Traditional

New York Cheesecake | Baked Cheesecake

Well… The time has come to finally make a cheesecake but not just any cheesecake, it’s not even a no-bake – it’s a baked version.

Rich, creamy and indulgent, this cheesecake is the perfect treat to make for a special occasion or just for when you fancy a sweet treat. It’s not overly sweet, it’s sweet, tangy and rich all at once.

If you have tried a baked cheesecake from somewhere before, you will know how good it tastes but it always seems a lot of effort but actually, it’s not. It only requires simple ingredients and some time and you’ll have this delicious homemade baked cheesecake – better than what you can buy in the supermarkets and some bakeries (let’s be honest).

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Base:

250g digestive biscuits.

100g melted butter.

Cheesecake Filling:

500g soft cheese, at room temperature.

150g granulated sugar.

50g plain flour.

175g sour cream.

2-3 tsp vanilla extract.

3 eggs.

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 8 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 10-15 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 60 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 60 minutes 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 play 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, cut into 8 generous portions (or as many as you’d like) and enjoy. I ate mine plain but you could add fruit, sauces or spreads on the top for even more indulgence.

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.

Opera Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I’m sharing my take on a opera cake – this is a classic French bake which is known for its many layers.

I won’t lie, this is a recipe I thought I’d never make again, especially after the nightmare I had with it at college. I found my old college recipe book and it has a few different recipe, including some patisserie – so this month I’ll be sharing some of the recipe I learnt and made at college, including this one.

This cake is a little different as it has multiple layers which are consistent and level – not always easy but when done right, it looks perfect. The flavours that this cake is composed of are chocolate and coffee, which compliment each other perfectly!

If you have never heard of this cake before, I’ll give you a quick run down. It had layers of jaconde sponge (almond based sponge cake), soaked with a coffee simple syrup, sandwiched with coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache. Then finished with a chocolate glaze – what’s not to like about this? Especially if you’re a fan of both coffee and chocolate.

In this recipe, I used dark chocolate from the lovely people over at Cocoarunners. Here are a few more products they offer as part of their baking and cooking range – cocoa powder, milk chocolate, unsweetened, nibs and make your own chocolate bar.

If this sounds like your sort of recipe, then why don’t you give this a go… You’ll like it. It’s well worth the time.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Jaconde sponge:

6 eggs, separated.

250g granulated sugar.

125g ground almonds.

125g plain flour.

Coffee buttercream:

250g granulated sugar.

75ml water.

2 tbsp instant coffee.

75g egg yolks.

1 whole egg.

Coffee simple syrup:

250g sugar.

250ml water.

1 tbsp instant coffee.

Chocolate ganache:

100g dark chocolate.

100ml double cream.

Chocolate glaze:

75g dark chocolate.

45ml double cream.

1 tbsp instant coffee.

6g granulated sugar.

5ml liquid glucose.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Weigh up all of your ingredients, line a your 8 inch baking tin with parchment paper and get any equipment you need, such as a stand mixer and mixing bowls. Don’t forget to preheat your oven to 200˚c/390˚f

To start on the recipe, you’ll want to begin by starting on the layers of sponge. I used the same cake tin 4 times over, as I don’t have 4x 8 inch cake tins, but work with what you have.

Into a mixing bowl, place the egg yolks with half of the granulated sugar and whisk until its lighter, fluffier and doubled in volume. This probably takes the longest, so you will want to get this started and you can continue with the other elements.

Grab another clean mixing bowl, place in the egg whites and whisk until they reach a frothy consistency, then slowly add in the granulated sugar. By the time the sugar has been fully incorporated, the meringue should be smooth, glossy and hold its shape.

Now take the ground almonds and plain flour and soft them together, discarding any bits thats get left in the sieve – repeat this a further 2 times, so you have sieved the dry mixture a total of 3 times. This helps to remove as many of the lumps in the dry mixture as possible.

Now you had the egg yolk mixture, meringue and dry mixture, you’re good to finish up the jaconde sponge. Start by taking the meringue by adding around a 1/3 of the mixture and gently folding it in, being careful not to knock out too much of the air. Repeat with the remaining mixture, only adding 1/3 at a time and incorporating until fully incorporated.

