APRIL 2024
Easter has come and gone, the sun is shining at last here in rural Derbyshire and the lambs at the end of our lane are getting bigger. Daffodils have died back and are being replaced by bluebells. And the garden is colourful again. Maybe it’s Spring.
I’ve got some lovely bakes to tell you about, especially some of my Easter ones. I’ll try not to rush it too much, but I’ve only given myself a few hours before I catch a plane to Italy. I’ll have a day in Pisa then train to Florence for a three days then train and bus to Borgosesia in Piedmont where I’m hoping to visit some non-touristy places including bakeries, markets, vineyards and pasticcerias. Two weeks of walking, eating, drinking wine and a little bit of sightseeing.
Let’s start with cakes. Three stand out worthy of mention. I made a version of my Apricot and Almond Cake back in March for after our Sunday meeting at Church in the Peak, Matlock. Can’t remember whether I managed to get a piece or not on the day; at least I had a test-taste sliver and it was good.
Sticking with apricots (maybe I had lots to use up) I made a really tasty Apricot, Date & Nut Loaf Cake. The story behind this is that a friend had given me a silicone loaf mould. I was rather dubious and hesitated to use it, but eventually realised I had to otherwise she’d be upset. Anyway, I’m converted, it’s excellent. All I did was butter the inside without using any parchment liner and the baked cake slipped out beautifully.
The third cake was one I made to take to a local care home. About once a month a group of us from church visit the residents. We sing, chat and eat cake. I took in a lovely moist Lemon Curd and Coconut Cake. It soon disappeared.
“Moving on” (to quote Paul Hollywood) to tray bakes; at my wife’s request, I made something for her to take when she visited family and friends in March. This Raspberry and Coconut Crumble was wonderfully tangy.
I also made a cheesecake – as a tray bake in fact. My Caramel Cheesecake with Pecans and Pretzels was another bake for Sunday morning so having an oblong cake made it easier to cut and share.
Still on the theme of Sunday morning bakes was my Walnut Parkin. I’ve made various Parkins and they’ve been reasonably good, but I’ve often felt they weren’t as good as they should have been considering all the lovely ingredients. Anyway these were excellent. One reason was that I made them on the Friday before, so they could sit in a sealed tin and mature.
The final tray bake is more recent. I actually made these Fudgy Coconut Brownies yesterday. Once again they graced the serving hatch at church (we call it the “fuel stop”) and didn’t last very long.
O.K. on to bread. (wonderful stuff – I love it.) I know bread isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (does that sound odd?), so I’ll try not to go on too much. In fact I’ll start with something made of yeasted dough, but not exactly bread. I made these Raspberry & White Chocolate Hot Cross Buns to share with our regular Easter visitors from “down South”.
So, here are some “proper breads”. I’ll make a list as that might help me not to waffle on breadwise:
- A Granary Sourdough using local Malted Flake flour
- A Cheddar and Chorizo Loaf
- A Double Cheese & Chive Sourdough
- A Semi Wholemeal yeasted loaf with Cheddar & Red Leicester
- Plaited Italian bread with Basil & Pine Nuts
- A White Sourdough loaf with seeded crust
For dozens of other breads go to My bakes – bread
Many thanks for bearing with me and for coming back.
Best wishes and Happy Baking from me, Ian
P.S. I’m planning for next time, to give lots of baking tips and ideas so stick with me.
As usual, I’m way, way late updating, so apologies and I’ll crack on, starting with bread. I’m still baking lovely basic white sourdough loaves each week, but you’ve heard all about those before. I had an interesting change when I made a Rye Sourdough with Apricots. It tasted good, but came out a bit heavy. I haven’t yet got round to remaking it with a few tweeks. A more successful sweet sourdough was my Fruity Sourdough, which included treacle.
Another tasty creation was my Cambozola Tear and Share Rolls. Cambozola is OK, but it wouldn’t have been my first choice, we just had plenty in the fridge. The rolls were good, but a cheese with a stronger flavour “punch” would have made them even better – maybe Stilton next time.
Tray bakes have featured highly in the last few weeks. I made gluten free Raspberry and Banana Brownies to share with my Italian conversation group as there at least three ladies who can’t have gluten.
For three Sundays in a row I’ve taken tray-baked goodies for after church. First was my Date & Walnut Flapjack. The taste was really good, but it was the firm and chewy texture that I loved most. Then it was a Tray-baked Vanilla Cheesecake – simply one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever made and I’ve made a lot. If you’re a cheesecake fan, look this up.
Last of all, I took in my Carrot, Walnut and Ginger Sheet Cake. I call it a “Sheet cake” just for a change or maybe it was a bit of US influence (which is no bad thing. I’m an admirer of American baking.) Anyway, this side of the Atlantic, we can call it a tray bake. Either way, it tasted terrific. I don’t think I’ve ever had as many people come up to me after the meeting to say how much they enjoyed it.
The most challenging bake of the past few weeks was a special cake for the 100th birthday of a friend’s grandmother. They were having a big party and I was asked to make a cake – actually three cakes 1 – 0 – 0 in fact. It was a fairly standard sponge cake that I baked in three trays (sheet cakes, in fact). Cutting the baked “slabs” into numbers wasn’t too difficult; the hardest part was putting on the fondant that they had asked for. Fortunately my friend’s mum wanted to decorate the cake and she did brilliant job, especially as it hid all my gaps and wrinkles. (On the cakes, I mean, although I do have a few myself.) Here’s the link for the recipe and more info: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/victoria-sandwich-tray-bake/
Finally I’ve had some fun playing around making chocolates and marzipan sweets. Chocolate can be a temperamental, but the end products are usually impressive. Marzipan is a much more accommodating medium.
This has been a rather short update. I’ll try to do better next time. Currently I’m working on a set of baking tips, tricks and short cuts. If you have any to offer, please let me know.
Best wishes and Happy Baking as always.
Happy Christmas everyone
Well, it’s almost Christmas, just a few days to go. I’m so glad to have got this done before the big day, or big long weekend. In fact it’s been a hectic time of Christmas related baking and eating and drinking – in moderation of course…”hic. Pardon me.”
First of all here’s an important link, it’s to my Christmas Collection. I created it last year, but it’s still a great collection. It even has recipes for after Christmas, so don’t worry about the left-over turkey and pud. I put the above link on Facebook a few weeks ago, so I’ll just show a few of the bakes now to give you a taster.
Here are a few of my more recent Christmas bakes. First, I didn’t want to make lots of small sweet mincemeat pies, so decided on a couple of large (23cm) Festive Mince Tarts. The first one was gluten free and had a lattice top, which was fun. At my Italian group there are three ladies who can’t have gluten products. The second one was for one of our church’s Alpha meals. This one I decorated with stars. I’m still not sure which I prefer. What do you think?
For our final Alpha meal – a breakfast actually – I made Christmas Tree Chelsea Buns. If you want something impressive to wow your guests or family, you really ought to give this a go.
I’m part of a group from our church that visits the residents of a local care home. We sing, tell Bible stories and chat with them. I usually take in a cake, which always goes down well. Last week I took in a version of my Festive Chocolate Cake. It’s a great combination of Christmas spices and Chocolate. I was so pleased with it I made another to take into my old school when I visited ex-colleagues.
All those bakes have been very popular, but top of the “Christmas chart” must be my Christmas Cake Tray Bake. It has appeared in various forms for the past few Decembers and looks likely to continue for a while yet.
Over the past month I’ve made lots of other bakes, often using recipes from well known baking “stars” or organisations. I used a very clear and simple “Good Housekeeping” recipe for my Gingerbread tree biscuits.
Well, it’s so close to Christmas I’m going to have to leave out lots of bakes until next time – maybe in the new year. But, I can’t leave without talking about bread.
My Plaited Ricotta loaf is so lovely that I’ve made several times recently with different fillings. First was pine nuts & rosemary, next I replaced the rosemary with dried basil, then I went for sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil. They all looked and tasted really good.
As you know, I like to experiment and was wondering, one day, what would happen if I swapped some of the water for eggs when mixing a dough. The end product was my Enriched Sourdough. The eggs gave it a wonderfully soft crumb and I’ll definitely be doing this again.
Finally, here’s another bread that shows how much I love Italian food and flavours. My Cambozola Tear and Share Rolls tasted great and were quickly pulled apart and enjoyed by my friends at our shared lunch. Don’t worry if you prefer other cheeses. I’d definitely make it again with Stilton, for example.
I’ll leave you with my very best wishes for a wonderful, happy and super Christmas. God bless you all.
AUTUMN NEWS
Yes, it’s time for a catch up. I’ll have to be selective as I’ve been doing so much baking. I’ve already posted lots of my August and September bakes a while back. Most were bakes I entered for various local shows and competitions. Scroll down if you want to see them and the results.
Before we get stuck into cakes, tarts and bread etcetera I have to say how lovely the autumn has been here in Derbyshire…well, lovely on the dry days. In the past I was a very keen runner, but these days, in my seventies, I walk more than I run. One good thing about this is that I see more and take more photos. I’ll intersperse the baking bits with a few “outdoorsy” photos.
OK, back to baking. I’ve selected bakes and events from October to share with you. Early in the month I experimented with my weekly sourdough. We “breadies” like to have crunchy, crispy tops to our loaves. I discovered that a light brushing with a weak sugar solution on top of a loaf before baking produces a wonderfully dark and crispy crust. See what you think and give it a go. For even more bread recipes go to the bread section of my site.
I thought all the local competitions were over by October, but then a neighbour told me that there was an apple pie/tart competition one weekend. It was part of our annual village “Apple Day” where anyone can bring their apples to be pressed to make drinks and sauces. I thought I’d give it a go, so I adapted a French Apple tart recipe, mainly by adding almonds in several ways. I don’t make a lot of pies or tarts, so didn’t really expect to do all that well. In fact, I won the competition and received a £10 book voucher from the Scarthin bookshop (an excellent local emporium. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area. http://www.scarthinbooks.com/) Below are a few pictures. I’m still a bit bemused by Morris dancing. Let’s just say “the jury’s out” as far as they’re concerned.
Later in October old friends visited us on their way back “down South” to Kent. It was something of a “flying visit” My wife told me the night before they were due and suggested I “make something” for them. (I seem to be using a lot of quotation marks, don’t I?) It had to be something they could have with coffee and easily boxed up to take away. The answer was Parkin, a good old Yorkshire treat. (just like me in fact) I adapted one of my recipes and created Parkin with Stem-ginger.
At the church that I’m a part of in Matlock we were beginning an Alpha course (https://alpha.org.uk/). These are friendly, informal times where guests can ask questions about our faith in Jesus and what it means – usually with a meal, so I offered to bake each week as my contribution. One recent bake was my Orange Chocolate Tart. So that everyone could tuck in I made it gluten free. The base is made like a cheesecake base – with biscuits and melted butter, so I used GF digestives.
A few days ago, my wife was driving down to see her family in Kent. (She’s either a “Kentish maid” or a “Maid of Kent”. I’m not sure which, it’s all to do with being born North or South of the River Medway – I think.) Sorry, bit of a digression there. Anyway, I thought it would be nice to bake a cake for my in-laws. My Boiled Fruit and Nut Cake was a good choice. Apparently it went down well.
The last day of the month was a mega baking day: two loaves and a cake…phew! As I’m a great lover of Italy, especially the food, you won’t be surprised to know that two of the bakes were Italian. First was a Plaited Ricotta loaf with Basil and Pine Nuts. This is a lovely soft and subtly flavoured bread. It looks impressive too. While the oven was hot I fitted in a completely different bread. I adapted my recipe for Sweet Fruity loaves by adding glace cherries. It’s now one of my favourite breakfast breads. Wonderful with cream cheese.
The third and final bake was another personalised Italian classic. This Italian Chocolate & Nut Christmas Cake has a wonderfully rich taste and texture. It may not be the most glitzy and glamorous looking cake, but wow, just try it and taste it. And, it’s gluten free too.
Finally, for you city dwellers with all that noise and traffic and congestion here’s something to show you that in Derbyshire the roads can be busy too…..
SUMMER NEWS
This posting is a roundup of recent competition bakes. Only when I finished typing did I realise that it repeats some of my previous news – sorry.
Usually, in late summer, there are several gardening produce and baking shows around here in rural Derbyshire. They’re fairly low-key events, but still quite competitive (in an understated British “let’s avoid showing that we care” type of way.)
The first one that I entered was actually in Cromford, the village (or maybe it’s a small town) where I live. Last year I did pretty well, but not so good this year. In the tray bake category my Coffee and Walnut Brownies came nowhere (I actually think the judges missed them as they hadn’t even been cut for tasting. Well that’s my excuse).
Likewise neither my Savoury scones (Red Leicester & chive) nor my sweet ones (Cherry and Pistachio) did any good. What a shock, I’d scored highly previously with these or similar.
I did better in the dried fruit cake category with my Bakewell Bara Brith, which came second. And my artisan sourdough, as usual, gained a first place. Phew, what a relief.
The next show, a couple of weekends later was the Turnditch and Windley show. This is a much bigger event with lots of horse and riding competitions, all manner of flowers and vegetables and even classic cars.
Once again my tray bake (Biscuit-based Pecan Brownies) and my fruit scones failed to get into the top three places. Worse still was that my Artisan sourdough, that had never been beaten, only came second. Beaten by a small insignificant looking tin loaf. How embarrassing!
My consolation was that my Boiled Fruit and Nut Cake won the Dried fruit cake category and was voted “Best bake in the show.” Also embarrassing was that I sulked off home before the prize giving and later that evening a lovely gent actually drove over to give me the cup.
A couple of weeks later once again, it was my third and final competition for 2023, this one in Wirksworth, a bit nearer to home. Seeing this as my last chance to do better I entered ten bakes spread over eight categories.
It took quite a lot of planning. Anything entered must be relatively fresh, ideally baked on the day, but that raises problems. Obviously bakes have to be cooled. Another factor is the time that bakes have to be set up in the hall or marquee. Being a very early riser is helpful. For this event I think I was up and busy in the kitchen before 3am.
I’d actually baked some items a few days ahead and froze them, so I had to judge when to begin defrosting. Then a baking friend suggested that for scones it’s possible to make them and freeze them unbaked. All that needs to be done is to take them out and bake them straight from the freezer, adding on 3 – 4 more minutes than normal. It must have been a great idea because both batches of scones that I used this method for actually won their category.
Anyway it was a good day for me. Here are my results:
- Cherry & Pistachio Scones (Fruit scones) 1st
- Mixed fruit scones (fruit scones) n/w
- Stilton and Walnut Scones (Cheese scones) 1st
- Cheese and Chive scones (Cheese scones) n/w
- Artisan sourdough (white loaf) 1st Best bake in show
- Walnut & Raisin Cob (Wholemeal loaf) 1st
- Chocolate Orange & Cranberry Soda Bread 1st
- Crusty Tomato Cob (Decorative loaf) 1st
- Oaty Biscuits (biscuits) 3rd
- Orange Bara Brith (dried fruit cake) 3rd
Bread is one of my baking passions, so to win all four categories and to have my sourdough voted “best bake in the show” was really gratifying.
I’ll finish with a few tips for anyone who is likely to enter a competition next year maybe for the first time.
- Plan your bakes and the timings very thoughtfully
- If you can bake and cool items on the day, it’s a good idea.
- Take a box of “handy items” with you when you go to set up your bakes (cling film, scissors, a damp J-cloth, labels, your own plates or boards, a pen and/or felt tip marker etc.)
- Cover all your bakes lightly, maybe with muslin or cling film.
- Set things up well, avoid crumbs, mess and anything sloppy.
- Do your best, but keep calm and enjoy it, regardless
Happy Baking everyone
August 2023
I took six bakes to our local “Garden Produce and Baking Show” on Bank Holiday Monday. I entered two in the bread category and two in the scones category. Also chocolate brownies in the tray bake section and finally, a “Bara Brith” in the Fruit Cake section. It was quite a logistical exercise getting them baked and ready on time. Too soon and some would have dried out, too late and I’d have “missed the baking boat.” So Saturday and Sunday were hectic days.
Unfortunately, it was a bit of a disappointing day for me. I only got one first place and one second. Last year, three of my bakes were winners. At least my sourdough came first in the bread category. (It usually does. I’ve made this loaf for several competitions and it won every time.)
I know it’s only a small local event and it’s low key, but don’t be fooled most who enter are keen to do well, me especially. Anyway here are a few photos with comments.
Photo 1: Some of the breads, including my sourdough. Next to it is my Cheddar and Chorizo Soda bread loaf, which didn’t make it into the top three despite a fantastic flavour.
Photo 2: Two plates of my scones – Cherry & Pistachio and Cheese and Chive. Neither did very well, which surprised me. No, it actually shocked me!!!
Photos 3 & 4: For the fruit cake section I made a “Bara Brith”, which is a Welsh fruit cake. I gave it a “Bakewell tart” flavour. This gained a second place, so not too bad.
Photo 5 & 6: These are Coffee & Walnut Brownies. I thought they were lovely, some of the best I’ve ever made. But they came nowhere. Unlike the other brownies mine had not been cut. I think the judges missed them. Well, it helps to salvage my damaged pride.
Photo 7: My sourdough – just about saving the day for me.
Well, actually there was another good thing at the end of the show. We were allowed to sell our bakes. I gave some away to friends and neighbours, but everything else I sold outside the hall. At least I ended the day over £20 better off. Hopefully this won’t jeopardise my amateur status and I can still enter GBBO one day before my 80th birthday maybe. Who knows?
Summer 2023
Hi everyone, I hope you’re well and doing lots of baking, eating and whatever else does you good. Here’s a shorter than usual offering of bakes, links, photos and pics of my area: The beautiful Derbyshire Dales/Peak District.
I hardly need to say, I’ve been busy as usual. Before I retired – or began retiring (I refuse to admit that I’ve fully retired) – I often thought how busy I was as a teacher: lessons to prepare, work to mark, staff meetings to sleep in (I meant “participate wisely and enthusiastically “), church activities, family life, hobbies etcetera. But now I’m even busier. I’m certainly not complaining though. Family, baking, church life, sport and hobbies are all worthwhile and mostly enjoyable.
Recently I’ve made even more bread than normal. One difference has been my rediscovery of sweetened bread, even sweet sourdough, which was a revelation. For the past month my regular breakfast has been a slice of sweet bread plus cream cheese or mascarpone with either honey or marmalade. I can highly recommend this as a lovely light bite.
Here are some of my sweetened breads. My records tell made me that I made two of my Cherry, date and nut loaves for myself and R&R. However, I can’t remember who R&R are. You, of course, don’t need to know – and probably don’t care – but it’s bugging me, not knowing. Anyway, it was tasty. One good thing about most of these bakes is that the mixture gives enough for two standard loaf tins, hence one for me and one for anyone else – assuming I can remember their name!
Other examples included enriched loaves with pecans, dried fruit and cherries, plus my Sweet and Fruity Sourdough and a pair of wholemeal apricot loaves for my next door neighbours.
I still enjoy making various savoury sourdough loaves, usually one a week, but I’ve written about it loads of times already so won’t bother again now. One point worth mentioning though is that it’s so much easier in the summer: sourdoughs are quicker to rise and the rise time is more predictable and consistent.
I actually managed to use one batch of sourdough to make two very different sourdough loaves. I split the risen dough into two halves and added sugar and stem ginger to one and cheese and chives to the other. It worked really well.
I don’t make as many rolls as I used to do – too fiddly and time consuming, or maybe I’ve become a bit lazy – but my Sun-dried Tomato, Basil and Olive Rolls were worth the time and effort.
I come back to bread a bit further below when I discuss my love of Italian food and baking, but if you want to search my website for some great bread recipes click into my bread section.
Cakes haven’t featured massively, but my Malted Chocolate and Almond Bundt Cake was quite a show stopper. The only other cake of note was a very colourful Raspberry & Almond Marbled Madeira cake that I made for a “foodbank” client.
OK, time to talk Italian – no not the language, Italian baking. I’ve been working my way through an excellent book that I bought second hand on Amazon: “Italian Bakery” by Gennaro Contaldo, Jamie Oliver’s mate and mentor.
Some recipes I’ve used unaltered, but I like to find ways to “personalise” recipes and make them more mine. The first was a Tomato bread (Pane al Pomodori) which I made as a gluten free bake. Then there was a Plaited Ricotta loaf with Sage. In Italian that’s Trecia con Ricotta e Salivia. I had not problems baking this delightful bread, but when I sent a message to a friend about it the heinous predictive text turned Salivia into Saliva without me realising. Luckily I baked it rather than spit roasting.
You’re probably aware of my love affair with Italy and Italian food. I’m trying – in my latter years – to learn the language. Not only is it enjoyable and frustrating in equal measures, but it helps keep my brain in good nick. Well I hope it does.
I’m part of a lovely, friendly local group of like minded English folk who meet once a week to “Chiacchiere in italiano” – chat in Italian. We meet in a local cafe therefore I’ve not often been able to take any of my bakes for them. Instead, I invited the whole group for “Pranzo a casa mia” – lunch at my place. (OK, I’ll stop showing off – or to be more truthful, give Google Translate a rest.)
