Sticky toffee pudding

Now this is one of my all time favourite classic puddings..  Warm, fluffy, sticky sponge with lashings of toffee sauce and delicious nuggets of caramelised dates.

Thanks to being stuck indoors due to the nasty virus that's floating around, I have a lot more time on my hands as of now for the forseeable future so I thought I would not only blog my recipe but share a  video tutorial on Instagram. If you're on instagram you can find me at misbi_makes and you'll find the recipe in my highlights


To make my version of sticky pudding you will need

For the sponge :

200g dates chopped
200ml fresh kettle boiled water
1 level tsp bicarbonate soda
75g unsalted butter
2 tsp black treacle
25g soft light brown sugar
25g soft dark brown sugar
3 medium eggs
150g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder

For the sauce:

150g butter
300g dark brown sugar
1 tbsp treacle
200ml double cream

• Start by preheating your oven to 160c fan. Grease and line a 9x9 inch square baking tin
• Place the chopped dates into a bowl, with the boiled water and bicarbonate soda and set aside
• Cream both sugars and the butter till light and fluffy, add in the treacle and whisk until smooth
• Add in the eggs, flour, baking powder , gently whisking on a slow speed till you end up with a smooth  thick batter
• Gently mash the soaked dates, then pour them into the batter along with the water they've been soaking in.
• Pour the batter into the baking tin, bake for 30-40 minutes .. you'll know the cake is done if a skewer inserted comes out clean or the edges of the cake have slightly come away from the tin.
• Whilst the cake is baking, make the toffee sauce by melting the butter, sugar and treacle on a meduim heat. Turn up the heat once everything has melted and pour in all the cream, whisking ( quickly but carefully ) as you pour and take off the heat as it comes to boil
• As soon as you take the cake out the oven, poke small holes all over the top of the cake using a tooth pick. 
• Pour enough sauce to cover the top of the cake, using a spatula to spread it all the way to the edges
• Cover the remaining sauce and let the cake cool for about 15-20 minutes,  then serve the cake with the reserved sauce drizzled on top. Serve with ice cream for an even naughtier treat

My ''When you've always been a crumble kinda girl'' Apple pie

I have always been an apple crumble kinda girl, not sure why, but it's probably because I learned to bake it at school and loved it so much I never even thought of trying alternate versions.. Until now. Whilst trying to muster up a bit more motivation and to push myself out of my comfort zone of cakes and cupcakes, I decided to trawl Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration. 

Apple pie was one of the desserts that was popping up consistently, so it seems to be the dessert to indulge in as we head into the cold crisp winter evenings. 
So Apple pie it was .. and oh my I think I have been converted and may just be on team pie as well as team crumble... I dont think I could ever choose one over the other now.. It really was lip licking delicious. I tweaked mine from a combination of a few different recipes and the recipe below is what i ended up with

So to make my My ''When you've always been a crumble kinda girl'' Apple pie to serve 6-8 people you will need:

For the Filling

1 kg apples (mixture of cooking and eating apples)

3 tbsp lemon juice

55g Butter

100g Soft Light Brown Sugar

2-3 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp cornflour
4 tbsp water

For the Shortcrust Pastry

340g Plain Flour

Pinch of Salt
2 tbsp Caster Sugar

240g Butter, cubed and cold

2-3 tbsp cold water

20g Demerara Sugar
beaten egg to seal & glaze 

• Peel and core the apples. Roughly chop into 1cm chunks. Stir in the lemon juice - this will help reduce them discolour

• Heat the butter and brown sugar over a medium heat. Once melted, add in the apples. Mix together the cornflour and 2 tablespoons of water and add to the apples, along with the cinnamon. Stir and cook over a medium heat until the apples are soft but not mushy. add Taste and add more cinnamon or sugar, if you feel it is needed. Remove from the heat and cool completely.

• Into a food processor, place the plain flour, salt, caster sugar and cold butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, add in the water and give it another quick blitz. Lightly flour your work surface and bring the dough together using your hands. Do not knead it as this will result in a tough dough and not the crumbly texture needed. Wrap in cling film and chill for 15 minutes to half an hour.