It’s the same process with the dry mixture, so add around 1/3 of the dry into the other mixture and gently fold it in, until its fully incorporated. Try your best not to knock the air from the batter, otherwise your cake will have no rise and not bake correctly.

Place the layers of cake into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Repeat this process with the other remaining layers of sponge.

Once all your layers of cake have been made, you can make the buttercream (which is super easy to do).

Into a saucepan, place the sugar, water and instant coffee and place on the hob and bring to 121˚c/250˚f.

While you wait for your liquid mix to come to temperature, into a mixing bowl place the egg yolks and whole egg, then whisk until lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Once your liquid mix reaches the required temperature and your egg mixture has achieved the required consistency, you can go ahead and add the boiling liquid mixture into the egg mix over a low speed, then crank the speed up to high once it’s been added. Keep whisking until you’re able to touch the bottom of the bowl with the back of your hand.

Whenever you reach that point, you can then start adding the butter, just few chunks at a time, until incorporated. Repeat this process with the remaining butter until you have none left – if you notice the buttercream starts to look loose, don’t worry, this can happy. Continue to whisk on a high speed and add the butter, this will fix itself as its worked.

Whisk until you have a smooth beige coloured buttercream. Once made, transfer into a suitably sized bowl and place into the fridge until needed.

While you have a little spare time, it’s the perfect time to make the coffee simple syrup. Into a small saucepan, place the water, granulated sugar and instant coffee, give it all a mix and then place on the hob over a medium heat and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, remove from the heat and allow to cool fully before you use it.

The ganache is the second from last element you will need to make, which is perfect and super easy. Into a bowl, place your chocolate and set aside until needed a little late on. Then into a saucepan place your cream into a small saucepan and place on the hob over a medium head and allow to almost reach a boil.

Once your cream reaches a boil, pour over your chocolate, ensuring the chocolate is fully submerged in the hot cream. Allow it to sit for 60-90 seconds, then stir until you have a smooth and glossy ganache. This can be made in advance and gently reheated, if it’s not spreadable.

The final element to make is the chocolate glaze – which is just as easy as any other component. You will want to make the just as you’re finished assembling the cake.

To make the glaze, melt the chocolate and allow to cool a little, until it’s thickened slightly. Into a small saucepan place the double cream, granulated sugar, glucose and coffee, mix together and place on the hob until it almost reaches the boil.

Once it reaches a boil, add in the chocolate and mix together until you have a smooth and glossy chocolate mixture.

Assembly:

The first stage is to ensure you have your cake, buttercream and ganache made, ready to do the main assembly – ensure you have your palette knives ready.

The stage I missed out of the recipe that you would see on a more standard version. of the recipe is brushing the bottom of the bottom layer with melted chocolate.

Brush the first layer of cake with a generous coating of the coffee simple syrup, then top with a generous amount of buttercream, roughly the same thickness of the sponge.

Then place into a cake tin and get ready to finish the assembly.

Take the next layer of sponge and brush generously with the coffee simple syrup – top this with the ganache (which should be perfectly spreadable, not too thick or runny). Spread it out until you have a level layer of chocolate ganache. Place this into the cake tin, on top of the cake topped with buttercream, pressing down a little to secure it in place.

Take the next layer of cake and repeat the process of generously brushing over the coffee simple syrup. Top this with another generous amount of buttercream and place on top of the cake with chocolate ganache.

Then take the final layer of cake and brush one side of the cake generously with the coffee simple syrup and then flip this, so the coffee side is on the underside. Press down a little to secure it in place, then place in the fridge and allow to firm up for around 30-45 minutes.

Once your cake has had time to chill in the fridge, make the chocolate glaze and then pour it directly over the top of cake and then spread it out and level it out until you have a smooth and level layer of chocolate glaze.

Place back in the fridge just to firm up – it will make it easy to trim later on. When ready, trim the sides, to get rid of the rough looking sides. Slice up and as an optional finish, pipe the word ‘Opera’ on top of each slice.

Vegan White Bread

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

This loaf is honestly one of the easiest breads to make. You only need a handful of ingredients, some time and a loaf tin… That’s all you need.

