Jam roly poly

This dessert is a proper old school classic & it's the perfect dessert not only at this time of year when it's cold and grey, but also when you want something that's easy to make up & you don't need to wait for it to cool - piping hot staright out the oven with lashings of custard - perfect

I also love the fact that you can pretty much use whatever jam takes your fancy- raspberry, strawberry, apricot or even cherry. I have have even once used chocolate spread with orange zest for the filling  .. No surprise it was a hit with the kids

To make my jam roly poly you will need:

250g self raising flour

50g unsalted butter - plus a little extra for greasing

50g vegetable suet

145-150 ml milk

150g jam 

• Preheat your oven to 160c fan. 
• Place a large sheet of foil on your work surface, then a peice of greaseproof paper the same size. Lightly grease the greaseproof paper with butter all over.    
• Place your flour, butter and suet into a bowl and rub together until you get a breadcrumb like mixture. 
• Slowly add in the milk and mix together and mix together  to form a soft dough. 
• Lightly flour your work surface and roll the dough out to a square measuring about 25x25cm Spread the jam all over the square leaving a 1 inch border all around the edge
• With the longest side facing you, tightly roll the sqaure up into swiss roll. Cut off 1cm of pastry off either ends.Place the rolled up pastry onto the greaseproof paper, and roll it up encasing it in the paper and foil loosely- the roly poly will expand as it cooks which is the reason for rolling loosley
• Twist the ends tightly, like the ends of a cracker. Place onto a baking tray and bake for an hour.Remove from the oven and leave to stand just for a couple of minutes just to let any excess steam escape, serve whilst still hot with custard 

lemon meringue pie

Anyone that knows me well will tell you I am a sucker for meringue based desserts, especially when it's paired with sharp citrus flavours.. and my absolute favourite has to be the classic lemon meringue topped with fluffy swiss meringue that's lightly torched giving it a slight crisp finish.

Making my own lemon meringue pie has been on my baking bucket list for such a long while, and since I made some Lemon curd to gift at Christmas this year, it was the perfect chance to make one whilst I actually had every ingredient at hand.

To make a 9 inch round pie you will need

1 batch of my Sweet short crust pastry

Lemon curd*

For the swiss meringue topping:

300g caster sugar

6 egg whites

Pinch of salt

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

• Preheat your oven to 180c ( fan)

• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to about 1/2       an inch thick

• Line a 9"/23cm loose bottom tart tin with the pastry, and place in the fridge to chill for about 15 minutes

• Line the pastry case with baking paper, and fill with baking    beans/ dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from the        oven, remove the paper and beans.

• Place back in the oven for about 5- 8 minutes or until the          case is lightly golden all over. Remove from the oven and set    aside

• To make the swiss meringue topping, place all the            ingredients in a bowl, and place the bowl over a ban marie      ( a bowl of simmering water)  and stir together until the sugar has completely melted, and the temperature reaches 71c.

• Remove from the heat and with an electric whisk or free standing mixer, whisk the egg whites until thick and fluffy, they should hold their shape and form stiff peaks.

• Pour the lemon curd into the cooled pastry case* making sure it's level and smooth.

• Spread the swiss meringue all over the top of the curd, ensuring it is all covered, use the back of a spoon to make peaks all over.

• Use a blowtorch to lighlty torch the meringue all over, alternativley, place under your grill - but stay close as it will brown quite quickly.

• Carefully remove from the tart tin and serve.

* For the lemon curd i used my home made curd, but you can always use shop bought, i filled the tart with the curd almost to the top of the case- i left about 1/2 gap for the merigue topping

To make mini lemon pies, cut out 12 circles using a cookie cutter just slightly larger than the holes .. line each hole with with a pastry circle,  add 2 tsp of curd into each case .. pop in the fridge for 15 mins 

Bake for 8-10 mins until the pastry is lightly golden. Leave to completely cool before finishing off with the meringue topping 

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

Following on from my Mince meat recipe, here is my recipe for my quick, easy but delicious mince pies ..

The amount for the pastry will make a batch of 12, so of you're wanting to make more just double up on the pastry ingredients.

