Traybake

Vegan Brownies

It’s almost the end of Veganuary 2020, can you believe that?

Today I’m sharing my recipe for a batch of perfect vegan brownies! They’re dense, fudgy and studded with chocolate – what more could you ask for?

A lot of people think vegan baked goods are bland and boring but they aren’t. That may apply for the treats you can buy in the supermarket but you can expect so much more when you make the treats from scratch – honestly.

Due to the rise in popularity of veganism in the last few years, there are plenty of vegan ingredients readily available at most supermarkets – which is ideal if you’re looking to enjoy a plant based diet.

These brownies aren’t as thick as my traditional version but they are just as chocolatey, rich and decadent. If you were to make them for someone and not tell them they were vegan, they wouldn’t even notice!

Want the best tasting brownies? I have used a selection of products from the lovely people over Cocoarunners – I used the cocoa powder and unsweetened chocolate.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

140g vegan spread.

225g granulated white sugar.

4 tbsp ground flaxseeds + 12 tbsp water.

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

90g cocoa powder.

200g plain flour.

100g unsweetened chocolate.

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 9×13 inch cake pan with parchment paper.

To start on the brownies, you’ll want to sort the egg replacement. Start by grabbing a small mixing bowl and place in the ground flaxseeds and the water, then mix together until they are well combined – set aside (it will become a little more gelatinous, the same consistency as standard eggs).

Into a large mixing bowl, add in your butter until its melted, then go ahead and add the cocoa powder 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 flaxseed egg replacement all in one go and incorporate until everything has been fully incorporated. As the flaxseed eggs are incorporated, the mixture will become smoother and glossier – this is normal.

After that you can add in the plain flour and chocolate, 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 cake pan and transfer the brownie batter directly into it. Spread and level it out as you need – then place into the preheated oven on the middle level and bake for around 30-35 minutes or until a tester comes out clean or with only a few crumbs on.

Once the brownies are baked, leave them in the tin and let them cool fully. Then place in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight, this helps to make the brownies extra fudgy and easier to cut up – perfect, honestly.

When you’re ready to slice the brownies up, you can cut them into squares/rectangles or whatever else you’d like to, whichever suits you best.

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.

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

Pumpkin Cheesecake Blondies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Autumn is one of those times of the year which seems very short compared to spring and summer, that’s why you have to get all the autumn flavours you can while baking. That’s why I’m sharing my recipe for a batch of pumpkin cheesecake blondies.

I’ll be honest, I hadn’t planned on making these blondies – they kind of just happened on the day. I didn’t have enough soft cheese for a cheesecake and wasn’t going back out just for that, especially seeing as the UK was coming to the end of the first lockdown.

These are the perfect treat to make on a day when the weather is dark and miserable or while doing a spot of weekend baking. If you give these a go, don’t forget that this is like 2 desserts in 1… Who doesn’t like more dessert?

You have the classic white chocolate blondie, which is good on its own but when you add in a pumpkin cheesecake swirl, it elevates it to another level, seriously. You don’t have to believe me but I will tell you, it adds a different flavour and texture to the end baked good – plus it’s perfectly seasonal.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Blondies:

200g White chocolate.

150g Butter.

160g Granulated sugar.

3 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract

190g Plain flour.

1/4 tsp Salt.

100g White chocolate chips.

Cheesecake swirl:

100g Soft cheese.

80g Pumpkin puree.

1 Egg yolk.

20g Granulated sugar.

20g Plain flour.

1/4 tsp Ground mixed spice.

1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon.

Dash of ground cloves and all spice.

Method:

Before you get started on any part of the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Weigh up all of your ingredients, line your 8 inch square baking tin with some parchment paper and grab any equipment you may need such as heat proof mixing bowl and whisk.

To start on the recipe, I recommend you make the cheesecake swirl.

Place all of the cheesecake swirl ingredients into a medium sized bowl and whisk together until the mixture is smooth and everything has been combined. If the mixture isn’t a very bright orange, feel free to add a little orange food colouring gel/paste (avoid the liquid variation, it will only ruin the mixture), whisk that in until its fully combined, then set that in the fridge while you make the blondie.

For the blondie, place a small/medium saucepan filled with a small amount water over a low heat, reaching a simmer.

Into a heatproof bowl, place the butter and white chocolate and place over the saucepan of simmering water. Ensure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the water, otherwise it may ruin the butter and chocolate mixture. Allow the two to melt a little then stir until smooth and combined.

Remove the chocolate mixture from the saucepan and place onto your work surface and add in all of the granulated sugar and whisk together until fully combined. The mixture may look a little more granular, this is normal and will smooth out later in the recipe.