I don’t know where you are in the world but here in the UK we are in the third national lockdown and much like during the other lockdowns, there isn’t a lot to do. So why don’t you make a loaf of bread? It’s the perfect way to make a few hours pass and enjoy freshly baked homemade bread – it’s really a win-win!

I’ll be honest, this is probably the easiest bread recipe I’ll share. This was actually the exact same recipe I made in my first bread practice class at college back in 2013… It’s a trusted recipe that works without fail.

This is the final bread recipe I’ll be sharing during veganuary and for the foreseeable.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Strong white bread flour.

8g Salt.

10g Fresh yeast.

10g Vegan Butter/White shortening (Trex or Crisco works well).

300ml Water, warmed (blood temperature).

Methods:

Before you get into making this loaf of bread, you’ll want to do some simple preparation. Start by weighing up all your ingredients, grabbing your load tin and getting any other bits of equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer.

Into your mixing bowl, place the flour and salt and give them a brief mix, just to incorporate them.

Then you can go ahead and add in the fresh yeast, white shortening and water and start the mixer on a low speed to start and mix for approx 2 minutes, then crank the speed up to a medium-low and mix for a further 6 minutes and by this point the dough should be smooth and leave the bowl almost perfectly clean.

Give the dough a brief knead on a lightly floured surface, just bring the dough into a smooth ball.

You can then transfer the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and then cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave somewhere warm to proof for around an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Once the dough has finished its first proofing period, you can lightly flour a work surface and place the dough directly onto it. Push the dough to remove the gasses that have built up during the first proof.

Next, you’ll want to bring the dough back into a ball shape, then you can roll it out slightly into a fat sausage shape (only roll it out to the size of your loaf pan). Once you’ve done that, you can go ahead and loosely cover the dough with some clingfilm and leave to proof for about 30-45 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

While the dough is proofing for the second time, you can go ahead and preheat your oven to 230˚c/445˚f.

Once the dough has finished its second proof, you can go ahead and remove the clingfilm from the top of the dough. Place it in the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the bread has become well coloured.

To check if the bread is fully baked, turn it out of the loaf pan and tap the bottom. When you tap the bottom, it should sound hollow. If it doesn’t, place it back in the oven to bake for a little longer.

Otherwise, you’re done! If you can resist cutting into the bread while its warm, wait until its fully cooled down and then enjoy it as if it were a loaf of normal bread.

Vegan Shortbread

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Whenever we start the year, I like to keep the recipes simple. January is usually the month where most people have indulged a little too much, spent most of their wages and want everything simple – so that’s what I’m, doing today.

Keeping things as simple as can be, I’m sharing the best recipe for a batch of vegan shortbread. If you have ever attempted baking at some point in your life, you have probably attempted shortbread… It’s super easy but it’s really easy to get it wrong. That’s why I’m sharing my foolproof vegan shortbread recipe.

It’s going to sound super strange but these shortbread has a very rich ‘buttery’ flavour, this is easy to achieve when you use a good quality plant based vegan spread. I gave these to family members in my social bubble and they didn’t even realise they were vegan.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

175g plain flour.

Pinch of salt.

120g vegan baking spread.

60g granulated sugar.

Additional granulated/caster sugar.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Weigh all of your ingredients up, line a baking tray with parchment paper and get any equipment you may need ready, such as a a food processor.

Take the bowl of the food processor (or a bowl) and place in the flour and salt, then mix until combined.

Add in the vegan spread (which should be cold) and incorporate this just until its fully incorporated, it may start clumping together but you don’t want it to form a dough – if that happens, scrap the mess and restart again.

Add in the granulated sugar and incorporate it until the mixture starts clumping together, it should still look crumbly – this normal.

Place onto a lightly floured surface and briefly knead it all together, just until a dough forms. You don’t want to over mix the dough as this will result in a touch textured biscuits, which isn’t what you want.

Bring the dough back into a fat sausage shape and wrap in clingfilm, then place it in the fridge and chill for at least an hour (the dough should be firm).

Once the end of the chilling time is approaching, you can go ahead and the

When the dough has chilled, cut the dough into 10-12 rounds and place onto your lined baking tray and then bake in your preheated oven for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.

