What Kate Baked...

Random Recipes, the Oscars and Madeira Cake

2012-02-26T04:06:00.000-08:00

Imagine, if you would, the disappointment I felt when I discovered that Madeira Cake isn't actually from Madeira*.

It would be on par with finding out that Nice biscuits aren't made in Nice and Whales aren't from Wales.

Putting aside my abject disappointment for one minute, this cake is made in honour of Dom from Belleau Kitchen's very first anniversary of his magnificant blogging challenge, Random Recipes. To celebrate Random Recipes being a whole year old, Dom has invited us to cast our mind (and our oven) back to the very first entry we made for the challenge and to choose a random recipe from that very same book. My very first entry involved vegetables in a cake (I've still not gotten over the shock) and pretending the cake was all part of the masterplan. It was none other than Nigella's Courgette Cake from How to Be a Domestic Goddess.

The random recipe thumb generator did its stuff again and this time round I got to make Madeira Cake. Which, if you ask me, is the under-rated cake of the baking world. In the Great Cake Family, unlike its cousins, say the glamour-puss, glossy cupcake or the majestic, magnificent, five tier gateau, the Madeira Cake is a bit...dull. If it were an Oscar category (note appropriate, timely reference to Current Affairs), it would be contender for, say, Best Documentary Short, rather than Best Actor.

Until you take a huge bite of the buttery, soft, crumbly cake. Lus-cccious

The original recipe can be found right here, on Nigella's website.

I adapted mine somewhat, with different ingredient measurements for the circular cake tin I was using:

175g butter, softened

175g caster sugar

125g plain flour, sifted

125g self raising flour, sifted

Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

3 large eggs, beaten gently

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a deep 18cm round cake tin

2. Cream together the butter and sugar until nicely fluffy and pale (this may take up to five minutes), and add in the lemon zest

3. Add the eggs, a little at the time and beat well

4. Fold in the flours and lemon juice

5. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean

Baker's notes...

According to Nigella, a crack in the centre is a Good Thing
James Martin adds a little candied peel on top, which looks ever so pretty
If you haven't a lemon hanging around your kitchen, replace the lemon juice with 1tsp vanilla, and omit the zest
Madeira Cake has multiple uses, two of which are a Wedding Cake or Lamingtons. How do you eat yours?
Like a fine wine, or Oscar nominee Meryl Streep, this cake improves with time. It can be made up to a week in advance
What cake should win Best ~~Film~~ Cake?

* Perhaps Madeira Cake comes from Barnet or Slough or someplace

Mini Pancake-Cakes

2012-02-20T23:25:00.000-08:00

Pancake Day is my Second Favourite Themed Dinner of the Year. Christmas comes first, obviously.

On my Second Favourite Themed Dinner of the Year I ~~run~~ walk quickly home from work, my bag packed full of Assorted Pancake Fillings. Mainly sweet ones 'course.

This year, as well as our usual conveyor belt* of sweet treats, all lining up ready to be added with gusto and greed to each pancake hot off the frying pan, I'll be making these Mini Pancake Cakes. Afterall, what could possibly be better than a pancake than a cake of pancake?!

These had banana, whipped double cream and were drizzled with melted milk chocolate

Other winning flavour combinations:

Knickerbocker Glory Pancake Cake: selection of fruit, chocolate sauce, strawberry sauce, honeycomb and ice cream
Tropical Treats: Tropical fruits such as pineapple, banana, mango, melon, passionfruit topped with syrup from a jar of stem ginger
Chocoholic's Dream: Chocolate sauce, white and dark chocolate buttons, chocolate ice cream
Sticky Toffee Pudding Pancake: dates, toffee sauce and ice cream
Apple Adventure: Warmed apple sauce with cinnamon

Mini Pancake Cakes

(Makes three pancake cakes, each with five layers)

For the pancakes:

100g plain flour, sifted

Pinch of salt

2 eggs, beaten

260ml milk

Butter for greasing the pan

For the filling:

Three medium bananas, chopped

Small pot double cream, whipped

50g milk chocolate, melted

1. To make the batter, place the flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the centre

2. Add the eggs into the well and, using a large balloon whisk, whisk the flour and eggs together

3. Gradually add the milk, continuing to whisk until all the milk is added. Whisk once more until you have a nice smooth batter

4. Melt a small knob of butter in the frying pan on a medium-hot and use a piece of kitchen towel to wipe the pan to carefully ensure the entire pan is nicely greased. Reduce the heat to medium and place a ladleful of the batter into the centre of the pan. Quickly tip the pan from side to side to ensure the batter covers the entire pan. After roughly thirty seconds check with a palate knife to see if the underside is nicely golden and if so..... start flipping!

5. Stack the pancakes between pieces of foil or kitchen towel to keep warm

6. Once you've made all the pancakes, allow to cool a little and use a round biscuit cutter to cut out mini pancakes. You should get roughly three mini pancakes from each normal sized pancake.

7. Begin the each cake, layering one pancake, followed by a few chopped bananas and a dollop of cream and so forth. Drizzle with the melted chocolate to finish

Baker's notes...

The batter mixture above is perhaps a bit generous, but that is to take into account the First Few Flops. Those first couple of pancakes that, when flipped, flop and end up in a pathetic little pile on the worksurface.
You can make the pancakes up to 24 hours in advance: store, wrapped, in the fridge and reheat in an ovenproof dish, covered with foil in the oven. Alternatively they will freeze happily for up to one month
The 'scraps' leftover from the pancakes were reheated gently in the oven with the classic combination of spinach and riccota

*not too dissimilar to the Generation Game but without the cuddy toy

Hot Chocolate Pudding with Custard

2012-02-18T23:40:00.001-08:00

To paraphrase Jane Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a person in possession of a good spoon, must be in want of a hot chocolate pudding and custard

To paraphrase Gregg off of Masterchef, puddings don't get more indulgent than this.

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, a little pudding is a tasty thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely terrific

To paraphrase Shakespeare, To Eat or Not to Eat. That is blatently not the question. I'll be having seconds ta very much

To paraphrase Meat Loaf, And I would do anything for pudding, I'd run into hell and back, I would do anything for love, I'll never leave a crumb behind and that's a fact.... I would do anything for pudding, but I won't do that*

This pudding was made for medical purposes. When it was really, really cold last week and I realised I'd got home and hadn't taken off my coat for two hours. Hot, rich, decadent Chocolate cake with warm, gooey custard ought to be prescribed on the NHS.

Hot Chocolate Pudding

(Makes 2-3 small ramekins)

50g milk chocolate

75g unsalted butter

50g light brown sugar

Half tbsp golden syrup

90g plain flour, sifted

15g cocoa powder, sifted

Half tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 beaten egg

60ml whole milk

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and grease the ramekins

2. Pop the chocolate, butter, sugar and syrup into a small pan and heat gently, stirring slowly until just melted. Set aside to cool

3. Pop the flour, baking soda and cocoa powder into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and stir in the cooled chocolate mix. Add the egg, beat well then add the milk and stir until all the ingredients are combined

4. Divide the mixture between the ramekins and bake for 15-20 minutes or until set

5. Leave to cool for a few minutes in the ramekins before turning out into serving bowls and pouring a very, very generous amount of hot custard over

Baker's notes...

Silicone muffin cases would work just as well as ramekins and won't need greasing
This recipe is inspired by Gregg Wallace's Gregg's Favourite Puddings: Devil's Chocolate Food Cake- the original recipe was for a 20cm dark chocolate cake with American frosting
I didn't make real, proper custard for this as we didn't have any single cream and did I mention how cold it was outside? But fortunately there was my Emergency Tin of Custard sitting at the back of cupboard. And snow is an emergency.

*Run out in the snow to get missing custard ingredients

Save the Children Name a Day Campaign: Vegan Apple and Carrot Cake

2012-02-16T04:55:00.000-08:00

The aim of this little blog is to (hopefully) entertain and amuse as I lightheartedly recount my trials and tribulations to satisfy my sweet tooth.

However, every now and again, a very important, devastating issue around food needs a little attention.

Earlier this week I heard a Save the Children report on the news. 'A Life Free From Hunger' stated that 300 children die of malnutrition every hour worldwide. It went on to explain there are 170 million children under five years whose development has been stunted by malnutrition because of lack of food for them and their breastfeeding mothers.

Thing is, we live in a world where there is enough food for everyone. Save the Children are asking Prime Minister David Cameron to Name a Day (#nameaday) to hold a World Food Summit for world leaders. The Summit will tackle hunger and address the problems in the global food system that currently mean millions of children are going hungry.

And we can help. Save the Children are also asking us to also Name a Day to take one of five simple actions, from sending a tweet to cooking a meal, to help raise the profile of this campaign and spread the word about this devastating crisis.

Another way as a blogger to help is to donate a recipe to The Pink Whisk's Save the Children recipe e-book, which will be sold to raise money and increase awareness of the campaign. Ruth, from The Pink Whisk, traveled to Rwanda this week to see first hand the projects supported by Save the Children and to launch the Name a Day campaign. Ruth describes her visits and experiences, plus how we can help, right here.

I've donated this recipe, for a Vegan Apple and Carrot Cake and my Name a Day is Monday.

Vegan Apple and Carrot Cake

For the applesauce:

225g apples peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks

4 tbsps water

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

For the cake:

150g raisins

juice of 1 orange

180g grated carrot (roughly four medium carrots)

225g plain flour, sifted

2 tsps baking powder

1 tsp bicarb of soda

1 and a half tsp mixed spice

115g light brown sugar

50g roughly chopped pecans

175ml rapeseed oil

1. To begin with place the raisins in a small bowl with the juice of the orange and set aside for at least half an hour

2. To make the apple sauce: pop the apples and water into a pan and cover, heating gently until the become soft and mushy. Add the spice and mash gently with a fork. Set aside to cool

3. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a square tin 20cm x 20cm

4. For the cake: place the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, spice and sugar into a large bowl and mix together.

5. Create a well in the middle and add in the apple sauce, pecans, raisins (plus any remaining juice), carrots and oil. Mix until all the ingredients are well combined

6. Place in the oven for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean

7. Leave to cool in the tin for ten minutes before cooling on a wire rack

Baker's notes...

This is a lovely moist, gently spiced cake
Vegetable oil can easily replace the rapeseed oil
If you fancy a little icing, mix a little icing sugar with a little orange juice to create a smooth, runny consistency. This drizzled over the cake would do very nicely

Share the Love: Valentine's Tea Time Treats Iced 'I Love You' biscuits

2012-02-12T06:17:00.000-08:00

Following the (ahem) glory of the What Kate Baked Christmas Carol Service, I present to you:

What Kate Baked does Valentines

Yep, an iconic poem all about romance and a popular verse all about love, the What Kate Baked way....

Roses

Roses are red, violets are blue
I've baked a biscuit, especially for you

Roses are red, violets are blue
This recipe is really quite simple to do

Roses are red, violets are blue
Tuck right in, they'll be perfect with a brew

Roses are red, violets are blue
Help yourself, roll up (You at the back, join the orderly queue)

Roses are red, violets are blue
No need to get impatient (yes, I know you know kung-fu)

Roses are red, violets are blue
There we are..enjoy! (whether your name is Bob or Barry, Samantha or Sue*)

*People with other names can also enjoy these biscuits

I ~~love~~ eat you ~~Baby~~ Bisss-cuit
(sung to the tune of Frankie Valli's I Love You Baby)

You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off you
You'd be like heaven to clutch
I wanna eat you so much
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off you

I'll eat you bisss-cuit
And if it's quite all right
I need you bisss-cuit
To eat on lonely nights I'll eat you bisss-cuit
Trust in me when I say
Oh, pretty bisss-cuit
Don't bring me down I pray oh, pretty bisss-cuit
Now that I found you, stay and let me eat you
Bisss-cuit let me eat you...

Valentine Heart Biscuits

These biscuits were based on a recipe in the brilliant Biscuiteers Book of Iced Biscuits. This book was one of those late-night Amazon purchases* and has sat unloved on the bookshelves for a number of months. But its full of cracking ideas and has a great step-by-step guide on making and decorating the perfect biscuit.

The plain biscuit recipe can be found here. I halved it, added half a teaspoon of almond extract and decorated it using the 'lining' and 'flooding' method (as seen here). It was my very first attempt at this (you may be able to tell).