With the mincemeat you'll have plenty left over from just 12 pies but you can always store any left over in the fridge

 For the pastry bases you will need 1 batch of my Sweet short crust pastry and a batch of my mince meat


• Start by lightly flouring your work surface, roll out the pastry to about the thickness of a £1 coin

• Using a pastry cutter slightly bigger than the holes in the cupcake tin, cut ot 12 rounds. Gently press each round into the tin holes

• Fill each case with 1 - 1 1/2 tsp with the mincemeat

• Use any left over pastry to either cut out shapes and place them on top of each pie, or make cut out lids to place on top.

• If you top your mince pies with lids, brush the edges with a little water and seal together  by pressing together  with a fork and poke a small hole in the top to help the steam escape.

• Brush the lids/shapes with a little egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 200c/180c fan for 18- 20 minutes or until golden brown

• Leave to cool slightly  before transferring to a wire rack to cool, and and lightly dust with icing sugar before serving

Luscious lemon drizzle

My luscious lemon drizzle is really one of my easiest cakes to make, yet its just as delicious. The sponge itself is light and fluffy, amd made even lighter with the optinal addition of buttermilk.

I decided to add in buttermilk on this occasion to  coincide with dairy week on GBBO. You can leave it out if you wish to as it will still be just as delicious.

 To make an 8 inch round of my luscious lemon drizzle you will need

8 inch round cake tin

225g self raising flour

225g caster sugar

225g margarine - at room temp 

5 meduim eggs - at room temp

Zest of 2 lemons 

50ml buttermilk ( optional)

For the drizzle

Juice of 2 lemons

100g caster sugar

For the drip icing 

200g icing sugar

4-5 tbsp water

Zest of 1 lemon

• Preheat your oven to 160c (fan assisted) lightly grease and line your tin and set aside.
• Cream your sugar and margarine,using an electric whisk or in your free standing mixer, until pale and fluffy
• Add in one egg at a time ensuring each egg is fully combined.
• Fold in the flour, buttermilk and zest with a spatula or metal spoon
• Pour the prepared batter into the tin, bake for 40-45 mimutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean, set the cake aside still in its tin.
• To make the drizzle , put the lemon juice and caster sugar into a saucepan and heat very gently and stir together until the sugar melts - and remove from the heat immediately. You don't need to boil it at all, just warm enough so the sugar melts
• Take a tooth pick anc poke holes all over the top of the still warm cake, then pour the dizzle all over the top so the drizzle seeps into the cake - I used a small jug to make the pouring easier. Leave the cake in the tin to completley cool, as it will most likely fall apart if you try to remove it at this point
• Once the sponge has completely cooled, place onto your choice of serving plate.
• Make the topping by adding the water a little at a time to the icing sugar, mixing together to form a semi thick paste - you want it to be spreadable without being runny.
• Spread the preapared icing straight on to the top of the cake with a palette knife or butter knife. If you want to have it drip over the edge, spread the icing all the way to the edge and give it a gentle push so it falls down the sides of the cake. Finish off with a sprinkling of lemon zest and serve 

Bread week

It's bread week on bake off which for me means having a go at something bread related or even making something from the episode itself as bread and I started off as definite frenemies when I first dived into the world of bread. 

Slowly over the past year or so I have gotten much more confident and relaxed thankfully, and am not filled with sheer dread at just the thought of bread. With that in mind i decided rather last minute, to recreate Michael Chakraverty's Keralan star bread. 

Because the decison was so last minute, at 8.30pm i had to improvise a little and make do with  what i had in the cupboards for the fillimg and I'm super pleased to say it was a hit.