As soon as they are out of the oven, sprinkle over a dash of granulated/caster sugar and then allow to cool fully before you enjoy them.

Easiest Chocolate Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s bakemas 2020!

If it’s your first bakemas here, welcome. It is my annual mini-series in which I show you how to make a various Christmas themed baked goods – perfect if you want to impress your family and/or friends or if you’re hosting a festive get together.

I’m sharing the easiest chocolate cake recipe, like ever. Seriously, this is my go-to recipe whenever I’m making a chocolate cake.

Whenever I get the chance to make a chocolate cake, this is my go to recipe. It’s a simple and straightforward recipe, that only requires very simple ingredients and is the very recipe I have been using for the past 8 years – so I know it works well!

When it comes to making a basic cake, using the best quality products make the cake even better… That’s a fact! That’s why I’m using Cocoa Runners cocoa powder (it is now my favourite cocoa powder).

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cake:

250g butter, room temp.

250g granulated sugar.

4 eggs.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

220g plain flour.

30g cocoa powder.

1 tsp baking pwoder.

up to 50ml milk.

Buttercream:

225g butter, room temp.

450g icing sugar.

30g cocoa powder.

boiling water.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

Simple syrup:

100ml water.

100g granulated sugar.

1/2 – 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Filling (optional):

caramel.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, lining your 6 inch cake tins with parchment paper, preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and grab any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer and spatulas.

To start, I like making the cake (as this takes the longest). Grab 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 – I find around 7-10 minutes on a high speed works well.

Give the bowl a good scraping down and then add in your eggs, one at a time, beating well in between each addition. You will notice the mixture change in consistency – this is normal.

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

Into a sift, add the plain flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Then sift directly into the bowl and mix on a low speed until the ingredients start to incorporate, then you can add in some milk – this is just to help achieve the perfect consistency. Try your best just to mix all of the ingredients in without over mixing the cake batter.

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

Then transfer into your line 6 inch cake tins, split it equally (or as equally as possible) and level it out. This is to ensure even baking while in the oven – place into your preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes to until tester when inserted into the centre.

While the cakes are in the oven baking, its the perfect time to make make the buttercream and simple syrup.

The simple syrup is super simple to make. Into a pan, place the water, sugar and vanilla extract and whisk together. Then you can place on the hob, over a high heat and allow to come to a boil and then remove from the heat and transfer into a smaller jar/container and allow to cool fully before using.

To make the buttercream, start on the chocolate mixture. Place cocoa powder and and boiling water into a bowl and whisk until a liquid mixture forms, then leave to cool while you continue with the next stage.

Grab a mixing bowl and place in the butter. Then beat the butter on its own until it reaches a lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency – this is usually achieved in around 7-10 minutes (depending on the speed and softness of the butter).

Once you’ve achieved the right consistency, you can go ahead and add in half of the icing sugar and mix on a low speed to start, working your way up to a medium-high speed until the sugar has been fully incorporated – then give the bowl a good scraping down and repeat the process with the remaining icing sugar.

Then go ahead over a low speed, you can continue to add the cocoa mixture you made at the start. Mix until everything has been incorporated and the mixture looks fantastically chocolatey.

Give the bowl one final scrape down and then set aside until you need it later on.

Whenever you want to assemble, take the cakes and remove them from the tins and level them off using a knife or a cake leveller (keep the scraps, we’ll need them later on).

For this cake, I halved my cake layers so I had 4 layers in total.

With the cake layers, you’ll want to generously brush them over with the simple syrup.

Take your board/stand/plate and smear a small amount of buttercream into the centre and place down your first layer of cake (pressing down to secure) and add a small amount of buttercream and spread it out until you have a consistent level – don’t forget, as an optional filling, you can add and spread a small amount of caramel into the centre. Repeat this with the remaining layers of cake.

Then apply a crumb coat of buttercream, this is just a thin layer of buttercream to lock in those pesky crumbs. Smooth it out as best you can, then place in the fridge for 30-45 minutes or until the buttercream is firm to the touch.

Whenever you’re ready, apply the final layer of icing and smooth out the sides as best you can, leaving it a little more untidy on top. Using a small cranked palette knife, you can go ahead and make the swirl on top. To do this, slightly dig the palette knife into the buttercream on the outer edge, swirling the cake around on the turntable, taking the swirl into the centre.