Baker's notes...

Decorating biscuits I find to be one of those 'project bakes' (I'm also talking to you cake pops and gingerbread house). Set aside a long afternoon, minimize disturbances, crank up your favourite music and you're all set
A useful tip in the book is to dry the biscuits, upon immediately icing, in the oven set on a low heat for a few minutes
I'll be entering this into February's Tea Time Treats blogging challenge, hosted by...me! Make sure to send us your entries by 28th February

* Always fatal as they have my card details, making transactions far too easy. I forget all about my purchases until a great big parcel arrives a few days later

Review: Hotel Chocolat Valentine Collection: Season of Love

2012-02-08T10:21:00.000-08:00

When Hotel Chocolat kindly offered to send me their Season of Love goody bag to review I jumped at the chance, faster than a harrased, forgetful gentleman may jump at the very last bunch of flowers at the local garage at 11pm on the 14th February.

The bag is described as 'An irresistible selection of must-have seasonal specialities, perfectly sized to surprise someone special – with mellow vanilla truffles, warming chilli caramels, creamy raspberry chocolate and more'.

I've never reviewed chocolates before (as you will soon discover). So A and I had stern words with ourselves: 'Noo! Don't eat them all at once! We need to be objective! Masterful in our descriptions! Study carefully the intricacies of each chocolate!'

So, we sat down, serious looks upon our faces and using ACTUAL CLIPBOARDS* we wrote down the following:

Chilli Caramels:

A: I have chosen to start on the chilli chocolates, as, similar to tasting of fine cheese or fine wine, it is worth starting with the stronger flavours. These chocolates shine with a smooth polished darkness. They look innocent enough, the brush of red, the only hint of chilli from the outside. Biting into it, a light bodied delicate caramel greets the mouth, the rich chocolate crumbles to reveal a pleasing chilli glow. The melting chocolate softens the chilli and rounds off the taste.

Me: Lush!

Vanilla Truffles:

A: Vanilla as a flavour can go two ways: imagine a depressingly dull ice-cream, described as vanilla flavoured because that is the closest approximation fatty milk, cream and sugar has to a flavour. In contrast, vanilla pods can bring a rich smooth and delicate depth to truffles. Thankfully, we were greeted with the latter in this case.

Me: Lush!

Raspberry Riot Slab:

A: Imagine a seven year old who has broken into a chocolate making kitchen. They enter the kitchen where the most delicate of artisan chocolates are designed, crafted and expertly formed using fine ingredients from all around the world. They make quick work, gleefully tossing each favourite ingredient into the chocolate mix. Knowing that if they like each ingredient on its own, surely combining them all will be even better! In goes chocolate biscuits, strawberry chocolate, milk chocolate, meringue and raspberry pieces. Stir it round a bit and....perfection

Me: Lush!

Caramel Chocolate Buttons:

A: Smooth caramel, melting buttons...yes, these properly melt in your mouth

Me: Like Skips?

A: No, not like Skips

Me: Lush!

With many thanks to Hotel Chocolat for kindly sending us these chocolates. They have a fantastic Valentine's range, each promising to set someone's heart racing...

* Like a person with a Very Important Job to do

Valentine's Day : Fizz Whizzzzy Chocolate Cupcakes

2012-02-05T08:33:00.000-08:00

If this cupcake were a cereal (bear with) it would be Rice Krispies. Snapping, crackling and popping.

As this cupcake ain't no ordinary cupcake. The icing is packed full of Fizz Whizz Popping Candy.

Extra Loud.

Designed to (**WARNING: cheesiness alert**) replicate that head-over-heels, adrenaline pumping, heart-racing moment when you fall in love.

You know, that time when you research everything there is to know about competitive duck herding to impress your intended.

Or that time you spend the best part of half a day 'getting ready' but still end up wearing your favourite jeans.

Or, when you've said bye at the end of the night, within two minutes you've whipped out your phone and start texting: 'Oh wherefore art thou? I miss thou! When, when, WHEN can we star-crossed lovers be reunited?'.

(And you receive a text back saying 'We talked about it? Remember love? 6pm Horse and Hound Friday')

Well these cupcakes are for all those times.

Fizz Whizzzzy Chocolate Cupcakes

(makes six)

70g plain flour

20g cocoa powder

Quarter tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

30g unsalted butter

100g caster sugar

1 large egg

Half tsp instant coffee, dissolved in 2 tsps water

Half tsp vanilla extract

80ml buttermilk

For the icing:

45g plain chocolate, melted

170g unsalted butter

150g icing sugar, sifted

1 tbsp cocoa powder

60ml double cream

2 packets Fizz Wiz popping candy

1. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C/Gas Mark 4. Line a muffin tin with six paper cupcake liners

2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, bicarb and salt into a mixing bowl and set aside

3. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Add the egg and mix again until blended

4. Add the dissolved coffee granules and the vanilla extract and mix once more. On a low speed, add half of the flour mixture, and beat until combined, then mix in the buttermilk. Add the remaining flour and mix until just combined. The batter shoulkd appear smooth and glossy

5. Divide the batter between the cupcake liners, filling each case approximately three quarters full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool

6. To make the icing: beat the butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder together until smoothly blended. Stir in the melted chocolate and mix in the cream. Beat the entire mixture for a further minute or two until the icing is smooth, glossy and creamy. Stir in the popping candy

7. Pipe or spoon the icing onto each cupcake. Decorate with sugared hearts

Baker's notes...

If you really love the person receiving these cupcakes, pop an indoor sparkler into each cupcake for extra fizz
Fizz Wiz not available in your local newsagent? Why not stir in a handful of chocolate chips into the icing instead
These cupcakes freeze well, minus the icing for up to one month.
They probably last up to three days, but if your intended still has one hanging around after a few days you've got to ask yourself where the relationship is going.

February Tea Time Treats

2012-01-31T23:27:00.000-08:00

After sweet pastries dominated ~~proceedings~~ ovens in January (all the delicious entries and Karen's absolutely wonderful round-up can be found right here), this month's Tea Time Treats theme is:

(drum roll please)

Bring us your passion-fuelled puddings and pies and let us lust after your decadent desserts. Spoil us with your scones, bewitch us with your biscuits and tempt us with your tarts and traybakes. Charm us with your cakes and thrill us with your tea time treats for two!

The entry guidelines can be found right here.

Don't forget to email us (teatimetreatschallenge@yahoo.co.uk) by 28th February 2012 for inclusion in the round-up the following day.

Happy baking!

Kate and Karen

Ambassador's Cupcakes with Chocolate, Hazelnut and Ferrero Rocher

2012-01-29T08:51:00.000-08:00

My knowledge of the British diplomacy service is scant; it is gleaned solely from avid viewing of Spooks and devouring of John le Carre novels.

I am however fully aware of the confectionery of choice of every ambassador this side of the Suez crisis.

Thanks to Ferror Rocher and 'Monsieur, with thezze Ferrero Rocher you are realllly spoileeng us, hahaha'.

Indeed, we all know, thanks to those iconic (and some argue excruitatingly awful) adverts, exactly how Ambassadors with exquisite taste across the world are spoiling their reception guests. With hazelnuts covered in hazelnut cream, encased in a wafer shell, covered in chocolate and yet more hazelnut of course.

I have undertaken some research to see how true to life these adverts really are.

Firstly, on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website. I can sadly report there is no mention of Ferrero Rocher usage. And just as I was about to put in a Freedom of Information request I find that someone has beaten me to it. Yep, the British Foreign Office have already been asked how much of their annual budget is spent on Ferrero Rochers. Regrettably, I have to inform you that the request was deemed 'too frivolous' and an answer not forthcoming.

Which makes me think the answer to how much the Foreign and Commonwelth Office spend annually on Ferrero Rocher is: 'a lot'.

Since Ferrero Rochers have been enjoyed at Ambassador's receptions since 1982, I suspect (despite the wide range of varieties available) our diplomats may be getting a little tired of seeing the same towering silver tray of gold wrapped chocolate hazelnuts being brought out at every do.

Therefore, British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, I'd like to present you with the following: The Ambassador's Cupcake. A Ferrero Rocher hidden inside a chocolate and hazelnut cupcake, topped with hazelnut-chocolate frosting and chopped hazelnuts. No need to thank me, William Hague, I like to do my bit for Queen and Country.

Ambassador's Cupcakes
(makes six large cupcakes)

For the cakes:

100g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
140g golden caster sugar
40g finely ground hazelnuts
1/2 tbsp baking powder
pinch of salt
40g butter, softened
120ml whole milk
1 large egg

For the topping
200g icing sugar
40g cocoa powder
80g unsalted butter, softened
20ml whole milk
40g finely ground hazelnuts

6 Ferrero Rocher

Sprinkling of chopped hazelnut to decorate

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/375F and line a cupcake tray with six cupcake cases
2. Beat together the butter, sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, ground hazelnuts and salt until combined- the mixture will resemble fine breadcrumbs

3. Whisk (by hand) the milk and egg together in a separate bowl.

4. Gradually add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, beating together on a low speed until the mixture resembles a smooth batter

5. Spoon the batter between the paper cases, filling each case approximately three quarters full. Bake for 18-20 minutes

6. Allow to cool in the cases for a few minutes before removing onto a wire rack to cool completely

7. To make the topping: Beat together the butter, cocoa powder, ground hazelnuts and icing sugar until combined. Pour in the milk and whisk until the icing is soft and fluffy

9. Using a sharp knife cut a shallow crater in the top of each cooled cupcake. Spoon a small amount of icing in the crater and place a Ferrero Rocher on the top, using the icing as a 'glue' to hold the chocolate in place.

10. Pipe the icing onto each cupcake, up and around the Ferrero Rocher and sprinkle with the hazelnuts

Baker's notes...

The cake is inspired by the Hummingbird Bakery Hazelnut and Chocolate Cupcakes
An alternative to the icing above would be a great big spoonful of Nutella
If anyone has ever been to an Ambassador's Reception, did you get offered Ferrero Rocher by a suitably suave butler?

Fresh from the Oven: Tangzhong Loaf

2012-01-28T03:13:00.000-08:00

Fresh from the Oven is the monthly bread baking challenge that is currently being hosted by Silvia and Ivan from mushitza.

To me, the Tangzhong method sounded more like a particularly painful and little known Olympic martial art and not a method for baking a very soft and fluffy loaf using a water roux.

Popularised by Yvonne Chen and her book 'The 65º Bread Doctor', this method keeps the bread moist and fresh for a number of days. It doesn't come as a huge surprise to therefore discover that most Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, or Filipino bakeries have fallen head over yeast in love with this method.

And the recipe itself isn't complicated- there are no fancy pants ingredients or exotic flavour combinations.

My only tiny, tiny complaint (and for such a lovely loaf, it was worth it) is that the dough is mighty, mighty sticky. Silvia and Ivan advise using an electrical mixer for this reason and my MagiMix almost had to be resuscitated by the end.

Tangzhong Loaf:

For the Tangzhong:

30g flour
150g cold water.

For the Dough:

350g strong flour
5g instant yeast
55g sugar
5g salt
1 egg
125g milk
120g tangzhong
30g butter, melted and cooled

For Glaze:

the rest of the tangzhong

1. For the tangzhong: whisk together cold water and flour and cook over low heat, stirring all the time until the temperature on a thermometer reaches 65ºC. Leave the tangzhong to cool down at room temperature before using it.

2. For the dough: Combine together flour, sugar, yeast and salt then add in milk with the tangzhong and egg. Mix all the ingredients into a soft dough then add in the butter. Knead for 15 – 20 minutes

3. Cover the bowl and leave it to double in bulk

4. Knock the dough down on a lightly floured counter top then form into an oval loaf. Transfer to a floured baking tray. Cover with a teatowel and let it double in bulk again

5. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Brush with the rest of the tangzhong and bake for around 30 – 35 minutes until nicely golden

Baker's notes...

I accidently forgot to leave aside 30g of the tangzhong for the glaze and threw it in with the rest of the mixture. Oops.
This loaf lasted an amazing six days and remained as fresh on the sixth day as it was when it first came out of the oven
I'll definitely make it again- though may need to sweet talk the Magimix into this

Happy Australia Day! Hot Chocolate Lamingtons

2012-01-25T23:40:00.000-08:00

Happy Australia Day!

Today commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788, establishing the very first European colony in Australia.

