of the ring with the homemade chocolate creme pat. Repeat the process u until all of the layers of cake have been used up.

I then like to pipe the buttercream around the cake, as neatly as possibly but it doesn’t need to be perfect, as when we are smoothing it out, it will fill many of the gaps. Take your scraper and scrape around the edge, until you have a smooth enough finish, this is really up to you but most like quite a neat finish.

Around the bottom edge of the cake, take your sprinkles and make a boarder around, I used halloween sprinkles but you can use whatever you like.

Chill the cake in the fridge for a minimum of 30-45 minutes, it makes the cake easier to work with and less likely to move while decorating.

To help keep things simple, I have decided to make a basic drip, which is where I place my chocolates into a bowl and pour over the hot cream, allow to sit for a moment, then stir until smooth and glossy. Transfer into a piping bag or or squeeze bottle.

Go around the outer upper edge and pipe your drips, a combination of both short and long ones will help enhance the look. Fill in the top of the cake with the remaining ganache, while its still sticky, use the same sprinkles from the bottom of the cake around the top edge and chill in the fridge until firm.

Chill in the fridge for a short while, before slicing. Then you can go ahead and enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Rolls

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

The autumn season may almost be over but it’s not quite there yet… Just before everything gets super festive and holiday themed/flavoured, why not enjoy the pumpkin season for just a little longer?

Today I’m sharing my recipe for a batch of pumpkin spice rolls – these are light and pillowy soft buns, filled with a spiced pumpkin filling (which tastes so good). All in all, if you like cinnamon rolls or similar – this is the recipe for you.

As mentioned above, these rolls are made with an enriched dough, which basically means the dough contains butter and eggs, which help too enrich the dough and make it as soft and pillowy as possible. To increase the tenderness of the bread, I have incorporated some pumpkin puree into the dough – pumpkin is great as acting as a egg replacement but thats not what we are using it for on this occasion, we are using it to further enrich the dough and add another level of tenderness to the bread. It will really show in the end results.

I won’t lie, this has been one of my favourite things to make this far during 2022 – probably because its so closely similar to my favourite baked good, the humble cinnamon roll,

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Bread:

500g strong white bread flour.

8g salt.

10g dried yeast.

75g butter, at room temperature.

75g granulated sugar (you could swap this for brown sugar, if you’d like).

15g milk powder.

1 tsp ground cinnamon.

1 egg.

50g pumpkin puree (homemade or store bought will work well).

100-125ml water.

Filling:

200g light brown sugar.

200g butter.

1-2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice.

Up to 100g pumpkin puree.

Icing:

85g soft cheese.

60g butter.

200g icing sugar.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

Decoration:

Dash of ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.

autumnal themed sprinkles.

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, then getting any equipment I may need such as a stand mixer, mixing bowl and a spatial ready – now is also the perfect time to take your 9×13 inch baking pan and line it with parchment paper.

To start on the bread dough, place the bread flour and salt into a bowl and give it a good mix to incorporate the two together.

Then place the remaining ingredients into the bowl, then mix them all together on a medium-low speed until a dough has formed. The dough should be soft, if it’s 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. This takes around 5-7 minutes, depending on how well mixed it was in the first place.

Place the dough into the lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl with cling-film and allow to proof/prove for around 60 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

While the dough is proving, you can make the filling. Into a bowl, place the butter, light brown sugar and cinnamon into a mixing bowl.

Beat all the ingredients together until they are all well combined, they should come together and form a cinnamony-brown coloured spreadable paste.

Once the dough has completed its first proof/prove, you’ll want to generously flour your worktop 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, onto a floured worktop, 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 is a sign that the gluten has formed, this is a good sign. You’ll want to roll the dough out to roughly 40cm x 60cm.

Take the cinnamon sugar filling and spread it all over the dough, until you have a generous and level amount spread on the dough.

Take the long side of dough (the one nearest you) and start to roll it up. Start by rolling around 2cm of the dough into the first roll and then just continue the rolling until you’ve fully rolled the dough. Make sure that you keep each roll of the dough tight.

Slice the dough at around 1 inch for each roll. Do this for all your rolls.

Place the rolls into a deep sided tray, my first tray I got 6 into it but you may be able to get more-or-less depending on the size of your tray.

Cover the tray/s 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 at 180˚c/350˚f for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

While your cinnamon 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 of choice, place the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract. Beat together on a medium-high speed until all of the ingredients have become fully combined.

Once you have been mixing the cream cheese icing together for around 4-5 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 cinnamon buns are baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool down, almost fully before you finish them off.