Then to finish, simply take some chocolate sprinkles and apply them around the bottom edge, to add a flair of colour and to hide any imperfections. Then to the out edge on top of the cake, you can sprinkle some of the cake crumbs (which have been crumbled into a fine consistency) – use as much or as little as you’d like.

Then place back into the fridge until the buttercream has firmed up.

Whenever you need the cake, you can slice it up and enjoy!

Iced Fruit Cake Slices

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s bakemas 2020!

Today’s recipe is for a really simple iced fruit cake slice – this way you’re having the element of a fruit cake without having a whole fruit cake this is the perfect treat to make and give to friends and family wrapped up as a present or just to share with them, as it tis the season to share.

Even the people who don’t like fruit cake will like this you have a semi traditional fruit cake which is topped with a thin layer of marzipan, which is then topped with a thin layer of icing sugar and finished with a sugar paste holly leaf.

Like most people are feeling right now, it doesn’t feel very festive at all. 2020 has been the weirdest year of my life (as it has for many others), however you’re celebrating Christmas it wouldn’t quite be Christmas time without some form of fruit cake and that’s why I’m sharing my recipe today. It’s a little different he’s not a traditional it’s more of a twist on a traditional so I hope you don’t mind that.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cake:

150g butter.

150g light brown sugar.

3 eggs.

125g plain flour.

50g ground almonds.

1 tsp ground cinnamon.

½ tsp ground mixed spice.

A dash of ground ginger, cloves, all spice and nutmeg.

450g mixed dried fruit.

Decoration:

150g marzipan.

150g white sugar paste.

25g green sugar paste.

apricot glaze.

water.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of the ingredients, lining an 8×8 inch square cake tin with parchment and grabbing any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer and spatula. Don’t forget to preheat the oven to 150˚c/300˚f.

To start on the cake, grab a bowl and place in the butter and light brown sugar – beat the two together until they are combined. You’re not looking for he mixture to be light and fluffy, just well combined.

You can then add in your eggs, one at a time, beating well in between each addition. Don’t worry if the mixture curdles a little, we’ll correct it now.

Over a sieve, add your plain flour, ground spices and ground almonds and sift that into the mixture. You can then go ahead and add in the fruit.

Mix everything together until everything is incorporated – try your best not to over-mix the cake batter, otherwise the end result will be tough.

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

Then transfer the cake batter into your lined cake tin and spread/level the cake better out until its smooth and level, them place into your preheated oven and bake for 60-90 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool fully (while still in the tin).

Whenever the cake has cooled and you’re ready to decorate – you can remove the cake from the tin.

Dust your work surface with a small amount of icing sugar and place on the marzipan and roll it out until its big enough for the top of the cake. I eyeballed this but feel free measure and be more accurate.

Take a small amount and apricot jam and melt it in the microwave/on the hob until smooth and spreadable. Brush this generously on top of the cake and then place the rolled out marzipan on top – set the cake aside while you prepare the final layer.

Dust your work surface with some icing sugar and roll out the sugar paste to be big enough for the top of the cake. To secure the sugar paste in place, brush over a small amount of water and then place the rolled out sugar paste on top.

Roll out the green sugar paste and cut out holly leaves and dampen the back, then secure to the top of the cake .

The you can slice them up into 16 generous portions and enjoy, this is the perfect recipe to make and share with friends and/or family.

Mini Stollen

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s bakemas 2020!

Today I’m sharing my take on stollen – if you haven’t tried this bread before, you’re for sure missing out.

This bread is the perfect addition to any festive celebrations you may be having this year. It’s sweet, rich and indulgent – the perfect bake to bring to the table. I have taken inspiration from a traditional stollen that you’d find in Germany – it’s commonly eaten around Christmas time when it may be called Weihnachtsstollen.

Starting with an enriched dough, studded with a selection of dried fruit. A marzipan centre and finished with a generous amount of melted butter and a copious amount of icing sugar.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Dough:

375g strong bread flour.

1 tsp salt.

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg.

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.

60g butter.

45g granulated sugar.

30g fresh yeast.

175ml milk.

1 egg.