I spent six months working in Sydney several years ago when I took a year out. As a tax advisor. Quite a random role to be fair- I had no knowledge of the British tax system let alone the Australian one. And when I left six months later I still had very little knowledge of the Australian tax system. And the British one scares me ('emergency tax codes' bring me out in a cold sweat).

But I loved living in Pyrmont in Sydney, strolling each morning in the glorious sunshine across Darling Harbour to work. Heading out to Bondi or Manly beaches at the weekend. Replacing Penguin bars with Tim Tams and Bakewell Tarts with Lamingtons.

Ah, yes Lamingtons. When Mr P from the magnificent Delicious Delicious Delicious announced this year's Reinventing the Lamington Challenge, for me it was time to Relive the Lamington from my time in Oz.

For those not in the know a Lamington is a sponge cake coated in chocolate and coconut. And Mr P has been reinventing them for the last few years into the most brilliant creations possible. I however, have never made one previously. This was to be my very first attempt.

My entry into this annual Lammie-Off is a Hot Chocolate Lamington, complete with a squirt of whipped cream and a chunk of chocolate on top. Simple perhaps, but these are very much 'project cakes' (see also cake pops) and take a bit of time. I didn't want to be too ambitious on my first attempt.

I used a Madeira Cake for the cake-base as this forms quite a sturdy, robust cake, the Duke of Edinburgh of the cake world if you like, happy to be tossed about in icing, coconut and so forth.

Hot Chocolate Lamingtons

Ingredients

One Madeira Cake, cut into squares approximately 4cmx4cm

200g icing sugar (sifted)
100g cocoa powder or Nesquik (sifted)
80g unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsps milk (approximately)

150g dessicated coconut
100ml double cream
Flake bar, cut into small pieces

1. To make the icing: beat together the butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder/Nesquik under thoroughly combined. Gradually add the milk, beating slowly until a soft, fluffy icing forms (you may need a little more than the milk advised above)
2. Smooth on the icing onto each of the cake squares
3. Pour the coconut onto a large plate and roll each iced cake square in the coconut
4. Whip the cream and pipe a little onto the top of each lamington and insert a flake at a jaunty angle!

Baker's notes...

There are hundreds of different varieties of Lamingtons available- Mr P's blog, Delicious, Delicious, Delicious has many fantastic ideas
For a great Madeira Cake recipe, try this one. Madeira Cake keeps for up to five days. I'll also be posting my own recipe in the coming weeks
Happy Australia Day!

Burns Night and Stem Ginger Shortbread

2012-01-24T23:50:00.000-08:00

Tonight is Burns Night. I went to a Burns Night Ceilidh in London one year. For what I most certainly lacked in skill and technique I made up in enthusiaism and, erm, more enthusiasm.

And there was a proper Scottish couple there who could actually dance. They knew the steps as you and I know how to walk. In matching tarten ensembles, they were stunning to watch. She with her model looks, he Braveheart.

And there I was, tipsy with whisky, full of haggis-n-neeps and enthusiasm, stripping the willow, dashing the White Sargent and flying the Scotsman all over the place.

These ginger shortbreads are perfect for a post Ceilidh treat.

Happy Burns Night!

Stem Ginger Shortbread

(makes ten; adapted from Great British Bake Off: How to Bake)

100g unsalted butter, softened

50g caster sugar, plus a little extra for sprinkling

130g plain flour

20g cornflour

Half a tsp ground ginger

Pinch of salt

30g chopped stem ginger (drained)

1. Beat the butter until creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar until light and fluffy

2. Sift the floiurs, ginger and salt into the bowl. Add the chopped stem ginger and work all the ingredients together with your hands until combined

3. Form the dough into a sausage shape, roughly 10cm long and warp in clingfilm. Pop in the fridge for 30 minutes until firm

4. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3. Unwrap the dough and slice into ten rounds

5. Arrange on a greased baking sheet and bake for twenty minutes until firm but not coloured

6. Remove from the oven, sprinkle over a little caster sugar and leave to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely

Baker's notes...

Try other flavour combinations such as chocolate (replace the ground ginger with half a tsp of vanilla extract and the stem ginger with 30g chopped dark chocolate)
As with any shortbread, the better the butter, the better the biscuit. It's worth splashing out on the posh stuff.
This recipe can be easily doubled
Apparently, the 'short' of shortbread has been used to describe a 'crumbling texture' since medieval times- for more fab food facts see the brilliant food encyclopedia The Taste of Britain
The missing one in the centre was assigned a 'Baker's Treat'. And apologies about the dark photographs; this grim winter weather does not make for cheery photos.

New job nerves, Random Recipes and Marbled Chocolate Crumble Cake

2012-01-22T08:46:00.000-08:00

I start a new job tomorrow.

I'm feeling nervous. Excited, but nervous.

Its a little like starting school, a new job.

For instance, I bought some new shoes yesterday. Sadly not 1980s favourite Clarks Magic Key shoes (want to be a Princess? Check out the retro ad) or 1990s favourites, Doctor Martins. And I bought some new pens (it is the NHS afterall) and almost bought me a pencil case.

How I loved the pre-new school year pencil case shopping! That trip to WHSmith, the thoughtful deliberation in the stationary aisle and upon return home the careful organisation of new pens, pencils, rulers and that compass you'd use only once a year in the annual trigonometry lesson.

To sooth my nerves, I baked. And because Dan Lepard states "I truly believe that life is improved by cake", I turned to his most brilliant Short and Sweet: The Best of Home Baking and made this lovely, lovely Marbled Chocolate Crumble Cake. The best thing about Dan's recipes, as a lot of bloggers know, is that his recipes really do work. Plus the book has this fancy 'double fan adhesive binding' which means it stays open on the page you want when baking, always most helpful.

And as the book was a present at Christmas, this post is winging its way over to Dom off of Belleau Kitchen's Random Recipes Challenge. The theme this month is 'New Year, New Book'.

The original recipe can be found on page 146 of Short and Sweet. Dan has some top tips for marbling right here in the Guardian.

Baker's notes...

The original recipe used plain caster sugar and stirred in 100g chopped dark chocolate to the chocolate mix before it went into the tin. I used caster sugar infused with a vanilla pod and skipped out the chopped chocolate
This was a really popular cake- given to my old colleagues on my last day- and Dan suggests eating it warm with a generous pouring of custard
I didn't buy myself Magic Key shoes yesterday. Disappointingly they discontinued them 22 years ago.

Tea Time Treats: Not hot, not cross, just buns

2012-01-21T09:52:00.000-08:00

When my Tea Time Treat buddy, the lovely Karen, from Lavender and Lovage announced this month's theme, sweet pastries and breads, I wondered whether it may be just a little too early to bake Hot Cross Buns.

While I loved making them last Easter, and even though the shops have had all manner of Easter treats on display since Boxing Day, it is still only January and I'm still finding the odd squashed Christmas Quality Street down the back of the sofa.

Yet these gloomy, dark afternoons are just crying out for a sweet toasted bun: juicy sultanas and raisins jostling for space, warming spices and slathered in melting butter.

So I made them without the traditional cross. Which means I can eat them all year round. Hurrah!

Not hot, not cross, just buns
(adapted from Nigel Slater and Felicity Cloake)

450g plain flour
7g dried yeast
50g soft brown sugar
2 tsp mixed spice
80g sultanas
45g currants
60g mixed peel
2 large eggs
225ml milk
50g butter

For the glaze:
2 tbsp soft brown sugar

1. Sift the flour in a large bowl
2. Add the sugar, yeast, spice and half a teaspoon of salt
3. Stir in the dried fruit and peel
4. Beat 1 egg and pour into the flour
5. Warm the butter and milk (don't boil), and when warm add to the flour and initially bring together with a knife before using your hand to bring the dough together
6. Tip the dough onto a well-floured surface. It will be pretty sticky at this time.
7. Knead for 7-10 minutes until the dough feels all nice and soft and elastic
8. Pop in a clean bowl, cover with a tea towel
9. Allow to rise for approximately 1 hour or until doubled in size. Grease a 23cm square tin
10. Turn the dough back out onto a floured surface and divide into twelve pieces
11. Roll each piece roughly into a ball and arrange, side by side in the tin.
12. Cover the buns with a tea-towel and allow to plump up for 30 minutes
13. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas Mark 8.
14. Beat the remaining egg and using as a wash to gently brush over the buns
15. Place the buns in the oven for 18-20 minutes
17. Make the glaze by mixing the sugar with 4 tbsps of kettled boiled water. Brush gently on top of your buns as soon as they come out of the oven

Baker's notes...

The great thing about these buns is the maa-husive range of flavour combinations. While I've stuck firmly with tradition, how about apple and cinnamon? Orange and Cranberry? Chocolate? Toffee? Seeded? A handful of nuts?
And should you have any left over (eh?) that may be going a little stale, they'll make a delicious base for a bread and butter pudding.

Blue Monday and Cheer-up Tuesday Comfort food: Pear and Apple Mincemeat Crumble

2012-01-16T23:14:00.000-08:00

How was it for you?

Yesterday?

Or, as it is otherwise known, Blue Monday.

Yep, boffins got together and undertook some nifty calculations, which I would summerise as follows, in the What Kate Baked Classroom:

They declared the third Monday in January as the most depressing day of the year.

While this has roundly been declared pseudoscience, I reckon its a fine excuse to indulge in some comforting, cheering food. At least that's what I told myself yesterday when I had the King Size Bounty.

Both of them.

This crumble I've been storing up to post since Christmas, thinking it would be an antidote to yesterday's gloom. And, because it would be using up any leftover mincemeat you may have lurking at the back of the cupboard, I've entered into Fuss Free Flavour's Frugal Food Fridays.

Pear and Apple Mincemeat Crumble

125g plain flour
125g unsalted butter, diced
100g light brown sugar
75g light muscovado sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Zest of two lemons and juice of one
4 eating apples, peeled, cored and cut into small chunks
4 pears, peeled, cored and cut into small chunks
4 tbsp mincemeat

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas Mark 6
2. To make the crumble rub together the butter and 125g of the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
3. Stir in 125g of the sugar (reserving 50g of the light brown sugar), the cinnamon and half the lemon zest
4. Pop the fruit in a shallow, oven proof dish, add the mincemeat, the remaining sugar, 1 tbsp of the flour, the lemon juice and remaining zest. Stir well
5. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on the fruit and bake for 45 minutes until the fruit is bubbling nicely and the crumble golden

Baker's notes...

Super-tasty warm from the oven and served with cream or ice cream
Can I christen today Cheer-up-Tuesday?

Afternoon Tea Cupcakes

2012-01-15T02:04:00.000-08:00

Afternoon Tea.

A quintessential British Institution.

I've no doubt the Battle of Waterloo was won following a satisfyingly filling Afternoon Tea for all the troops. William Renshaw, winner of no less than seven Wimbledon Tennis Championship titles must have celebrated with a spot of Afternoon Tea. And didn't Harry Potter come about while J K Rowling was enjoying afternoon tea?

Along with the Royal Family, the Tower of London and Judi Dench, Afternoon Tea is, officially, a National Treasure.

By all accounts*, Afternoon Tea was created in the Nineteenth Century, when Anna, Duchess of Bedford became a little peckish between lunch and supper, describing a 'sinking feeling' she would experience every day at four o clock. The solution were small cakes and tea sneakily bought to her boudoir by her ladies in waiting. But soon, realizing she'd stumbled upon a rather elegant and tasty way of preventing those Four O Clock tummy rumblings she began to invite along her friends and the tea moved from the boudoir to the drawing room.

Henry James wrote, "There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as an afternoon tea." Henry, I couldn't agree more, but hows about an all-in-one afternoon tea?**

Yep, these cupcakes are infused by Earl Grey tea, providing a subtle bergamot flavour and topped with a mini Hob Nob.

Afternoon Tea Cupcakes
(Makes 6 cupcakes)

Ingredients

3 Earl Grey teabags
3 tbsps hot water
40g unsalted butter
140g golden caster sugar
120g plain flour
Half a tbsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
100ml whole milk
1 large egg

For the icing

3 Earl Grey teabags

250g icing sugar

130g unsalted butter

25ml whole milk

Pack of mini hobnobs

1. To make the cake: Firstly, pop the teabags into a bowl and add the water, set aside to brew

2. Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/375F and line a cupcake tray with six cupcake cases. Beat together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt until combined- the mixture will resemble fine breadcrumbs

3. Whisk (by hand) the milk and egg together in a separate bowl. Add the tea, squeezing the teabags to ensure every last drop of tea is added.

