Choux pastry

Choux pastry is something that I always thought was super difficult and for the first few times I made it, I could never get if right when using it for eclairs or profiteroles.

My pastry would either sink every time and I would end up with flattened choux pancakes or they would rise only the tiniest bit and end up rock hard.

But those that know me will tell you I'm not a quitter so as I wasnt having luck with just reading recipes from books, I turned to YouTube to watch the process and I've succeeded after watching a few of the basic  "do not  break rules" I think it's safe to say I've cracked the basic  choux pastry and can now share it on here with you.

 The "do not break rules" are listed at the bottom of the page after the recipe

For this batch of choux I made up some creme diplomat filled profiteroles topped with milk chocolate ganache and I got almost 30 profiteroles, or you can use this same recipe for my classic eclairs.

To make 25-30 profiteroles you will need :

225ml water
150g plain flour
115g unsalted butter at room temp and cut into cubes
4 medium eggs at room temp
1 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

• Start by preheating your oven to 180c fan. Line 2 large baking sheets with greaseproof paper and set aside.
Place the butter, salt, sugar and water in a pan. On a low heat melt the butter, stirring frequently, once it has melted turn up the heat very slightly.

• As soon as the water comes to boiling point  ( don't actually let it boil) take the pan off the heat, add in all the flour and stir together vigorously with a wooden spoon. It will look all clumpy and may not look like it will combine but keep going and you'll end up with a sticky and wet dough.

•  Place the pan back on to a low heat, and continue stirring until the wet dough starts to clump together and comes away from the sides of the pan and is all glossy and smooth

• Take the pan off the heat and transfer to another bowl, and leave to cool for a few minutes. Whilst the dough is cooling, crack the eggs into a separate bowl and whisk together well

• When the dough has slightly cooled, take the eggs and beat them into the dough a little at a time. Each time you add a little of the egg ensure it's all incorporated and the dough turns to a smooth batter.

• To check that the batter is the right consistency, hold up your wooden spoon with a little of the batter, if it's really stiff and clumpy then you need to continue adding the egg. Once the batter droops and forms a "V" shape and doesn't fall off the spoon and holds its shape that is the perfect consistency.

• Mix together one final time for a minute to ensure you have a smooth glossy batter

• Transfer the batter into a piping bag and pipe round blobs onto the trays. I managed to get 28 blobs. Dampen the tip of you finger with a little water and gently press down on any bits of the batter that are sticking up on the top

• Bake the profiteroles for 20 minutes at 180c, then turn down the heat to 160 and bake for a further 5  minutes till crisp and golden.

• Remove from the oven and leave them to cool completely before filling them with your choice of fillings. You can also freeze them if you wish to have them made up ahead of time, just pop them in the oven to crisp back up and fill once they've cooled

Below are my " do not break rules " and honestly as long as you follow them, you'll ace choux pastry. 


1  As with all baking ensure that your eggs and butter are at room temperature as this just helps ensure they mix easily and efficiently 

2 cutting the butter into cubes means that the butter should all melt at the same speed so that when  the water reaches boiling point you shouldn't have odd clumps of butter floating around

3 When waiting for the water to reach boiling point, you don't want to let it boil as this means the water will begin to evaporate which means less steam once choux is in the oven and it's the steam that helps them puff up and rise 

4 Whisking the eggs beforehand means you can control how little or much egg you add in as well the egg whites and yolk being combined fully as I've found that just adding  whole eggs straight in means clumps of egg in the batter and also it can result in over mixing the batter which will result in tough choux pastry

5 However tempted you are, do not open your oven door as all the heat and steam will escape and your lovely choux will collapse

Yorkshire Parkin

Parkin is a cake traditionally associated with Yorkshire & is especially  eaten on bonfire night & through the winter.

It is a recipe that is very quick to make and the real patience comes after baking as it's one that should be left for anything up to 5 days before consuming it as the flavours develop and deepen resulting in a lovely sticky and fiery cake full of flavour.

For 14-16 peices you will need :

200g butter
1 large egg
200g golden syrup
85g treacle
85g light soft brown sugar
100g medium oatmeal
200g self raising flour
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp all spice
4 stems of ginger ( with syrup reserved)

• Start by melting the butter, sugar and both syrup & treacle in a pan on a low heat. You don't need to let it simmer or reach boiling point. As soon as it's all melted, remove from the heat and set aside

• In a bowl combine the flour, spices And oatmeal and stir together till it's all incorporated.