Here’s what I baked for i miei amici: A Mushroom, Mozzarella and garlic Focaccia, another tomato loaf, and another Ricotta plait, but this one was with pine nuts and basil. I also made a very non-Italian Cheese and Chive Soda bread as a last minute extra just in case I didn’t have enough other food. Soda breads are great for that – it took less than an hour.
For afters or pudding or sweet – whichever terminology you prefer – I made Crostata di Ricotta e Nutella – basically a very nice chocolate tart. As you can see, I got through a lot of lovely ricotta.
I also made biscotti, although in Italy they call it Cantucci. Mine contained pistachio nuts, white chocolate and Cranberries. It’s a great bake for dunking, either in warm non-alcoholic beverage or crack open a bottle limoncello.
Finally, a massive apology: Richard and Ruth – I love you both, but I get a bit forgetful these days, sorry.
Spring and Early Summer 2023
OK, it’s about time I got you up to speed on recent favourite bakes. I have to leave out quite a few – I’ve been such a busy baking boy. (Actually a busy baking septuagenarian is more accurate, but not so good for alliteration.)
Let’s begin with a cake for my son – he’s quite fussy about what I bake for him and only goes for traditional things, but at least the addition of raspberries made it much more interesting – to eat and to bake. If you want a change from normal Victoria Sponges, try my Raspberry Sponge Cake.
Bundt cakes featured in May and June several times, often for colleagues in my old school where I still put in a few hours a week preparing students for their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions. I took in a Malted Chocolate and Almond Bundt Cake and a week later it was a Berry and White Chocolate Bundt Cake. Another “school cake” was my Coffee & Walnut Cake with Praline Cream.
Scones, as you know, are my “benchmark bake”, especially when I’m reviewing a café. I made Lemon and Ginger Scones for a group of mums who bring their young children to our church building where we run a “Totzone” morning every Tuesday. More recently I made Cheese and Chilli Scones, which were surprisingly good. Some people were a bit doubtful, but no one complained once they’d tried one.
Sticking with scones for a while, I’ll explain the thinking behind my Pistachio, White Chocolate & Cherry Scones. I’m trying to learn Italian and am part of a lovely group of local Italian speakers. We meet once a week and try to natter “in Italiano”. I wanted to make Italian scones, but scones are not something the Italians have, so I went for a scone that would fly the flag for Italy a different way: with green pistachios, white chocolate and red cherries.
Most weeks I bake a lovely white sourdough loaf. I’ve just about perfected the technique now. Well, “perfected” is probably a bit of an overstatement. Let’s say most loaves come out pretty good. The main thing I need to work on is my slashing. I’ll quickly explain that. Loaves need to be cut or slashed in order to control the release of steam and avoid the loaf splitting. I’m still trying to get my slashes looking neat, but so far not very successfully. I’ll keep you posted though.
Here are three other breads worth mentioning. My Sourdough with Red Leicester, Garlic & Chillies may not look pretty but it tasted pretty good. My Khorazan loaf with Chorizo, Manchego & Garlic was another tasty and interesting bread. But the bake that received the most interest on my site was these lovely, soft Buttermilk Baps.
Now for a few sweet items such as brownies: a forever favourite. I had some maltesers left over from the cake that I mentioned earlier. I was asked to bake for a group of local children so it was an obvious choice: Malteser Brownies. Then I made a batch of grown up brownies to take into school (for the staff, not the students). My Boozy Biscuit Brownies had a brilliant “hit” of brandy. Mmm, shame I didn’t call them Boozy Brandy Biscuit Brownies.
OK, now three more sweet things to finish off with. First, my Gluten-free Chocolate and Fig Tart that I made for a lovely couple from my church who I often bake for. Also, through church, I was asked by a friend to make a birthday cake for his wife. Once again I used my trusty and adaptable Golden Chocolate Cake recipe. Finally, my Maple, Bacon and Pecan Flapjacks caused a few raised eyebrows, but once again the doubters were proven wrong as it tasted great.
Before I leave you, I’ve been visiting a few local cafés and have begun to write up the reviews, so if you’re coming this way have a look at the eating-out section.
In the mean time – Happy Baking everyone.
Cromford Open Gardens Day
A few days ago our village – Cromford, in Derbyshire – had its annual Open Gardens Day. My wife, Marion, being an avid gardener was keen to be involved and happily agreed to include our garden in the itinerary.
This was all well and good, but we had less than three weeks to make it a bit more (actually, a lot more) presentable. You may have gathered, I’m not a gardener, but I got stuck in with some weeding and mulching and other “non-specialist” stuff like that, where I couldn’t do any damage to “precious” plants.
What I could do, of course, was bake. I decided to bake four things for the day: Malteser brownies, Apricot and Almond flapjack (I adapted my Cherry and Apricot Flapjack recipe), a Gluten Free Bara Brith and a good old Victoria Sponge Cake. Rather than charge for the bakes I asked for donations for charity. For many years I’ve supported the wonderful Macmillan Cancer Care organisation, so that was my choice.
We had an excellent response with about a hundred people enjoying the garden and the bakes. At the end of the day I was able to go online and send £80 to the organisation.
Even though it was a busy day I found time to make some bread, for “home consumption”. I baked a Sun-dried Tomato, Basil & Oregano Loaf. It was beautiful: a yeasted loaf with a crunchy crust, a soft crumb and loads of flavour – definitely worth doing again. I’ll get the recipe posted soon. In the mean time here are a few more garden photos. Oh, I nearly forgot – as we’re on the edge of the Peak District here in Derbyshire our garden has quite a slope.
BIRTHDAY BAKE
Here’s my latest cake. Well, to be more honest, an adaptation of my Golden Chocolate Cake that has been popular for a couple of years. I want to tell you how I adapted the recipe and decoration, but feel free to go straight to the recipe if you can’t wait.
It began when a friend from church asked if I would make a cake for his wife’s birthday. It was going to be a surprise for her and all he could tell me was that she likes chocolate and vanilla – good start though.
The original has a significant orange content, but I ditched that in favour of a little extra vanilla, both in the cake mixture and the filling. However, a little later, I had second thoughts. I needed something to offset all the richness of the sumptuous white chocolate and mascarpone filling, so when I combined the two cakes I put on a thin layer of lemon curd before the main filling. From the feedback I received, it worked a treat.
Ah, I’ve jumped ahead a bit. Let’s go back to piping – not my best skill by any means. Rather than pipe directly onto the cake, I made what I call a “plaque”. (There may be a better, more correct term, but let’s stick with that.) I drew a cloud-like shape on paper then clipped a sheet of acetate over it. I used melted dark chocolate and simply spooned and spread it to create the plaque. I didn’t even bother with a piping bag. For the lettering, another trick was to use block capitals rather than fancy lettering – I’m still working on that skill.
Moving on – After combining the two chocolate cakes I used a little milk to thin the left over filling so that I could use it to crumb coat the whole cake – an essential operation. I had hoped to stabilize the cake by temporarily inserting a few cocktail sticks vertically prior to putting the cake in the fridge. However, I discovered we didn’t have any, so the fridge had to do the job unaided.
While it was in the fridge I made a very, very rich ganache – dark chocolate, double cream, butter, sugar and golden syrup. It was never going to be a “waistline friendly” cake, was it?
I’d already sprayed various “bought-in” chocolate decorations with a gold lustre spray, so I set these out ready to hand while the ganache cooled to a usable temperature. It had to be warm enough to run over and down the cake, but cool enough to almost set shortly afterwards and “hold” the decorations.
The plaque was first on, then I spooned suitable sprinkles around the bottom of the cake. (This is great for hiding any small gaps, lumps or other minor imperfections.) After this, I placed the chocolate decorations on top. I wanted the large chocolate buttons angled, so I added a Malteser under each one in case they needed a bit of support.
Finally, another very light spray of gold lustre then the cake went in the garage – NOT the fridge – to await collection.
April 2023
Oh dear, I‘m late again. Far too busy baking, walking and working – well not so much working. Anyway, no time for excuses, let’s get on with it. In fact April was a fairly quiet month for baking, but don’t worry, there’s still plenty to tell you about, starting with cakes.
Two cakes stand out and definitely need a mention. My Chocolate Coffee Cream Cake was a combination of three super ingredients as the name suggests.
Equally impressive was my Hazelnut & White Chocolate Cake with Passion Fruit Filling. (I realise it’s a long title, but I do like to tell people what they’re getting.) Both were made for friends and ex-colleagues at my old school.
Sadly, I won’t be baking many more cakes for them as I’m about to finally, fully, totally retire (again). I taught English for many years and also ran the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme at school. When I retired from full time teaching several years ago, I was asked to go back and just run the DofE for one day a week. Now at last, a new person has been appointed and I’m in the middle of a “hand-over” process. I’ll still be involved with DofE as an expedition assessor for several local schools. It’s a great scheme, I’ve been involved for over forty years.
Anyway, back to baking, before I totally bore you. Other cakes in April were a gluten free Simnel Loaf cake, an Easter cake and a Lemon Sponge Cake.
As you know, I love bread – baking it, eating it and – often – giving it to friends. Making sourdough is always enjoyable. It’s time consuming, but well worth it. Here’s a quick outline of my procedure: On day one I take my starter out of the fridge and feed it, then later that day I mix the dough and leave it overnight. The next morning I knock back the risen dough and put it in a floured banneton. After the second prove I bake it using a Dutch oven.
Here are a few examples (In case you’re wondering “mongrel sourdough” is made from a mixture of flours):
I usually make a plain white sourdough each week, but recently have been experimenting with “additions”. My Cheese, Chilli and Garlic Sourdough was one of the best.
I do actually make other bread besides sourdough. My Cheese and Chive Soda Bread – didn’t even need any yeast.
Yeasted loaves included two Herby Loaves, and a Plaited Wholemeal loaf. For lots of great bread recipes go to: My bread section
Small bakes featured well in April. My daughter enjoyed the Lemon Madeleines that I made for her. Other small bakes were Easter Flapjacks and Hazelnut Chocolate Topped Flapjacks. Flapjacks are so, so easy and so tasty.
Finally, I must tell you about a charity cake sale that a friend hosted. It was in for dementia research. She asked me to make a few tray bakes so I provided Treacle tart Bars, Rocky Road bars, Choc topped Apricot & Ginger Flapjack and a gluten free Berry Muffin Tray bake. Recipes can be accessed via Tray bakes.
Well, it was a brief one wasn’t it? May is looking like a much fuller month bakingwise. I’ll leave you with my very best wishes and a fond “Happy Baking” plus a couple more Derbyshire/Peak District photos, taken from a helicopter.
Feb/March 2023
Better late than never, so here’s a (very) brief look back at these two months together. In fact I did less baking this time than for quite a while. One reason was my trip to Italy. As you may know, I love Italy. This time I was in Bari, the capital of the Puglia region in the South. The region is famous for its cuisine – “Cucina Povera” meaning food of the poor. Historically, the region was extremely poor so every family had to create tasty meals using the meanest of ingredients. Today, the food is renowned for its taste and flavour, but still uses simple ingredients.
I flew to Bergamo, took a bus to Milan then a ten hour train journey southwards for a week in Bari. My plan was to develop my limited Italian language skills, do some walking and eat well. Most of this I achieved. I rented an apartment and ate there occasionally, having shopped locally, but every evening I visited a small nearby restaurant and got to know the owner and his family. I must say that I wasn’t very impressed by the bread that I saw in Bari, but the pastries were terrific, especially the sfogliatelle – better than any others I’ve had in Italy. I didn’t see any pies or tarts, so maybe they don’t. have many in their baking repertoire.
Anyway, here in Derbyshire tarts have featured frequently in my baking repertoire recently. I chose a very easy method for the bases using biscuits and melted butter as in cheesecakes. It gives a good crisp and tasty result. The fillings were beautifully soft and luxurious chocolate mixtures.
I began with a Cappuccino version and then an orange one. Both can be accessed via my Dark Chocolate Tart Recipe. I also made a lovely rich White Chocolate Raspberry version.
Naturally bread has been a regular bake. Other than my weekly rustic sourdough I made a Tear & Share loaf with Cheese Herbs & Sun Dried Tomatoes for our pre-Easter guests, then a Potato, Garlic and Tomato Focaccia. My Country Grain Rolls were also popular with friends. For these and many other bread recipes have a scroll through my breads section.
Of course no baking blog would be complete without cakes appearing somewhere each month. I still had lots of post Christmas marzipan to use so made several variations of a Fruit and Marzipan Cake – a sort of speedy Christmas Cake.
Bundt-cakes always impress as did my White Chocolate and Berry version. Another popular cake was my Fruity Oatcake.
As you may already know I’m a big fan of tray bakes. Not only are they usually quick and easy, they also pack a big flavour punch. And I’m equally fond of scones. I’ve probably made at 30 or more different types. Check out my Scones section (have a count for me) and then try the Tray bakes.
Recent bakes have included Cherry and Marzipan Scones, Bourbon Based Millionaire’s Slices with White choc tops (what a mouthful – in more ways than one) and a Chocolate Sponge with Fudgy Choc Topping.
It’s been rather quick and brief this time, but still plenty to whet your baking appetites. I hope you take these further and give them a go; feel free to adapt and maybe improve any that take your fancy. And let me know via the contact page how you get on. I’ll leave you with a springtime picture taken locally. It’s a bit late to wish you a Happy Easter, but instead let’s hope we all have a great summer.
Jan 2023
Compared with my pre-Christmas baking blitz, January was only a moderate baking month. Also, I was taking it easy, recovering from my hernia operation. I’ll spare you the gruesome details, but I have made a very good recovery. The first few days were difficult (by “difficult” I mean B*%$£y painful) But within a few days I was walking then exercising most mornings and within a few weeks running again, albeit slowly.
As usual bread was an important part of the month . I made some Spelt and Poppy Seed Soda Bread for a friend. Spelt flour has very little gluten, can be hard to work and may give very little rise. But, in a soda bread, which rises chemically due to the combination of the alkali and acidic elements, spelt works quite well.
I also used an even more unusual flour in my Khorasan and Tomato Loaf. This was a yeasted bread. It was OK, but I need to work on the recipe a bit more. I’ve used Einkorn flour and Khorasan flour previously and neither really wow me. Maybe I’m a bit of a flour Luddite.
Probably the best of my bready bakes in January were my Spiced Fruit and Nut Teacakes. Not only did they have good taste and texture, but they were BIG too.
As you know I’m a confirmed sconoholic, a Northerner and an ex-English teacher, so, here’s a quick English lesson:
Scone rhymes with gone, shone, Don, Ron and John
It does NOT rhyme with own, tone, bone, moan or groan.
Anyway, I made Ginger and Cream Scones for our neighbours. We have excellent neighbours. (Hopefully they think the same of us.) I also made Orange and Marzipan Scones for home use and for another friend. I’ve been using marzipan a lot recently because I still had four packs after Christmas. I bought extra then someone gave me a couple. It’s lovely stuff and very adaptable. I have made my own a couple of times, especially when I’ve wanted to use other nuts. Pistachio marzipan is very tasty.
Cakes didn’t feature massively in January, but I did create a Date and Walnut Challenge Cake. I set myself the challenge of making a tasty cake with only a limited range of ingredients. This was the result. Follow the link to learn about the challenge and the rules and have a go yourself. The only other cake was a Choc Chip Cake for Sunday after church.
January was something of a tray bake month. First was a batch of Cherry and Orange Brownies that I took into our church building one Tuesday for the “totzone” mums who bring their under fives in for the morning. They were lovely (I mean the brownies, not the mums, though I’m sure the mums are very nice too. I think I’m digging a hole here, I’d better stop) But the brownies weren’t as popular as I’d expected. I think, being soon after the annual “Christmas overeat”, all of the mums were on a diet.
Later in the month I was asked to bake ninety tray bakes. (No, not ninety actual tray bakes, just ninety pieces. Phew!) It was for a lovely couple and the bakes were for the husband’s retirement party. It was a good challenge, as much about timing and stamina in the kitchen as actual baking. I gave them some options and here’s what we came up with:
Fudgy Date Brownies, Bakewell Flapjacks , Coconut Almond & Plum Tray Bake, Coffee & Walnut Blondies and Malted Millionaire’s slices.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief overview at the start of another new year. It’s probably a bit late to wish everyone a Happy New Year, nevertheless I do hope and pray that 2023 will be a good year for all of us despite everything that seems to be going on. Let’s put aside all the negativity that it’s so easy to “buy into”. I know that God is good and he cares for his creation. May he bless you in the days ahead.
A short review of December
As December draws to a close I thought I’d put out a short baking résumé of the month. It will be short because I’ve not baked anywhere near as much as in other Decembers. A couple of weeks before Christmas I went into hospital for a long-awaited (nearly two years, in fact) hernia operation.
It’s not exactly a massive operation, but the recovery phase is certainly more painful and lengthy than I anticipated. I’m still not allowed to drive, lift heavy items or do anything strenuous, but have been walking, baking and exercising gently.
OK that’s enough medical stuff, now to the baking. In some ways I made life a bit easier for myself by just updating quite a few tried and tested recipes. For example, I made my Blueberry and Orange Flapjack for a group of DofE (Duke of Edinburgh’s Award) students from my old school when I took them out for a navigation walk. (Before my op of course.)
Another “classic” is my Christmas Cake Tray-bake, which I wasn’t going to bake this year but my wife persuaded me. Even so I wanted to vary the appearance and went for a gold version this year. Then, of course, it was the Christmas Cake itself: a bit smaller this year and with a simpler but very effective decoration. Here’s the original recipe link: Cherry & Almond Christmas Cake.
As you probably know I love bread: baking it, eating it, toasting it, making sandwiches with it. Here are three loaves from December. There are lots more in my bread section.
Gluten free breads tend to be rather cake-like, but my gluten free Soda bread with Cheese & Onion was as lovely as any “normal” soda bread.
Another thing you may already know is that I love Italy, especially the food, so it’s no surprise that I enjoy a good focaccia like this Focaccia with Mozzarella Tomatoes & Garlic. Most years I also make one or more panettones, but this year was a little different. I belong to a lovely local group of Italian speakers who meet once a week to natter “in italiano”, so I made a dozen mini-panettones. I actually used a recipe from the BBC food site, but here’s the link to my large version: Panettone. Divide the mixture between 12 tall cupcake holders and bake for about 20 – 25 minutes. As you’ll see, they tend to darken very quickly. I only just caught these in time.
I’ll show you a cake I baked for my ex-colleagues at school then a few non-baked goodies that certainly made life easier in the kitchen this year. My Spiced Fruit and Oat Cake went down well. It used oats, soaked overnight in milk (or maybe I used up some left-over cream?) so it had a lovely firm, dense texture. Definitely not a “light-as-air” type of cake.
Non baked goodies also made life a bit easier. They included a Chocolate & Ginger Truffle Torte, which I developed from the earlier raspberry version and a Christmassy Gingery no-bake Cheesecake, that I made for our church elderly group (No, I’m not part of the group, in case you were wondering!).
Unsurprisingly chocolate will have the last word. I made a traybake version of my Triple Chocolate and Biscuit Fridge Cake that’s so easy and so tasty it’s ridiculous. Likewise, my Christmas Chocolate Bark – something else that I wasn’t going to make this year, but when a friend turned up with her nine year old son we made it together.
It’s nearly 2023, so I’ll soon be posting my reflections of 2022 – maybe my favourite bakes of the year. In the meantime I hope you’ve had a lovely Christmas and may….
… God bless you in the year ahead.
October & November Remembered
It’s about time I got caught up “blogwise”. One reason for being so tardy – as usual – is that we were on holiday in Italy, but that was quite a while ago. This time we were in the north around Lago d’Iseo, the smallest of the lakes. (I love Italy: the scenery, the food, the people, the architecture. All are fantastic.) I’ve also been a bit ill; nothing serious, just enough to grab it as a viable excuse for not keeping up to date. In fact I’ve done less baking than normal since my last blog ages ago.
I’m very aware of the increased energy prices, so that’s actually stopped me baking so much. Now, I try to organise two or three bakes on the same day and work out a schedule that’s as “energy efficient” as possible. I’ve also made several none baked cakes, but more on that in the next paragraph.
I’ll start with the Chocolate Truffle Torte with Raspberries, which required no baking. Having said that, I’ve decided that when I make it again – which will be soon, as it was so popular – I’ll incorporate a cheesecake type biscuit base. Even that could be non-baked, couldn’t it? But I do tend to pop these in the oven for just 10 – 15 minutes as I think it makes them firmer.
Anyway, back to the plot. The torte mentioned above was basically double cream and chocolate (can’t be bad.) It was very rich, very unctuous and very yummy. The raspberries gave it a little sharpness, which worked perfectly.