4. Gradually add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, beating together on a low speed until the misture resembles a smooth batter

5. Spoon the batter between the paper cases, filling each case approximately three quarters full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the cupcakes are golden in colour and springy to touch

6. Allow to cool in the cases for a few minutes before removing onto a wire rack to cool completely

7. To make the topping: Place the fresh teabags in a small bowl with the milk and set aside to infuse.

8. Beat together the butter and icing sugar until combined. Pour in the infused milk and whisk until the icing is soft and fluffy

9. Pipe the icing onto each cupcake and decorate with the hobnobs

Baker's notes...

Course, any biscuit of choice can be used to decorate these
Best eaten within a couple of days although the uniced cupcakes will freeze
This recipe is inspired by the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days recipe book, which suggests using peppermint or fruit teas instead of Earl Grey

*Well, the one website I read
*Well, minus the scones and the sandwiches. Otherwise we'd end up with a creation worthy of Willy Wonka.

January, We Should Cocoa and Mini Chocolate Orange Fondue Pots

2012-01-13T11:35:00.000-08:00

It's January. The month of restraint, restriction and renewal. Of low-fat, low-cal and low-fun.

In theory, the cake tins should be banished to the back of the cupboard and the only weighing and measuring occurring should be the weighing of Body Mass Index and the measuring of waist circumference. In theory, salaries should be spent on gym memberships and diet plans rather than sugar and eggs.

However, in practice, what this most gloomy of months needs is comfort and cheer.

And chocolate.

For this month's We Should Cocoa choc-tastic blogging challenge, the lovely Chele from Chocolate Teapot has set the theme 'health conscious'. Previously, we've firmly established here on What Kate Baked that chocolate is indeed terribly healthy and good for you. Hurrah! So, it was simply a case of making it even healthier. And voila! These mini chocolate orange fondue pots were born unto the world.

Both cheerful and comforting.

Mini Chocolate Orange Fondue Pots
(makes 2 pots)

Ingredients

50ml double cream
100g dark chocolate, finely chopped
half a tsp vanilla extract

2 satsumas, peeled and each segment attached to a cocktail stick

1. Set a pyrex bowl over a small pan of simmering water, ensuring the bowl does not touch the water. Pour the cream into the bowl and heat gently.
2. Once the cream begins to very gently boil, remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate until melted. Add the vanilla extract
3. Pour into pots or mugs, start the dipping and enjoy!

~~Baker's~~ Chocoholic's notes...

Ideally, a proper fondue set would be a good plan for this dessert , and indeed would be very helpful to keep the chocolate nice and warm. Otherwise, if like me you don't have a fondue set or burner, follow the instructions as above and eat the dessert very quickly. Which, if you are anything like me, you certainly won't have a problem doing
Any fruit can be used, as could cubes of leftover (eh?) cake or marshmallows
Taking minutes to prepare this is the perfect pudding and would also be very appropriate to enjoy apres-ski. Or while lounging on the sofa watching Ski Sunday.

The Great Sport Relief Bake Off and Paul Hollywood's loaf

2012-01-09T23:17:00.000-08:00

Tonight sees a brand new series of The Great British Bake Off, but with a celebrity twist and all in aid of Sports Relief.

Excited?! Me too!

Tuesday nights simply haven't been the same since the last series finished in the Autumn. Each week since, I've stared forlornly at the blank television screen, a solitary sugary tear (90% of my body fluid is pure cane sugar) rolling down my cheek.

Okay. Perhaps, that is a tad melodramatic.

But with the exception of that incident of stalking Mary Berry (admittedly not my finest moment), the last few months have been a bleak GBBO-free zone.

I don't know about you, but I've a few questions I'm burning to know about this four part series:

1) Will Mary and Paul be just that little more forgiving when it all goes wrong? The contestants are after all celebrities not just mere mortals. The full list of those wielding their spatulas, wooden spoons and whisks can be found here

2) Who will be enjoying all the cake and providing the wonderful witticisms with Sue not in the presenting seat?

3) Who are 'celebrity contestants' Alex Langlands and Gus Casely-Hayford? Answers on a postcard and a slice of the cake for the person who can tell me.

4) Will that squirrel be making a triumphant reappearance? (Please BBC!!)

Fancy a sneak preview? Check out the clips here

Meanwhile this week's bake comes, very approrpriately I'm sure you'll agree, from Paul Hollywood. Yep, in my mission to buy as little manufactured bread as possible this year, and to bake as much of the bread we eat myself, I'm trying to pick up as many tips as I can from master bakers.

White cob loaf

Ingredients
350g strong white bread flour
1 tsp crushed salt flakes
3.5g sachet fast acting yeast
225ml lukewarm water

1. Pop the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl and mix together until combined. Form a 'well' in the centre
2. Gradually add the water into the well, and use your hands to mix together the flour and water. It will come together in a soft, slightly sticky dough
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled worksurface and knead (see below) for roughly ten minutes until dough is pliable, smooth and silky
4. Pop the dough into a clean bowl, cover with a teatowel and allow to rise until double in size
5. Punch down the risen dough to deflate it and turn it out onto a lightly floured worksurface. Knead gently for a further minute before shaping into a ball and setting onto a baking tray. Sprinkle with flour. Cover with a teatowel or clingfilm to prove- it should double in size once more
6. Pre-heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/425F/Gas Mark 7. When doubled in size, slash the top of the loaf with a sharp knife, sprinkle with a little more flour and bake for twenty-five to thirty minutes or until golden brown

~~Baker's~~ Paul's notes:

Knead the bread on a lightly oiled work surface- rather than a lightly floured surface. This is to help maintain the consistency of the loaf
After placing the dough on the worksurface coat it in the oil and knead it by folding the dough over itself repeatedly, turning 45 degrees after each fold. Which, if I remember rightly from last week's bread baking is pretty much what the brilliant Dan Lepard suggests in his brilliant Short and Sweet
If you caught Channel Four's Fabulous Baker Boys last week you'll have seen them use a shower cap to cover the rising dough...cue Boots top selling item for 2012
It can take up to 2-3 hours for the dough to rise in a normal temperature kitchen
To get a great crust, pop a roasting tin at the bottom of the oven prior to pre-heating. Just before popping in the loaf to bake, pour a cup of cold water into the hot roasting tin to create steam. And a great crust.
The tips and recipe come from The Great British Bake Off: How to Bake and Paul's video on the BBC's Food pages

Will you be watching The Great Sport Relief Bake Off? Any early favourites you might have?

How you know you are addicted to baking.... Plus: Spiced Honey Cake

2012-01-07T08:10:00.000-08:00

You know you are addicted to baking when....

75% of your disposable income is spent on eggs, flour and sugar

Your local corner shop had started stocking baking powder...just for you

You plan your weekend activities around the timings for your sourdough starter

Your nighttime reading of the latest Cooper/Grisham/Rowling (delete as appropriate) is replaced by Oliver/Lawson/Slater (ditto). Booker Prize? What Booker Prize? Gourmand Cookbook of the Year Prize more like it

When you bring alcohol rather than cake to a dinner party your friends look at you aghast and immediately check your vital signs

You lie awake at night worrying that your oven may spontaneously combust due to over-use

Your Christmas list consisted solely of the Top 10 cookbooks on Amazon and a new spatula

You find any excuse to get in the kitchen and bake...

This bake was inspired by my recent attendance at CafeDirect Coffee and Food Matching Evening and the Spiced Vanilla and Honey Cake made by 21st Century Housewife and Rhubarb and Rose

In turn they adapted the cake from Smitten Kitchen's Majestic and Moist Honey Cake. So many reincarnations. Clark Kent, eat your heart out.

Spiced Honey Cake

Ingredients

1¾ cups plain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons mixed spice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup runny honey
¾ cups golden caster sugar
¼ cup soft brown sugar
2 medium eggs at room temperature

½ cup warm coffee or tea
¼ cup orange juice

For the icing:

half a cup icing sugar
1 tsp clear honey
1 tsp water

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C/170C fan

2. Grease and flour an 8” round tin.

3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and mixed spice in a large bowl and set aside

4. In a second bowl whisk together all the remaining ingredients thoroughly.

5. Add the 'wet' ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with an electric mixer on a slow speed. It should resemble a lovely thick, well-blended batter

6. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin tin and bake for 40 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean

7. Once removed from the oven allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from the tin onto a wire rack to finish cooling

8. When completed cooled, make the icing by sifting the icing sugar into a bowl and whisking in the honey and water to create a smooth glaze. Drizzle over the cake.

Baker's notes...

This is a really tasty, moist cake, perfect with a cuppa. It lasts well for a few days stored in an airtight container
Any other symptoms of being addicted to baking? And more importantly what is the solution? Is there one?!

Foodie trends for 2012 and Butterscotch Banana Cake

2012-01-03T08:55:00.000-08:00

***DISCLAIMER: This post is as predictable as the end-of-year reviews that appear in the papers and the weight loss adverts that flood our TV screens this time of year. Sorry.***

2012. The year of the Olympics. The Queen's Jubilee. The second and last solar transit of Venus. An extra bank holiday (yippee!). And the year of the donut.

Here is a definitive, you-heard-it-hear-first list of what we'll all be heartily tucking into this coming year.

1) Mood foods are a key new trend. Foods that uplift us. Those that make us happy and stress-free. That'll be chocolate, and, erm, chocolate then.

2) Sandwiches. Or, more precisely, posh sandwiches. Artisan breads, exotic fillings and the no-bread-sandwich*.

3) Talking of which, ice cream sandwiches are thought to be one of the key dessert trends this year. Arguably ice cream sandwiches have been around a little while but this year they too turn all posh on us with broiche bun ice cream sandwiches. Though for me, nothing beats the humble crack of a Viennetta, which still brings such unadulterated joy after all these years.

4) Having gained a big following across the pond, Gelatinas, jelly-like edible paperweights are soon to be seen on a dessert trolley near you. Originally from Mexico these are surely the prettiest desserts but ones which I can assure you I will never, ever attempt on this blog. You need syringes and needles and all sorts. Fancy a go? Check out this video

5) And what, I hear you shout, are deemed to be the new cupcakes this year? Well, a little known French pastry called caneles, which has a soft, custard centre encased in a caramalized crust. By all accounts they are famously tricky to bake, but do sound famously delicious to eat...

6) Competing with caneles for the cupcake crown are Alfajores, sweet street food from South America. These are cookies filled with dulce de leche and covered in coconut. Like a sandwich really. Anyone noticing a trend within the trends?

7) Nigella's favourite treat, salted caramel will be seen in everything, from chocolates to cakes to cookies. And probably sandwiches.

8) Vegetables in desserts (celery and fig sorbet anyone?), exotically flavoured homemade marshmallows (how do beer flavoured marshmallows sound?) and regional interpretations of donuts will all be available at the most fashionable of eating establishments.

While this particular recipe doesn't obviously fit into any of the food trends above, with the nifty trick of caramalizing the bananas before adding them to the mixture, it could be argued that it almost fits into Nigella's favourite treat.

Butterscotch Banana Cake
(adapted from Dan Lepard, Short and Sweet)

For the bananas:
150g caster sugar
50ml water
250g ripe bananas, chopped
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsps vanilla extract

For the cake:
100g vanilla caster sugar
175ml rapeseed oil
3 medium eggs
50g plain yogurt
225g plain flour
2 tsps mixed spice
2 tsps baking powder
half a tsp bicarbonate of soda

1. Line a square 20cm cake tin with non-stick baking paper and preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas Mark 4
2. Tip the caster sugar and water into a frying pan and bring to the boil. Continue to cook over a high heat until the sugar turns a rich, reddich-golden caramel. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, add the bananas, butter and vanilla and cook until the bananas break up in the caramel. Spoon on a plate to cool

3. To make the cake, beat the sugar, oil and eggs until thick. Beat in the cooled bananas and the yoghurt. Sift in the flours, spice, baking powder and bicarbonate and fold this through the mixture.
4. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes
Baker's notes

I made a few substitutes to the original recipe, adding vanilla infused caster sugar rather than plain caster sugar, replacing the vegetable oil with rapeseed oil for a bit of a healthy alternative and as I'd ran out of wholemeal flour, used all plain flour
The original recipe, and the history behind it, can be found here on the Guardian website
I had much difficulty resisting the temptation to scoff the warm caramalised bananas just by themselves... yummmmm
It did sink a little in the centre on removing from the oven, but often the denser, moist cakes tend to have that habit

* An oxymoron if there ever was

Happy New Year and the easy peasy Cranberry and White Chocolate Party Bites

2011-12-30T23:18:00.000-08:00

How will you be waving cheerio to 2011 and celebrating the New Year?