• Chop up the stem ginger as roughly or as finely as you like and stir into the flour

• Whisk the egg and add into the cooled melted butter mixture. Add all of this into the bowl with all the dry ingredients and stir till all evenly combined.

• Pour the mixture into a 22cm square greased & lined tin.

• Bake at 140c fan for 45-50 minutes until the cake feels firm and slightly comes away from the edges of the tin.

• Leave to slightly cool, and whilst in the tin brush the top of the cake with the ginger syrup from the jar of stem ginger

• Once completely cool, cover the whole cake with greaseproof paper and place in an airtight container for a minimum of 3 days ( if you can resist ) and serve on it's own or as my kids have it, with hot custard

Gingerbread men

Ginger bread men are something I have never (yes never.. you read that right) ever made in my entire time since discovering a love of baking, but I thought an attempt was well overdue and now I have attempted them I know they will be appearing in my kitchen quite possibly all year round.


I decorated mine simply with an outline of royal icing and added a simple smile, and three dots for buttons. You can go as detailed as you wish, let the kids go all out with colours or go classic and keep them totally plain.

To make about 6-9 gingerbread men you will need:

75g soft light brown sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp treacle
1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp  ground ginger
1/4 tsp all spice
95g butter
1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate
235g plain flour

• Place the butter, both syrups, sugar, soda bicarb and water into a saucepan and melt on a low heat, stirring together to ensure the mixture doesn't stick or start to burn. Once melted remove from the heat and leave to cool 
• In a bowl, add the flour and all the spices and stir together. Slowly add the cooled syrup mixture and stir together with a wooden spoon. Once all the syrup mixture has been added, use your hands to bring the dough together and ensure there are no bits of flour that haven't been mixed in properly
• Leave the dough to completely cool, trying to roll it out and handle it will be difficult whilst it is warm and it will just tear. I left mine for about 25- 30 minutes, alternatively you can place the the dough in the fridge to cool it quicker, for about 15 minutes. Ensure you wrap it in cling film if you're placing it in the fridge.
• Once the dough is cool enough to handle, flour your work top and rolling pin as this is a dough that will easily stick and you want to try and handle it as less as possible so that you're not over working the dough.
• Roll your dough out to 3-4mm thick if you want biscuits that are thin and snappy or for softer and thicker gingerbread roll out to 4-6mm thick. Use gingerbread cookie cutters to cut out your gingerbread men, or whatever shapes you fancy.
• Bake them on a greaseproof lined tray, in a preheated oven at 160c (fan) for 10-12 minutes or until the edges just slightly colour.
• Leave to slightly cool once removed from the oven, then place onto a wire rack to completely cool before decorating as desired

Mint chocolate brownies

Brownies are something that I dont actually make that often, I'm not really sure why in all honesty as they are actually so easy and you can make up all sorts of flavours from the classic sticky chocolate to out of the box rocky road brownies.

I decided to go with mint chocolate brownies this time around as we are in December which for fellow foodies and bakers means Christmas preps, and I think mint is a classic flavour for this time of year.


For my mint chocolate brownies you will need :

250g unsalted butter
250g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
4 large free range eggs
250g caster sugar
2 heaped tablespoons self raising flour
2 heaped tablespoons cocoa powder
1 bag aero mint bubbles
1 box mint matchmakers

• Start by preheating your oven to 160c (fan), grease and line a 20cm tin.
• Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a simmering pan of water. Once melted, set aside to slightly cool.
• Whilst the melted chocolate is cooling, whisk together the eggs and caster sugar in a freestanding mixer or an electric whisk. The eggs should be pale and fluffy and almost double their volume.
• Stir in the cooled melted chocolate, and stir through gently to combine. Sieve over the cocoa powder and self raising flour and carefully stir together until all the flour is mixed in and their are no lumps.
• Pour the mixture into the lined tin and spread out evenly. Take the mint aero bubbles and gently press them into the batter - I used about half the packet. Then take the matchmakers, roughly snap them up and scatter all over the top of the brownie batter- I used almost the whole box
• Bake the brownies in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until crisp on the top and just slightly soft.
• Leave to cool slightly before cutting. Serve warm with Ice cream or cooled completely on their own.