Another cake that I made especially for after our Sunday meeting at Church was my Banana and Coconut Cake with Mascarpone & White Chocolate Filling. (As titles go, that’s quite a mouthful, but so was the cake – in a good way of course.)
I also made a Chocolate Cake for a friend’s father’s funeral, a Pecan and Ginger Cake for our church elderly group and a Strawberry & Mascarpone Swiss Roll to take into school for my ex-colleagues. I love Mascarpone. It has a super soft creamy texture, and tastes great too. And it’s so versatile. Mainly I use it in sweet things, but it can be savoury as well.
There were two tray bakes that I’d like to tell you about. Early in October I felt quite experimental so I created Maple, Bacon & Pecan Millionaire’s Shortbread. And, yes, it worked really well. So much so, that I’ll be making it again, probably with even more bacon in the mix. There’s brave, then braver, then reckless. I’m aiming to be in the “braver” category. We’ll see.
The second tray bake was more recent in late November, so unsurprisingly a little more “festive.” In fact my Spiced Whisky and Orange Blondies are delightfully festive. The combination of warming Christmassy spices (you know: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and all that good stuff) with the whisky plus tangy orange was super. They were a sort of “herald of Christmas”.
Talking of Christmas, I’ll add a link later to take you to a collection of twelve of my super Christmas bakes, including a wonderful Christmas cake.
In the mean time, now that I’ve opened up the festive theme I’ll tell you about my Cranberry, Orange & Walnut Scones. As you probably know I’m something of a sconoholic. I’d like to think of myself as a scone connoisseur, but modesty prevails and also gives me further reason to keep practising. Anyway, these are pretty good scones. Cranberry and Orange go so well together and the walnuts add a super crunch.
OK as promised here’s the link to
Ian’s Christmas Collection.
I doubt if I’ll be able to update again until after Christmas, so let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas. I will be posting a few more Christmas bakes on Facebook so keep looking. I hope you have a wonderful time at Christmas and may God bless you in the year ahead.
Looking back on September
Late again, sorry; it’s partly because we’ve been on holiday in Italy, one of my favourite destinations. (Yes, the food was good and yes, we ate too much.) Anyway, September was still a busy month for baking and I’ve got some lovely bakes to tell you about. Let’s start with a “Sachertorte Story“. (Actually, they were very adapted Sachertortes.)
Months ago I promised two friends that I’d make their wedding cake. They were thinking of a very quiet, low key wedding, maybe as part of our Sunday service at the church we all belong to – Church in the Peak, Matlock. I had free range to make whatever I wanted, but the bride did mention how much she liked chocolate, so I thought just a single 23cm chocolate sponge cake would do the job.
Then the wedding became a bigger event with the whole church, both families and lots of friends all invited. My wife took charge of the catering (she’s brilliant at that) and I concentrated on the cake – which was now to be three tiers. We had lots of volunteers from our church family for food and for serving.
Prior to the wedding I’d practised the torte that I’d decided to make, but for this one I made an interesting marshmallow topping. I took it to church one Sunday morning and it proved popular so I set about planning a larger one. (By the way, I ought to tell you that I’d never made a wedding cake before – no pressure!)
I decided on 25cm, 20cm and 15cm for the three cakes. That way there would be an equal flat section on the lower tiers and the whole thing would be symmetrical (I hoped). Baking the cakes wasn’t too difficult, except for the timings. I baked the 20cm & the 15cm at the same time, but because I’d made the 15cm cake deeper it actually took longer to bake than the 20cm, which I should have realised.
Assembling them was a little more problematic, but I was really pleased at how easy to use and effective plastic drinking straws were to stack the layers. I used an enriched butter cream to cover the cakes. I dribbled coloured white chocolate over the edges, which was very effective I think. A few chocolate gold balls and other decorations finished it off nicely. The recipe for this cake and the two other versions are all together on this link: Chocolate Orange Torte.
The third version was made a week later to share with my Italian language group, who have always shown a great interest in my baking. For them I made a 20cm version. The main difference for this one was that rather than using a double layer of baking parchment inside the tin, I used a bain marie. It was actually much better this way.
It wasn’t all chocolate in September; regular readers won’t be surprised to hear that bread featured several times. Apart from my usual lovely white sourdoughs I made a Cheese and Chive Plaited Loaf for an elderly lady from church and several gluten free loaves for other friends. I had one myself and was really pleased that it was virtually as good as “normal” bread – possibly just a little bit “cakey” as GF bread tends to be, but still very nice.
I also adapted my Cherry, Apricot & Flaked Almond Loaf recipe to make a batch of tasty rolls. (Here’s a quick tip: If you make bread, especially rolls, but only eat a little each day, put them in your freezer and just take one out the night before you need it. For a loaf, slice it and separate the slices with baking parchment before freezing.)
Next, I must mention the Garden Produce and Baking Show that I entered in September. It was in Wirksworth, a nearby small town. I heard about the show just two days before it took place so only had time to enter two bakes. My Basic no-knead Sourdough took first place in the speciality bread section and my Bakewell Bara Brith was first in the dried fruit cake section. I was also awarded a cup, but even today I’ve no idea what it was for. The hall was so noisy and the announcer so quiet that I couldn’t hear. And I had to hand back the cup straight away. (It may have been a special award for being the scruffiest unshaven baker with no apparent teeth.)
Of course, I made a few non-chocolate cakes during September. Several of them were for the Ukrainian coffee mornings that we hosted in our church building. We have a lot of Ukrainian refugees in our area and, as a church, we wanted to offer them an opportunity to be together and be made welcome.
Here are some of the cakes that I made for them: A Blue & Yellow Checkered Sponge Cake (based on my Chocolate and Orange Checkerboard Sponge Cake), an Apple and Nut Streusel Cake, a Citrus Plum Cake and a Coffee and Walnut Cake.
Well, once again it looks like a good month. Soon be time far the October “issue”, but so far I’ve not done much baking – too busy travelling, eating, walking and trying to learn Italian.I’ll leave you with a nice Derbyshire sunrise.
August Retrospective
(the home Arkwright had built, but never lived in.)
I’ll begin my August retrospective (I love that word, it’s so mellifluous.) Where was I? Waffling, of course, sorry. Anyway, I’ll begin with the Cromford Garden Produce and Baking Show.
Cromford is in the Derbyshire Dales, on the edge of the Peak District and it’s the village where I live with my family. It’s actually a famous place and even a Unesco World Heritage site. It’s where Sir Richard Arkwright created the industrial system.
The Cromford Show is a small local event, held annually. This year they had just seven baking categories and I entered four. I had a pretty good day. My Artisan Sourdough took first prize in the Bread category, my Double Cheese and Chives scones won the Savoury Scone category and my Raspberry Brownies took first place in the Traybake category and were also awarded “Best Bake in the Show”. (But, I’m still wondering why my Cherry, Walnut and White Chocolate Scones didn’t even get a place in the Sweet Scone category. They were lovely.) For my prizewinning brownie recipe go to: Berry Brownies.
Now I’ve mentioned those scones I’d better tell the story behind them. I love scones and tend to rate cafes on the quality of their scones. My current favourite cafe is only a couple of miles from my home. It’s the Blue Lagoon cafe at the National Stone Centre. They only make three types of scone: Cheese, Dried Fruit and – best of all – Cherry & Walnut. For weeks I tried to persuade the cook to let me have the recipe, all to no avail. So, after a few trials I managed to create a very similar, equally lovely version – my Cherry and Walnut Rustic Scones. For the Cromford Show I made some with the addition of white chocolate chunks, which I think was great, but clearly the judges thought otherwise. OK, I’ll stop moaning and let that one go now.
Chocolate cakes have featured massively in recent months, but in August I only baked a few. First was my Sticky Orange Chocolate Cake, made for a food bank client. Here’s how it came about:
I also made a larger version:
Each Friday morning our church hosts a coffee morning for the Ukrainian families that we have in our area, many of whom are food bank clients. I’ve baked two or three things for them each week. I even found a couple of Ukrainian recipes, but they didn’t come out as well as I’d hoped. We get the full range of ages meeting with us each week and I’ve had nice conversations – albeit very “stilted” due to the language differences. One middle aged lady was a caterer before she left. She admires my cakes and has also baked a “Napoleon” for me. When she told me, I thought I was mis-hearing or she had got it wrong, but not so: a “Napoleon” is a lovely layered cake. Here are some of the things I’ve baked for these mornings:
Berry Battenberg
Some time ago I made a batch of Rum Babas, which were delicious. I wanted something similar but with a different flavour. Brandy came to mind (as it often does) and so did whisky, but then I thought, Limoncello. And what a good choice it was too. Have a look…better still find the recipe and try my Limoncello Babas.
I’ll round off this month with a few bakes that didn’t quite fit into any of the above categories or paragraphs. First will be my Cherry & Pecan Flapjacks. I used one of my good basic mixes, but the two additions worked really well together: cherries for moistness, pecans for texture, both for taste. Another successful combination was in the Pear and Marzipan Cake that I baked for one of our church visits to a local care home.
Finally, you might be wondering why this month’s review only has a few pictures of bread, but other than the usual excellent rustic sourdoughs the only “different” bread I baked was a Pane Toscana (Tuscany bread). Actually, it was rather disappointing. In Tuscany they prefer their bread to be neutral in flavour (AKA plain) to allow all the other flavours in the meal stand out. Hence, the recipe did not include salt. Not to my taste; if I bother making it again I’ll definitely add salt.
Sorry, didn’t mean to end by moaning. Let’s finish with a couple of nice “Derbyshire in August” pictures.
Happy Baking everyone
I wish you well
and hope you come back next month
(or before)
Looking back at July
July was a month jam packed with birthday cakes. Actually, I didn’t use much jam; a more accurate expression would be “chocolate packed”. Considering we had the hottest UK day on record it may not have been the wisest of choices, but birthdays and chocolate seem to be synonymous. I think I made about ten or twelve altogether, but I’ll not post them all here, just a selection. Early in the month I made an orange filled chocolate cake, but as I used the recipe so many times with variations I ended up calling it my Adaptable Chocolate Cake.
A friend’s son had his tenth birthday in July and I’ve often wanted to make one of those cakes with sweets hidden inside, which – hopefully – pour out when the cake is cut. And, sure enough, my Chocolate Fudge Cake with Secret Smarties did just that.
Then – a bit like Picasso having a pink period (or was it blue?) – I had a fizzy cola period and made a whole host of fizzy cola cakes – still chocolate ones of course. First was my Cherry Cola Chocolate Cake for school colleagues. Then we had a baptism at church followed by a shared meal and it was also the birthday of the friend being baptised. This definitely called for a bigger cake, hence my Four Layer Chocolate Cola Cake.
And – believe it or not three more birthdays happened, so I tweeked the recipe and varied the toppings.
As you can see, I’m still not great at piping. For the third cake above I piped onto chocolate buttons. A bit of a cheat maybe, but it worked.
Before I move on, I must tell you about a failure too. (I have quite a few). Having made lots of lovely dark chocolate cakes using cola, I wanted to make an orange flavoured white chocolate cake using fizzy orange. The dark cakes used cocoa powder for flavour and for colour, but despite copious searches I couldn’t find any white cocoa powder. Instead I used white drinking chocolate, but the cake turned out really heavy, dense and stodgy. (Maybe I should have called it a pudding.) My theory is that the white chocolate added far too much fat to the mixture. I’ll try again, maybe reducing the butter next time to compensate.
OK, that’s surely enough chocolate. How about some bread talk? I made quite a few as usual, mainly sourdough. Most of these can be accessed via my Bread section.
(white & wholemeal)
I did actually baked one or two other items that weren’t bread or chocolate cakes – but not many. My Economy Fruit and Nut Loaf Cake proved very popular, as did the Crumbly Oat Squares with Chocolate Chips, which just shows there’s no escape from chocolate.
I hope this has been reasonably interesting (despite it being very chocolate and bread orientated) and that you give some of these recipes a try. I’d love to hear your views if you do. Many thanks for reading so far. I’ll leave you with one final Derbyshire picture.
Looking back at June
June was a fairly quiet baking month for me, partly because I was in Italy having a wonderful holiday in Tuscany. I was on a language course, but we shared a villa with a cookery course led by a terrific chef. The food and wine were excellent and plentiful, but I was less than impressed with the very plain bread that seems to be the norm in that region. My wife and I have booked a holiday in the Lake Iseo area of Lombardy for later this year, so I can check out the food there, especially the bread.
Talking of bread – which I often do, I’m afraid – here’s what I’ve baked in June. First was a Wholemeal loaf with pumpkin seeds, followed by a Basic White sourdough and later a Garlic & Oregano sourdough. And to show that I occasionally use yeast from a packet, I made a batch of Lemon, Honey and Poppy seed rolls for a church shared lunch.
Tray bakes are ever popular with friends and family – also with me too, because they’re quick, easy and (hopefully) delicious. One example is my Double Berry Tray Bake. It’s so simple it’s virtually impossible to go wrong with it. (Mmm, I might regret saying that.)
Flapjacks are especially quick and easy. I love playing around with flavour combinations, so I made a batch of Cherry & Apricot flapjacks for after church and some Ginger ones for the owner of the car wash round the corner. He only charges me half price for a full “inside & outside wash and clean”, so a dozen flapjacks saves me at least £10 a time for my Land Rover – bargain. On a slightly different note, not all flapjacks have to be sweet. My Savoury flapjack Squares are spicy as well as being savoury.
When you want “savoury, quick and easy” it’s hard to beat muffins. In no time at all a couple of weeks ago I made a big mix and added Cheddar & Onion to one half and Stilton & Walnuts to the other. For a shared lunch again, so they didn’t last long.
I know I’m banging on about quick and easy. You might be thinking, ah yes but sometimes it’s good to get in the kitchen and take your time to do something more elaborate and time-consuming. I quite agree, but it didn’t really happen in June. Next month it might.
If you ever find anything quicker, easier and tastier than my Extra Easy Oat bran Loaf Cake, please let me know. For this one you don’t even do any proper weighing, just grab a mug from the cupboard. And sticking with the simple theme, how about a luscious, rich chocolate offering that doesn’t even need to be baked? I recently made a tray bake version of my Triple Chocolate Fridge Cake. Whether it’s a cake or tray bake it tastes great.
The mention of chocolate and cake in the same sentence brings me to my final three June bakes: a White Chocolate & Orange Cake, a Cherry Chocolate Cake, based on my Adaptable Chocolate Cake recipe and a Citrus Cake made for the our church “Limelight” (i.e. even older than me) group.
I’m looking forward to posting next month’s bakes especially as I have a few occasions coming up and have been asked to bake some special cakes. Bye for now, but I’ll leave you with another Peak District panorama.
Bakes in May – a few reflections
Yet again, it’s been ages since I updated my home page. What I think I’ll do is revue my baking each month and try to be a bit more regular. Most months are busy baking months – I like it that way – but May seems to have been especially busy, so I’ll be selective.
Loaf cakes featured quite high on the agenda. Early in the month I made two marbled loaf cakes. First was my Raspberry & White Chocolate Marbled version closely followed by a Raspberry & Pistachio version.
A couple of weeks later I experimented with my popular Gluten free Bara Brith recipe and created Bakewell Bara Brith – a great combination of Welsh and Derbyshire traditions.
Larger cakes featured well too. They included a Coffee & Walnut cake with Bruleed Banana topping and two Orange and Poppy Seed cakes.
Most weeks I bake for friends and ex-colleagues at the school where I used to teach full time. Although, in theory, I’ve retired, I still spend a few hours there each week delivering expedition training to students involved in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. One of the bakes that I took in last month was a Honey and Orange Cake, which went down very well.
But, of all the cakes I made last month, my favourite has to be this terrific Chocolate and Raspberry Layer Cake. I enjoyed making it and was super-pleased with the result. I made it for after our church meeting one Sunday morning.
Bread, as usual, has featured massively in my baking. I’ve made at least one large sourdough loaf each week and they’ve all been excellent. It’s taken a while but I’ve just about got the “system” sussed now. Sourdough bread is great and definitely worth the effort. I won’t post any recipes, but if you want to know more then I recommend this super book: “Wholegrain Sourdough at Home” by Elaine Boddy, or go to https://foodbodsourdough.com/.
Finally, I wanted something rich and tasty for a family pudding. My son had some brioche rolls that had been sitting in a cupboard a bit too long and there were plenty of blueberries in the fridge. So – have you guessed? I made a Blueberry Brioche Bread and Butter Pudding, which meant that my diet was definitely suspended.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the Derbyshire scenes and that my baking reflections have been of value to you; also that you try a few of the recipes. If so, I’d love to hear from you.
Ian’s Easter Collection
Easter will soon be with us? How do I know? Well, Easter eggs have been on the supermarket shelves for about two months, so it must be close. It’s a great time of year: tons of chocolate to give and receive; improved weather, more daylight and a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, my Lord and my Saviour. Oh, and it’s my birthday on April 10th.
It’s also a time when baking opportunities increase. With that in mind here’s a short collection of some of my bakes that are specifically for Easter or could easily be adapted.
First, two quick and very tasty traybakes. My Easter Blondies are rich and sumptuous.
Equally lovely are my seasonal Easter Flapjacks.
Here’s my version of a Traditional Simnel Cake, ideal as a centrepiece.
For something equally impressive I can recommend either of these two very special cheesecakes (or both, of course): my Simnel Apricot Cheesecake or my Simnel Cherry Cheesecake.
Two terrific cakes that can easily be adapted for Easter are my White Chocolate Smartie Cake – ideal for any youngsters – and my Golden Chocolate Cake, which is a little more on the sophisticated side.
Finally, here’s a recent bake that I’ve been looking forward to making for months. My Orange and Dark Chocolate Hot Cross Buns are well worth the wait.
Whatever you bake, I hope it turns out really great. Have a lovely Easter.
Previously
I’m finding it increasingly difficult to do regular posts, which is a bit embarrassing. Even though I’m retired I do so many things, which is great. Baking three or four times a week is one enjoyable activity, but I do a lot of exercise too and a bit of DofE expedition work.
I’ve also decided to learn Italian. My dream is to travel round Italy, probably by train, with lots of stops for walking, eating and maybe even some baking.
I’ve picked out some of my favourite bakes this year so far – a few from January, which was a relatively quiet month for me, maybe it was a post Christmas lull, then more from February. I’ll do my best not to ramble on and just show you the results with a link where appropriate then you can check out the recipes. So, January first.
My Lemon, Honey and Poppy seed Rolls were lovely and light. What’s more, they were great with either sweet or savoury items.
I used similar ingredients for a nice ring cake to share at school. Everyone enjoyed my Poppy Seed, Almond & Lemon Cake.
I know I’ve posted this before but Cheese and Onion Soda Bread is so easy, so quick and so tasty that I just wanted to tell everyone again. Go on, give it a go. Don’t worry if you don’t have any buttermilk, just add lemon into milk: easy-peasy, I promise.
You may have seen (and tasted, hopefully) my other Millionaire’s Shortbreads. I love them and here’s the latest. Ginger Millionaire’s Shortbread is a great addition to the “family”.
Now for February – a short month, but significantly more baking. This Apple and Walnut Streusel Cake has a terrific texture and it’s another easy but tasty treat.
Flapjacks are always good, but for that bit extra I coated these beauties with chocolate. Plain flapjacks are fine, but I made a special batch by including apricots and walnuts into the mixture. Have a look: Chocolate Topped Flapjacks
Then I made two tortes. Being tortes they were flourless therefore gluten free, which meant I could give them to various friends who are gluten intolerant.
First was my Chocolate and Ginger Torte. The photos don’t really do it justice; it was wonderfully rich. While making it I had the idea of a white chocolate version, but changed it a little to incorporate bananas, which was a super idea. My Banana and White Chocolate Torte was also rich and very tasty.
The next cake I made looked a bit plain, but looks can be so deceptive. My ABC Cake contained Almonds, Biscuits and Chocolate. I used good old digestives and dark chocolate, keeping both as fairly large chunks, which was a very good decision. Not only did this cake taste great, the chunks gave it a wonderful texture.
I make quite a few basic “ever popular” sponge cakes, but also ring the changes occasionally. I’ve made chocolate, strawberry and banana versions. This time it was a Coconut and Lime Sponge Cake for our church “Limelight” group.
Finally, for now, here’s another slightly “off-piste” flavour brownie. My Pretzel Brownies combined the crunchy saltiness of mini pretzels with rich dark chocolate. It worked so well too.
I hope I haven’t rushed through all this too quickly, but I thought I’d better have a bit of a catch up time.
Looking back at 2021 Bakes
Last year my “retrospective of 2020” was very popular, so I’ve repeated the idea for 2021 and here it is. I’ve had to be selective and have limited myself to only two or three bakes per month.
As well as being popular with many people, these are definitely some on my personal favourites. Hopefully, they’re representative too. Having said that, chocolate does seem to appear quite often, but no big surprise there.
From January I’ve chosen my White Chocolate Smartie Cake. It’s a fun creation that I made after the original milk chocolate version was so popular. In the same month my Chocolate Butter Cake appeared. It’s one of those simple looking cakes, almost plain, but it packs a massive flavour punch and is so very rich.