1 lemon zest

85g currants.

55g raisins.

35g mixed peel.

55g glacé cherries.

40g flaked almonds.

175g marzipan.

Finishing:

melted butter.

icing sugar.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, lining baking trays with parchment paper and grab any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer, mixing bowl and spatula.

To start on the bread, grab a large mixing bowl and place in the bread flour, salt, grated nutmeg and ground cinnamon. Whisk these together until they are combined.

Then you can go ahead and add in the butter, granulated sugar, yeast, milk, egg and lemon zest. Mix everything together over a low speed to start with for 2 minutes, followed by 6 minutes over a high speed. The dough will come together but will be soft, this is because it’s enriched.

When there is about a minute left to the mixing time, you can go ahead and add in the dried fruit and flaked almonds – just mix these in until they are fully incorporated and fairly distributed throughout the dough.

Transfer the dough from the mixing bowl and place onto a well floured surface and give it a brief knead, just to incorporate some flour to help with the stickiness of the dough. Bring it back into a ball shape and place into a lightly oiled bowl, covering with clingfilm and then leaving it somewhere warm to prove for around and hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Once the dough has had its first prove, you can go ahead and remove it from the bowl and knock it back. The process of knocking the dough back is to remove the gasses that have built up in the dough during the first prove – ring the dough back into a ball shape.

Weigh the dough and divide that amount by 6 – this will be the weight for each stollen. So scale the dough to said weight and cover with clingfilm while you work on them.

Take the marzipan and divide that by 6 and form little batons – this is the centre of the stollen.

Roll your balls of dough out to be about 1cm in thickness, then on the one side place the baton of marzipan with a small space to the outer edge. Roll the dough over the marzipan until its covered and theres only a little flap on the other side (this is how I was taught to make them at college while I was there).

Repeat the process with the remaining dough and marzipan batons and then place onto lined baking trays and cover loosely with clingfilm and allow to prove until they have proved up well. While they are having the second prove, preheat your oven to 180˚c.

Now they are finished with the second prove, you can go ahead and remove the clingfilm from on top of the dough and then bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until well coloured.

Once baked, remove from the oven and place straight onto a cooling rack and generously brush with melted butter, then you can go ahead and dredge them with icing sugar, don’t be tight with the icing sugar.

Then they are ready to eat, I’d allow to cool down before you try to eat them.

The Best Ever Chocolate Brownies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Looking for the best brownies you’ll ever make? Look no further, I’m sharing the best recipe with you today.

Be honest with yourself, brownies are easily one of the best things you can bake. It can be hard to find a recipe that genuinely works well – especially achieving that perfect dense and fudgy texture.

I found that using a mixture of milk and dark chocolate along with cocoa powder will help you make the best ever brownies, seriously, trust me on this one (I’ve made enough brownies to tell you that).

When it comes to the chocolate and cocoa powder you use, a good quality brand will really help elevate and intensify the flavour and texture. That’s why I’m using 44% cocoa milk chocolate and 100% cocoa dark chocolate (the combination of the two balance very well).

For quality chocolate, you should check out Cocoa Runners. They have a great selection of chocolates on offer, including milk, dark and unsweetened (100% cocoa). They also offer cocoa powder and cocoa nibs, which are perfect for all of your baking needs. The best thing about Cocoa Runners products is not only the quality but how much better the farmers are treated and paid for their product – you can tell the difference between these and the readily available at the supermarket. Sometimes you have to appreciate that its quality over quantity.

If you’re interested, don’t forget to check out Cocoa Runners and their excellent range of baking products. If you do, why not enjoy 10% off using code BakingWithElliott10.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

200g Butter.

100g Milk chocolate.

100g Unsweetened chocolate (100% cocoa).

100g Plain flour.

50g Cocoa powder.

3 Eggs.

300g Granulated sugar.

Method:

Before you get into the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work first. Start by preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, place a saucepan with a small amount of water onto the hob over a medium heat, weigh up your ingredients, line a 8 inch square tin with parchment paper and get any other equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer and a silicon spatula.