You can now add in the eggs, one at time whisking well in-between each addition. Once all of the eggs have been added , you should notice the mixture is much smoother and glossier – this is what you’re looking for.

You can then go ahead and add in the vanilla extract, just whisk until it has been fully incorporated.

Next add in the flour, salt and white chocolate chips. Fold everything in until the flour and salt have been fully incorporated and the chocolate chips have been equally distributed throughout the blondie batter.

Pour the batter into your lined baking tin and level off if it’s uneven. Now you will need the cheesecake mixture you made earlier, so grab it from the fridge.

Take dollops of the cheesecake mixture and place on top of the blondie batter and take a butterknife to swirl the cheesecake through the blondies. Once you’re happy with the swirls, place into your preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes (or until the blondies have gone golden brown around the edges and the cheesecake doesn’t jiggle excessively anymore). Allow to cool down fully.

For the best and easiest results, I like to place the blondies I the fridge to chill for as long as possible. This helps in more than one way, it makes the blondies more fudgy and the cheesecake smoother and it make them easier to slice up. You can work with them right away, if that’s all the time you have.

When it come to cutting these up, however many slices you need or want is up to you. I like to work with 8 bigger portions of 16 more bet size portions – whichever suits you best!

Oreo Cookie Bars

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Fancy a change from standard cookies? I feel you and have the solution. Today I’m sharing my recipe for a batch of Oreo cookie bars, all the best parts of a cookie but in a bar shape.

This traybake is honestly one of the simplest things you can me, it gives you the same feeling of a cookie but chunkier and more fudgey in the centre, you know like the perfect cookie? These bars give you all of that and then some.

I added Oreo’s to the cookie dough as well as on top, mostly for decorative purposes but also because you can’t beat the oreo flavour. There is milk chocolate chips in the recipe but you could substitute these for either milk or white chips, they are just added for texture and creaminess away from the Oreo.

If you’re in a rush and need something for a bake sale or have someone coming over, this is the perfect recipe to try – trust me. I have been there and I’ve done that… People look confused when you first offer them a square but they’re soon having another one!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

175g Butter, at room temperature.

175g Granulated sugar.

175g Light brown sugar.

2 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

350g Plain flour.

1 tsp Baking powder.

A pinch of Salt.

50g Milk chocolate chips.

100g Oreo’s, roughly chopped.

Method:

Before you get into making the cookie bars, you’ll want to do some prep. I like starting but weighing up all of my ingredients, lining a 8 inch square cake tin with parchment paper and grab a mixer and spatula. Don’t forget to preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start on the cookie dough, grab your mixing bowl and place the butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar into the bowl and beat for a couple of minutes or until lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Once that’s been achieved, you can give the bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Then you can add in the eggs and vanilla, one at a time, beating well in between each addition. You may notice that the consistency changes once all of the wet ingredients have been added and thats normal – don’t worry about it.

You’ll now want to give the bowl a good scraping down, again to incorporate any bits that haven’t been fully incorporated.

Next, you can add in the plain flour, baking powder and salt, passing them through a sieve first. This is just to make the dough as smooth as possible, removing any clumps that may occur in the dry ingredients.

It’s also the idea time to add in the Oreo’s and chocolate chips. You can always incorporate everything using a spatula but I find using my stand mixer works o break down and fairly distribute everything in the dough – the choice is all yours.

Once you have batter formed, give the bowl a good scraping down to incorporate any bits that haven’t been fully incorporated.

Then you can transfer it into your line 8 inch cake tin, spreading it out to get it as level as you can – this is to help with the bake consistency.

Just before you put it into the oven, place over some roughly chopped Oreo’s and chocolate chips, then place into your preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until they have turned a consistent golden brown colour.

If you can resist, trynnot to cut these util they are fully cooled down. To make them fudgier and easier slice, once cooled down, place into th fridge for 6-8 hours or overnight. Trust me, that really helps to enhance the flavour and texture.

Chocolate Sprinkle Cake | School Sponge Cake | Old School Traybake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I’m sharing my recipe for a chocolate sprinkle cake. This is honestly such a simple and easy cake – it’ll be added to your list of things to make on the regular.

Now I know this cake isn’t anything special but the simplicity makes this cake so much more special. This cake was requested by a a commenter over on my YouTube channel, so I took that and worked around with it. This is a chocolate version of my sprinkle cake but if you’re looking for other old school favourites, check out these recipes chocolate concrete & pink custard, cornflake tart and chocolate hedgehogs.