Chocolate featured again in February with my Chocolate and Orange Marbled Ring Cake, which was something of a showstopper. The Hazelnut Torte with Mascarpone Cream – a gluten free bake – was also very tasty and very lush.
In March I indulged my love of two things – cheesecake and marzipan – when I made several versions of Simnel Cheesecakes. Here’s the Simnel Cherry Cheesecake version. My Quick and Crunchy Chocolate Chip Biscuits are quite straight forward and very moreish, therefore very popular.
In April a friend asked for a birthday cake for her daughter so I used my Golden Chocolate Cake recipe and went to town with the decoration, to give it a wow factor. A little less dramatic, but no less tasty were my Blueberry and White Chocolate Buttermilk Scones. If, like me, you’re a sconoholic, you’ll love these.
I make lots of brownies, but these Almond Brownies in May were especially good. In the same month I put together another super gluten free bake: a luscious Lemon & Lime Tart that was sweet and wonderfully tangy.
In June I was again creating gorgeous brownies; my Mint-choc Brownies were something rather special. Another favourite bake that month was my Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake: definitely a cake with style and substance.
July was a great month of baking – or a month of great baking. So much so that I must mention three bakes, rather than just two. First, here’s my Rolo Caramel Cheesecake. Other than decadent, scrummy and glorious, words fail me. My Banana Millionaire’s Shortbread were a wonderful adaption of the great classic bake. The extra bake I’ve sneaked in for July is my Rowsley Tart. Check out the recipe, not only for the great taste, but to discover the story behind the name.
In August I made a series of enriched fruity or nutty loaves that were as lovely as brioche, but a lot easier to produce. One was my Blueberry, Orange and Walnut Bread. In the same month I promised a bake for a friend who liked chocolate and mint, so I made him a Minty White Chocolate Tart.
In September I paid homage to a local delicacy and created my Bakewell Millionaire’s Shortbread. Another bake I was especially pleased with (almost surprisingly, I must admit) was something I had to call my Ridiculously easy No-knead Bread. Honestly, it does what the title says. You just chuck it together, leave it to its own devices to build flavour, bung in a hot oven and hey presto – brilliant bread.
In October I was asked to make a birthday cake for a friend’s six year old son. He’d actually presented me with a jar of “dinosaur sprinkles” a few days earlier, so I took the hint and made him a White Chocolate Dinosaur Sprinkle Cake. Next was a Strawberry Sponge Cake, which just shows how a basic cake can be made into something very special. Also in October, I continued the no knead bread theme with something sweet – my No-knead Spelt and Fig Bread.
November began with a return to chocolate. This time it was these rather “sophisticated” Raspberry & Coconut Brownies. Shortly after this I baked a very unusual, very tasty and very healthy gluten free loaf. My Flourless Fruity Seed & Nut Loaf went down a treat.
In December I made most of my usual Christmas bakes, all of which can be found on this site. One new item was another easy brioche-like bread. I produced several festive Enriched Christmas Loaves, which made excellent presents.
I hope this has been of interest and that you’ll give lots of these bakes a try at home yourselves.
December 2021
It’s nearly Christmas and I’ve not updated my Blog for weeks. Terrible. Have I got any excuses – other than the usual? Not really: lots of baking, walking, reading and a bit of work (just a few hours a week). Now I’m sort of retired I seem busier than ever.
OK, I’d better stop waffling and put at least a couple of links and photos on. I’ll keep it Christmassy. The best link is a page I’m calling Ian’s Christmas Collection. It contains twelve recipes – not quite 12 Bakes of Christmas, but pretty close. Here are a few that you might want to try:
One recent bake that doesn’t feature above is my Enriched Christmas Loaves. They’re a sort of cross between a brioche and a panettone. Just as tasty, but a whole lot easier and quicker to make.
I’ll probably be baking all the way up until Christmas Day, so I’ll say HAPPY CHRISTMAS to all of you and may God bless you in 2022.
Back in November
October was another busy baking month, so apologies yet again for being so tardy with my updates. Cakes have taken up a lot of my baking time; I’ll show you in a minute. First though, a couple of sunny seasonal pictures from my local woods:
My Strawberry Sponge Cake and Chocolate and Orange Checkerboard Sponge Cake were both based on a really easy “all-in-a-saucepan” recipe. Yes, of course I used an oven, but all the prep was just in one saucepan, so hardly any washing up.
I made a couple of chocolate tortes. One was for a friend who can’t have any gluten. She was very happy with it, but my piping is an embarrassment. The other one – my Rich Chocolate Torte looked a lot smarter. I also made a Chocolate and Banana cake for a neighbour who is recovering from a car accident.
One of our friends has a six year old son. He arrived one day with a small jar of dinosaur sprinkles. Was it a present or was it a hint? Anyway, I took it as a hint and made him a cake. I called it a White Chocolate Dinosaur Sprinkle Cake for Samuel.
Two final cakes were my Autumn Leaves Country Fruit Cake made for a baking club Autumn themed evening a couple of weeks ago. More recently, I was asked to make a fruity cake, so produced my version of a Hummingbird Cake.
These were all successful bakes, but not every bake turns out like that. Here’s one that didn’t. Disasters do happen.
As you know I usually bake for our church meetings each Sunday and as we have lots of youngsters among us, I’ve made a few things especially for them. My Cake Balls were very popular (I think I should have called them Cake Pops, but no one commented.) The following week they tucked into some Chocolate Muffins.
I was asked to produce a few tray bakes for a friend’s party, so I made Lemon and Raspberry Shortbread, Fudgy Brownies and Marshmallow & Choc flapjack.
Apparently it’s now a legal requirement for home baked items given away by food banks to have a contents list to safeguard allergy sufferers. Fortunately I’ve always done this anyway. Here’s the Fruit & Nut Loaf cake that I sent recently.
No blog posting would be complete without mentioning bread. As usual I’ve baked loads, but will limit myself to just two here: my Spelt and fig no-knead bread and Buttermilk Loaves. The first was firm and fruity; the second much lighter and softer. Two very different breads that both tasted great.
And finally, here’s a picture from November a few years ago. We’ve not had any days like this so far. As I’ve grown older I’ve felt the cold more and more, but it’s still lovely to walk in the Peak District. Of course, I’ll have to bake lots of warming pies and puddings soon. Very best wishes to all my friends out there.
September
I’m so sorry I’ve not been keeping up to date with my blog. Not a great tragedy though. One reason – as before – is that I’ve been baking so much. Also, now that I’m back at work, if only for a few hours a week, I have a bit less time. I’ve been doing lots of walking too. Retirement is such a busy time of life. OK, no more excuses, let’s get down to business.
For a change, I’m going to talk about my recent bakes in sections according to who I’ve been baking for. As you know, I love to bake, but am very weight conscious so I only eat a very small proportion of my bakes. I’ll also intersperse (isn’t that a nice word?); yes, I’ll intersperse my comments with a few Derbyshire pics.
This section contains my recent “Limelight” bakes. Limelight is the name of the over 60s group run by my church. They meet every other Thursday each month. They’ve only recently begun meeting again due to Covid restrictions, which has been quite an issue for many of them as they’re all in the vulnerable category.
For their return meeting I made them a Berry and White chocolate cake. Two weeks later I made them a Layered Lemon Cake and a Date & Walnut Loaf cake, which was a gluten free bake.
The church that I’m a part of is called Church In The Peak. It’s a brilliant community church where we experience and express the love of God. OK, I’ll not pontificate. (Hey, another really good word; I must have swallowed a dictionary …. or even a lexicon.) Anyway, if you’re ever up this way for a weekend in the Peak District, you’d be very welcome on Sunday morning.
A few weeks ago I made another of my Bakewell bakes. This one was Bakewell Millionaire’s Shortbread. I’ve made lots of millionaire’s shortbread lately, but this was one of the best. I’ll show you a few pictures to show the stages.
The following week I took in some Chocolate Shortbread, which was a very simple but tasty bake.
More recently I made some Fudgy Date Brownies, which were absolutely scrumptious. I updated an earlier recipe of mine and made it even better.
Other main recipients of my bakes are my friends and ex-colleagues at the school where I taught for many years: Tupton Hall, near Chesterfield. I was an English teacher, but I also ran the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme for many years. When I retired I was asked to go back in just for a day a week to continue the DofE. Now I just do a couple of hours a week and only organise the expeditions, but I still bake for the English faculty. My recent offerings have included: a Cherry & Almond Tray Bake, an Apple & Almond Streusal Cake and a Banana & Chocolate Loaf Cake.
I’m fortunate to have plenty of friends and neighbours to bake for. Several are gluten intolerant, so baking for them is an interesting challenge. Here are a few recent bakes:
A batch of gluten free Blueberry & White Chocolate Scones, a Layered and Marbled St-Clements Cake and a Seeded Rye Soda Bread Loaf.
Just in case you were wondering, I do occasionally bake for us at home, myself and my family, when they’re around that is. My son doesn’t actually like “fancy” cakes, so for his birthday recently it was a plain, but tasty Victoria Sponge. As he’s converting a transit into a camper van our local chocolatier (Yes, we have a brilliant one in our Derbyshire village – Taylor-Wilde Chocolatier) made a chocolate camper van. Pity it was a VW, but we still enjoyed eating it. By the way, our son is older than four, but we didn’t have any more candles.
Other “home” bakes included Einkorn & White flour Cinnamon Scones, which were OK, but I’ll not bother making them again. The Wholemeal Blackberry Flapjacks were a lot nicer, especially as I used the blackberries I’d picked earlier that day from fields nearby.
If you want to know more about any of these bakes or the background to them, please go to the contact page and send me an e-mail. In the mean time, happy baking.
September 1st
It’s the start of September and there’s already a bit of a morning chill up here in the Peak District. We’ll be having some wonderfully atmospheric misty mornings soon, but let’s start with a different early morning local picture.
I know I bang on about bread, but I’ve got to tell you about a couple of recent interesting developments. First though – and I’ll make this brief – my sourdough has been consistently good of late. Have a look at these:
The first development was a couple of weeks ago when I wanted to use up 200g of discard (spare sourdough starter), but didn’t have the time to make an actual sourdough loaf. Tasty though they are, they do require time commitment. Instead, I made a yeasted loaf and incorporated the 200g starter. It’s 50% water, 50% flour. So I simply subtracted those amounts from a standard bread recipe. To give the loaf more character I raided the fridge and found some cheddar at the back that was going a bit mouldy round the edges. After some scraping it was fine. I grated it in with four (or maybe it was five) large cloves of garlic. Chucked it all in after the first prove and the loaf came out lovely – mega garlicky bread with attitude.
The second development was a little more radical. I’ve played around with No-knead Bread quite a few times, but never to my complete satisfaction. This time I really went for a minimalist approach in terms of time and effort. I used about 2g instant yeast. The initial mixing took less than three minutes, then I left it overnight. It had doubled in size and was very bubbly the next morning. I didn’t even bother taking it out of the bowl, I just turned it over a few times and put the cover back on. Later, it had risen, but was still a sloppy wet dough, so I literally poured it out onto a sheet of parchment paper, which I then lifted into a hot Dutch oven and baked it. The resulting loaf was ridiculously good. That’s why I’ve called it my Ridiculously Easy No-knead Bread.
In this short embarrassing paragraph, I must admit a failure – my Spelt soda bread, which had a texture more like a cake – a not-very-good cake. Worse still was the taste. Before I realised how bad it was our daughter, who was visiting us for the evening, had some. The look on her face told it all. She didn’t want to say how bad it was until I actually asked her, bless her. Rather than showing you a picture of poor bread, have a look at some heather that’s out right now on Beeley Moor, near to Chatsworth.
As always, scones have a place. And, yes they’re worth a mention because there’s so much variety, so much they have to offer and so simple to make. Sometimes, I can’t decide whether I want a savoury one or a sweet one. (Yes, I know, I could have both, but they do contain lots those horrible C things – calories.) Anyway, I put together a recipe with a good basic mix that could become either sweet or savoury.
For my Sweet and Savoury Scones I made Cherry and Marzipan and Cheese and Chive versions. Both were excellent. More recently I made half a dozen Date & Apricot. I don’t think I’ll ever run out of new flavour options and combinations.
In recent weeks I’ve rather gone overboard for millionaire’s shortbreads. In my last post I added a minty version to the previous Strawberry, Lemon and Banana versions. All can be found in my Tray Bakes section. The latest addition to the MS family is Coffee and Walnut Millionaire’s Shortbread. It’s as yummy or even more yummy than the rest.
Finally, and there’s probably a better way of saying this, but I’m going to tell you about a couple of tarts. I’ll qualify that statement very quickly by giving some details. My Minty White Chocolate Tart was made for a friend who helped me choose a much needed new computer.
The Cherry Bakewell Tart is my slight twist on a classic bake. Both look great and both taste as good as they look, or better. Both are easy to make and well worth the effort. I love working with pastry and enjoy learning about it’s varied behaviour, frustrating though that often is.
If you’re about to go back to work after your holiday, or back to school, I hope it all goes really well for you. Have a great September. I’ll leave you with a typical White Peak view, taken near the village of Ilam (pronounced eye-lm), which reminds me of the time when an American gentleman stopped his car to ask me for directions to 11 a.m. I’m not sure if he ever got there.
August 16th
It’s mid-August and after the sun we now have a more typical English summer: a bit grey, a bit wet, a bit windy. At least it’s not as busy on the roads locally. I love living here, on the edge of the Peak District, but one of the few drawbacks is the amount of holiday traffic. Apparently we’re the second most visited national park in the world, after Mount Fuji in Japan. Don’t get me wrong though, I welcome tourists; they’re good for the local economy etcetera.
OK, weather info. and moaning over, let’s talk baking. I’ll tell you about my bread first as I’ve been baking a lot of it. Some of my sourdough loaves have been fairly poor, heavy things so I’ll not embarrass myself by showing you. Early in the month, I made a couple of Herby fougasse loaves for home and a friend. It’s a yeasted dough and dead easy to make. They look & taste great too.
For a while I’ve been wanting to try some more unusual flours, so bought some Einkorn flour. It’s a heritage grain with a pleasant nutty taste, but it’s low in gluten so needs to be mixed with normal flour. My first Einkorn Sourdough Loaf came out quite well although a tad dark & dense, but with a terrific crunchy crust. The Plain White Sourdough shown below also looked great as well as tasting good. I’m aiming for consistency now.
Finally, on bread, I made another pair of enriched dough loaves, but this time they were Blueberry, Orange and Walnut. They came out wonderfully well, easily as good as my previous Cherry, Apricot & Flaked Almond Loaves. As I said before, these are like brioche, but a lot easier and quicker to bake.
I also had a bit of a “sconefest” again. Most were repeats of recipes, but I also put together a new flavour and made a batch of very yummy Treacle and Walnut Scones.
Strangely, Chocolate has only featured in a few bakes recently. Two are definitely worth mentioning. One was my Chocolate Chip Digestives, which are exceptionally quick and easy to bake.
The final bake to tell you about and to recommend is my newest flavour of millionaire’s shortbread. Previously I’ve made Lemon, Strawberry and Banana versions, but my Minty Millionaires Shortbread could be the best of them all. (I know, I always say that.) I was so pleased to get the colour and the level of “mintyness” just right.
July 31st
Since my last post I’ve been busy as usual, especially with bread. I just love to bake the stuff, it’s so satisfying. I’ll not bore you with all of them, but here are a few worth a quick mention: Cheese and Chive rolls; basic white sourdoughs; gluten free white loaves; Sun-dried tomato, Basil & Oregano loaves and finally my first ever Einkorn sourdough, which I simply must tell you about in more detail.
Einkorn is an ancient type of grain, maybe I should call it a heritage grain. Anyway it makes a great, nutty flavoured loaf. And I actually managed to produce something I could cut or score to make a pleasing pattern. As you know, my sourdough has been a bit “hit and miss”, but I’m getting better and more consistent.
Here’s how: I feed my starter on Monday morning then make the dough later that day and leave it overnight to prove and rise. The next morning I gently fold it over and shape it, put it in a banneton and leave it in the fridge until later in the day before baking it in a Dutch oven.
One other, quite different, recent bread was my Cherry Apricot & Flaked Almond Loaves. They’re made with an enriched sweet dough, rather like a brioche dough, but the process is much quicker and easier than making brioche bread. At the moment I’m planning further similar loaves, maybe using Oranges, Blueberries and some other type of nut. I haven’t yet decided which nut. Hazelnut or pistachio top the list, but I might try some macadamia nuts. I’ll let you know next time.
I’ve not made many cakes for a while, but an opportunity came up last week when my wife told me that it was an elderly friend’s birthday “tomorrow”. I had to move sharpishly, using whatever I had at hand. Fortunately, I had enough to make a very nice Chocolate Fudge Cake, which was well received.
As usual, scones featured in my recent baking. My Triple Cheese Scones combine three great British cheeses: Stilton, Red Leicester and Cheddar. And what a great combination that is.
Here’s a couple of cheesy factoids for you. First, Stilton is a “Protected name” and the product can only be called Stilton if it’s made in these three English counties: Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. Second, Red Leicester Cheese used to be simply called Leicestershire Cheese, but during the Second World War it had to be distinguished from the “official” Leicester Cheese that was made according to government regulations and was white.
OK, Nurdy bit over, let’s get back to recent bakes. We had a wedding at church on Sunday as part of our usual morning meeting. It was a lovely, friendly, low key service with a buffet afterwards. I was asked to bake for it.
I made four tray bakes, three I’d done before: Double Chocolate Biscuit Tiffin, Double Berry Tray Bake & Jammy Shortjacks. The last two items I made using gluten-free flour, which usually works well in conjunction with xanthan gum powder, but on this occasion they were a bit dry and crumbly. Not terrible at all, but I knew they weren’t as good as they normally are.
However, I was especially pleased with the fourth bake, a new one. It was my Banana Millionaires Shortbread – a wonderfully rich and gooey, scrumptious creation.
I think the week ahead will be a bit quieter in terms of baking. I’ve some bread planned and a friend is going to do some “computer improvements” for me, so I’ll probably bake something to take over to him. I could make a cake or two for our church foodbank deliveries on Thursday. And, at the same time, something for the delivery team too. Of course, there’s also a lady from church who has just come out of hospital. Then there’s……. well, maybe it won’t be such a quiet week after all. Finally, this time, here’s a bit more atmospheric Derbyshire (A Stilton cheese county.)
July 18th 2021
Wow, mega-hot and sunny – and it’s here in England. Almost too hot to bake, but I’ve persevered. In fact, I’ve a lot to post and tell you about. I’ll give you the low down on recent tray bakes. (I never know whether to call them Traybakes or Tray Bakes. My spellchecker seems to favour the two word version, but that’s not definitive proof. Sorry, this is a fairly boring tangent I’ve gone off onto.)
Back to the plot (quoting Guy Fawkes now. I think I must have been out in the sun too long.) I revised my Coconut, Almond, Plum Tray Bake. Wish I’d revised or at least shortened the name. I do have a habit of long titles. I also love a bit of alliteration as seen with my Banana and Biscuit Brownies, which were really rich and gooey. I almost called them Brilliant Banana and Broken Biscuit Brownies. So, lucky escape, I think. My shortest title recently must be Bakewell Flapjacks. These are a sort of “Bakewell tart meets Flapjack “ creation.
Bread has featured regularly over the past few weeks. Most notable has been my “successful-at-last” sourdough loaves. The secret, for me, seems to be changing the proofing times. Rather than a long first proof, overnight in the garage usually, then a shorter second proof – a few hours in the fridge – I’ve reversed all that. For the first proof I leave the dough in the kitchen for the afternoon then put it in the fridge overnight for the second proof. Here’s the result:
It was nice to make a few other bread items using yeast. These Cheese and Chive rolls were wonderfully light and tasty. I also adapted a milk bread recipe by using buttermilk to replace half the milk. And these Buttermilk Loaves too were equally wonderfully light. I’ve often used buttermilk in scones and cakes, but not in bread.
As I’m harping on about buttermilk, I’ll mention my Saffron and Sultana Scones. I used half buttermilk and half double cream in the mixture. (I think that’s “Heavy Cream” in USA) Anyway, what a lovely combination, giving lightness and richness. Give it a try, but put in plenty of saffron. I was rather parsimonious, which is a nice way of saying tight-fisted. When the late great Keith Floyd was asked how much saffron to put into one of his recipes, his classic response was, “How much can you afford?”
Finally, here’s my Blueberry and Orange Soured Cream Cake. I made it as a gluten free version for my regular GF friend and her family. The soured cream also made a difference. This wasn’t a light cake, but it was really moist and tasty. When I do GF baking all I do is replace the flour with GF flour and add in half a teaspoon of xanthan gum powder plus a little more liquid, probably a tablespoon of milk. It’s not rocket science baking, is it? Most of my GF friends are only mildly affected, so I never bother checking oats or baking powder for any gluten content. If I had to bake for anyone who was more seriously GF – hard core GF – I’d be more careful.