Once the cinnamon 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 give them a light dusting of some ground cinnamon. This is optional but I really like cinnamon, so why not?

Well, that’s how you make cinnamon rolls my way. They are (fairly?) quick and easy to make, which makes them that bit 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.

Biscoff Cheesecake Cupcakes

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It may be getting darker earlier and the weather is getting chillier but none of that matters, especially now we are fully into autumn. Don’t let any of that get to you, I have these biscoff cheesecake cupcakes – these will certainly be something worth looking forward to!

I don’t know about you but I love biscoff, its a unique taste but works well with most baked goods – especially in cakes and sponges.

Why I like most is how versatile biscoff spread really is, so the hardest question is whether you use smooth or crunchy (I went with crunchy, after all I have too many jars in the pantry). It all starts with a brown sugar cupcake, which is filled with crunchy biscoff spread, topped with a biscoff cheesecake icing and finished with a glug of smooth biscoff spread and biscoff biscuit – thats enough biscoff, right?

This isn’t the ideal bake for those who don’t like biscoff, as there is basically biscoff in every element of this bake!

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

175g butter.

175g light brown sugar.

2 eggs.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

175g plain flour.

1 tsp baking powder.

50g biscoff crumbs.

Filling:

Biscoff spread.

Cheesecake Icing:

170g soft cheese, at room temperature.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

45g icing sugar.

120ml double cream.

Decoration:

Biscoff spread.

Biscoff sandwich biscuits.

Method:

Before you get started on any element of this recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. I recommend starting by weighing up all of your ingredients, lining your muffin pan with cupcake cases, get any equipment you may need ready, like a stand mixer and spatula – don’t forget to preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start, take a mixing bowl and place in the butter and light brown sugar – beat well together, until light and fluff in colour and consistency (for me, this usually takes around 5-7 minutes, as my ingredients are at room temperature).

Once light and fluffy, you can go ahead and add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well in-between each addition. Repeat the process until you have used up your eggs – this is also the perfect time to add in the vanilla extract.

Now would be the perfect time to give the bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully incorporated.

Add in the dry ingredients, mixing on a medium speed until incorporated, then add in the biscoff crumbs and fold these in until they’re fairly distributed throughout the cake batter.

Take your lined muffin pan, filling each of the cases around 2/3 or 3/4 of the way full, this will allow you to have the perfectly risen cupcake (trust me). Place into your preheated oven and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre.

While the cupcakes are baking, you can make your cheesecake icing – which is really easy and takes no time.

For the biscoff cheesecake icing, simply place all of the ingredients (apart from the double cream) into the mixing bowl, mixing on a medium speed to start, working your way up top a medium-high (everything should be well combined and slightly thickened).

Once you’ve achieved this consistency, you can go ahead and steadily pour in the double cream – continue to whisk on a high speed until the mixture thicken significantly.

Now that you have everything made, fully cooled and ready to use – you can start the assembly and finish process of the cupcakes.

Take your cooled down cupcakes and core out the centre of the cupcakes, then fill the centre with biscoff spread – repeat the process for all of your cupcakes.

Top each cupcake with a generous piping of the biscoff cheesecake icing – used a plain round piping tip but you can use a star nozzle if you choose.

Once you have piped icing onto the cupcakes, simply take some warmed (not hot!) biscoff spread and add a gulp onto each cupcake and finish with a whole biscoff sandwich biscuit, allow to firm and enjoy!

Marshmallow Ghosts

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Halloween is just weeks away, so why not get prepared with your treats with these homemade marshmallow ghosts? They’re quick, easy and great to share with your friends and/or family this Halloween at your celebrations.

Whether or not you like halloween, its just around the corner. So, have you got your carved pumpkins on the door step and pumpkin puree in the pantry or are you like the rest of the world and don’t give a toss?

Either way, these marshmallow ghosts are too good not to make, so get a batch made soon – you won’t regret it, I promise. I know these aren’t suitable for everybody, due to egg and gelatine being used, I haven’t tried alternatives either but feel free to let me now if you try it out.

Anyway, let’s get started. shall we?

Ingredients:

Coating:

35g icing sugar.

35g cornstarch.

Marshmallows:

240g granulated sugar.

150g liquid glucose.

90g water.

5 leaves gelatine.

180ml water.

30ml flavouring.

120g egg whites.

Method:

Before you get started, you’ll want to do some prep. I recommend getting started by weighing up all of your ingredients, double clingfilm lining an 8 inch square cake tin and getting any equipment you may need, such as a saucepan, food thermometer and stand mixer ready.