To start, take a heatproof bowl (one thats big enough to fit on top of the saucepan of simmering water) and place in the butter, milk chocolate and dark chocolate. Place the bowl over the heat and allow to melt, once you can see it melting, you will then want to stir the mixture until it’s smooth and no traces of a single ingredient can be seen. Once you’ve achieved this, set aside, allowing it to cool down bit before you use it.

Now you can go ahead and take a medium sized bowl and sift in the plain flour and cocoa powder. Once sifted into the bowl, you can take a whisk and just combine them a little further – set aside until needed later on.

Into a large mixing bowl (I sued my stand mixer and mixing bowl), place the eggs and sugar. Whisk them together until they are lighter in colour and consistency- it should be a pale yellow-ish colour and is smooth in texture.

Turn the speed to a medium and gently pour in the melted chocolate butter mixture, then once it’s incorporated, mix for a short while afterwards, just until it’s fully incorporated.

Next you can add in the sieved dry mix, then fold it in using a spatula or metal spoon, just until the dry ingredients have been incorporated. Try your best not to over-mix at this stage.

Add the brownie batter into your lined cake tin and bake in your preheated oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes or a tester comes out with a few crumbs on.

When there is about 10 minutes remaining, remove from the oven and finish them off with some more of the chocolate buttons, I used milk and unsweetened along with some cocoa nibs, which add a little texture and flavour.

Once they are baked,

Then cool in the tin until they are fully cooled. To make the texture and flavour even better, place in the fridge for as long as possible – this is probably the best recommendation I have when making good brownies even better

Now they are cooled and ready, slice up into 8 bars or 16 bitesize portions

Apple Pie

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

This weeks recipe is for a simple apple pie – nothing fancy about the recipe, just a standard but tasty recipe for you try during the autumn period or any time of year.

I know that apple pie isn’t the most autumnal pie but when else can you enjoy pies? September-November is honestly pie season for me (even more so than pumpkin spice, fight me…).

For this recipe, I’ll be using my basic shortcrust pastry recipe. It’s a sturdy and reliable recipe that has never failed me – nor should it fail you (trust me on that, it’s one of recipe must haves). Inside of the pastry, you’ll have the apple filling (duh), which is simply apple, sugar and spices – the key to a good apple pie is keeping it simple! This way the apple won’t be completely mushy, they’ll be perfectly cooked, with a slight crunch!

I won’t lie, this recipe was made back in August of 2020 while I was having a baking session where I also made a red velvet cake, banana bundt cake and salted caramel gingerbread traybake amongst other bits – check out the recipes, you might find something you like!

The key for this weeks recipes, keeping it simple. Sometimes making things super complex doesn’t do anything but muddy the water…

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Pastry –

Don’t forget to check out my shortcrust pastry recipe.

Apple filling:

750g Apples.

125g Light or dark brown sugar (whichever you prefer).

1 tsp Ground cinnamon.

1-2 tbsp Water (optional, only if needed).

Additional bits :

1 Egg, for egg wash.

Brown sugar, to sprinkle on top the pastry

Method:

Before you get started on any part of this recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. I recommend starting with making the pastry (this can be done 1-2 days in advanced), weighing up all of your ingredients and grabbing any equipment you need, such as a mixing bowl and a sharp paring knife.

As mentioned above, you will want to make the pastry, which can be made in advanced, saving you precious time and effort on the day you want to make the apple pie. I won’t be sharing how to make the pastry as I have recipe which has more detail on there, which I’ll link here.

Once the pastry has been made and chilled, you can go ahead and work with it. Onto your work surface, sprinkle a small amount of flour, then you can go ahead and place the dough onto it. You’ll then want to roll the dough out to be around the same thickness as a pound coin, which is perfect for this recipe as you’ll need to roll the pastry out to be bigger than the tin and if you use a 10 inch pie tin like me, it all falls into place perfectly.

You can then drape the pastry over the pie tin, I find rolling the pastry onto a rolling pin the easiest and safest way to work with the dough but you do it however you need to.

Press the pastry into the grooves of the pie tin, be gentle as the pastry may be delicate to work with (but don’t worry if you tear the pastry, you can patch it up easily). Then using the sharp paring knife, you can then go ahead and trim away the excess from around the edge of the tin – make sure you bring it back into a ball shape, wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge – we’ll use this up later.