July 4th
Since my last posting I’ve been baking a lot, but also eating a lot. Baking and keeping fit aren’t exactly compatible are they? Until a couple of years ago I ran over 40 miles each week, so enjoying cake and biscuits wasn’t a great issue. Now though, in “my more senior years”, it is becoming one. I still do lots of exercise and occasional runs, but not many early morning ones as seen below:
I’m a fan of Bundt Tins, so I was really looking forward to using my new one, a Jubilee Bundt tin. We had lots of ripe bananas and my wife – ever the sensible, practical darling that she is – suggested I use them in a cake. Fine with me. I put together a very nice, moist Chocolate Banana Cake. It was ideal for my new tin, but I also made a 23cm round one as well, to take into school.
As I mentioned earlier, we’re something of a weight conscious household, so a big chocolate cake isn’t exactly the best thing to have sitting around. But who could I give it to? Luckily our neighbours were having a family get-together and were more than happy to have it.
Another cake I was happy to bake and give away was my Rolo Caramel Cheesecake. I’d seen a Twix cheesecake and wanted to do something as luscious, but different. I wanted something relatively easy and quick, so went for a non-baked version. I’ve probably mentioned before that I’ve been something of a cheesecake snob and have decried the non-baked ones as not being real cheesecakes. Well, I’ve had to change my tune. This is very tasty, very lush, very rich and very real. I took it into school recently for friends and ex-colleagues who loved it.
Apart from the usual breads and scones, I’ve made a couple of lovely tray bakes. They’re so easy and convenient. First was my Orange and White Chocolate Tray Bake, that I made gluten free for one of my GF friends from church.
Then I made a Rowsley Tart Tray Bake. I’ll have to explain this one. Initially it was supposed to be a Bakewell tart version, but I ran out of ground almonds and also didn’t have any raspberry jam. Instead I added in desiccated coconut and used the homemade damson jam that I found in the fridge.
I called it a Rowsley Tart because Rowsley is a village on the A6, just three miles from Bakewell. So, it’s close to Bakewell and my tart is close to a Bakewell Tart. Tastes as good too, maybe better.
Next bakes tomorrow will be two batches of biscotti and a proper Bakewell Tart, both for my wife to take when she visits family over the weekend. I’ll keep you posted. And I’ll leave you with another early-morning-in-Derbyshire picture, but no mist this time:
24th June
Yesterday was a day of fairly basic but enjoyable family type baking. Let me tell you about my Raspberry and Coconut Scones first. I decided to use a combination of buttermilk and cream in the mixture instead of milk. I have to admit that my main reason was that I had some of each left in the fridge. Anyway, the buttermilk gave the scones a soft, light texture and the cream added a lovely richness. It worked so well that I’ll definitely use them together again.
These scones were a bit experimental in another way too. I often switch baking trays between shelves in the oven halfway through the bake. Even though it drops the oven temperature, I think it’s OK, provided you don’t dilly dally. This time I had to work extra quickly because I wanted to add a second egg-wash to some of the scones just to see the effect. Interestingly, there was a significant improvement in the look of the “twice-egg washed” scones. (see picture and compare the five on the left with the four on the right)
Other recent bakes have included a second Cherry and Chocolate Soda bread loaf, this time with the addition of nuts. Unfortunately, I still didn’t manage to get a decent photo. The friends that I made it for said it was the best soda bread they’d ever eaten.
Recently, our local butcher was selling venison, which I’d never eaten before, so I just had to buy some. I used it to make a Spicy Venison and Veg Pie. If you’re a fellow carnivore, but haven’t tried venison you really ought to; it’s a lovely rich meat and not as “gamey” as I expected.
I also made another, simpler, version of the Chocolate and Orange Bundt Cake that I posted recently. I discovered that the first one became rather stodgy the day after I’d baked it. I tweaked the recipe for the second one, but it still had the same problem, so I’ll need to rethink the whole recipe. Fortunately, the taste was much better than the texture. Also, much better than my piping skills, as you can see.
Previously
Above is my latest bake. It’s pretty good as you’d expect with three different chocolates involved. When I tweek it and make a few changes it’ll be even better. Also, I really like my Bundt tin, so much that I’ve just ordered another one from Amazon – different pattern of course.
I’ve made several dark chocolate bundt cakes including my Supa-Moist Chocolate Bundt Cake, but I wanted to make a white chocolate version. The first problem (problem = challenge) was how to replace the cocoa powder used in the dark chocolate version. Easy – I used melted white chocolate.
I’ll pause here. If my spelling and grammar are not as wonderful as usual it’s because my son (bless him) has just given me an early Father’s day present of three bottles of whisky (small bottles of course). I’m not a great whisky drinker, in fact I don’t drink much at all, but I had to taste them, if only for the sake of good manners and gratitude. Gosh, I feel wobbly.
Anyway, I’ll soldier on. Where was I? Bundt cakes, yes. I’ll give you the link for the one shown above, my Chocolate and Orange Bundt Cake. Here’s how I made it and the problems (challenges) I’m now working through with a few other comments that you might find interesting.
First, let me say that I’m very happy with my method of prepping bundt tins. I’ve never had one stick or fail to release from the tin. Details are in the recipe. Second, I now use a bain marie for all my chocolate work despite previously leaning towards microwaving my chocolate to avoid any moisture affecting it. With a bain marie you can put the bowl back on the pan to keep it warm and liquid. Not so in a micro wave.
The actual recipe produces a very wet mixture: combination of melted chocolate, vegetable oil, water and milk. That could be why the end product was rather stodgy. Or it could be that I didn’t bake it for long enough (even though I’d not had any whisky then, so no excuses).
I tested the bake using my trusty cake skewer, which came out very clean and quite dry. Later however, when I’d inverted the cake onto a wire rack, I discovered that it was so moist it had stuck to the rack. The taste was still good, but it was stodgy – a bit like a brownie, which isn’t entirely a bad thing, is it?
I’ll be making it again, maybe next week to take into school for my friends and ex-colleagues.
To finish, I must tell you about a product that I bought recently. We’ve got lots of graters in our kitchen drawers, so I’ve been loath to buy a micro-plane grater. Then I thought, “what the heck” and ordered one. And it’s brilliant. Far better than anything else I’ve ever used. Really efficient at zesting. Only two slight problems (things to be aware of):
1. You need to take extreme care or risk losing half a finger – they’re that sharp.
2. Without realising it I ordered one with a red handle, so I have to hide it away from my wife who prefers black items in the kitchen. (Whoops, you can’t win them all!)
Friday 11th June
I don’t have masses of baking to post and chat about at the moment, which is a bit odd as I seem to have been baking most days. It’s probably because I’ve made boring , I meant to say “less exciting than usual” bakes: biscuits, bread & scones. Add to that the fact that several things went a bit wrong haywire.
Anyway, I do have three items that were really good to bake and to eat (or give away). First was my Cherry and Chocolate Soda Bread. Yes, I know it’s another bread, but quite a different one. I almost didn’t get to taste it, but so glad I did. I made it “on spec” one morning when a friend was visiting with her six year old son (more on him in a minute). I just chucked it together really quickly, baked it, then had to go out. Luckily I got back in time to grab the last two chunks. (Soda bread’s better in chunks than slices.)
One problem I encountered was that my previously trusty Pentax DSLR malfunctioned and my phone camera did a very poor job. So, when you look at the photos via the link above please bear in mind that the bread was NOT blue coloured – honestly.
Equally colourful, but in a much better way, were my Mint Choc Brownies on a Biscuit Base. These I made for my school ex-colleagues and friends. I’d wanted to use After-Eight mints in a brownie for quite a while – really pleased that it worked so well.
Finally, for this short post, I must tell you about the birthday party cake I was asked to make for the young lad mentioned above. Apparently he likes spiders and other creepy crawlies, and also chocolate of course. The obvious choice was to adapt a Yule Log recipe, and what better to adapt than one by the wonderful Mary Berry. I used her recipe and added fondant items: leaves, a mushroom and a spider, plus a white chocolate spider’s web. It was wonderfully rich and messy and very popular with the kids (with adults too).
Thursday 3rd June
Wow – Sunshine! It was sunny yesterday, it’s sunny today, it’s forecast to be sunny tomorrow and maybe even for the whole week. If you’re a UK resident, you’ll understand my bemused excitement. For any baking friends in normally sunny places such as South Africa, California, Zimbabwe or Australia, please bear with me.
My wife and I enjoyed a barbeque in our friends’ garden last night and I didn’t need several jumpers, a thick fleece, a hat and gloves, so it must be summer. I had a good day of baking for the BBQ. I made a Tomato and Garlic Focaccia and a batch of Cheesy Soda Bread Rolls plus some luscious squidgy brownies – apricot and white chocolate flavour.
I’ll put some recipes on my site later. This has to be a quick blog post because today I’ll be going to Coghlans Cookery School in Darley Dale, near Matlock, for a Moroccan Cookery Class. The main thing I want to show you is my method for lining baking tins. Ever since I first began baking a few years ago, every recipe has told me to “grease and line the tin“. So, I always did. But not any longer. I use water instead and it works a treat. Not only does the parchment adhere to the tin easily, there’s no greasy tin to wash after baking. Here’s how it works:
- Cut a piece of parchment paper big enough to cover the bottom and sides of your tin.
- Cut a slit inwards from each corner. (I think the angle is 45 degrees, but don’t trust my maths)
- Wet the tin with a little water and spread it around the sides too.
- Insert the parchment and fold in the corners so that no metal is left bare.
- Job done!
One tasty and quite easy bake that I enjoyed making recently was my Carrot and Coconut Loaf Cake which I made GF for a friend who can’t eat any gluten. (I don’t like to call her “gluten intolerant”; it sounds as if she’s choosing not to tolerate gluten, which obviously isn’t the case. And she’s a lovely tolerant lady.)
I also made some really lovely brownies and the recipe for these has a GF option too. These Apricot and White Choc Chip Brownies had one of the best textures of any brownie I’ve ever eaten, and I’ve certainly had more than a mere few.
I’ve not put on a lot of bakes this time. I’ve baked as often as usual, but it’s been lots of biscuits, bread and pies – all tasty but basic stuff that I won’t bore you with, instead I’ll close today with a nice picture of Curbar Edge.
Sunday 23rd May
Hello all, I hope you’re well. If, like me, you’ve have your Covid vaccinations, combined with the reduction of restrictions, you’re ready to get out and about – me too. Over the next few weeks I’m hoping to be visiting a few cafes for lunch while walking in the lovely Peak District. Maybe a couple of restaurants too.
For some time I’ve had a mind to combine walks with café visits and write them up for the blog. I’ve not really got on with it, but watch this space, they’re on the way. I did make a start by commenting on a few cafes. You can view my initial efforts here.
As usual, I’ve been so busy baking that I’ve neglected my blog and all who follow me – my apologies, but let me start by giving you the low down on my favourite two May bakes so far: Almond Brownies and Raspberry and Almond English Muffins.
The brownies are quite rich and sumptuous. Almond is one of my favourite flavours, so I’ve made sure it stands out without being overpowering. Don’t worry though – there’s certainly a big “Chocolate hit“.
The muffins were really interesting to make. I could replace the adjective interesting with any of the following: messy, challenging, frustrating or difficult. But it was worth it. The taste and texture, once again, are excellent. Worth a go, if only for the challenge.
Yet again, I’ve been churning out biscuits on a regular basis. My son, who’s still here at home with us, is a young man with a voracious biscuit appetite. Well, he does work outdoors and cycles a lot, so it all helps replenish the calories. Most of my biscuits taste great, but the texture tends to vary without there always an obvious reason. Often, they’re not as crunchy and snappy as I’d like them. So, something else to keep working on.
A few weeks ago I was asked to bake a large batch of biscuits to be packaged into gift boxes for the folk who have just completed an on-line Alpha course run by members of my church. I used my Adaptable Oaty Biscuit recipe to make three different types. To my relief, the texture, like the taste, was lovely.
If you’ve never heard of Alpha, it’s a very friendly and popular course to tell people about the Christian faith and how God shows his love for us through Jesus. Under pre-Covid conditions it always involved a lovely meal together each evening – sadly, not possible recently, but the biscuits seem to have been well received (by post mainly).
I’ll make the regular bread paragraph short and sweet. Bread is wonderful stuff, but I accept that it’s not always the most exciting subject in the world. Anyway, here are a couple of recent sourdough loaves: Spelt, Rye and Wheat and a Large White.
On the subject of sourdough, I keep my starter in the fridge. Until recently, I took it out every 4 or 5 days and poured enough out to begin a loaf then replenished it. This was OK, but since reading Elaine Boddy’s book, Wholegrain Sourdough, I now take my starter out of the fridge on the morning that I intend using it. Once at room temperature, I feed it with about 35g flour and 35ml water. An hour later it’s always bubbly and ready to be used, so I crack on and mix the dough.
Sometimes, rather than bread, I’ve been using my starter “discard” to make scones. The most recent was a batch of Double Cheese, Chive and Spring Onion ones. And very tasty they were too.
Another recent, very quick and simple, bake that I enjoyed making was a variation on my Double Berry Tray Bake. It was for my friends and ex-colleagues at the secondary school where I taught full time for many years. I increased the ingredients by 50% and added lots of white chocolate chips.
Even though I’m now in my 71st year, I’m still working – and it’s good to be active. I ran the DofE (Duke of Edinburgh’s Award) for many years and have been asked back into school to continue my involvement. It’s just for part of a day each week to deliver training for the expedition. It’s great – I get to walk around the Peak District looking after keen, mature and well-behaved youngsters, and I get paid for it too.
For a few days my wife is away visiting her family “down South” (Folkestone actually). She’s very fond of biscotti so I made a batch of Double Nut & Cherry Biscotti for her to take down there.
I also put together a box of special chocolates for her and her sister to munch while watching films (the sort that I’d hate). Part of the reason I’m telling you this – other than the obvious “brownie points” value, is that I get to recommend our local chocolatier, Martin. We’re very fortunate that in our small Derbyshire village of Cromford we have a top notch chocolate shop: Taylor-Wilde. Well worth a visit if you’re in the area.
That’s all for now. Keep safe, keep well and keep baking.
Wednesday 12th May
Spring is definitely here in rural Derbyshire with its many blessings: warmer days, lighter evenings, occasional frosty mornings, bluebells carpetting the woods, lambs leaping, blossom on the hillsides across the Derwent Valley. What a wonderful time of year and a great time to bake – not too hot for chocolate work and not too cold in the garage where I keep all my “baking stuff”. (My Land Rover has to sit on the drive.)
Here’s what I’ve been doing since my last posting. I think I’ve now mastered the Citrus tart that I showed you last time. The Gluten free crust is very good now and the filling much more stable and tasty. I’m really happy with my Lemon and Lime Gluten Free Tart. I even practised a new skill: coloured meringue kisses. (The tart required four egg yolks, so I had to do something with the whites.)
Other bakes included a luscious Chocolate and Date Tiffin with a shortcrust base. I also made a batch of Dark and White Chocolate Chip Biscuits as a sort of homage to the Peak District. I made twenty on Tuesday and we only had three in the jar by Wednesday evening.
My sourdough starter is still alive and kicking, well it’s still alive and bubbling. As well as sourdough loaves I’ve used it a few times to bake buttermilk scones, the most recent were ginger flavoured, which worked well. For a change from white or wholemeal bread, I made a nice Spelt & Poppy seed loaf a couple of days ago. Came out a bit dense, so might have benefitted from a wetter mix.
I can feel a bit of a rant coming on. Bear with me. I was an English teacher for over 35 years, but I’m not claiming to have perfect English. However, I get very irritated with TV chefs who overuse certain words and phrases, especially adjectives such as “wonderful” or “awesome” or “beautiful” or “fantastic” or “marvellous” or “incredible”. (Yes, I know I used the word “or” five times in that sentence, but it was for dramatic effect!) I can live with occasional phrases like “wonderful beef” or “awesome cake”, but they do get rather OTT. It’ll be “superb spoon” next, or “brilliant butter”.
My top (or should it be “bottom”?) cringeworthy phrases must be: “take it to the next level” or “whole new level” and “marriage made in heaven”. And, not forgetting “ultimate”. I’ve lost count of the number of ultimate brownies that I’ve read about, or ultimate chocolate cakes.
OK, it’s out of my system now. Sorry to bang on and thanks for being patient with me. I’m not really a miserable old *&$£**. Let’s cheer things up and show you a couple more nice Springtime-in-Derbyshire pictures.
Other bakes have included my Neapolitan Cheesecake Tart made for yet another gluten intolerant friend. (GF seems to be on the increase, doesn’t it?) It was quite an interesting creation, with three tasty layers: chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.
I also made some doughnuts for my son – he loves doughnuts. But these were oven baked; we don’t have a deep fat fryer. I was pleasantly surprised at how nice they were – more like “proper” doughnuts than I expected. And of course there has to be a bread finale, so here’s just one picture of my latest sourdough – a mixed spelt, rye and wheat loaf. I’m definitely getting better at slashing (sic).
Sunday 2nd May
It’s Spring. What a great time of year. It’s lighter, it’s warmer and it’s more colourful. Well, actually it’s been quite cold and frosty most mornings here in Derbyshire, but that’s always the sign that a lovely sunny day will follow. And they have, so let’s be thankful. I’m baking a little less often now that I’m out and about walking, running and occasionally shopping (not often though). Here’s what I’ve been up to recently.
My sourdough saga continues – I’ll make it brief and as painless as possible. I’ve managed to make a loaf that looks good as well as tasting good. Here’s a summary of what I did. My first move was to forget about the banneton. Every time I’ve used one the dough has ALWAYS STUCK despite copious flour, semolina flour, rice flour et al. Who needs a loaf with rings round it anyway? (OK I’ll admit, I do, but that’s for another time.)
1. Early morning – take starter from fridge & feed it (35g strong flour + 35ml water)
2. Two hours later – In a large bowl, mix 50ml starter, 350ml water & 10g salt. Add in 500g strong white flour. Make a rough mix and leave it.
3. An hour later – pull the dough over itself, turn the bowl and repeat several times. Keep doing this all through the day and evening. Cover with a shower cap each time.
4. Leave in the kitchen, covered, overnight.
5. Next morning, repeat the dough pulling a few times. Tip the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself gently a few times. Gather into a ball.
6. Line the inner base of a Dutch oven (A cast iron casserole dish). Flour the dough ball and place in the Dutch oven. Cover with a shower cap and leave in the fridge.
7. Several hours later – turn the oven on to fan 210C. Use a lame to make cuts on the top surface of the dough. Put the lid on and bake for 30 minutes.
8. Thirty minutes later – reduce the heat to fan 190C – 200C and take off the lid. Continue baking for another 25 minutes.
9. After 25 minutes – Take the loaf out of the Dutch oven and place on a rack in the oven for five minutes to crisp the bottom.
I’ve begun an experiment to create Simple Healthy Gluten free Biscuits. My criteria for success are:
- They must taste good
- They need to be firm, ideally “dunkable”
- They should have definite shape, ideally flat and round
- They should be easy and quick to make
Here’s my mark one version, made with a mixture of 100g polenta, 100g oat bran, 75g caster sugar, 50g ground almonds & 100g melted butter. I met criteria 1 & 4, but not 2 or 3. I had hoped to roll out the mixture and use a round cutter, but it was far too crumbly. Instead I pushed it into a hastily lined 20cm square tin and baked it for 15 minutes at fan 160C.
It’s back to the drawing board, but at least my mistakes are very edible. Let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions.
Wednesday 28th April
I had a brilliant day recently at Coghlans’s Cookery School in Darley Dale. Over the last few years I’ve done many of their courses including: Artisan Bread Making, Gluten Free Baking, Festive Bread, Chocolate Skills and Pie Making. These and many others have all been excellent. My most recent course was their Eastern Spices, so it’ll be Indian food this weekend in the Parfitt household.
Coghlan’s is based in the beautiful grounds of Stancliffe Hall, close to Matlock. I’m very fortunate to live a mere 15 minutes away. But even if you live much further away it’s well worth the journey. Now that lockdown is easing I’d recommend combining a few days here in the Derbyshire Dales with a day or half day course at Coghlan’s. What a great combination.
The cookery school team are terrific. The main tutor, Simon, is a “Master Chef of Great Britain”. Not only is he highly experienced, knowledgeable and skilled, he’s also easy to talk to and always ready to answer any questions. Those on the courses are well looked after by Steve who meets and greets, serves refreshments, washes up and is a fountain of local knowledge and personal tales. But of course it’s the ladies – Pauline and Lisa – who keep everything (and everybody) running smoothly.