You’ll also want to make your coating, which is simply combining icing sugar and cornstarch. Store on a plate, intended to be used later on.

To start on the recipe, grab a saucepan and place in the granulated sugar, liquid glucose and water – give them a mix, to roughly combine, then place on the hob over a medium-high heat and allow to come up to 120˚c/248˚ƒ.

While your mixture is coming up to temperature, whisk the egg whites until they reach a foam like consistency – this is before soft peaks just so you know.

Soften the gelatine but adding the 5 leaves of gelatine into the 180ml of water, ensuring they are fully covered and become much more ‘jelly’ like in consistency.

Once your egg whites have whisked up to a foam and the liquid mixture reaches 120˚c/248˚ƒ, you can combine the two.

Turn the speed of your mixer down to low/slow and carefully and steadily pour the boiling mixture over the egg whites until the two are fully added together, then crank the speed up to high and whisk for around 5 minutes, just until you’ve finished the gelatine mix.

Take the softened gelatine and add it into the 30ml of flavouring and gently heat the two together just until they are melted and combined, then you can Lowe the speed on the stand mixer and add in the vanilla gelatine mixture and mix that in over a medium-high speed until its fully incorporated.

Now that the marshmallow mixture is made, transfer the mixture into your lined and coated 8 inch cake pan. Spreading out to help level it all out if needed. Generously dust the top with some of the icing sugar/cornstarch mixture.

Set aside in the fridge or at room temperature for around 8 hours and allow to firm up.

Once you are ready to cut up the marshmallow, I take my ghost cookie cutter and cut out as many ghosts from my marshmallow (eating any left over bits and putting on hot chocolate), insert a ice lolly stick, then dip and coat them in the icing sugar/cornstarch mixture – ensuring good coverage all over.1

Baked Nutella Cheesecake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s been a while since we had a chocolate bake, so, its time to change that! This baked Nutella cheesecake is the perfect treat to make!

If you like the combination of chocolate and hazelnut, this is the bake for you. The cheesecake is a chocolate hazelnut baked cheesecake, a classic buttery biscuit base with a Nutella topping.

This is super easy to make and takes no time to prepare. The longest wait is the baking process and the cooling process (unless you like hot messy cheesecake) – otherwise, this is one of those bakes to make on a lazy morning or a chilly autumn day. A slow baking product but well worth it!

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

160g digestive biscuits.

80g butter, melted.

Filling:

300g soft cheese, at room temperature.

90g granulated sugar.

90g sour cream/natural yogurt.

2 eggs.

50g plain flour.

250-300g Nutella chocolate spread.

Decoration:

Chopped hazelnuts.

Nutella chocolate spread

Method:

So, 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 my 8 inch round cake tin with parchment on the base and sides and getting any equipment I may need ready, such as a food processor, mixing bowl and whisk. Don’t forget to preheat your oven to 160˚c.

To start, you’ll need to make the base (which is really easy). Into a food processor or food plastic bag place the digestive biscuits and blitz/smash the biscuits down into a crumb – which should look similar to sand. Once achieved, you can then go ahead and add in the melted butter and mix until everything is fully combined – the mixture will look more like wet sad, this is what you’re looking for.

Transfer the biscuit mixture into the base of your lined 6 inch round cake tin, which is sat in a bigger tin (incase of any leakages) and compress the mixture into the tin. You’re looking for a level and consistent layer, then place into your preheated oven and bake for around 7-12 minutes.

While the base is baking in the oven, its the ideal time to make the cheesecake filling. Into a mixing bowl, simply place all of your ingredients and whisk together until smooth and combined – being careful not to over-mix, this is due to the flour thats in the mixture. Once you have a smooth and clear mixture, you’re good to stop mixing.

Take the baked base from the oven and pour the cheesecake filling directly on top of it (you don’t need to allow the base to cool before using it). Then Cover the top of the cake tin with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes. While its baking in the oven, try not to open the door as this will; cause the cheesecake to sink in the centre and not appear the best once fully baked.

After the baking time, you can go ahead and remove the foil, the cheesecake should have a little jiggle but nothing major. Allow to cool fully before you intend on slicing up – this will soon get messy if you’re trying to cut this warm.

I like to place my in there fridge overnight, this helps to firm up the filling and make it easier to slice up when it comes to it.

Whenever you’re ready, finish this cheesecake off. Simply warm some Nutella and pour on-top of the cheesecake, spreading to the edges, to finish sprinkle over some chopped hazelnuts. Cut into 6/8 generous portions (or as many as you’d like) and enjoy.

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