This isn’t the version you remember from school, thats the standard sprinkle cake but this with some chocolate or mint custard, you’ll be well away. It’s a light and chocolatey sponge cake, topped with a simple chocolate icing and finished with rainbow sprinkles… Simple, straightforward and downright yummy!

Regardless of whether you’re a beginner or a skilled baker, this recipe is the perfect one to make with super simple ingredients and minimal time, you can easily have a cake baked and decorated in no time at all.

Anyway, let’s get starts, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cake:

220g Butter.

220g Granulated sugar.

4 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

180g Plain flour.

40g Cocoa powder.

1 tsp Baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

Optional – 30ml whole milk (dairy free milks work just as well).

Icing:

25g Cocoa powder.

400g Icing sugar.

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract.

Whole milk (the amount will vary depending).

Methods:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all your ingredients, lining a 9×13 inch cake pan with some parchment paper and grab any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer (hand mixers and spatulas will work equally as well) and silicon spatula. Don’t forget to preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f

To start on the cake, you’ll want to grab a large mixing bowl and place the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract into it. Then go ahead and add the dry ingredients, passing through a sieve first to remove any lumps that may be in the dry mix.

Start to incorporate the ingredients on a low speed, working your way up to a medium-high speed until the batter is smooth and glossy.

If needed, you can go ahead and add some milk. This is to help with achieving the perfect consistency, this is optional as you may not need it.

Give the bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that haven’t been fully worked in beforehand.

You can then go ahead and transfer the cake batter into your lined 9×13 inch cake tin, spreading it out to level and smooth it out.

Once the cake batter is smooth and level in the cake tin, you can place it into the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a tester come out clean, when inserted into the centre.

Now that the cake has baked, you will want to allow it to cool down fully before you use it. I recommend leaving it in the cake tin as it’ll help when you add the icing, later on.

To make the icing, you’ll want to take medium-large mixing bowl and place the icing sugar and cocoa powder, giving a brief mix just to incorporate. Then slowly add in the milk and vanilla, then whisk until you have a thick but easily spreadable consistency.

When you’re ready, pour over the chocolate icing over the top of the baked and fully cooled cake, then spread it out until the whole cake has been coated and it is all level and consistent.

While the icing is still wet/tacky, take your rainbow sprinkles and scatter them all over the top of the cake, ensuring there is a consistent amount all over.

Allow the icing to firm up, I like to place my cake into the fridge as this allows for the optimum setting potential. A couple of hours will make all the difference, trust me on that one.

When it comes to cutting the cake up, its really up to you. I went with 12 very generously portioned squares but you could easily get 24 smaller rectangular slices – play around when it comes to slicing up the cake to suit you.

Chocolate Brownies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for the easiest and best brownie recipe, I have your back. Today I’m showing you how to make a batch of basic brownies.

Brownies are a baking essential, there’s no doubt about that but finding a recipe that works perfectly each time is another issue. I have been baking for years now and even I had a hard time finding a recipe that worked out for me.

I use this recipe and my other brownie recipe, both work really well but yield different end results. For example, this recipe provides a lighter but not cake texture, whereas my other brownies are denser and fudgier. I like both recipes as he brownies taste good either way.

This is the perfect looking brownie for its crispy/lighter coloured top and a gooey centre, I used a mixture of chocolates to finish off what I had open in my storage.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

200g Butter.

200g Milk chocolate.

100g Plain flour.

50g Cocoa powder.

3 Eggs.

300g Granulated sugar.

100g Chocolate chips/chunks (I used a mixture of white, milk and dark chocolate).

Method:

Before you get into the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work first. Strat by preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, place a saucepan with some 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 and milk chocolate. Place on the heat and allow to melt, once you can see it melting, you will then want to stir the mixture until its 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 (dry ingredients may have a tendency to have clumps in). 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, 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.

You can then go ahead and add in the chocolate and fold it in, just until its fairly distributed throughout the batter.

Pour directly into your line cake tin and bake in your preheated oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or when the edges look more baked – the middle shouldn’t wobble when shook.

Once they are baked, remove from the oven and cool in the tin until they are cool. To make them even better, place in the fridge to make it easier to cut and improve the texture.

Now they are cooled and ready, cut up into 8 generously sized portions or 16 smaller bitesize pieces.

Tottenham Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I’m sharing my take on the infamous Tottenham Cake.

I recently had a comment on my YouTube channel, asking for me to share a Tottenham cake recipe, so here it is.

I hadn’t made this specific cake in quite a while, so was quite happy to try something different and new to my channel. This isn’t exactly a traditional version of the traybake but it will certainly hit the sweet spot the same way.