Joining the hundreds of thousands expected to 'ohh' and 'ahhhh' in delight at the London Eye Fireworks Display?

Perhaps getting a head start on the traditional January-hitting-the-gym-thing and running off the Christmas Pud in the annual Nos Galan Race in Mountain Ash?

Or will you be drinking your body weight in celebratory cocktails, one last hurrah before the austerity of a bleak 2012?

Maybe you'll be on the sofa, champers in one hand, a plate of reheated turkey curry in the other, watching Jools and co in the annual Hootenanny?

Quite possibly you're on the guest list for Pippa Middleton's New Year bash and fretting over what to wear to ensure your rear* looks as marginally as good as that of (quoting from the tabloids) 'her Royal Hotness'?

I'm oncall at the hospital all weekend so it'll be a woefully early night, munching on any leftovers and grieving for Christmas. Plus chomping down a few of these, which, incidentally, are the easiest peasiest homemade foodie gift you could possibly present to your party host/Pippa Middleton.

Cranberry and White Chocolate Party Bites

(makes 15)

Ingredients

100g white chocolate

A handful dried cranberries

1. Melt the chocolate either in short 30 second bursts in a microwave or in a bowl suspended over a pan of gently simmering water

2. Pour the chocolate into small silicone cases or moulds

3. Add a few dried cranberries on top and pop in the fridge until set

Baker's notes...

This are so easy I feel bad blogging about them. But as I'm too busy catching up on Christmas telly (Downton Abbey! Ab Fab! Strictly Special! The Borrowers! Dr Who!) proper baking will have to wait til the New Year
Have a lovely, lovely New Year celebration what ever you may be doing and all the very best for 2012.

* 14 hours may not be enough time, but you could invest in this DVD, The Perfect Pilates Bum, by Margot Campbell, credited with honing Ms Middleton's rear.

Tea Time Treats December : The Round-Up!

2011-12-29T23:21:00.000-08:00

Hurrah!

Earlier this month we announced our festive December Tea Time Treats theme (CHRISTMAS!!) and you responded in your droves- many, many thanks for each and every entry. Our December Tea Time Treats Table is groaning under the weight of your buttery, boozy mince pies, your classic, crumbly Christmas Cakes, your seasonal, sticky Chutneys, your brilliant, beautiful biscuits, your sugared and spiced stollens, your festive, fruity breads and your cheery, Christmassy Cupcakes....plus much, much more!

Cup of tea at the ready? Here's the round-up!

First off the starting blocks my partner in ~~crime~~ baking challenge, none other than Karen from Lavender and Lovage! Karen has entered this wonderfully spiced and warming Christmas Morning Tea. I for one can't think of a better beverage to open all the presents with come Christmas morning.

Janice, from Farmer Girl's Kitchen made these delicious mince pies from THE recipe book of the year, Dan Lepard's Short and Sweet. No Christmas tea time table would be complete without crumbly, boozy mince pies- many thanks Janice!

Egg Nog and Cranberry and pudding!? Yes, all our Christmas wishes have come true! With thanks to Lisa at Allergy Free Vintage Cooking who has created this scrumptious Cranberry egg nog Bread Pudding. And yep, as the name suggests, this is perfect for guests with dairy, egg or gluten allergies.

Despite initial hesitation about using vegetables in cakes (a suspicion I share!), Privish from Killer on the Plate was enlightened to the finger-licking deliciousness that are Carrot, Cinnamon and Chocolate Cupcakes. Don't they look just great?

Now this time of year isn't complete without eating your entire body weight in chocolate. I've no doubt Ramkumari, from Spicy Khana agrees as she's entered this delicious and many-times-attempted-to-reach-perfection homemade chocolate into the challenge.

The second entry from the wonderful Karen at Lavender and Lovage, and part of her most enjoyable advent calender series, are these perfect sparkling orange snowflake cookies

If I could wish for anything in my stocking next year (yep, New Year hasn't arrived and I'm already planning next year's festivities), it would be these awesome Ninja Gingerbread Men Cutters, as featured by The More Than Occasional Baker. These GinjaNinjas are brilliantly fun!

Sometimes, over Christmas, in the midst of all the excitement, the indulgence and the mounds of wrapping paper, you may yearn for nothing more than sitting down with a cup of tea and Working London Mummy has baked the most perfect accompaniment: the traditional Italian Christmas classic that is Panettone. Not just Panttone though, Panettone with chocolate, clementine and walnuts. Anyone for seconds?

This next entry is surely a chocoholics dream festive bake: a Chocolate Orange Yule Log from Mari's World. Many thanks for your scrumptious entry Mari!

The baking bug has firmly bit Gary from Exploits of a Food Nut, for which we at Tea Time Treats are mightily grateful as Gary has baked this sweet, soft and juicy Saffron and Peach Cake... covered with snow!!

Sweet, spicy shortbread is the next entry, from Homemade by Fleur. These Christmas Biscuits, to be given as festive foodie gifts, will no doubt be very, very delightfully received by their recipients

Our next entry comes courtesy of Lottie's World of Cakes and Bakes (a world I would be very much at home in). Lottie has baked the delicious spicy German Christmas biscuit, Lebkuchen, thank you Lottie

You can never eat enough Mince Pies at Christmas. This is one of the many mottos of Tea Time Treats at this time of year. Just as well Cake Fairy Blog has baked these exceedingly scrumptious Cranberry and Apple Mince Pies. And how pretty are the holly tops?

And while we are all enjoying a feast of Mince Pies an excellent tip arrived from A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate who made these delicious Fruit and Nut Mince Pies. The tip? To add not one, but two generous spoonfuls of calvados. A tip we heartily agree with. It is after all Christmas!

A beautiful bake to hang on the Tea Time Treats Christmas Tree comes courtesy of Checky's Kitchen, who has baked these gorgeous Christmas Gingerbread Stars

With Marzipan not being to everyone's taste and Laura from How to Cook Good Food has come up trumps with these delightful bite-sized morsals of Stollen, sans Marzipan! Brilliant!

But for those of us who will happily munch on an entire block of marzipan, Suelle from Mainly Baking has baked these delightful Stollen bars, complete with festive green pistachios and, of course, large chunks of marzipan all the way through

These fabuslously festive and fun cupcakes have been baked by Kentish Keg-Meg; with the juicy red cheery, Rudolph sure does have his shiny nose!

A light, fluffy, yet crumbly pastry for the mince pie is the holy grail of a mince pie baker...and Angela at Garden, Tea, Cakes and Me has been using her recipe for a few years now with great success. Plus check out Angela's blinged-up pies at the end of her post!

Cranberry, raisin, macademia and cinnamon? A cookie could not be more Christmassy! With thanks to The More Than Occasional Baker for generously submitting her second entry to the Tea Time Treats Table

Helen at Fuss Free Flavours has done the hard work for us, and together with a panel of testers (possibly the most festive of panels this side of the Have I got News For You Christmas Special panel) tasted a whole range of ready made Christmas Cake mixes to decide to their favourite. Check out the results here

Phew! Is it time for a cup of tea yet? Yes? Brilliant. Because the next entry, Christmas Ale Fruit Cake, is perfect with a cuppa. And curling up on the sofa with your new Christmas cookbooks infront of a roaring fire. Plus, What I Baked this Weekend has the most brilliantly festive fact on the post that is sure to win you the final round in any Christmas Pub Quiz

Take a much loved tea time treat, add a bit of a festive twist and taa-dah! A star is born! Nope, not just Dom at Belleau Kitchen in his quest for World Domination but his fab Mincemeat Scones!

Rather than the traditional carrot to leave out for Rudolph et al, why not take a leaf from C's brilliant (cook)book and bake up these moist, festive and spicy Rudolph Flapjacks? If I were a reindeer I wouldn't leave behind a single crumb, just like C from Cake, Crumbs and Cooking's colleagues...

Choclette from the wonderful Chocolate Log Blog sent over these orange and chocolate mince pies, declared to be the 'nicest mince pies' Choclette has ever eaten, which doesn't surprise us in the slightest, not least because of the truly inspired addition of Cornish clotted cream

This next entry, a Flourless Orange Cake is described as deliciously chocolatey with fragrance of orange and a hint of spice from the addition of ginger. It comes straight from the oven of Mummy I Can Cook, aka Shu Han. And doesn't the gorgeous picture kinda make you want to lick the screen?!

Willy Wonka eat your heart out as this next recipe is a cheeky twist on the traditional mince pie: the brilliantly inventive Mince Pie Samosas! With many thanks to Lucy 'In the Sky'

Karen, from Lavender and Lovage's third entry are festive spiced fairy cakes...in a jar! I would be well chuffed to see a jar or two in my stocking

And here's my entry, Christmas Fruit Cup Cakes, made to munch on the journey home for Christmas

Our first Christmassy Cake Pop entry comes courtesy of Tales of Pigling Bland and these delightfully festive Christmas Pudding Cake Pops! They look so delectable, I just don't think I'd be able to stop at one Pop...

Making mince pies for the very first time is Kiki from Kitchen of Kiki...and they tasted great! A big thank you to Kiki for entering these

A savory entry next up, perfect appetizers for a Christmas do! With thanks to Hobby Chef for these Vegetarian Nuggets

This final lovely entry is the second from Garden, Tea and Cakes- and a great gift for any festive party I'm sure you'll agree: Rice Krispie Chocolates!

Thank you again for each and every entry- its been a huge pleasure to receive all these delicious recipes!

Pop over to Karen's wonderful blog, Lavender and Lovage on the 1st January where next month's theme will be revealed.

In the meantime, we wish you a very, very Happy New Year from Tea Time Treats!

Random Recipes: Panna cotta

2011-12-27T01:55:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a little break from the leftover turkey today, and the accompanying turkey sweats, to tuck into these Christmas Panna Cottas (Cottas? Cotties? What's the plural please?) in aid of Belleau Kitchen's Random Recipe Challenge.

This month Dom has surpassed himself with the most charitable, yet festive of themes. Summing up what Christmas is all about (kindness towards others, generosity and thoughtfulness as opposed to, say, turkey sweats) the theme is: Make Space for Some Christmas Charity. Dom has asked us to randomly select a recipe from a cookbook we never use which we are then donate to charity.

As I love all my cookbooks, and treasure them as though they are my children (yep, all 35 of 'em), the giving-away-thing was going to be a bit tricky. However, following some negotiation with the lovely Dom it was agreed that I can still enter as I explained I'd just donated to the Guardian Christmas Appeal.

And this recipe comes from a book I happily snapped up earlier this year from a charity shop. Brilliant.

Christmas Panna Cotta

(adapted from the Hairy Biker's 12 Days of Christmas; makes 3)

2 gelatine sheets

250ml double cream

2 tbsps caster sugar

half a tsp ginger

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tbsp raisins

1 tbsp dark rum

1. Leave the raisins to soak in the rum for half an hour. And have a good glug of the rum yourself; it is afterall Christmas

2. Soak the gelatine according to the packet instructions until soft

3. In a small pan bring the cream, sugar and spices to the boil then simmer for 2-3 mins, gently whisking the whole time until the sugar is dissolved

4. Squeeze out the excess water from the gelatine, then dissolve in a cream mixture while off the heat

5. Drain the raisins, add to the mixture

6. Share out the mixture between three ramekins or moulds and leave to cool completely before placing in the fridge to set

Baker's notes...

Serve with some seasonal berries for extra festive joy
Best eaten on the day of making, but these are perfect prepare-ahead desserts while you slump on the sofa in a blissful tipsy state, half an eye on the telly, leisurely searching for the last Purple Triangle in the almost empty tin of Roses

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Tea Time Treats: Christmas Fruit Cupcakes

2011-12-23T00:42:00.000-08:00

Well, it is T - 48 hours to the Big Day and the excitement levels here at What Kate Baked are beyond feverish. Think small child, still believes, staying up beyond bed time and eating all the candy canes on the tree and you may just have a pretty good impression of what it is like to be me right now.