• Pre-heat the oven to 180C (fan) Take a 20cm oven proof dish*. Cut the dough into half, roll out one half on a floured surface to roughly half / 1 inch  thick. Line your dish making sure the pastry overlaps the edges.

•  Add the apples, and level them ensuring they evenly fill the tin. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg. Roll the second piece of pastry, and place it top of the apples making sure it again overlaps the edges of your dish. Trim the excess with knife and seal the edges down by crimping with a fork.

• Brush the egg wash all over the pie lid and edges. with the beaten egg. If you're feeling creative,use the left over pastry to cut out designs... I did an apple with leaves going all around the edge. Brush your decorations with eggwash. Sprinkle the top with a generous amount of  demerara sugar. Make 3-4 small cuts in the top of your pie- this will help in releasing steam and stop the pie form cracking/ bursting as it is cooking . Bake for for 45-50 minutes until golden brown on top. Serve as you wish 

* I used my 20cm loose bottom cake tin. I lined the bottom with a sheet on greaseproof paper so to make it easier to lift the cake off the base once it had cooled.

fruit scones

Scones are probably one of the first things I ever learned to bake and even now i love the simplicity of them and how they still taste delicious everytime.

The recipe i use now has slightly changed from what i used growing up, but definitely this recipe gives me the best tasting and textured scones to date.

These are the classic sultana scones, but you can swap them for glace cherries, rasins or chocolate chips or even leave them plain if you prefer

To make 12-15 scones you will need 

250g strong bread flour
250g plain flour
5 level tsp baking powder
80g unsalted butter
80g caster sugar
250ml milk
2 medium eggs
100g sultanas/choc chips/glace cherries 

• Preheat your oven to 200c (fan) and line 2 baking trays with grease proof paper
• Place your flour, butter, baking powder and sugar in a bowl and rub the mixture together with your fingers till you get a breadcrumb like consistency. Add in your chosen fillings at this point, mix them through
• Add in eggs and half the milk and mix together to combine everything. Add the rest of the milk a little at a time combining the mixture until you get a soft (but not wet) dough. You may not need all the milk
• Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes till you have a smooth dough.
• Roll out your dough to about 2 and a half cm thick and use a 5and a half cm cookie cutter to cut out rounds. Re roll any remaining dough and cut out more rounds.
• Brush the tops with beaten egg and leave to rest for about 5 minutes.
• Bake in the  oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown and they have risen. 
• Serve toasted with butter or with jam and cream

 
 

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 

Coconut Macaroons

My recipe post for these came about purely out of  finding myself very bored one evening as the kids were fast asleep in bed and the husband was working. So there i was riding my cupboards thinking what to make and found quite a bit of packed dessicated coconut tucked away so coconut macaroons came to mind and my GBBO Book came to the rescue.

This recipe uses cream patisserie and before you think, ' no way can i make creme pat '  honestly its a very little amount so its very quick and easy - a great way to practice for any recipes that require larger amounts of cream patisserie. 

To make about 20 macaroons you will need 

For the cream patisserie :
5 tbsp milk
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
1 medium egg yolk

For the coconut mixture:
3 medium egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
100g caster sugar 
200g desiccated coconut

For the chocolate glaze (optional)
100g good quality dark chocolate
2 tbsp sunflower / vegetable oil 