Since my last posting I’ve made one or two interesting bakes. Limes were a feature of my Triple Citrus Pie. Actually it was a tart, but as it was based on the famous Key Lime Pie I stuck with that name. (I always thought a pie had to have a pastry lid but, as Shakespeare nearly said, “a pie by any other name would taste as sweet”)
For this one I experimented with the base by adding polenta and oat bran to the blitzed biscuits and melted butter. It was OK – I’m still working on these base combinations, including GF versions. Rather than just using Limes I fancied three different fruits, so split my filling three ways and added Orange and Lemon elements. The final result was pleasant, but still needs some adjusting, so I’ll not be posting the recipe just yet.
The finished product was good, but the flavours blended together and were similar anyway, so I didn’t achieve the distinct three flavours as I’d hoped. Here’s a gallery to show something of how I put it together:
Bread still remains the mainstay of my baking, but recently I fancied a change from sourdough bread. In my Apricot and Walnut loaf, although I used some sourdough starter I also added in some dried yeast. I used a mixture of wheat and Rye flours just like my original Apricot Rye Bread. I still baked it in a Dutch Oven and it came out OK, but surprisingly big. Soft, sweet apricots combined with crunchy walnuts is a great flavour and texture combo.
Friday 23rd April 2021
A few weeks ago I bought Elaine Boddy’s book: “Whole Grain Sourdough at Home”. It’s a very good book with lots of exciting recipes using all manner of interesting flours and other ingredients. It’s proven quite helpful with my sourdough journey, but I still have some unresolved issues (AKA “problems”). I still can’t manage to score my risen dough; it’s always too runny, even though I’ve reduced the liquid content. The bread tastes good every time though.
I’ve only used a few of her recipes so far. I want to master the basic white sourdough before I progress into the mysterious world of Khorasan, Einkorn and Emmer. But I have adapted her simple and speedy scone recipe. It’s so good I’ll even forgive her for calling them “biscuits”. (If she lived in New York or Chicago or Los Angeles OK, but Milton Keynes …. come on.)
My versions included Stilton, which were good, and also some lovely Blueberry and White Chocolate Buttermilk ones. Mmm, they were certainly tasty.
As well as sourdough, I’ve made a couple of really nice soda bread loaves. Not sure what to call them though. It was one of those, chuck-in-whatever-you-can-find-in-the-fridge type of recipes: some sun dried tomatoes, a few olives, a random mixture of seeds and a bit of left over cheese. Pity I never wrote down the details as the end result was excellent.
I’ve never been a fan of Parkin. I’ve made it a few times and it’s always turned out quite dry. Anyway, I decided to adapt a Parkin recipe and include raisins, sultanas and currants. My Fruity Parkin turned out really well. It was moist and sticky and even better the next day. I’ll do some more soon and replace the dried fruit with dates. Might even splash out and buy some Medjool dates. Steady there, Mr extravagant.
Well, since writing the paragraph above I made a batch of Date and Walnut Parkin and they were terrific. They tasted great and the texture was sublime – a combination of sticky almost fudgy date and crunchy walnuts. Oh, yes, definitely a current favourite. (no pun intended)
Prior to making Parkins and another oaty bake – that I’ll tell you about in a minute – I made a batch of Double Chocolate Tartlets. They were gluten free, made for a friend in our local church. Rather than make pastry I wanted to recreate the type of biscuit base used for cheesecakes. It had to be gluten free, so I combined oats, oat meal, ground almonds, sugar and polenta. It tasted very good, but was a bit too solid.
I refined the idea for my next similar bake, which was Crumbly Oat Squares with Chocolate Chips. In fact it was virtually a whole bake using my biscuit mixture. It was good, but still needs a bit of tweaking.
Sunday April 11th
Yesterday was my 71st birthday. I was up early remaking my Golden Chocolate Cake, having been “commissioned” by a friend for her daughter’s birthday. The day before that, I made a Mascarpone and Lemon Roulade for my own daughter’s birthday. I adapted my Lemon and Ricotta Swiss Roll. I’m not quite sure what the difference is between a Swiss Roll and a Roulade (probably about £5 in a restaurant). Anyway, I used mascarpone, which is a little thicker and richer than Ricotta. Both cheeses are brilliant “carriers” of flavour and both can be either sweet or savoury.
To decorate the second Golden Chocolate Cake I added gold sprinkles to the bottom part of the cake, having first brushed the area with melted chocolate. I alternated dark and white chocolate stars around the cake, again using brushed on melted chocolate. The topping consists of gold-sprayed dark and white Lindor chocolate balls plus shards that I “made earlier”. I sprayed a couple of acetate sheets with PME Gold lustre, poured on the chocolate, then added some gold sprinkles. All very easy, mainly using shop bought items, but a spectacular result.
It’s been a busy time for cakes and birthdays, but we had a lovely family walk locally on my birthday, with a take away lunch of bacon Cobs (bread rolls if you’re South of Watford) from my favourite cafe – The Fountain Tea Rooms in Bonsall. Later it was a big steak dinner courtesy of my son.
I’m still grappling with the vagaries of sourdough bread. I produce one or two fairly basic loaves each week. They usually taste good, but rarely do they look good. Here’s one that did actually look as good as it tasted. I’d really like to do some of that fancy scoring to make impressive patterns, but haven’t managed it yet.
Another not-quite-successful bake was my Lime Cheesecake Blondies. I’d been given some limes and had just seen a recipe for Cheesecake Brownies, so I thought, “What about Lime Cheesecake Blondies?” I replicated the recipe with a few changes: I swapped the dark chocolate for white, omitted the cocoa powder and added in some lime zest.
It all seemed to be going well, except that the cheesecake mix was very runny. I tried adding some flour, but it made little difference. Anyway, the actual end-product tasted very good anyway, so I renamed them Lime Cream Cheese Blondies.
I don’t often moan, do I? No? Come on, I don’t. But, finally I have to mention a small thing that I find a bit annoying. See, only “a bit” annoying, so this isn’t a rant, I promise. I watch loads of cookery programmes on TV and some of the chefs are very tiresome in the way everything is lovely and wonderful and fantastic. They say things like “here’s our wonderful egg”, “take this marvellous pastry”, “combine with some terrific sauce”, “Use a superb spoon”. I made up the last one, but only to make a point. OK, I’ll get off my high horse now, sorry to be a bore.
3rd April – Easter weekend
I ended March in quite a good way. Encouraged by the lovely warm, sunny weather that we had, I actually did some running. It wasn’t far, it wasn’t fast and it wasn’t all running, but I ran and that means a lot to me. I used to run and race regularly, but when I turned 70 last year I more-or-less stopped.
I think it was as much of a mental issue as a physical one. I allowed myself to think negatively and to give up. Obviously, physical activity is more difficult at my age, but I know now that I can still run. I’ve been out for a few miles quite often recently and have begun to overcome the mental barrier that I inadvertently created. Some of the lessons are: don’t think negatively, don’t give up and don’t assume age stops you from doing things.
Do I hear you saying, “What’s all this got to do with baking?” Not a lot really, except that for the past fifty years my running has been a good way to keep my weight in check, so now I’m running again maybe I can eat a little more of the things that I bake.
Returning to baking, I ended March with a couple of Easter type bakes, namely my Easter Flapjack, most of which was posted to in-laws in Kent. Maybe I’m a bit simplistic, but my thinking is that if I stick some marzipan inside something and a few mini-eggs on top, it becomes an “Easter” bake. It seemed to work OK for my Easter Blondies as well as these lovely flapjacks. If you want to make them non-Easter flapjacks, just swap the mini eggs for other chocolate pieces. I’d keep the marzipan though, it gives so much yummy flavour and adds to the texture too.
I also made a batch of Chocolate Cupcakes. I don’t often make cupcakes, but these looked and tasted very good. My piping skills aren’t all that great, so the mini-eggs helped to hide that shortcoming. Most of them went into our church building for the foodbank team and foodbank clients. I didn’t bother publishing the recipe as there are so many equally good ones readily available.
April began well with two super bakes. No, that’s not quite right, because one of them – my Easter Chocolate Bark – wasn’t baked. All you do is melt chocolate, pour it, maybe swirl in other colours, chuck on some suitable bits and pieces then break it up when it’s cooled and set. Definitely not rocket science, but very tasty. I packaged it up as a present for the 7-year old son of a young lady we know.
Probably my favourite recent bake – yes, an actual bake this time – was another cheesecake. You will have seen the two Simnel Cherry Cheesecakes (small and large versions) that I made last week. (If not, scroll down for a few pictures.)
This version was made for a lovely elderly couple in our church, but the lady is gluten intolerant, so I often bake GF items for them. I made them a GF Simnel Apricot Cheesecake. There’s very little gluten in most cheesecakes anyway, most of it being in the biscuit base. The normal method for the base is to crumble some biscuits, usually digestives, and mix with melted butter, before pressing into the tin. Instead of biscuits, I used a mixture of oat meal, oats and ground almonds. It worked well and tasted even better.
My final bake lacks a complete photo, because I’ve made so many Soda bread loaves and they don’t vary that much in looks, even with red cheese on top as these had. I made two Cheese and Onion Soda Bread loaves very early on Good Friday morning to give as presents to two ladies from church who came later to join my wife and I in the garden for our communion service on Facebook. We sat outside wrapped in blankets with the service showing on a tablet through the open French windows.
Finally, I’d like to wish you a very happy, safe and wonderful Easter. May God bless you.
Sunday March 28th
It was really good to take my finished larger Simnel Cherry Cheesecake into my old school last week as an Easter present for my friends and ex-colleagues. You might remember the smaller practice one that I posted last week, so no big differences here, except the size and a few more balls of marzipan. I’ll definitely make this one again, it was so good and tasty. If, like me, you love marzipan and almonds and cherries this is THE cake for you. Here’s how it looks:
And here are some pictures to show some of the stages of making it:
One other special recent bake was my Easter Blondies, which are a lovely rich, scrumptious treat. I love the combination of flavours and textures in these: pistachios, mini marshmallows, cherries and, of course, lots of white chocolate. This batch is for family “down South”. Hope they get there before I eat them all.
Other recent bakes have included Apricot, Date & Cranberry Flapjacks, Square Easter Egg Cookies and a Coconut & Orange Loaf Cake that was OK, but a bit dry. Maybe it was too much coconut or too long in the oven. Not sure, but worth another try sometime.
I’m still knocking out at least one sourdough loaf a week. Usually they taste excellent with a great open, airy structure. But, I still struggle to create a dough that’s firm enough to slash with a lame or razor blade. I have to virtually pour the final proved dough into my Dutch oven. I’ve tried using less water and a longer overnight prove, but still not sorted it. Will persevere and post progress reports. I’ll not bore everyone now with the same old images of gnarly loaves, even though they do taste good. If you have any ideas for me, I’d love to hear from you.
Sunday 21st March
Here’s what I’ve been baking recently. First of all, the one I’m most excited about – yes, baking does get me excited. It’s my Simnel Cherry Cheesecake. Wow, yes, I’ll say it again, in colour: Simnel Cherry Cheesecake. And it’s not even the main one yet, just a mini version as practice.
The base is made of crushed Amoretti biscuits and flaked almonds, then there’s a layer of marzipan followed by the cherry cheesecake itself. I top it all with a coating of cherry jam and add marzipan balls with a cherry inside. The “proper” one will have 11, for the apostles minus Judas. I only put six on the mini version.
I’m going to make it to take into the school where I worked for many years. It’s an Easter present for my ex-colleagues in the English Faculty. Easter is a great time for baking: tons of chocolate, including eggs; hot cross buns; simnel cakes etcetera.
For me, Easter is a time to rejoice in something far, far greater than any cake. I’d love you to rejoice with me in the resurrection of Jesus. Our Saviour willingly died on a cross to take upon himself the punishment for the sins of us all. Because of His sacrifice we can receive God’s forgiveness, love and acceptance. If a cheesecake is worth a “wow”, how much bigger “WOW” can we say to that?
OK, I know I promised not to preach, let’s just say it’s a declaration that I simply couldn’t keep quiet about. It’s just too wonderful. Back to baking……
Flapjacks are easy, tasty and healthy. Well, two out of three isn’t bad, is it? Maybe I should have said “quick, easy and tasty”. I’ve made two really nice versions recently. First was Blueberry and Orange closely followed by Apricot, Date and Chocolate.
I’ve been doing a few “Speedy bakes”, just things to knock out quickly, without compromising the taste. One was a smaller, simpler version of my Fruity Oatcake. Rather than add the usual colourful fruit topping, I included dried fruit in the mixture instead, and it still tasted really good. Here’s a few pictures of both versions.
My Coconut & Lemon Drizzle Cake was pretty speedy too. I’d made an orange drizzle cake in a loaf tin a few days before and had a lemon and some leftover desiccated coconut, so thought I’d give them a try together and it worked well. I enjoy experimenting, it adds interest to baking.
Finally today, I was especially pleased with my Quick and Crunchy Chocolate Chip Biscuits. I’ve baked quite a few cookies recently, usually with oats in the recipe and almost always they’ve been soft and chewy. Lovely though that is, I wanted to bake some proper biscuits – biscuits with a definite “snap”. And these are very “snappy”. My challenge is for anyone to eat them quietly. Can’t be done.
Early March
Spring is in the air. We have snowdrops and daffodils here in Derbyshire. Until recently it hadn’t rained much, but it’s just chucked it down for two days. We’ve had a few sunny days too. I’m not complaining though. When I was living in Cyprus it was hot and sunny every day for much of the year. I had a year in China too, in Xian. It was bitterly cold during the winter and dustily hot in the summer and not much in between. So, all in all, I appreciate the mild and varied weather here in England. How this relates to baking I’ve no idea, just me rabbiting on. Sorry.
Talking of baking (which I’d better do), I’ve been doing some “chocolatey stuff” recently, mainly chocolate cakes with chocolate decorations. Chocolate is a wonderful ingredient, isn’t it? I wonder how on earth I get so much on the floor, the cupboards, the walls, the fridge and – occasionally – the cake.
First, I’ll tell you about the Double Chocolate Marbled Loaf Cake that I made for friends from church, who live nearby in Wirksworth. It had to be gluten free, but that was easy, I just changed the flour and chucked in a teaspoon of xanthan gum powder.
For the decorations I made chocolate shards using textured sheets. I think they’re acrylic or do I mean acetate? Anyway, they’re plastic sheets with patterns.
Even more decorative was my Golden Chocolate Cake, which I made as a practice for a larger one for a friend’s daughter’s birthday next month. Ironically, I’ll have to bake that one on my own birthday. (April 10th if you want to send a present.) The brief I have is to make a big chocolate cake with lots of gold decorations and some orange flavour somewhere in the cake. No problem. I enjoyed making the practice one; blinging it up was great fun.
This cake I took into my old school for my ex-colleagues and friends in the English faculty. It was a sort of “Welcome Back to School” cake. See below for a few shots of how it happened.
If you’re a regular here you won’t be surprised to hear that I’m still baking bread several times a week: some sourdough, some yeasted, some soda; some to eat at home, some to give away. I’ll not go on about them much more, I’ll just mention a couple. First was a multi-seed soda bread loaf made with a mixture of ordinary flour and dark rye.
Then there was yet another sourdough loaf. I’ve made a discovery with these. There’s a bit of a formula. Really wet dough = an ugly, gnarled loaf = absolutely great taste. That’s fine by me.
Earlier this week I made an excellent Orange Drizzle Tray Bake. It came out lovely and moist with great flavour. My wife took it into Matlock to share with our church food bank packing team. The box came back empty, without even a crumb, so it must have been popular.
Late February 2021
Hooray, we’ll soon be coming out of lockdown. What are you looking forward to doing, I wonder. For me it’ll be eating out, watching rugby – with spectators – meeting family and friends, worshipping with fellow Christians and travelling. Having said all that, I heard on the news yesterday that one of the first “facilities” to be allowed to open will be soft play centres. Mmm, not really my thing!
OK, let’s give you a quick, brief update on what I’ve been baking and some links so you can see, bake and eat for yourself. Bread first this time. I made a Blue Cheese and Pear Rustic Loaf . I called it a “rustic” loaf because it was so unintentionally ugly and gnarled. But the two flavours worked really well together.
One day recently, I needed a speedy cake, because I wanted to bake something for immediate home use, so came up with my Quick Square Victoria Sponge Cake. It’s fairly unremarkable except for two things. First, the buttercream filling is a lovely mixture of rum and chocolate. Second, the cooking method, courtesy of Georgia’s Cakes on You Tube, is great. It’s all mixed in a saucepan. Any recipe that has so little washing up scores well in my books.
My Adaptable Oaty Biscuits recipe is still going strong, although I ought to rename it Adaptable Oaty Cookies, because the two versions I’ve made recently have been lovely and soft, not crispy or crunchy. I made White Chocolate and Apricot ones and also a batch of Apple and Ginger. Two great flavour combinations.
Most recently was my favourite bake for ages. It’s quite stunning and was only intended to be a practice run for a birthday cake I’ve been asked to make for a friend’s daughter’s birthday. But while making it I thought of a few additions and also of someone who’d love to have it. All this stoked my creativity and here we have my Chocolate and Orange Marbled Ring Cake. If you love chocolate and you want to bake a cake in the next week or so, have a go at this one. You won’t be disappointed..
Tuesday 16th Feb.
I’m surprised to find that I have a bit of spare time, might not even bake today, especially as I’ve had a busy few days of baking. I’ll dive straight in and tell you about the most recent items. Following on from my Adaptable oaty biscuits which have been really popular, I made a batch of Chocolate Rum & Raisin Oaty Cookies. First I’d better admit that they’re actually cookies rather than biscuits. It might be a minor point, but I firmly believe that biscuits should snap or crunch. These are lovely and squidgy instead, so they have to be called cookies. OK, pedantic bit over. They came about because my son had some spare rum (a very unusual situation) and asked me to bake something for him (also quite unusual). Here’s what I came up with:
A couple of days before that I made the nearest thing I’ve done to a showstopper for months. My Hazelnut Torte with Mascarpone Cream was rather stunning, even if I say so myself. It was flourless, for a GF friend. Sometimes cakes “grow and develop” as I make them. This one ended up with a full covering of lovely chocolate speckled Mascarpone cream, hazelnut edging and hazelnut brittle shards – none of which were in the original plan, if there was a plan. Anyway, it looked great, and she, plus family, loved it.
Before I move on, I must mention a small piece of equipment that I used on this cake. It’s quite old, my wife had it before we married – over 30 years ago. If it’s still available now, I’d buy one. Here’s our TORTENBODEN-SCHNEIDER cake base slicer.
Another bake that has gone down well recently has been my Apricot, Pistachio and Chocolate Loaf Cake . I made two last week, one for the staff and food bank team at church and another for one of our foodbank clients. Loaf cakes are great for giving away, being quick and convenient to make and transport.
Other bakes, not on my website, have been a classic Steak and Kidney Pie, but I made it with Wholemeal Oregano pastry, Mmmm tasty. Also I had a request for plain flapjack from a not-very-adventurous friend. And, as usual, I’ll finish off with a couple of bread pics. My sourdough baking has its ups and downs, but this one was a little more up than down.
Thursday 11th Feb.
I hope you’re all keeping well and staying safe. I actually had my first vaccination jab a few days ago, in Derby. I was really impressed by the organisation and the smoothness of the proceedings. As expected there was a socially distanced queue, but even that moved quickly and the actual injection was painless and only took a couple of minutes. My next one will be in April. If you’ve not had yours yet and are in any way worried about it, there’s no need to be. It’ll be fine.
I’d better mention that several areas on my site have had little or no attention for ages. The Peak District Tea Rooms and Cafes section is currently quite dormant for obvious reasons. I’ve not added anything to the Books I Like section for a while, but will be soon as I’ve been given a couple of interesting books. Likewise the Products and Equipment section is long overdue a few additions. My only excuse is that I’ve been so busy baking.
When I say “busy”, it is rather tongue-in-cheek. Being retired, I have lots of time, but I do like to fill my days. I start very early in the morning with lots of exercises. During the day I’ll bake, update my site, go for a walk in the lovely Derbyshire countryside, spend some time praying, read a bit, potter around, stuff like that. I feel very fortunate and blessed to be fit and healthy and able to do these things.
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OK, I’d better talk about a few recent bakes. I continued my “Virtual Baking Tour of Europe”. Still in Scandinavia, I moved East from Sweden into Finland and made a Pulla Loaf. It should have been a full circle shape, but the hole closed up and it also came out quite dark due to the egg yolk wash (which I won’t use another time). The taste and texture were pretty good, rather like brioche.
As my son likes biscuits and cookies (yes, they are different) I’ve been churning them out two or three times a week. One popular one has been my Adaptable Oaty Biscuits. They’re excellent, not just because they taste great, but they can be different each bake, without making massive changes. Everyone also loves my Chocy Road Cookies. Don’t you just love the name? I actually thought of the name before I created the cookies.
Not sure why, but several recent bakes have all used almonds. Well, maybe it’s because I like almonds. First was my Double Chocolate Loaf Cake with Almonds. I made two together as I wanted to give one to our church foodbank team and another for one of the foodbank clients. My wife is part of the delivery team, so I let her choose a suitable person on her way round. Having a home baked cake makes people feel special, so it’s nice to do it.