As we head home today for Christmas, a car boot full of presents, warbling along to 'Driving Home for Christmas', the excitement at seeing my family increasing with every mile, we'll be tucking into one or two of these Christmas Fruit Cupcakes.

After a whole month of festive baking (and eating) this very last post before Christmas is my entry to this month's Tea Time Treats Challenge, the baking challenge hosted by myself and the lovely Karen from Lavender and Lovage. We did toy with going a bit left-field, throwing in a curve ball and puzzling everyone with Easter as the theme, but, nah, its ALL about Christmas both on What Kate Baked and over on Lavender and Lovage. Thus, this month's Tea Time Treats Challenge theme is, of course, Christmas.

It just remains for me to thank you for reading What Kate Baked this year and to wish you a most Merry, Merry Christmas.

Christmas Fruit Cupcakes

The recipe is adapted from a recipe in Good Food (December 2009)

200g dark muscovado sugar

175g butter, softened

750g luxury mixed dried fruit

2 tsp grated fresh root ginger

zest of 2 oranges and juice 1 orange

100ml brandy

85g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

3 large eggs, beaten

85g ground almonds

200g plain flour

Half a tsp baking powder

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp cinnamon

To decorate:

400g ready made marzipan

500g ready made white fondant icing

4 tbsps warmed apricot jam

A selection of coloured fondant icings, silver balls and Christmas cutters

1. Pop the sugar, butter, dried fruit, ginger, zest and orange juice into a large pan, pour over the brandy and slowly bring to the boil, stirring regularly to melt the butter

2. Reduce the heat and bubble gently, stirring ever now and again for ten minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool for thirty minutes

3. Preheat the oven to 150C/130C fan/Gas Mark 2. Stir in the nuts, eggs and almonds into the fruit mixture, sift in the flour, baking powder and spices and stir all together

4. Scoop the cake mix into 12 muffin cases and level the tops. Bake for 40 min until golden and firm to touch. Allow to cool.

5. Roll out the fondant icing and marzipan onto a surface dusted with icing sugar and cut out 12 rounds of each approxiamatel 6 cm in diameter

6. Brush the top of each cake with the warmed jam and gently top with a marzipan round followed by a fondant round and decorate

Baker's notes...

These last for up to 2 weeks stored in a cool, airtight tin
As always in the world of What Kate Baked, '2 weeks' really means 2 hours
Happy, Happy Christmas!!

Forever Festive Nigella: Christmassy Chocolate Cupcakes

2011-12-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

I've been really good this year.

(This isn't a last minute plea to Father Christmas....Honest).

I've been really good and I've eaten every single advent calendar chocolate on the day they were supposed to be eaten.

I can't begin to tell you the willpower required. I can't count the number of times I've been over to the calander and almost opened them all. How I've resisted the chocolates twinkling away under the festive lights I don't know. I swear, in my weaker moments, the little chocolate penguins been whispering 'Eat Me. You know you want to'.

So, as a reward for my patience and goodwill-towards-my-calendar, I made myself these Christmassy Chocolate Cupcakes. These are also in honour of the last ever Forever Nigella, hosted by Maison Cupcake.

As per the rules of this lovely, lovely challenge, I won't repeat the recipe verbatim, but these are based upon Nigella's Christmas Cupcake recipe, which is found in How to be a Domestic Goddess and also online here.

Baker's notes...

Rather than the royal icing topping Nigella suggests, I simply used angel and star Christmas cutters and fondant icing
Maybe next year I can persuade someone to buy me this advent calendar, from Harrods. It is the world's most expensive advent calendar, costing a whopping $1million. But at least I won't have the problem of thinking chocolate penguins are talking to me for 24 days... instead I'll just need to figure out how to drive a yacht.

What Kate Baked Christmas Carol Service and Cranberry Roulade

2011-12-18T04:40:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the annual What Kate Baked Christmas Carol Service. You'll find your song sheets on your chairs. All together now...

Christmas Bakes (sung to the tune of Jingle Bells)

Christmas Bakes, Christmas Bakes,
Baking all the wayyyy....
Oh what fun it is to bake
On this cold and frosty day

Baking festive treats,
In a Christmas mould
To the party we go
Eating all the way

Timers on ovens ring
Making spirits bright
Oh what fun it is to bake a cake
(and eat it all tonight)

Christmas Bakes, Christmas Bakes,
Baking all the wayyyy....
Oh what fun it is to bake
On this cold and frosty day

O come all ye Bakers (sung to the tune of O Come all ye Faithful)

O Come, all ye bakers,
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to the kitcccchhh-en
Come and behold it,
Its the Christmas Pudding!

O Come, let us eat it,
O come, let us-ss eat it,
O come, let us-sss eat it,
The Christmmmasss Pudding!

Twelve days of (Baking) Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my greedy tum asked of me: a Christmasss ree-ci-pee

On the second day of Christmas my greedy tum asked of me: two mini mincemeat puddings

On the third day of Christmas my greedy tum asked of me: three gingerbread disasters

On the fourth day of Christmas my greedy tum asked of me: four Christmas Truffles

On the fifth day of Christmas my greedy tum asked of me: five CHRISTMAS CHUTNEYSSS!

On the sixth day of Christmas my greedy tum asked of me: six Mincemeat and Pear Muffins

On the seventh day of Christmas my greedy tum asked of me: seven stollen bites

On the eighth day of Christmas my greedy tum asked of me: eight slices of roulade

One the ninth day of Christmas my greedy tum asked of me: nine orange creams

On the tenth day of Christmas my greedy tum asked of me: ten squares of spicy treacle

On the eleventh day of Christmas my greedy tum asked of me: eleven peppermint creams

On the twelfth day of Christmas my greedy tum asked of me: twelve servings of mulled wine

Thank you. And please take to your seatts and now enjoy a slice of this Cranberry Roulade

Cranberry Roulade

175g plain chocolate, broken into pieces
175g caster sugar
6 eggs, separated
2 level tbsps sieved cocoa

For the filling:
300ml double cream
150g fresh or frozen cranberries
50g caster sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/Gas Mark 4. Lightly grease a swiss roll tin and line with baking parchments.
2. Melt the chocolate slowly in a pyrex bowl over a pan of hot water.
3. Whisk the sugar and egg yolks until light and creamy. Add the cooled chocolate and stir gently until combined
4. Whisk the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until stiff. Stir a spoonful of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, mix gently and then fold in the remaining egg whites and the cocoa powder.
5. Spoon into the tin and gently level the surface. Bake for approximately 20 minutes until firm to touch
6. Allow the roulade to cool in the tin before turning out onto a large piece of baking parchment, dusted with icing sugar
7. Pop the berries and sugar into a small pan with 2 tbsps of water and heat gently for 10 minutes and allow to cool.
8. Whip the double cream and spread the cream over the roulade before adding the cranberries on top of the cream
9. Roll the roulade tightly starting with one of the shorter ends and using the baking parchment as guidance
10. Sieve icing sugar over the roulade to finish

Baker's notes...

This roulade is inspired by Mary Berry's ultimate chocolate roulade. Again, apologies for stalking you Mary Berry and, erm, Happy Christmas*.
Good Food magazine has a similar recipe, but using cranberry sauce

* I write this as though Mary Berry, THE Mary Berry reads my blog

DIY SOS: Gingerbread House Disaster

2011-12-15T13:31:00.000-08:00

Last year, PB (pre-blogging) I made a Gingerbread House. It was ginormous, more of a mansion, and took A and I the best part of the first three months of the year to eat it.

Following the success of the mansion, this year I decided to dabble in a little property development, and attempt a miniature village.

I think I expanded too soon. After last year's heady optimism about how easy this gingerbread house lark was, this year was, in the words of Craig Revel-Horwood off of Strictly, a 'dissssassstar'. To fix this, I needed the combined efforts of Grand Designs, DIY SOS and...erm... Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen (Come back! Your crazy shirts are forgiven!).

It took no less than seven attempts, two different types of 'icing glue', several choice, most un-festive words and I still had what I believe they call in the trade a 'structural deficit':

In other words bloomin' house No 1 collapsed. Was my gingerbread too soft (I'd left it a day before assembling)? Was my icing not thick and 'gluey' enough? Were my walls too wonky? Was it the festive Egg Nog(s) I'd consumed?

I was about to resort to using bloomin' Pritt Stick, when I remembered that actually, often in baking, its the taste that counts. I abandoned the concept of a village of houses and while gingerbread Lawrence surveyed the damage:

(Yes, this really is a sad faced gingerbread Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen):

A and I tucked right in. The gingerbread was real tasty. And this was the recipe:

Ingredients

125g soft unsalted butter

75g dark muscovado sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

100ml golden syrup

375g plain flour

Half a tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

Half a tsp allspice

To decorate the house:

1 pack of royal icing sugar

2 x packets of white chocolate buttons

2 x packets of red Jelly Tots or candy sweets

Edible glitter

Icing sugar

1. Pop the butter and sugar in the food processor and whiz until light and fluffy. Add the egg and golden syrup and whiz again until smooth

2. Add the flour, bicarb, baking powder, spices and a pinch of salt and whiz a third time until it forms a soft dough

3. Knead the dough lightly for a minute or so until smooth and flatten into a disc shape, wrap in clingfilm and chill until firm

4. Make the templates:

2 x roof panels: 6.5cm x 10cm

2 x side walls: 50cm x 10cm

1 x front wall: 7.5cm x 5cm, and an extra 3.5 cm to reach the roof

1 x back wall: 7.5cm x 5cm, and an extra 3.5 cm to reach the roof

5. Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/Gas Mark 4 and line 3 large baking sheets with baking paper

6. Roll out the dough roughly 3mm thick and use a knife and the templates to cut out the roof panels and walls

7. Bake for 12-15 minutes and leave to cool

8. Then comes the fun bit....or not so fun bit in my case... Make up the royal icing according to the instructions on the side of the pack and pop in a piping bag. Pipe on the plate 'foundations' to secure the house and then along the edges of the walls and roofs to construct the house

9. When the icing has set, decorate! The white chocolate buttons/roof tiles and the red sweets are stuck down using more royal icing. When you've finished doing your best Lawrence impression, sprinkle generously with icing sugar and leave to set for at least 1 hour before devouring

Baker's notes...

I think I need to take some tips from the guys who constructed the World's Largest Gingerbread House. What was their secret? Cement?!
It was 23 foot high. I couldn't even construct a gingerbread house 23mm high.
I prefer Mince Pies anyway

Baker's notes...

Maybe I need to be asking for this Gingerbread House baking kit from Father Christmas

Win! Cadbury's Christmas Treasure Box!

2011-12-13T14:22:00.000-08:00

*** THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED; THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR ENTRIES***

'tis the season to ~~be jolly~~ eat your entire body weight in chocolate!

Yes! 'Tis Christmas!

The time of year where it is quite frankly obligatory to eat more in the space of two weeks than you've eaten over the last eleven months combined. When saying 'no thanks, I won't have another slice' is considered blasphemy. When it will be thought poor form if, come January, every single pair of trousers you own aren't horribly tight. Infact, I have it on good authority that the Coalition Government, once they've sorted out the EU, unemployment and the economy will be voting to have 'Festive Gluttony' enshrined in law. Dave and Nick are particularly keen on doling out jail terms if you haven't replaced your breakfast cereal for Mince Pies by 15th December.

It is a time of year What Kate Bakes loves.

And to celebrate I've a Cadbury's Treasure Box to give away to TWO lucky readers.

Just call me Father Christmas.

To enter, simply leave me a comment below telling me which festive foodie item you'll be greedily enjoying the most this Christmas.

Small print:

The giveaway will close 21:00 Friday 15th December 2011 in order for the prize to reach the winners by Christmas
The winners will be chosen at random from the comments left below
All decisions are final, no correspondence will be entered into and there is no cash alternative
The winners will be contacted by email
The description of the Treasure Box explains it is 'a great gift to share with family and friends'. What Kate Bakes is absolutely fine if the only person you share it with is...yourself.
Good Luck!

We Should Cocoa: Party Stollen and...how festive are you? Take the What Kate Baked Quiz!