My filling ended up consisting of caramelised red onions with roasted red peppers & a little bit of heat with the additon of chilli flakes & cayenne pepper

To make my tear and sheare star bread you will need:

For the dough

500g strong bread flour

3tsp dry active yeast

2 tsp salt

2 tsp paprika

300ml room temp water 

3tbsp olive oil

For the filling 

2 meduim red onions - chopped

280g roasted peppers - chopped (jarred in olive oil)

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp chilli flakes

1/2tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp salt

To garnish

2 tsp nigella seeds 

• Start by making the filling. Take the oil from the jar of roasted peppers & add to your frying pan. Add to the oil, cook them on a medium heat until soft & beginning to caramelised.
• When the onions are almost cooked, add in the the rest of the ingredients and cook the spices for a couple of minutes on a low heat- This will stop the spices from burning. Once cooked, set aside and leave to cool 
• Whilst the filling cools, prepare the dough. Place the flour in a bowl, add in the paprika and stir through ensuring its mixed in well with tne flour.
• Add the yeast to one side, salt to the other, and olive oil into the middle.
• Slowly pour in the water, mixing the flour to form a soft dough.
• Drizzle a little olive oil onto your work surface, and then knead your dough on your work suface until smooth and elastic- this will take about 6-8 minutes. If you prefer you can use a freestanding mixer using the dough hook - this should take 3-4 minutes
• Place your dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to prove till doubled in size- about an hour
• When the dough has doubled in size, turn out onto a lightly floured work surface, knock the dough back and divide into 4 equal portions and leave for a couple of minutes - this helps the gluten to relax and makes rolling the dough easier.
• Take one ball of dough, and roll out to the size of a dinner plate, and place onto a baking tray lined with greasproof paper.
• Mark the centre of the rolled out dough using a small cookie cutter, then take one third of the filling and spread all over the rolled out dough being careful to avoid the centre, and to not go too close to the edge as you dont want the filling spilling out.
• Take the second ball of dough, again roll out the same size as the first ball, carefully place ontop of the filling and again mark the centre with the cookie cutter. Take another 3rd of the mixture and again spread all around the second circle avoiding the middle as befrore
• Repeat this process with the remaining 2 balls of dough. The 4th layer of dough should be plain - no filling should be used.
• Carefully seal the layers together by going around the edge and pressing together with your fingers and finally mark the centre of the circle again 
• Cut the circle into quarters ( as if you were cutting a pizza) nut do not go over or through the middle of the circle - cut from the centre down to the edge.
• Cut the 4 quarters into half, to make 8ths, then cut the 8ths in half to make a total of 16 pieces
• Take 2 strands of dough, 1 in each hand,  and twist 3 times away from each other and pinch the ends together to seal them
• Repeat this with all the remaining strands, carefully brush the top with water then sprinkle over the nigella seeds and leave to prove for 35-40 minutes.
• Preaheat the oven to 200c fan and bake for 20-25 minutes
• 
  

Simple bloomer loaf

You know when you love to bake pretty much anything, but there's always the one thing that you just cant seem to crack ? Well for me it's been bread, to the point of being in tears of frustration at something always going wrong and in the end just keeping well away from it ...


And then came my application for The Great British Bake Off. Having applied for the 3rd time this year, and thinking like i did the previous year,  that i wouldn't hear anything, I didn't even give practicing it as a thought just in case.

But low and behold I got the call to go to the first round of auditions and just as much as i were dreading it, the applicants were required to bake a loaf of bread. To cut a long story short I  have never baked as much bread in those 2 months of the application process than i have in my whole life and thankfully nearly 6 months on i can say that bread and i are friends, and no longer sworn enemies.


So if the thought of baking a loaf fills you with sheer dread (like it did me) give this simple bloomer a go.. It's a small loaf so the dough is easy to work with, and cooks in less than an hour so you're not waiting for what feels like forever for it to cook


To make a simple bloomer loaf you will need:

500g bread flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried yeast
3 tbsp olive oil
315-320 ml cold water