If you’re not sure what this cake is, I’ll tell you. It starts with a vanilla sponge cake which is topped with a simple icing, coloured pink. This is from the use of berry jam or berry puree in the icing.

If you like sprinkle cake, you’ll love this recipe. I recommend you check out my other ‘old school’ recipes, including jam and coconut cake, chocolate concrete, chocolate hedgehogs and small cornflake tart/large cornflake tart.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cake:

220g Butter.

220g Granulated sugar.

4 Eggs.

220g Plain flour.

1 tsp Baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

Icing:

400g Icing sugar.

50g Raspberry jam, seedless and slightly warmed.

Milk, as much as needed to achieve the perfect consistency.

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract.

(optional) Desiccated coconut or 100s and 1000s.

Method:

Before you get into the baking, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up your ingredients, lining your 9×13 inch cake tin with parchment paper, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and grab a large mixing bowl and mixer.

To start on the cake, take the mixing bowl and place the butter and granulated sugar into it. Beat the two together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Once they are combined, you can give the bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Then you can go ahead and add in your eggs and vanilla, roughly one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. You will notice the consistency changes as you add the eggs, this is normal.

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

Take a sieve and pass the plain flour, baking powder and salt through it. I do this as the dry ingredients can sometimes have lumps in the mixture – start the mixer on a low speed to start with, working your way up to a medium-high speed, add a tablespoon of milk at a time, just until you have the perfect consistency.

Transfer the cake batter directly into the lined baking tin and spread it out using a small cranked palette knife or the back of a spoon.

Now place into your preheated oven and bake for roughly 25-30 minutes (or it should be golden brown and a tester should come out clean when in interred into the centre).

While the cake is baking, you can make the icing – which is super easy.

For the icing, grab a small-medium bowl and place in the icing sugar, milk, vanilla extract and raspberry jam. Whisk together until you have a thick but spreadable icing, you may need to add more milk or icing sugar to achieve the perfect consistency, so take your time with it to ensure you get it right. Set the icing aside until its needed later on.

Once your cake is fully baked and cooled, you can go ahead and add the icing directly on top of the cake and spread it out using a small cranked palette knife, ensuring you have given the top of the cake a good coating, this is where you can add the desiccated coconut or sprinkles, but I kept it plain and thats what makes a Tottenham Cake personally.

I place the cake into the fridge, just until the icing has firmed up, which is roughly about an hour. You can then take it from the fridge and take a sharp knife and slice the cake up, I went with 12 very generous sized portions but you could cut them in half and still have a good sized portion.

Jam & Coconut Traybake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

This classic combination is not one to miss, trust me. Today I’m sharing a super quick and easy recipe for a jam and coconut traybake.

Recently I’ve been making this cake quite a lot, mostly for my nan as this is her favourite cake. I made this while the lockdown was still quite struct, so finding coconut was like finding flour – almost impossible.

This is quick, easy and cheap to make. If you have older friends and family, this will make the perfect nostalgic treat for them. So why not give it a try and share with them, when you can?

If you’re not sure you’d like this cake, I’m sure you will. It starts with a light coconut cake, which is topped with jam and more coconut – perfect as a snack anytime of day!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Cake:

115g Butter.

115g Granulated sugar.

115g Self raising flour.

2 Eggs

75g Desiccated coconut.

Milk (only if needed).

Topping –

30-50g Jam (whichever flavour you like but I like strawberry).

40-50g Desiccated coconut (use more or less, whatever takes your fancy).

Methods:

Before you get started on making this cake, you’re best to do some prep work. Start by lining your 8 inch cake tin with parchment paper, weigh up all of the ingredients, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and get any equipment you may need such as a mixing bowl and spatula.

To start on the cake, grab a mixing bowl and place in the butter and sugar. Beat the two together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency – this doesn’t take too long, about 5 minutes is ideal.

Then you can go ahead and give the bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully incorporated.

You can then add you egg, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. The consistency will change and become looser but this is completely normal, it may even start to look curdled.

Now you can add in the flour, passing it through a sieve first (this is just to remove any lumps that may be in the dry ingredients). You will also want to add in the desiccated coconut.

Mixing on a low speed to start with, working your way up to a medium-high speed, ensuring you’re only mixing the cake batter until the dry ingredients have been fully incorporated and you can’t see a trace of a single ingredient. Add milk if needed.

Give the bowl another quick scrape down, just to incorporate any last bits that may not have been fully worked into the mix.