2011-12-12T23:20:00.000-08:00

How festive are you feeling with just 12 days to Christmas? Take the What Kate Baked Christmassy Quiz to find out...

The song you hum to yourself in the shower is:
a: Jingle Bells
b: The first single from the winners of the X Factor
c: You don't hum in the shower as you can just about hear the dulcet tones of the Today programme from the radio in the bedroom

'Christmas Spirit' means:
a: The overwhelming joy felt at this time of year
b: the booze in your Egg Nog
c: The Ghosts visiting Scrooge, your favourite character in 'A Christmas Carol'

Your pick Kevin from Accounts as your Secret Santa, officially the trickiest work colleague to buy for because of his one sole love: fine wine. Do you:
a: Rub your hands with glee thinking 'this'll be one heck of a Christmas challenge!!' before starting a brainstorming session
b: Hope he'll be so tipsy at the Office Christmas Party he won't notice the £4.99 price tag on the back of your dodgy, dusty bottle of wine picked up hastily from the local corner shop on the way to the party
c: You specified when you joined the company that you don't participate in Secret Santa, never have done and, for the fifth year running, wish for this to be written into your contract

Your internet homepage on Christmas Eve will be set to:
a: North American Aerospace Defense Command Santa tracking website
b: Refreshing the Boxing Day Sales page at John Lewis
c: re-examining the finer points of the EU Treaty veto

The Christmas edition of the Radio Times:
a: has great big red circles all over it, highlighting your favourite Christmas shows
b: is bought very last minute, principally to avoid any shows featuring Noel Edmunds
c: is excellent to layer the cat litter tray

Have a look at the annual Christmas Cards from our political leaders. Your favourite is:
a: Nick Cleggs. Cute and Christmassy
b: Ed Milibands. A nod to the festivities
c: David Cameron. Harks back to April, a whole 8 months before Christmas and not a bauble in sight

Turkey is:
a: what you pre-ordered at your local butcher in September in case they ran out
b: what you've resigned yourself to eating, in curry form, for the 12 days post-Christmas
c: a country that was once the centre of the Ottoman empire and straddles the continents of Europe and Asia, an important strategic location that gives it major influence in the region

There are 12 days left to Christmas. You
a: Can't wait
b: start panic buying multi-packs of talc and hankerchiefs and think it might be time to get a present for Kevin from Accounts
c: can't understand why it isn't over yet

Your family have invited themselves over for Christmas dinner. You:
a: have been preparing for this since January and are on Version 9.5 of the Christmas Pudding
b: plan a trolley dash around Marks and Spencers Ready Meal section on Christmas Eve
c: booked yourself a holiday as soon as heard wind of this preposterous idea

It is snowing. You think to yourself:
a: Ahhhhhhh, snow! How perfectly Christmassy!
b: Am I too old to challenge the kids next door to a snowball fight?
c: Duvet Day

What percentage of your baking blog has involved festive related posts over the last month?
a: 95-100%
b: 40-50%
c: 0-5%

If you answered mostly As: Congratulations! You are more festive than Father Christmas

If you answered mostly Bs: You're getting there; have another mince pie and a few more sips of Mulled Wine. Plus, how about this for Kevin from Accounts? The Pocket Wine Book

If you answered mostly Cs: Bah humbug.

As you may be able to tell I am firmly in a A team. This latest festive bake is inspired by We Should Cocoa, the monthly chocolately challenge from Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog and Chocolate Tea Pot. This month's theme, chosen by Choclette is Orange. After many a thought along the lines of 'I could just melt a Chocolate Orange!!', then promptly dismissed as it just may be cheating, I decided to adapt this wonderful Stollen recipe from the wonderful Dan Lepard, which appeared in the Guardian a fortnight ago.

The original recipe can be found right here, so I won't repeat it verbatim

Baker's notes

I made double the recipe, kept exactly to the original recipe with one half and in the second, omitted the pistachio for 100g milk chocolate chips. I did however omit the glycerine from both as I didn't have any- but certainly didn't notice a significant 'hardness' to the mixture as a result.
Dan says it lasts up to two weeks if wrapped well in foil. It lasted less than 24 hours.
After generously dredging with icing sugar, I cut the stollen into small bite-sized party pieces to take along to a fancy dress party for which I dressed up as a candy cane elf. This was my hat:

Dear Father Christmas... and Mini Mincemeat Bread and Butter Puddings

2011-12-11T00:20:00.000-08:00

London
11th December 2011

Dear Father Christmas,

Thank you ever so much for your postcard from Barbados. I was pleased to hear you and Mrs C enjoyed the sunshine on your annual break. It was great to see the photos of your trip and I agree, you certainly know how to 'bust a move on the dancefloor' after five hours of all-inclusive high-end rum. It is indeed a shame Strictly clashes with your busiest time of the year, and I'm sure you can 'show that young Harry a thing or two'.

I was also delighted to hear your cholesterol levels are now almost back to normal after the 2.2 billion mince pies you ate on the 24th December last year. Have you thought anymore about your Doctor's suggestion to send out a world-wide memo in October requesting low-fat Mince Pies? I too was surprised your Doc showed no sympathy when you explained that without the full-fat Mince Pies your energy levels would be flagging by Fiji.

Anyway I'll cut to the chase, I know you're a busy man FC. If you could arrange for me to have the following in my stocking this Christmas I'd be ever so grateful:

1. Jamie Oliver's Great Britain book (I hear you always get the elves to bulk order with Amazon each September if you know Jamie has a new cookbook out in time for Christmas, so this shouldn't be too much of a problem)

2. In preparation for next year this Christmas Pudding Basin (FYI: Rudolph's right this year's John Lewis Christmas advert is no way as good as last year)

3. Macarons are my nemesis FC, I think this book from Laduree would be a great help

4. A spatula, as I don't think any budding baker can have enough spatulas. And I also just like saying the word 'spa-che-laa' over and over.

Anyways, love to you, Mrs C, the elves and reindeer,

Kate x

PS: I thought I'd bake these for you this year, what do you reckon?

Mincemeat Bread and Butter Puddings
(Makes 2)

6 slices of white bread, thickly buttered
3-4 tbsps of mincemeat
25g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
150ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
75ml milk
1 tsp demerara sugar

1. Butter the inside of the ramekins and preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas Mark 4
2. Beat together the sugar, eggs, cream and vanilla extract, stir in the milk
3. Cut one slice of buttered bread into two circles to fit the bottom of each ramekin
4. Using cut slices of the buttered bread, form a ring of bread around the perimeter of the ramekins
5. Pour a large spoonful of the cream mixture into the ramekins to soak the buttered bread
6. Spoon a teaspoon of the mincemeat into each ramekin, pat down gently and add another circle of buttered bread on top. Pour over a spoonful of the cream mixture.
7. Repeat step 6 and you should reach the top of the ramekins. Any spare cream mixture should be poured on top now. Sprinkle over a couple of pinches of demerara sugar
8. Pop in the pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes until crisp and golden
9. Enjoy while warm

Baker's notes...

Any leftover mincemeat? Say hello to these puddings. A great, festive way of using up those last spoonfuls of mincemeat
A warming glug of brandy of rum wouldn't go amiss either...
The mincemeat recipe I use is by Dan Lepard, found right here on the Guardian website
And FC, could you pass on my love of the KitchenAid to the Easter Bunny? Ta.

Taste Christmas, meeting THE Mary Berry and Treacle Spice Traybake

2011-12-07T00:21:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday my friend B and I went along to Taste Christmas at the Excel Centre.

I've never been to the Excel Centre.

It is huge.

Properly, aircraft carrier sized ginormous.

After a couple of near-misses when I almost joined the queues for the Britain Got's Talent auditions and the British Olympic Taekwondo try-outs, I finally found Taste Christmas. Lovely.

B mentioned that Mary Berry was making a guest appearance, undertaking demonstrations and signing her books. The chance to be within poking distance of the Great Dame of British Baking was too good an opportunity to miss in favour of more free samples of curry.

So, dragging B, we sat and patiently waited in the Demonstration Theatre a whole 45 minutes before Mary's appearance. In the front row we sat, like over-eager school children in assembly. And the next half hour was spent in awe of Mary as she demonstrated tips and tricks to make delicious mini brownie cupcakes and a suitably festive mincemeat frangipane tart (both of the recipes can be found on the Taste of Christmas website).

And Mary's top tips?

Mary explained she uses Bourneville chocolate in all her chocolate recipes and advised to use only the very best natural sugars
She will often microwave very lumpy sugars (that'll be the muscovados of the world) for a few seconds to de-lump (I'm sure Mary used a slightly more technical term than 'de-lump')
For the crumbliest pastry, use half lard, half butter
To try and stop her sweet-toothed family from eating all her yummy bakes Mary hides them in tins she labels 'dog food'. I'm not entirely sure she was joking.
Mary pleaded for budding bakers to apply for the next series of the Great British Bake Off and promised she'd look after you. She said she didn't always agree with Paul's comments and often found him to be on the tough side with his views on the bakes

We then had the chance to ask questions. My hand shot up like an over-enthusiastic school-girl-swot who knows all the right answers. Bearing in mind I'd had a whole half hour to think of a question, this is the most original, unique, never-asked-of-Mary-before question I could come up with:

'Mary, what is your most favourite ever, ever cake?'

Mary's response? Her Mum's stem ginger treacle traybake, which I decided to make today. And it is yummmmmm-y. Crumbly, a good kick of ginger and warmingly spicy.

A little meet-and greet session followed. Guess who was at the front?

Me.

I got to shake Mary's hand. THE Mary Berry! And I asked her yet another unique and original question:

'Mary, will you be cooking dinner this Christmas or do you have a day off?'

I can exclusively reveal that yes, this year, Mary Berry will be cooking Christmas dinner for her family.

It took a while to recover from the excitement of meeting Mary Berry (THE Mary Berry) and shaking her hand but 'sampling' copious amounts of Russian vodka from a nearby stall did help.

And then I discovered Mary Berry was doing a Book Signing session at the Foyles stall. Guess who was first in line?

Me.

And what did Mary Berry said when she spotted me?

'Its YOU again!'

To which, mortified, I muttered 'I'm really sorry Mary Berry!'. Under the watchful gaze of two rather burly security guards, I scampered away, realizing 'Mary Berry thinks I'm stalking her! Mary Berry thinks I'm stalking her!!'

Sorry Mary Berry.

Mary Berry's favourite ever, ever cake: Treacle Spice Traybake

Ingredients

225g butter softened

175g caster sugar

200g treacle

300g self-raising flour

2 tsps baking powder

2 tsps mixed spice

1 tsp ground ginger

4 eggs

4 tbsps milk

3 bulbs stem ginger, chopped finely

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas Mark 4. Line and grease a traybake tin approximately 30cm x 23cm with foil

2. Measure all the ingredients into a large bowl and beat well until thoroughly combined

3. Spoon into the prepared tin and smooth the top

4. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes

5. Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes before lifting out of the tin to cool completely

Baker's notes...

I've made a few adjustments to the recipe (sorry Mary Berry) and used 200g of treacle rather than the 225g in the original recipe.
The original recipe also advises just 1 tsp mixed spice, and 1 tsp allspice. As I had no ground allspice to hand, I upped the mixed spice to 2 tsp and, to add to the firey stem ginger, added a tsp of ground ginger
The original recipe also advises an icing made with icing sugar, stem ginger syrup and finely chopped stem ginger, but I felt a dusting a icing sugar would also work
Taste Christmas is a great day out, check out next year's dates here
This recipe is taken from Mary's 'Christmas Collection' and is said to be a great stand-by to give to carol singers with a glass or two of mulled wine
Do we think Mary Berry's security people have a photo of me in a folder marked 'Undesirables'?

Chocolate Christmas Tree Cake and the festive period for Mr and Ms Average...

2011-12-03T00:33:00.000-08:00

Say you are Mr or Ms Average (you'll be 39 years old and your surname Smith) this Christmas...

You'll spend £378 on presents (just promise that £7.95 of it will not be spent on this calendar of HM Prisons of England. Just possibly the worst gift ever).

You'll no doubt hear the nation's favourite Christmas Carol Silent Night approximately 345* times over the next month and Do They Know Its Christmas? the best ever selling Christmas song, at least 482* times. (What Kate Baked will be warbling along to Oh Come All Ye Faithful and Driving Home for Christmas. A mash-up of the two is a currently a work in progress).