The other related bake was these Honey and Almond Scones that I made for a lovely elderly lady in our church group. They came out really well – light and tasty.
I’ll limit myself to mentioning just one more bread before I close. Every few days I have to feed my sourdough starter, which means discarding about 200ml of perfectly good material. Rather than chuck it in the bin, I always make a loaf. This time I didn’t want to wait for it to prove overnight, so I did a yeasted version and made a Sun-dried Tomato and Basil Loaf. What a great combination of flavours.
Friday 29th Jan.
Simply must tell you straight away about the brilliant bake I finished yesterday. I’ve just posted the recipe. It’s a terrific WHITE CHOCOLATE TORTE. I also included blackberries and ginger in the mixture. Great combination of flavours. Not only that, but I made it gluten free. Have a look here.
Like most of the UK at the moment, it’s turned cold here on the edge of the Peak District, but nice and sunny today, so I went for a walk before baking a Plum and Almond Loaf Cake for our church food bank volunteers. They do a great job, so nice to bless them with a cake.
My Virtual European Bread Baking Tour has been going well. Currently I’m enjoying Scandinavia. First I “visited” Sweden and made Knäckebröd. The name alone was sufficient reason to bake these flatbreads. Actually, they were a bit bland, but interesting. After this I “popped across” to Norway and baked some Grovbrød, which had much more flavour. Today, I’m baking a loaf from Finland, a Pulla; it’s a semi-sweet plaited bread, a bit like brioche.
Meanwhile, here in the real world of Derbyshire, I had a bit of a sourdough flop. In fact a couple of my recent sourdoughs haven’t risen to the occasion, in fact not risen at all. I’m wondering if my starter is finished. The actual Sun-dried Tomato and Basil loaf had great flavour so I enjoyed it anyway. Must have another go soon.
Let’s have a break from baking for a Derbyshire pic. It’s a great county, we love it here, even though I’m a Yorkshireman and my wife’s from Kent.
Scones never let me down, especially savoury cheesy ones like these Cheese and Chive beauties. I’ve made lots of other flavours too; click here for the recipe. They were gluten free too.
As you know, my church runs a foodbank. In recent months our client list has grown massively. Nevertheless, we’ve been blessed to receive an equally massive increase in food donations, often in large amounts from supermarkets and manufacturers. I used to drive our van and help with deliveries, but nowadays I merely bake a cake or two for clients. Last week I made a lovely Amoretti and Poached Pear Cheesecake.
And to keep the foodbank team happy too I sent in a cake for them and other church staff (who work on different days). It was quite an easy light fruit cake, but I made it a bit more special with the fruity decoration.
Time for more Derbyshire pics, I think.
Finally (for now) have a look at my chocolate butter cake. Click here for the recipe.
And one last lone picture, looking down on our village.
Tuesday 12th January 2021
It’s the second week into 2021 and we’re still locked down. The weather’s not that good either, but the baking is going well. More importantly my family, friends and myself are all in good health, praise God. In theory, I should be getting my anti-Covid injection fairly soon. In the meantime here’s a new year mixture of bakes, comments and Derbyshire/Peak District pictures.
I’ll skip over the more basic bakes – biscuits, scones, buns etcetera. Bread has to feature strongly this time, especially as I’ve begun my “European Virtual Bread Tour”.
I began my tour in the Emerald Isle, to be sure, to be sure (sorry, I’ll stop that now.) My very first tour bread was my interpretation of Boxty, a traditional Irish potato bread. I made Garlic Boxty.
At first I wasn’t all that impressed, but after a few slices I realised how lovely it was. It tasted good even though I could have included more garlic. The smooth, soft texture was great.
I’m currently looking at Scandinavian breads in readiness for the next leg of my tour. In the mean time I’ve been busy with a couple of sourdoughs. My Oregano Sourdough was tasty, but I also created something more unusual – Spelt and Fig Semi-Sourdough Bread .
It was a bit of an experiment, but came out well. I made the mistake of gobbling down two thick slices before it had even cooled. It seemed quite heavy and dense. Only when I had a slice the following morning for breakfast did I realise how silly I’d been. It was far nicer then – sweet and chewy without being anywhere near as heavy as I’d first thought. I ought to have known better, hadn’t I?
The only cake I’ve made so far this year was a Cherry and Apricot Cake to send to one of our foodbank families. It was a lovely cake, but I wish now that I’d taken the trouble to get out and buy some mascarpone for the filling and topping. The ricotta that I had in the fridge didn’t really thicken up enough, so it was all a bit runny.
Before I finish today, let me just say that I hope you’re well and that you stay safe. If you’re baking, may it be lovely and tasty. Enjoy. (And if you bake any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you.)
Previously:
I’ve been thinking about the year ahead. Will it be like the last one, I wonder? Let’s hope not, but there’s no need to be maudlin, is there. It’s important to stay positive. I hope that you, like me, are in good health, have been eating well and that no one close to you has suffered during the pandemic.
I can also give thanks for all the baking that I’ve been able to do. I’ve posted a list of my favourite 2020 bakes, but haven’t really got very far with my 2021 baking plans, other than a recent idea. As holidays abroad are currently out of the question, I’ve decided to bake my way round the world, using bread as my means of transport. Here’s my initial list of breads that I’m hoping to bake:
Barley Bannock (Scotland), Savoury Kugelhoff (Alsace), Pugliese (Italy), Sicilian Scroll, Portuguese Corn Bread, Christopsomo (Greece), Pretzels (Germany), Buchty (Poland), Khachapuri (Georgia), Savoury Crown (Denmark), Monkey Bread (USA), Challah and Syrian Onion Bread.
These aren’t arranged geographically or alphabetically or by preference. Simply by the order they appear in an excellent book that I refer to in the Books I Like section (which is long overdue some input – sorry) – “The Complete Book of Bread and Bread Machines” by Christine Ingram & Jennie Shapter. It’s a fantastic book, really comprehensive. If you’re a fellow breadaholic, definitely buy it, if it’s still available.
The only other thing that comes to mind is an Opera Cake, but who can I make it for? I’ll let you know.
New Year’s Day 2021
I’ll be putting on a longer “Welcome to 2021” post later today or tomorrow with a few thoughts and comments about the year ahead and the one just gone.
In the meantime I’d like to say a big thank you and HAPPY NEW YEAR to you wonderful people in the following countries who’ve recently been on my site:
Argentina, Albania, Australia, Bermuda, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, The Falkland Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Slovenia, South Africa, UK, United Arab Emirates and USA.
BOXING DAY (December 26th) 2020
Hi all, I’ve just spent the whole of today doing two things: 1. recovering from the enjoyable excesses of yesterday and 2. Creating a BEST BAKES list, looking back at my favourite bakes during 2020. Great to do it, but not easy. Some tough decisions leaving things out, but here it is. I hope you have a look and maybe even send me a comment. Click on this link.
Previous items
STOP PRESS: Despite what I say below about not publishing the recipe yet, I’ve been persuaded to put it on now rather than wait. So, for the full recipe and lots extra go to: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/cherry-and-almond-christmas-cake/
Saturday 19th December 2020
Less than a week to go! It’ll certainly be an unusual Christmas for us all. My wife and I won’t be travelling down to Kent this Christmas via Northamptonshire visiting family, but at least everyone is well and we’ll spend time with our son and daughter here in lovely Derbyshire. My previous most unusual Christmas was many years ago when I spent a year working in Xian, China. My Christmas dinner consisted of ham and cheese, which I thought was wonderful, having not eaten cheese for months.
As you know, I’m part of a local church that distributes food parcels to needy families in the Matlock area. I used to drive the van and help with deliveries. Now my wife and daughter are more involved than I am, but I still like to bake some extra items to send most weeks.
I won’t go into details, but will say that many of our clients have fallen on hard times through no fault of their own. Many have quite sad, even tragic stories, were they to tell them. Several years ago, when I first got involved I had a tendency to be judgemental, especially when we delivered to families who seemed well off. But that was a wrong attitude and I had to remind myself that I was there to serve not to judge. Even though no longer directly involved, I’ve gotten to know several families quite well. The members of one family that I’ve made a few things for are rather special, so I really wanted to bless them with a home-made Christmas Cake. I delivered it a few days ago. Here’s how it ended up.
I’ve not yet put the recipe on my site. I’m waiting ‘til they cut into it and send me a photo of the actual cake inside. In the meantime, I’ll talk you through the fun bit – decorating it. I covered it fairly traditionally at first with a thick layer of marzipan. Then I wanted to be a bit more creative. I fancied having a dark sky with streaks of colour and dotted with stars – a bit Van Gogh maybe. A couple of years ago I’d used a technique for marbling fondant, where you twist together several colours then fold over the fondant and roll it out. It came out well then don’t you think?
I decided to use mainly black fondant with a mixture of blues and purple. Unfortunately, I didn’t use enough coloured fondant so the colours got a bit lost in the overall blackness. The sky was passable, but not quite what I intended. I used it anyway and added a snowy white fondant foreground.
Next, I wanted some trees, but had no green fondant, so it meant using more food colouring. (I forgot to mention that I’d already had to wash my purple hands, then my blue hands.) I was quite pleased to make the trees, but now wish that I’d taken more time and care over it as they look very “rough and ready”.
I added a few stars and a bright moon then had to think how to add on “Happy Christmas” without the risk of spoiling everything if it went wrong. The answer was to create a separate “banner” and write on that first. I stuck this and the other adornments onto the cake using clear alcohol. Recipe books recommend vodka. We don’t have vodka, but my wife brought back some Icelandic spirit after she went on a trip to see the Northern Lights. It’s absolutely disgusting. (The spirit, I mean, not the Northern Lights, which apparently are rather magnificent.) Anyway, we’re glad to find a use for the horrible stuff. (My apologies to any Icelanders reading this.)
Still on the Christmas theme (no big surprise there, I suppose.) I made a batch of Christmas Pudding Brownies to use up the Christmas pudding that I had left over from making a Christmas Pudding Cheesecake a few days earlier. (Can you catch a slight theme emerging here, or am I just being a boring old whatsit?)
What they lack in neatness they certainly make up for in taste. They came out really well – lovely and gooey. I kept a couple and gave the rest to our refuse collectors. (Or, if you’re my age, “the dust men”.) They’re a decent bunch of chaps so it was good to give them a small edible Christmas gift.
I’d better talk about the cheesecake then, hadn’t I? It was an experiment that worked out brilliantly well, giving a super baked cheesecake. I made it Gluten free to give to a friend from church for her and her family to share. I bake something most weeks for them, partly because they’re so lovely and grateful, but also so good at giving me honest feedback. Here’s the link and pics:
Christmas Pudding Baked Cheesecake
Gluten free baking is often simply a matter of using readily available GF flour with maybe a teaspoon of xanthan gum powder, but for this cheesecake I actually made a batch of GF oat and walnut biscuits to use for the base. They were tasty, crunchy biscuits. Here’s the link if you want to have a look: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/oat-and-walnut-biscuits/
Another of my Christmas favourites to make and give away is chocolate bark. (I always think “bark” is an unfortunate name, conjuring up all manner of bad jokes about barks and bites.) Here are some I made earlier, in 2018 actually.
They’re so, so easy. All you do is line a suitable dish, melt the chocolates, pour in and decorate – but it must to be done quickly. We all know that “Time, tide and melted chocolate wait for no man”. Is that genderist? Will they wait for women? Should I have gone here? – I’d better move rapidly on and show you what I’ve done more recently, step-by-step:
I’ve also been tasked to produce tons of biscotti to post to friends and family. I’ve made several batches all combining at least three of the following: dried cranberries or cherries, dark and/or white chocolate chips, hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios and any other nuts I could find. They’re all very popular, but I’m beginning to go down with BBBO – Biscotti Biscuit Baking Overload.
With all this sweet baking it’s been a relief to bake my regular sourdough loaves every few days. I don’t need a whole loaf so frequently, but I must feed the sourdough starter every 3 or 4 days, which means disposing of at least 200ml each time. I hate throwing it away, so I bake with it most times. The latest was a cheesy one. I grated some cheddar and crumbled in some Stilton. Don’t ask me how much, I just put in a fair chunk of each. (That gives me an idea for a “Casual Baker’s Recipe Book” using phrases like “chuck in a bit of…” and “Stir in some ….” and “mix in as much as you fancy”. So much for baking being a science, huh!
Previously
Not long to go until Christmas and my baking has begun to reflect that with biscotti gift bags, chocolate jig-saw puzzles and spicy buns all featuring. More details of these in a minute.
I don’t normally moan in my blog, do I? It’s not exactly a moan, more of a micky take and grumble. I get irritated by the people who don’t like the word Christmas and try to replace it with phrases like “festival time” or “festive season”. These are OK as terms, but there’s no way these, or any other terms can replace CHRISTMAS. Would you say, “What did Father Festive season bring you?” or would you pull a “festive season cracker” or eat some “festive season pudding.” NO,NO,NO, of course not. OK, I’ve got it out of my system, now back to baking.
First my most recent bake, today in fact: Biscottis to give to my neighbours as an early Christmas present. Link and pic first then I’ll tell you about them.
Biscotti – Two recipes for Christmas
Biscotti are an Italian biscuit that require baking twice to make them lovely and crunchy. The top ones shown above are Dark Chocolate and Ginger with Walnuts on White Chocolate, the lower ones are Orange & Cranberry and White Chocolate Chips with sprinkled Dark Chocolate. I’m so pleased with these, I’ll give you a few more pictures.
One recent Christmas bake that I’m pleased with is my tray bake version of a Christmas cake. I made it especially for my ex-colleagues in the English faculty in the school where I used to work. It’s a great alternative or addition to the normal cakes made for Christmas. Have a look and see:
Christmas Cake Tray Bake
Another bake I did last week as a gift was these Orange and Dark Chocolate Madeleines, for my daughter and partner.
It hasn’t all been sweet baking though. I’ll not go through all the bread I’ve baked since my last posting ‘cos I’m probably becoming (or have become) a bit of a bread bore. I’ll just mention this sort-of-bread bake. I made Savoury Chelsea Buns. The filling was pesto and two cheeses: Red Leicester and Cheddar. I love French and Italian cheeses, but the good old British staples are wonderful too.
OK, it’s time to tell you about the chocolate jig-saw puzzle. It’s an experiment. For several years I’ve made chocolate barks to give as presents to various youngsters. Currently, I’m trying to develop this. Here’s a stage by stage view of the prototype:
As you know, the church that I’m a part of gives out food parcels each week – even during the recent lockdown we were still allowed to do this. I often bake for our clients. I’m actually making one lovely family a Christmas cake. Last week I made the same family a Lemon and Ricotta Swiss Roll.
Lemon and Ricotta Swiss Roll
Finally, I must tell you the story of two brownies, one wonderful, the other quite a bit less than wonderful, but interesting nevertheless. The dodgy one first: I’d made a bacon and maple syrup cake a couple of years ago and it was lovely, so I thought I’d experiment with a maple bacon brownie. Mmmm, not quite right, but you’ve got to push a few boundaries occasionally. It looked a bit messy too.
Let’s move swiftly on and finish with a terrific tasty brownie. My “Biscuit-Based Brownies with Marzipan and Cranberries” were totally moreish. I’ll give the link in the hope that you’ll have a go.
Biscuit Based Brownies with Marzipan and Cranberries
I’ll try to post again once or twice before Christmas, especially as I’ll have more time this year. We normally travel to stay with family “down South”, but not this year. It’ll be a very small gathering at home, like many folk I expect. Anyway, have a lovely, safe, happy CHRISTMAS whether I speak to you again before 2021 or not.
Early December
My recent baking has begun to be Christmas orientated. Apart from macerating the fruit for our Christmas cake, the most relevant bake has been my Christmas scones. I really enjoyed making and decorating these. I even made the marzipan, which was dead easy. Here’s the link and a couple of photos: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/christmas-scones/
Today, I finished a brilliant batch of brownies. I’ll just say big, bold and beautiful then promise no more Bees. I decided to give them a biscuit base (sorry, more Bees slipped in there accidentally.) I also put marzipan and cranberries in them, so sort of Christmassy. Link and photos once again: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/biscuit-based-brownies-with-marzipan-and-cranberries/
Earlier in the month I continued my theme of citrus blondies with these lovely tangy Grapefruit ones: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/grapefruit-blondies/
More recently an elderly lady in our church had her 81st birthday. As she’s diabetic I decided to make her a reduced sugar yogurt cake. It was Orange and Pistachio flavoured. Well received as far as I know. https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/reduced-sugar-yogurt-cake-with-citrus-fruit-and-pistachio-nuts/
I can’t do a blog post without mentioning bread, can I? I’ve made several varieties of lovely loaves, but will confine myself to only mentioning one, my Cheese and Onion Soda bread. It was excellent – tasty, chewy and crunchy on the outside. Mmmm: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/cheese-and-onion-soda-bread/
That’s it for November I think. Will be posting some December stuff in a while. I’m grateful for the recent encouraging comments and a couple of good questions. Please continue keeping in touch, it’s great to receive and answer. Keep safe and well.
Mid-November 2020
It’s been a return to bread, but I’ll not spend ages going on about the wonderful stuff – promise. First, two rye loaves for my wife as she prefers rye. I’ll put a recipe link below. Then there was a couple of sourdough loaves that I had to bake in tins as the dough was so sloppy. Not sure what I did wrong, but the result was good and tasty, so I’m not complaining.
Seeded Rye Bread
I thought you might like to see a few November pictures of my bit of Derbyshire. I’m very fortunate to live here, on the edge of the Peak District.
My most recent bake was my Apricot and Cherry Loaf Cake. It’s very fruity, very tasty and very easy, well worth a go, especially as it’s sort of Christmassy. See what you think:
Here’s the recipe link:
Apricot and Cherry Loaf Cake
I’ll finish today with a couple more local photos. They’re still November shots, but from a couple of years ago when it was a much colder month.
Early November 2020
Well it seems that winter has arrived. It’s midday here in the Peak District. Normally I can see across the Derwent Valley from my study window, but not today. The cold morning mist is still thick and grey.
Just before the latest UK “lock down” period, my wife and I had a few days away together. We went to Skipton on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. I know the area well as I’ve organised many DofE (Duke of Edinburgh’s Award) Gold expeditions in the area.
I had hoped to get in a couple of days hill walking, but the weather was so bad I only managed half a day straight from the hotel. Out hotel did excellent evening meals, but the culinary highlight was a visit to Betty’s Tearoom at Harlow Carr, the RHS Garden near Harrogate. We’ve enjoyed the food and service at Betty’s quite a few times, but I’d never had one of their famous “Fat Rascals”. I actually had a very tasty “Gooey Fat Rascal”.
Most summers – until this year, of course – my wife makes a massive batch of profiteroles as she caters for lots of teenagers at an annual Christian Youth Camp in East Anglia. I normally help her with the choux pastry, but have never “gone solo” and made my own, until recently that is. My son likes chocolate eclairs, so I thought I’d have a go. They came out a bit messy looking, but only lasted a day so must have been “OK”. (He’s not one to lavish wild praise on anyone, least of all his father.)
A more recent bake was my Coconut Crumble Cheesecake. Rather than use the traditional Digestive Biscuit (Graham Cracker) style of base I made a crumbly dough instead. It was so good I put it on top too. For the cheeses, I was feeling experimental (or maybe just mental) and mixed cottage cheese, Ricotta and full fat cream cheese. And, surprise, surprise, it worked out brilliantly – definitely worth the effort. Here’s the link for you to have a go:
Coconut-Crumble Berry Cheesecake
My latest bake – only finished it yesterday – was my Triple Fruit Blondies. Think zingy tasty fruits; think gooey caramelly white chocolate; think combined deliciousness. Check out the recipe:
Triple Fruit Blondies
Not only were they fun to bake and great to eat, I also enjoyed the “Jackson Pollock experience” when I decorated them.
So far this month I’ve not made much bread. However, one is worth mentioning – not because it looked wonderful, because it didn’t. (It tasted good though.) I’d hoped to make a beautiful, long Hazelnut & Almond artisan loaf with clear, confident diagonal slashes on the crusty top. Sadly, it didn’t happen. Instead, I managed a small, gnarled and rather ugly round loaf (It tasted good though.) Renaming it a “Rustic boule” made me feel better. (It tasted good though.)
Late October 2020
I’ve had a fairly quiet week bakewise, which has been quite nice in a way, having a rest. Let’s start with bread though. If you think I’ve gone to seed, you’re not far wrong as these two breads will demonstrate. First was Seeded Rye loaves that I made for my wife. She prefers rye to wheat. A couple of days after this I finished off the bag of mixed seeds when I made a couple of nice crunchy Seeded Soda Bread loaves.