Take your lined 8 inch cake tin and pour the cake batter into it, the level it out as best you can. This is to help with the consistency when its baking – I find the back of a spoon works well or a small cranked palette knife is what I like to use.

Place into your preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes (use a cake tester, when inserted, it should come out clean). It should be risen and golden brown – allow to cool until it’s fully cooled down.

Once the cake is cooled down, you can then go ahead and finish the cake off. Take the jam and place it into the centre of the cake and spread it out until you have a consistent layer, then sprinkle over the desiccated coconut until you have enough of a layer and then set aside for a short while just to allow the jam to firm up a little.

Then you can go ahead and cut the cake up, into 8 generous portions of 16 more bitesize portions, its up to you!

Reese’s Peanut Butter Blondies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you like brownies but are looking for something a little different, these Reese’s peanut butter blondies may be for you!

A blondie is basically a blonde or golden version of a brownie. It’s made with white chocolate over milk/dark chocolate and it still has the dense and gooey consistency of a good brownie – what’s not to like about that?

I wasn’t sure about the combination of the of the white chocolate blondie and peanut butter and after trialling the recipe a handful of times, I found the combination worked really well. If you have ever tried peanut butter and jam, it’s that sort of combination. It works because the white chocolate is sweet and peanut butter is salty, the balance sweet and salty somehow just work so well.

If you haven’t tried the sweet and salt combination, give it a go with a PB&J sandwich – you won’t regret it,

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

200g White chocolate.

130g Butter.

50g Peanut butter.

160g Granulated sugar.

190g Plain flour.

1/2 tsp Salt.

3 Eggs.

80g Peanut butter (for the swirl).

Reese’s peanut butter cups, halved.

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.

Into a bowl, place your butter, white chocolate and peanut butter and melt them over a bain-marie, keep the heat at a medium and no higher (you can also use a microwave on 15 second burst, this isn’t the best method as it can get the chocolate too hot, which isn’t ideal), take extra effort not to get the mixture too hot.

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

Then you can go ahead and add in all of your eggs, whisking them in until they are fully worked in.

Next you can add in the plain flour and salt, you’re best to incorporate them using a silicon spatula, this is what I find the best to work with. Once you can’t see a trace of the dry mix, stop mixing, you don’t want to over-mix the batter.

Pour the blondie batter into your lined 8 inch square cake tin and level it out using your spatula or a small cranked/offset palette knife.

Take the 80g of peanut butter and warm it slightly, just to make it more spreadable. Take teaspoons of the peanut butter and place on top of the blonde batter, then take a butter knife and swirl the mixture around.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and place on the Reese’s peanut butter cups however you like. Place back in the oven and bake for a further 10-12 minutes or until golden around the edges.

Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before you continue. For a fudgier end result, I recommend placing the cooled down blondies into the fridge overnight.

Now its time to cut the blondies up. You can either cut them into 8 rectangular slices or 16 smaller slices. It really depends on how many portions you’d like to yield.

Triple Chocolate Brownies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Do you know somebody who loves chocolate? This is the recipe for them. Today I’ll be showing you how to make a batch of triple chocolate brownies!

Let’s be honest, are brownies ever a bad idea? No matter whatever your mood may be, why not have a brownie?

These brownies are how I like them, dense and fudgey. Personally, brownies shouldn’t be cake, if I wanted cake, I’d have made cake. If you’re not a fan of the dense sort of brownie, this recipe may not be for you!

You may have noticed from the picture that theres a lot of chocolate, you are able to see all 3 different types of chocolate, which is how a brownie should be. Don’t be stingy with the chocolate. The only question here is, is it possible to have too much chocolate in a brownie?

Anyway, lets’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

140g Butter, melted.

225g Granulated white sugar.

2 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

45g Cocoa powder.

75g Milk chocolate chips.

100g Plain flour

80g White chocolate, roughly chopped.

80g Milk chocolate, roughly chopped.

80g Dark chocolate roughly chopped.

Method:

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, one at a time beating well in-between each addition. As the eggs are incorporated, the mixture will become smoother and glossier.

After that you can add in the plain flour and chocolate, 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 cake tin and transfer the brownie batter directly into it. Spread and level it out as you need – then place into the preheated oven on the middle level and bake for around 20-25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean or with only a few crumbs on.

Once the brownies are baked, leave them in the tin and let them cool fully. Then place in the fridge overnight, this helps to make the brownies extra dense and easier to cut up – perfect, honestly.

When you’re ready to slice the brownies up, you can go with either 8 larger rectangular pieces or 16 smaller squares, whichever suits you best.

Traybake

Footer