You'll spend a further £183 on food, drink and entertainment. That'll be the 10 million turkeys and 25 million Christmas puddings we British consume then. Not to mention the average 14 brussel sprouts each of us will eat over the festive period (although in the world of What Kate Baked only the one sole Brussel, aka, the 'annual Sprout', swallowed whole and washed down with a large glup of the nearest alcoholic drink will be consumed, for posterity and 'cause it's Christmas).

If, after the glutton of Brussel Sprouts, you have any room left you may want to tuck into one of the 27 mince pies each of us consumes over Christmas. (FYI: I'm already on Number 14 and it's only the third day of December. I make up in mince pies what I don't eat in Sprouts. And this may account for the average 2kg gain in weight over the festive period...)

Once the Christmas Dinner is over, it is of course time for the crackers- just ensure over-enthusiasm is stamped out to avoid being one of the four people who attended A&E last Christmas with a broken arm as a result of violent cracker pulling. If you've successfully pulled (!), hopefully you'll end up with one of the better cracker jokes, rather than the worst.

And if you do have any spare change left over from all the present-buying, you may want to pay for a bite of the World's Most Expensive Mince Pie, worth a whooping £3000. Then again, you may wish to reconsider when you discover the pie infact contains sperm whale secretions. Betcha Heston's don't. They just contain eau-du-taxi-freshner.

And if you need a rest after all those figures, pop your feet up and indulge in a ~~slice~~ branch or two of this Chocolate Christmas Tree Cake

Christmas Tree Cake

For the cake:

75g plain flour
half a tsp baking powder
Quarter a tsp bicarbonate of sugar
half a tsp cinnamon
half a tsp ground ginger
pinch of salt
50g soft unsalted butter
80g soft brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tbsps natural yoghurt
60ml boiling water
50g dark chocolate
half a tsp coffee

For the icing:
60g icing sugar, sifted
60g unslated butter, softened
50g chocolate, broken into pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas Mark 6. Using a pastry brush, grease the inside of the mould with softened butter
2. Mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, spices and salt in a large bowl and set aside
3. Cream the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the egg and mix well
4. Beat in one third of the flour mixture followed by a third of the yoghurt, repeating until all the flour mixture and yoghurt in used up
5. Pop the water, broken up chocolate and instant coffee into a small pan and heat gently, stirring, until the chocolate has just melted. Fold into the cake mixture. Pour into the tree mould and pop in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the cake is cooked through. Allow to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes before removing
6. To make the icing: Melt the chocolate in a microwave-proof bowl in short bursts in the microwave. Beat the icing sugar and butter together until well combined then add the slightly cooled chocolate. Spread over the cake, using a fork if desired to create a 'branch effect'. Decorate with pretty white chocolate stars

Baker's notes...

This recipe will last for a couple of days stored in an airtight container in a cool place
The recipe quantity will also make six cupcakes
The white chocolate stars were from Morrisons
It is loosely inspired by this Norwegian Spiced Chocolate Cake by Signe Johansen and Nigella's Christmas Cupcakes
The mould I bought for a couple of pounds from this cookery shop in Cardiff but funky alternatives are available online
I've entered this into English Mum's brilliantly festive Big Christmas Bake Off

* randomly made up statistic

Tea Time Treats Blogging Challenge- December

2011-11-30T23:02:00.000-08:00

We had an absolutely phenomenal response to our inaugural Tea Time Treats Challenge with an Autumnal feast of Ginger and Bonfire Treats, hosted by the wonderful Karen over at Lavender and Lovage (read all the 34 [!] entries right here).

This month's theme is (drum roll please....)....

CHRISTMAS!!!

But of course!

We'd love our December Tea Time Treats Table to be groaning under the weight of your buttery, boozy mince pies, your classic, crumbly Christmas Cakes, your seasonal, sticky Chutneys, your brilliant, beautiful biscuits, your sugared and spiced stollens, your festive, fruity breads and your cheery, Christmassy Cupcakes.

Here's a summary of how to take part:

All teatime treats, whether sweet or savoury, breads, pies, pasties, cakes, tarts, desserts, conserves or biscuits (plus many, many more!) can be submitted to the Challenge
Post your recipe on your blog with a link to What Kate Baked and Lavender and Lovage, mention the relevant host for the month and attach the Tea Time Treats logo as shown on the event page.
The recipe can be one of your own or one you've seen elsewhere. You are welcome to republish old recipes/posts but please add the information about this challenge.
Please be as creative with the theme as you like.
If you put your post on twitter please mention @KarenBurnsBooth @katecakeandbake and we will retweet all those we see.
You do not need to enter every month to join in with the challenge.
Your post can be submitted for other blogging challenges, just make sure this complies with the rules of the other challenge.
Please email your entries to teatimetreatschallenge@yahoo.co.uk by the 28^th December. A round up of each month's entries will be posted by the 1^st of January on What Kate Baked.

You can read more about our monthly challenge here.

HAPPY FESTIVE BAKING!

Kate and Karen

Thanksgiving Mini Series: Pecan Toffee Cake

2011-11-25T23:12:00.000-08:00

This is the third and final bake in the mini-series to celebrate Thanksgiving

In the summer between my first and second year at University I spent a few months working in America.

In a sweet shop. But of course.

I deputy managed a sweet shop named Candy Kitchen in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, the Blackpool of the East Coast of America. You could argue, as deputy manager of a sweet shop, I reached my lifetime career ambition by the age of 19.

I wore a bright pink t-shirt emblazoned with CANDY KITCHEN and sold boxes of taffy to the masses.

I really enjoyed the summer, not least because every single American I came across was so warm, welcoming and fascinated by this ~~sales girl~~ Deputy Manager with the funny accent. When asked, I'd say I was from Wales, which led to one very comedy exchange as one American couple enquired: 'Wales is a Communist country, right?'

Looking slightly aghast (had I been away that long?) I replied: 'Not as far as I know' before hotfooting it to the nearest internet cafe to email my family (Subject Matter: 'Has Wales become a communist country? Did I miss something? What's happened?! Reply ASAP')

This last post in the Thanksgiving mini-series is a Pecan Toffee Cake, the toffee being the next best thing I could find to taffy, THE best seller at Candy Kitchen.

I've adapted the recipe from Good Food Magazine, December 2008.

Ingredients

100g pecans
140g stoned dates
200g butter
200g light muscovado sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
half a tsp ginger
half a tsp nutmeg
4 eggs, beaten
140g self-raising flour

1. Pop the dates in a small pan with enough water to cover the dates and boil for roughly five minutes until nice and soft. Drain, discarding the water and pop in a food processor. Whizz until smooth then leave to cool
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/Gas Mark 4. Butter and line the base of a 23cm cake.
3. Beat the butter, sugar and spices together until light in colour and creamy. Tip in the date, eggs and a pinch of salt and beat until smooth
4. Fold in the flour, then spoon into the tin and level the top.
5. Sprinkle the pecan nuts over the top and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack or alternatively serve warm

Baker's notes...

In true, holiday-season, indulgent fashion, generously drizzle maple syrup over the cake for a real all-American treat
Or serve with this maple ice cream
The original recipe had 100g ground pecans in the cake, but I'd run out of pecans. Oops.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Mini-Series: Pumpkin (Whoopie) Pies

2011-11-23T23:15:00.000-08:00

This is the second post in the What Kate Baked mini-series that is Thanksgiving Bakes.

I wanted to bake an alternative to the ubiquitous Thanksgiving dessert, the Pumpkin Pie. The Pumpkin Whoopie Pie sprung to mind.

Stright from the States, the Whoopie Pie is one of the recent trends in baking. A sweet tasty treat that is best described as the result of an amorous coupling between a cookie and a cake. A guilty secret that the cookie struggles to talk about and the cake is deeply ashamed about.

As for the origin of this most delectable delight, well, are you sitting comfortably? Then we shall begin.

Once upon a time (said in best posh Jackanory voice), legend has it that Amish mothers in Pennsylvania would pop a spoonful or two of leftover cake batter in the oven, and sandwich together the resulting sponges with icing. Easily transportable, very yummy, their families would yell 'whoopie' with pleasure upon opening their packed lunches to find the pies.

However, there is controversy about this story (now that never happened in Jackanory). According to the Wall Street Journal two other states lay claim to the Whoopie. I reckon a Whoopie Pie-Off is required.

Meanwhile over this isde of the pond, Whoopie Pies have become a huge hit. Marks and Spencers sold out when they first started selling them last year. And Harrods had to employ an extra baker to keep up with demand.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pie

Ingredients

For the pies:
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
Half a tsp salt
115g butter, softened
125g light brown soft sugar
125g caster sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
250g tinned pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the cream cheese filling

115g full fat cream cheese
85g softened butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
180g sifted icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C/170C fan assisted oven
2. Grease and line four baking sheets
3. For the pies: beat the butter and sugar together for a couple of minutes until thoroughly combined. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well. Add the pumpkin puree and the vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Set aside.
4. In a second bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, spices and salt.
5. Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture until combined.
6. Either spoon or pipe the mixture into small, equal sized circles onto the baking sheets
7. Bake for ten minutes or until the pie spring back when gently touched
8. Cool on the baking sheets for 5-10 minutes before removing to finish cooling on a wire rack
9. To make the filling: beat the cream cheese, vanilla and butter together until smooth. Add the icing sugar and beat again until combined, glossy and smooth
10. Spread roughly a teaspoon of cream cheese filling on the flat side of one of the pies before sandwiching with a second pie (flat side down). Repeat with all the pies.

Baker's notes...

I made mini versions, approximately 5cm in diameter, which made roughly 25 pies using the recipe above. Alternatively you can make larger versions which would of course yield fewer pies
I used a piping bag, which helped ensure equal sized, uniform pies
Store the pies in an airtight container in the fridge and dust with icing sugar to serve
The recipe above is adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie Pie and Libby's Pumpkin Puree 'Very Best Baking' website
I used Libby's tinned Pumpkin Puree in this recipe which I found in our local Waitrose
I've never made Whoopie Pies before, and indeed, only ever tasted one prior to baking these. I was really pleasantly surprised to find them tasty, moist and more-ish.
In the picture below the two missing ones are the What Kate Baked Baker's Bonus ones- the ones I tried out to make sure I didn't accidently add 250g of salt rather than sugar...
Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Mini-Series: Bourbon Pecan Brownies...Plus: A compliment from a baking icon

2011-11-23T11:54:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, the United States celebrates Thanksgiving, commemorating the three day feast in 1621 between the pioneering pilgrims and Native Americans and giving thanks for the harvest.

As millions of Americans around the world set off home to their families, their President pardons a lucky turkey named Liberty and Lady Gaga shows the world how to make waffles on her Thanksgiving TV Special, here's a few holiday statistics fact-fans:

$4.37 billion worth of turkey is expected to be consumed over the holidays, with the 'Gopher State' Minnesota the top turkey producing state
There are four places in the US named after the traditional main course: two 'Turkey Creek's (in Louisiana and Texas) and two plains 'Turkey's (in Arizona and North Carolina)
And there are 9 places in the USA called 'Cranberry'
1.1 billion pounds of pumpkin is produced in the run-up to Thanksgiving (250g of which found its way to my kitchen for tomorrow's Pumpkin Whoopie Pie recipe)

All stats courtesy of US Census

To kick off What Kate Baked Thanksgiving mini-series we have these delicious bourbon and pecan brownies from Dan Lepard's 'How to Bake' series in the Guardian.

The recipe can be found right here, so I won't write it out verbatim

Baker's notes:

The only changes I made to the original recipe was to leave out the cocoa powder as I was using 85% cocoa solids chocolate and to use only 100g pecan nuts rather than the stated 125g.
Crisp on the outside, gooey on the inside, a hint of Bourbon and a crunch of pecan....Happy Thanksgiving!
Inspired? Try Dan's Pecan Crust Bourbon Chocolate Tart
I was super-excited to meet Dan last week at Let's Make Christmas at Fortnum and Mason and even more thrilled to find a tweet the following morning from Dan who had tasted my festive bake: '@katecakeandbake yes, it was a brilliant day, and liked your crunchy nut cake very much!'
If I hadn't already been sitting down I think I'd have toppled over. Dan Lepard. Complimenting my Cake. Eh?!?!