• Start by making the creme patisserie, heat the milk in a small pan until it just comes to boil and remove from the heat. In a bowl, beat together the caster sugar, egg yolk and cornflour until pale and fluffy. 
• Gradually stir in the milk and whisk together. Pour the mixture back into the pan, and over a low-medium heat, whisk together until it boils and begins to thicken. You should end up with a smooth paste- it shouldn't be thick and lumpy. Scrape the mixture out into a small plate or bowl, press and seal it with a piece of cling film directly on to it - this stops a skin forming whilst it cools.
• Whilst the creme pat is cooling, Preheat your oven to 170c/gas mark 3. Add your egg whites to a bowl with the vanilla extract and beat till the egg whites become frothy. Add in the caster sugar and whisk together till the sugar has dissolved.
• Stir in the coconut until completely coated in mixture, then add in the creme pat and again stirring through till all the coconut is evenly coated and there are no lumps 
• Line a large baking sheet with greaseproof paper and using a teaspoon, scoop up the coconut mixture, making sure it's packed up tightly and place on to the baking tray and shape into a mound with your hands if you wish to. Repeat this with the rest of the mixture and you should end up with 20 macaroons.
• Bake in the oven for 20 minutes and they should be golden in colour with slightly darker edges.
• One they have completely cooled, melt the chocolate with the oil in a small heatproof bowl/plate in the microwave in 30 second bursts or in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Taking one macaroon at a time , dip the base into the chocolate, evenly coating it with the chocolate slightly coming up the sides. Place the coated macaroons on a clean sheet of baking paper and leave to set completely before serving.*

*alternatively you can drizzle the chocolate over the top of the macaroons using a teaspoon or leave them as they are without any chocolate at all.

Ready Set .... Bake !!

Hands up if you're a fan of The Great British Bake off ?  *raises hands super excitedly* I have to admit I didn't quite catch on to it until the 3rd series, but now as it's currently in its 7th series I am a die hard fan .. I even managed to win myself a signed copy (of my favourite contestant)  John Whaite's debut cook book by entering a Heat mag competition which I'm still quite chuffed about to this day.

I decided to treat myself to this years cook book from the show and one of the things that caught my eye straight away was the recipe for viennese whirls, as my husband loves them and there aren't many a sweet / dessert that he'll eat. 

So with a bit of time to spare on a friday morning before work, I gave them a go and actually found them quite easy to do, and took them in for my work colleagues to taste test for me.

To make 12 biscuits you will need

for the biscuits:

250g unsalted butter

50g icing sugar

225g plain

25g cornflour

for the filling:

100g icing sugar

200g salted butter

1 tsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract/ seeds of a vanilla pod / 1/2 tsp vanilla paste

raspberry jam

• Start by preheating the oven to 190c/375f/gas mark 5
• line 2-3 baking trays with baking/greaseproof paper and using a 5cm cutter draw a total of 24 circles on to the sheets of paper, making sure they are well spaced. Flip the sheets of paper over on to the baking trays so the pencilled circles are face down.
• Ensuring your butter is very soft* cream it with the sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer or hand held whisk. Whisk until the butter is light and fluffy and paler in colour.
• Sift in the flour and corn flour and whisk again slowly to make a smooth mixture that should be soft enough to pipe 
• Spoon your mixture into a piping bag that is fitted with with either a star nozzle or a 2d nozzle. Starting from the inside, using the pencilled circle as a guide, pipe in a spiral motion finishing on the outer edge.
• Bake in the oven for 13-15 minutes until they are pale gold in colour. Don't let them brown as they will turn into a crunchy biscuit consistency.
• Once removed from the oven, leave to cool for a few minutes before removing onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• For the filling put the butter- which again should be soft- into a bowl with the icing sugar and the vanilla extract and mix on a slow speed with an electric whisk or in a mixer. Whisk together until the buttercream is pale and light in colour. Add in the milk and whisk on a fat speed for about 2 minutes. 
• Turn half of the biscuits flat side up, fill another piping bag fitted with the same nozzle with the buttercream and pipe the buttercream from the centre going outwards just as the biscuits were piped leaving a slight gap all around the edge.
• In a small plate or bowl, put just under half a jar of jam, and stir the jam together till you get a smooth spreadable consistency.
• Place a teaspoonful of jam in the middle of each buttercream swirl. Gently top the filled halves with the other 12 plain halves and very lightly press together to make the 12 sandwiches. Dust the tops lightly with icing sugar and serve.

*I put my butter in the microwave and softened by defrosting it in 15 second hurts till it was soft to the touch (even though it wasn't frozen) as heating it up just makes it melt which is what we don't want.