Don’t forget to dock the bottom of the pastry case and place into the fridge to chill while you make the apple filling (which only take a few minutes, so chill the pastry case for 30 minutes, then work on the filling).

To make the apple filling, its super straightforward. Grab a large bowl and place in the brown sugar and cinnamon (you can also add other spices, if you’d like to) and give the two a good mix until well incorporated.

You can then go ahead and add in the apple slices, ensuring that they all get fairly coated in the brown sugar mixture then you can add them all in to the chilled pastry case – it may look a lot and bulge up, don’t worry, they’ll shrink as they cook.

Place it back in the fridge for short while, just while you make the top.

For the top of the apple pie, you can do it however you like, leave it plain, a lattice or just a plain top, like I’m doing. Roll the pastry out to be the same thickness as the pastry case and then drape it on top, crimping the edge, so the lid is secured to the case – just use a fork. Don’t forget to slice 2 slits in the middle of the pie, to release any steam that will occur while baking.

To use up the last of the pastry, feel free to give the edge and centre a more decorative finish. I went with some oak leaves to go around the edge of the pie, as well as a few in the centre but this is completely optional.

Give the whole pie a good egg wash, ensuring a good coating is applied – then you can go ahead and sprinkle on some sugar, I like to use brown sugar but use whatever you want to.

Bake in your preheated oven for 45-50 minutes – It should be well coloured and smell great, once ready.

Once the apple pie has baked, I recommenced leaving the pie to cool fully. It can be reheated later on and served with cream or custard.

Wholemeal Bloomer

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

While we are in the midst of autumn (and a second national lockdown pending), homemade bread is one of those simple pleasures. That’s why I’m sharing my recipe for a super simple wholemeal bloomer.

If you’re not sure what a bloomer loaf is, it’s a loaf of bread thats baked on a baking tray rather than in a tin. It’s shaped but finds its way into the perfect bloomer shape while proving – it’s not complex at all, it’s very simple.

Wholemeal bread for me just gives more of an autumnal feeling, in the strangest way it’s ‘warming’. A couple of thickly sliced bloomer with some soup – what a winning combination – give it a try and tell me otherwise.

If this sounds like something you’d like to make – grab your ingredients and have a lazy afternoon as you make this.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Wholemeal flour.

8g Salt.

25g Fresh yeast.

30g White shortening.

10g Granulated sugar.

310ml Water.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up the ingredients, lining your baking tray with parchment paper and getting any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer.

To start on the recipe, grab a mixing bowl and place in the wholemeal flour and salt – whisking the two together until they are well combined.

You can then go ahead and add in the fresh yeast, white shortening, granulated sugar and water.

Mix the ingredients together on a low speed to start with for 2 minutes, followed by 6 minutes on a medium-high speed. Once finished with the mixing process, the dough should be easy to work with (maybe a little soft/sticky, this will go away).

Now sprinkle flour onto your work surface with a small amount of wholemeal flour and place the bread dough onto it and knead until it has become smooth and elastic.

Bring the dough back into a ball shape and place into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm and leave somewhere warm to prove for around 60 minutes or until it has doubled in size.

Once the dough has finished its first prove, you can go ahead and flour your work surface and knock the dough back. This is the process of removing the gases that have built up in the dough during the first prove.

After the dough has been knocked back, bring back into a ball shape then roll out into an oblong shape – cover loosely with clingfilm and leave to prove again for a further 45 minutes or until it has pretty much doubled in size.

While the dough is proving, you can get tidied up and preheat your oven to 230˚c/445˚f. You’ll know the dough has done proving as you’ll be able to gently press the dough and it’ll spring back.

After the second proof, you can remove the clingfilm from off of the dough and make score the dough. I think more traditionally its around 7 cuts but I went with 6 – if you’re making this for home, you can make as many or as few cuts as you’d like. Bake in the preheated oven for around 30-35 minutes.

To test if the bread is done, turn it upside own and tap the bottom – if it sounds hollow, thats a good sign and shows the bread is baked, remove from the oven and take off the baking tray and place onto a cooling rack to cool down fully.

Once cooled down, you can then go ahead and slice the bread to your desired thickness and enjoy it however you like.

Traditional

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