• Start by adding the flour to a bowl, add the yeast to one side, and the salt opposite to the yeast - this stops them from interacting and activating the yeast before the dough is formed.
• Pour the oil into the middle of the flour. Slowly add in the water and mix all the ingredients together using your hands. 
• Keep adding the water until you get a soft and slightly sticky - but not wet dough.
• Lightly oil your work surface - i used 2 tablespoons. Turn out the dough and use both hands to knead the dough till it's smooth and shiny.
• Place the dough back into a clean bowl, and cover with lightly oiled cling film, (this helps the dough to stop sticking to the cling film if it touches)
  and leave it to rise till doubled in size - mine took just over an hour and a half  
• Once the dough has doubled in size, knock the dough back by gently punching the dough to knock the air out.
• Lightly flour your work surface and knead the dough again for a couple of minutes, and roll into a chunky baton/ cylinder shape or if you find it easier just into a round, and tuck in the edges neatly.
• Place the shaped dough onto a greaseproof lined baking tray. Cover again with either cling film or a large clean carrier bag and leave again to rise till doubled in size - The second prove took 2 hours for me*
• Once your bloomer has doubled in size, sprinkle the top with water, then a little flour and gently rub all over the top being careful to not knock out the air. Then cut 3-4 diagonal slashes across the top about 1-2 cm deep.
• Preheat your oven to 200c, and place a tray of water at the bottom of your oven, this helps the bread to get a nice crusty top, put the loaf in and bake for 25 mins, then lower the temperature to 180c and bake for a final 15 minutes. Once cooked it sound hollow when you tap the base.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * With the proving of your dough, it may take longer or quicker depending on how cold or warm your environment is. My kitchen is very cool first thing in the morning which is when i normally start my dough for any bread 

Chicken & chick pea masala pasties

Chicken & chick pea masala pasties are always a hit with all my family, and since getting the hang of making my own puff pastry I'll happily whip up a batch at any given chance, so handing them out to friends as well as family during ramadhan was the perfect excuse to indulge in batch loafs

So here's the recipe if you'd like to give them a go.

To make a batch of 6 -8 pasties you will need
1 batch of my home made puff pastry or 2 sheets of ready roll pastry and 1 batch of my chicken & chickpea masala

• Start by ensuring your block of pastry is chilled & cold but not rock solid. Cut the block in half, put one half to a side or back in the fridge till later use.

• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the block out to a large square, to about an inch thick. Cut the large square into 4 equal peices. If you're using the ready rolled sheets just cut both sheets into 4 equal squares.

• Taking one of the squares, fold it in half lightly and open it up. Use the line through the middle as a guide for the middle of the pastie

• Take 2 -3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture and place in the middle of the square. Brush the bottom edge and sides with a little bit of egg wash, and fold the top half of the sqaure over the filling, ensuring all 3 edges meet as neatly as possible

• Pierce 2 sets of holes in the top of the pastie using a fork - this will help the steam escape during cooking. Seal all the edges by gently pressing them with a fork.

• Repeat the above process with the remaining squares and the remaining pastry dough. Place the pasties on greasproof lined baking trays, brush the tops of each pastie with egg wash  and bake in a fan assisted oven at 180c for
20 -25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown & serve 

*** if you have any filling remaining, and run out of pastry dough,  you can freeze the filling & save it for another time. Ensure that any filling you defrost is used uo completely as you cannot re freeze thawed meat***

Chicken & chickpea masala

This is the filling i use for my chicken pasties :

1 kilo boneless chicken- I used thigh meat as i find it doesn't dry out as much as breast
1 & 1/2 level tsp salt
2 large onions diced
2 tsp cumin seeds
3 green chillies finely chopped
1 tsp chilli flakes
Handful fresh coriander chopped
1 tin of chickpeas ( water drained )
2 handfuls garden peas
Tsp of garam masala
6 - 7 baby new potatoes cubed
1 tsp lemon juice

• Start by frying off the onions i a little oil till golden brown. Add in the salt and green chillies and cook on a medium heat till the chillies have softened

• Add in the chicken, and cook the chicken through completley, then add in the potatoes & chickpeas, cook the mixture until the the potatoes are soft but not mushed & the chick peas have browned a little

• Still on a medium heat, add in the cumin seeds, chilli flakes and garam masala. Check the seasoning of the salt & chillies and if required you can add in a little more chilli flakes or salt if needed.

• Once the mixture has cooled completley, add in the fresh coriander and lemon juice & mix well. The mixture is now ready to use to make my chicken pasties or alternatively as a filling for a pie.