I’ve only made one chocolate bake recently, but what a lovely one: a batch of terrific brownies – Coconut & Almond, a great combination of flavours. Most I gave away as we have several new families with primary school children in our lane. They play nearby, so I’ve been able to provide some after-school treats for them. Find the recipe at: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/coconut-and-almond-brownies/
The bake that I most enjoyed recently was actually quite a challenge, in an unusual way. I baked two virtually identical Plum, Almond & Ricotta cakes, but one had to be gluten free. The cakes themselves were fairly straight-forward, but the logistics of making them simultaneously without “contaminating” the GF bake was very interesting. I’ve explained the method in the recipe, have a look: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/two-plum-almond-ricotta-cakes-one-gluten-free-one-regular/
Mid-October
I’ve just had a very busy baking weekend, mainly making goodies to share after our church meeting on Sunday. I needed at least 50 wrapped items so that no one was left out. The rules require all food and drink to be wrapped and taken round table by table.
Anyway, I made Honeycomb Brownies, Raspberry Rubies and a Coconut, Almond & Plum tray bake. They all went down well. Here’s a bit more about each one.
I made the honeycomb for the brownies. It’s so easy and such good fun. I love it when the bicarb-soda goes in and it all froths up wildly then sets when poured out. I used milk chocolate for its richness and put in chunks of honeycomb then I covered the baked brownies with more chocolate and some finely ground honeycomb. Here’s the recipe link, then photos:
Honeycomb Brownies with Gluten Free option
For the Raspberry Rubies I used ruby chocolate. It’s a relatively new type of chocolate, actually produced from ruby beans. It has a slightly tangy almost citrus edge to it as well as being chocolatey. They were a bit tricky to bake, but came out well in the end.
Raspberry Rubies
The final Sunday bake actually contained no chocolate, but was certainly sweet and tasty. I was tempted to bung in a few white chocolate pieces but didn’t (“Bung in” is an official baking term.)
Coconut, Almond, White Chocolate and Plum Tray Bake
No posting would be complete without some sort of bread appearing. Just one this time though. I was wondering how a gluten free soda bread might turn out. In fact it turned out very well, maybe a little flatter than normal soda breads, but wonderfully tasty. I regularly bake for a lovely couple from church one of whom cannot have gluten, so I gave them one loaf and kept the other. They were cheese and spring onion loaves. Mmmm lovely.
Early October
Whoops – been so busy, mainly baking, that I’ve left my blog in limbo. Sorry, I’ll get right on it now. First thing to note is that I’ve not put the date, then I won’t feel as bad when I fall behind again. Did I say “when”? I meant “if”.
Bread remains one of my regular bakes, but I rarely bake exactly the same type, I love a bit of variety, don’t you? Here’s a couple of wholemeal sourdough cobs. Don’t they look just great? I’ve realised that a dusting of flour helps when I make cuts on the top surface. It’s also helpful to pull the skin of the dough as taught as possible, by dragging it under itself with the palm of my hands.
Still with the idea of variety, here’s some very different bread from earlier in October: Cream Cheese and Chive loaves. They were wonderfully light and fluffy. I think the cream cheese helped achieve that. Here’s the link:
Cream Cheese and Chive Bread – Updated version
For a quick, tasty (and fairly healthy) tray bake my fruit layered flapjacks are hard to beat. I’m still working my way through the 24 jars of plums I was given, so these are plum flapjacks, but you could use lots of other fruits. Link and photos:
Layered Plum Flapjack
I had a request for ginger cake, but wanted to be a little bit different so I made two Chocolate Ginger Cakes. Both were for friends who are gluten intolerant. On one, I took a risk and experimented by making a chilli chocolate ganache topping. I thought it was too hot, but they were happy with it, so maybe it’s worth doing again.
Chocolate Ginger Cake
My latest bake was yet another version of my popular berry tray bake. This one included cocoa powder and white chocolate. I made one batch adding raspberries and another batch adding blueberries. Both were great – tasty, fruity, chocolatey and moistly. What more could anyone ask? I actually made them to take to our church meeting (which is currently limited to 50 people for Covid safety reasons.) I had to wrap each piece separately, also for safety reasons. What a faff, but worth the effort.
Dark Chocolate Tray Bake with White Chocolate and Berries
Friday 25th September
I’m probably quite a softy now I’m a bit more “senior”, ‘cos I’m certainly feeling the chill each morning this Autumn. (But I do love this time of year, so not complaining.) Part of the reason I feel the cold must be my weight. Over the last few years I’ve gone down to around eight and a half stone. With all the baking that I do, people ask how I manage not to be overweight.
Two reasons: First, I don’t eat a lot of what I bake, I try to give most of it away, or I have a small amount. Second, I exercise like crazy. I don’t run the 40+ miles each week like I used to when younger, but I do a range of other exercises, usually for quite a while – 5 or 6 hours most days.
Well, that was a bit more personal than I usually post, so I’d better talk baking now. I’ve made several lovely sweet bakes recently, but I still enjoy bread so let’s go there first. This week I made a “Double Cheese Sourdough” and a “Wholemeal loaf with Polenta”. I put the pictures above so that you’d have something to look at in case you got bored with the autobiographical stuff. I’ve not posted the recipes, but let me know if you’d like them.
Three recent “sweet things”stand out:
First is my Lemon Millionaire’s Shortbread (following on from the lovely recent Strawberry ones) Here’s the link, followed by a couple of photos:
Lemon Millionaire’s Shortbread
Second is my Banana and Lemon Cheesecake – there’s quite a story behind this one; it’s with the recipe. Have a look:
Banana & Lemon Semi-baked Cheesecake
Finally, my Coconut & Cherry Brownies, which were fantastic. As with some of the others I’ve included a few “while baking” photos in the recipe: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/coconut-and-cherry-brownies/
That’s all for this week. I’d love to hear any of your comments (be kind though). Very best wishes and Happy Baking to everyone. Ian
Friday 18th September
As I’m trying to be more regular in my blog posting, I’ll just mention a couple of recent “more special” bakes, even though I’ve been doing lots of others, including: blackberry and apple scones, marmalade brownies and various breads.
The star of the week was my Blueberry and White Chocolate Bundt cake, made for the foodbank family that I send a cake to most Thursdays. As it was the first time I’d made this cake, I was keen to know how it would turn out. Luckily, I had some batter spare so when it was time for the main cake to go in the oven I quickly buttered a small cake tin and dolloped in the spare mixture. It tasted excellent. Here’s the link, followed by a few pictures: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/blueberry-and-white-chocolate-bundt-cake/
I dribbled alternate “rivulets” of white chocolate ganache and home made blueberry jam. It was OK, but a bit rough and ready. I should have piped the ganache.
This morning I wanted to make soda bread, but not plain soda bread, I wanted added flavour. Looking in the fridge, I discovered some cheddar that had seen better days and a spare lemon. (We do have other stuff in there, not just mouldy cheese and one lemon.)
Cheese and lemon isn’t an obvious combination for bread, but what the heck, I thought. Anyway, it worked. The bread was lovely and cheesy, but with a subtle citrus tang. And all done in under 45 minutes. Here’s how it looked:
September 13th
“Welcome to Autumn”, albeit a bit late to say so. It’s probably my favourite time of year. Chilly mornings but warm days (too warm at the moment); leaves changing colour; misty horizons… I love it and often thank God for seasons. (I must admit, I thank Him a bit less on cold, dark winter mornings, but we have to take the rough with the smooth.)
Anyway a bit less waffling and I’ll talk baking. I’ve actually been quite excited by my recent bakes. (I’m not a very excitable person, you realise.)
I’ll start with a recent bake, my Chocolate and Orange Cheesecake. I’m probably repeating myself here, but I do love a good baked cheesecake. This one I put together for one of our church’s food bank clients. It had a chocolate biscuit base layer, then some orange segments then a lovely thick “cheesecaky” layer, all topped with more orange pieces and grated chocolate.
Here are a few pics and a link to the recipe. If you love cheesecakes, please, please try this one. https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/chocolate-and-orange-cheesecake/
Another bake that excited me (I’m really out of character here.) was my Strawberry Millionaire’s Shortbread. I like to adapt recipes, especially classics like this one.
I added freeze dried strawberries to the base and also used them on the topping. But the best part was the mid-layer of caramel and strawberry jam. Mmmmm. Link and photos again: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/strawberry-millionaires-shortbread/
Right , it’s time to calm me down a bit, not that it will be easy with all the lovely bakes I want to tell you about.
Last week I actually went back into school for a meeting to discuss the future of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme there. I ran it for many years and helped as a freelance adviser after my retirement, but Covid 19 has derailed it.
As previously, I took a cake in to share with my ex-colleagues. I made them a Plum, Almond and Ricotta Cake, which went down (literally) very well. https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/plum-almond-and-ricotta-cake/
I’ll do a clever link now and mention my scrumptious Plum and White Chocolate Tray bake, which was yet another lovely version of the double Berry tray bake that I’ve harped on about quite a lot.
Did you spot the connection? Yes, it was “plums”. There was a surplus after our last food bank day, so my wife brought home 24 jars. I’m gradually baking my way through them.
Tray bakes are a great way of baking for a group, especially a group of workers or active people who need to “grab and go” or “grab, munch and go”. My Coconut, Pear and White Chocolate Flapjack Sandwich certainly fulfilled that role. (I really must work on shortening my titles.) https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/coconut-pear-and-white-chocolate-flapjack-sandwich/
I can’t complete a blog post without mentioning bread. I’ve made a few sourdough and semi-sourdough loaves, all of which have tasted great, but I’ve been more adventurous with my soda breads. Most have been on a Mediterranean theme. They’re so tasty, so quick and so easy. (The hardest bit has been spelling the word “Mediterranean”.
I’ll just mention two. First was a Chorizo, Sun-Dried Tomato & Pesto version. https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/chorizo-sun-dried-tomato-and-pesto-soda-bread/
More recently I made one I actually called Mediterranean Soda Bread (I’d learnt to spell it by then.) It’s flavoured with SDT again + black olives and lots of basil. https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/mediterranean-soda-bread/
There were quite a few other bakes, but by now you probably want to get in the kitchen and start baking, so I’ll let you get on. Have a great rest of the day. Happy baking.
Sunday 30th August
Surprise, surprise. A second posting here in two days. Unexpected, or what? It’s just a quick one to let you know about something new I’ve been doing. No, not exactly new, I’ve returned to a couple of related topics that I began then left dormant for some time: cafes and walks.
I’ve been visiting (and eating at) cafes in the White Peak/Derbyshire Dales area, usually as part of a longish walk. The intention is to publish a series of cafe walks. I’m still writing the walk details. They need to be clear and easy to use. In the mean time I’ve posted several cafe reviews. They work well as “stand alone” pages. Here’s the link to the home page for them: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/eating-out/
Fri. 28th August
It must be summer still – it hasn’t stopped raining here in Derbyshire for the past four days. On a more positive note, it means I can bake without the sunshine beaming down into the kitchen from our two Velux windows, which is always a pain in the rear.
Here’s a quickish run down of what I’ve been baking recently with a few comments. I told you about the Double Berry Tray Bake in my last post. They’re still going strong. The latest incarnation was blackberry and raspberry flavour.
Apart from those, I’ve not used a of of fruit recently, but chocolate has featured massively. (No one has complained.) I’ve finally perfected my Double Chocolate Tart. I love it when a recipe evolves. The main problem, you might recall, was that the filling was too runny. As I thought, I’d used too much butter. Here’s how the most recent version looks and here’s the link: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/double-chocolate-tart/
Keeping with chocolate, I made some lovely scones to give away. These are Chocolate, Orange and Hazelnut flavour. What a great combination. As before here’s the link and photos: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/chocolate-orange-and-hazelnut-scones/
Did you know that there’s an International Baking Week on 14th – 20th October? It’s also Chocolate Week in the UK. So, we can look forward to a week of chocolate pies, eclairs, cakes, gateaux and suchlike.
Before that we have Sourdough September. The same month also has National Fish & Chip Day on the 4th, followed by National Bacon Day on the 5th. Ironically, later that month, we can celebrate National Healthy Eating Week. BUT I’ve only discovered vague mentions of a SCONE DAY. That’s definitely something we ought to have, don’t you think?
OK I’ve got down from my soap box. Just time for a quick bread feature. I’ve become a little disenchanted with sour dough. I’m still feeding my starter, but I suppose all the time and fuss to make a loaf stretches my patience a bit. Here’s what I did recently. Rather than throw away the excess starter I added a very small amount of yeast to it plus sugar then the normal flour, salt and water components of a loaf. I suppose you could call it a “Semi-sourdough” loaf. I baked it in my casserole dish, like a Dutch oven, and it turned out great – very artisan. Have a look:
The key ingredient this week has been peanut butter. I had a small jar of smooth and here’s what I used it in. First was a batch of Chocolate Peanut Butter “Shortjacks”: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/peanut-butter-chocolate-shortjacks/ They were wonderfully scrumptious.
Finally, I made a Peanut Butter and Cherry Baked Cheesecake. (I love cheesecakes, especially baked ones) Had a problem though – couldn’t buy any Ricotta, but managed without and discovered a new way to make a cheesecake filling. Read all about it here:
https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/?s=Peanut+butter+and+cherry+cheesecake
I hope these ideas have encouraged or inspired you to bake. Until next time, be safe and “Happy Baking” to you all.
Wed 18th August
Hey, I’m getting faster at posting news. Yes, I know, there’s still room for improvement. Anyway, let’s start with some of the bakes that have gone well recently. I’ve made a couple of really easy, but lovely, light and moist muffin tray bakes, both were for our church food bank team to share and enjoy while packing boxes and bags of food to take to “clients” in our community.
It’s based on a recipe by James Martin, who’s my current favourite TV Cook (mainly because he’s the one who annoys me least, but that’s another story.) Last week I adapted one of his recipes and made a Raspberry and Blueberry version that I called Double Berry Tray Bake. Here’s the link: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/double-berry-tray-bake/ This week I swapped the filling for Apricot and Strawberry. It’s equally light and lovely.
Another success was my Onion and Peppers Tart, which I made with a gluten free Polenta pastry, as it was for a friend who can’t have gluten in her diet. The pastry was a right faff to work with, but turned out great, being firm, but still crumbly and light; it tasted great too. The filling was also terrific: onions, three colours of bell peppers and two cheeses on top: Cheddar & Red Leicester. Mmmm! I’ve not put it on the website, but if you want the recipe, get in touch.
Now for the less successful bakes. Or shall I call it an ongoing discovery project? I’ve been trying to perfect a double chocolate tart with a dark chocolate pastry case and a white chocolate filling. (Sounds like a worthwhile project, doesn’t it?)
I’ve made it a couple of times so far and it tasted great each time, mega-rich and gooey. Well, when I say “gooey”, I really ought to say “runny”. I think I’ve been putting too much butter into the filling mixture. The main contents are butter, sugar, egg yolk and white chocolate. Not yet worked out the best proportions. Both versions have been terrific until cut, then it’s a bit biblical, as in “my tart runneth over”. By my next post I’ll probably have sorted it. Stay tuned to see. Until then, have a great week and take care.
Mon 10th August
We’re well into August and I’ve been baking nearly every day since my last blog post. It’s been enjoyable, but busy and with tons washing up. But who’s complaining? I think I’d better just give you the highlights. Hope that’s OK.
First, two lovely cakes. As I’ve not been able to go into school with cakes for my ex colleagues I’ve not made as many cakes, so it was good to bake a couple. First was a Crumble-Topped Pear and Almond Cake for our church food bank. I like crumbly toppings. Not only do they taste good with a great texture, they can hide a dodgy top layer really well too.
Later in July we had some old friends visit from Liverpool. They fancied a B&B break here in the Peak District. I made them a rich, decadent Chocolate & Banana Crumble Cake (went for the crumble again.) Both are on the site, here’re the links and photos. Have a look (Have a bake):
Tray bakes always go down well with friends and family and they’re so easy to make. I’m quite a fan of the Irish baker, Rachel Allen. Her Peanut Butter Blondie recipe is especially good. It was another food bank bake.
More recently, I experimented and made what I’m calling my Billionaire’s Almond Tray Bake. It was absolutely scrumptious. I’ve not perfected the recipe yet; still working on making the caramel layer a bit more stable. But it’s still worth having a go making it, if only for the sheer decadent yumminess.
As you probably know, bread is one of my “must haves”. I don’t even want to imagine how I’d feel on the Atkinson “Low carb” diet. I’ll restrict myself to mentioning just two recent bread bakes – well, actually it’ll be three, because I baked two very different breads on the same day. One was White sourdough, which needed an overnight prove and took quite a while the next day. Well worth it though. The other loaf that day took 47 minutes. Yes, I timed it. Soda bread is fantastic. Fast and tasty, it has a very different, almost cake-like texture.
The third loaf was actually a pair, one for a friend from church one for us at home. It was a yeasted wholemeal bread, which I topped with caramelised onions and Red Leicester cheese – a wonderfully flavourful combination. Here’s the link: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/red-cheese-and-red-onion-wholemeal-loaves/
I’ve also been making a few tarts of late. One was gluten free for a friend. It was a bit of an experimental “bung it in and see” affair for the filling, but the recipient was very happy with it, so OK. I’ve not put it on my site, mainly because I’m still not totally sure what went into it. It’s called an Apricot Ricotta tart, so that’s two ingredients at least.
The next tart was also an experiment in creating an unlikely flavour combination. My Apple and White Chocolate tart was very tasty. And it definitely deserves a place on the website:
https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/apple-and-white-chocolate-tart/
Well, that’s all for now. Please contact me with any questions or comments. And I promise to be a bit more regular in updating these ramblings. Happy baking and stay safe.
Friday 24th July
I’ve been so busy baking that I’ve left my blog untouched for a while – sorry. Anyway, here’s what’s been going on in the baking Mecca of Derbyshire. First, my son Matt rarely eats whatever I bake, except for biscuits and cookies, which he devours by the handful, usually after a hard day at work. So, I’ve baked quite a few for him. Slight problem though – he doesn’t like nuts and – this is the really odd bit – he’s not bothered about chocolate. (He is normal, honestly. In fact he’s great, but to put it kindly, rather “selective” in what he eats.)
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve made these for him: Oaty Apricot Cookies, Fruity Oat Cookies, Jammy Sandwich Biscuits and a large batch of White Chocolate & Custard Biscuits.
Keeping to simple bakes, I’ve made quite a few tray bakes. They’re easy and great for giving away, which I do a lot. The first two here are intentionally very similar. Both are triple layered with a tasty flapjack top layer. They both have a jam middle layer, one has white chocolate too (Mmmm). One has a shortbread base, the other a crushed biscuit base. Both were very tasty. A couple of days ago I also made a batch of peanut butter blondies, which were equally lovely.
My recent bread making seems to have fallen into two very contrasting categories: speedy soda breads and slow, slow sourdough.
I love both styles of bread. Sourdough baking is especially satisfying and it always tastes so good. My “starter” culture is still going strong and I’m getting the hang of the whole sourdough process. My ongoing difficulty is getting the dough out of the banneton smoothly after the second prove. I’ve been liberally dusting the inside with semolina flour and rice flour, which has helped the release, but not totally eradicated the problem.
My recent sourdough loaves include: Spelt, Seeded white and a semi-wholemeal. All had a really good taste and a great texture.
While the sourdoughs benefit from an overnight first prove followed by a 2 – 3 hour second prove, a soda bread loaf can be baked and ready to eat in about 40 minutes or less. The two savoury ones shown below were very tasty. I also baked a couple of chocolate Soda bread loaves to give away. Both recipients liked them, but both thought the bread was more like a cake.
Take a look at this page for more about bread and some great recipes: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/my-bakes/bread/
Finally, I must mention my only cake recently – a Crumble-topped Pear and Almond Cake. Like many of my bakes it was to give away. This one went into our church building in Matlock to be shared by staff and any visitors. Still waiting to hear how it went down. The small “sliver” (yes, honestly, a mere sliver) that I had was very moist and very tasty.
Fri. 10th July
Since my last post I’ve added a significant baking skill to my repertoire, or maybe I should say “method”. I’ve finally made a sourdough loaf. It took about a week to get the “starter” active. I used Greek yogurt , flour and water initially then added more flour and water in various amounts for several days.
I had doubts about whether or not it was actually fermented, but one taste told me it was fine. I feel a bit silly now when I say how surprised I was by the distinctly sour taste.
The dough hardly seemed to have risen after the first prove, but apparently that’s not unusual. I’ll also knead the next one for much longer. Another issue I’ll be working on is how to get it out of the banneton easily after the second prove. Even with lots of flour in there it still stuck and dragged when tipped out.
Using a lidded cast iron casserole dish, like a Dutch oven, is certainly a good idea. It creates its own steamy interior and the loaf’s crust was super.
Two other recent bakes worth a mention are my “Toffee Apple & Raisin Tart” that I made for neighbours, and my “Strawberry Cheesecake Brownies” that I took to share with other members of our church food bank delivery team yesterday.
The tart shouldn’t have had raisins, but when I discovered that I’d misjudged the amount of apple needed I bunged them in to pad out the filling. They probably enhanced the taste and texture, so it was another one of my lucky mistakes.
I made almond pastry. It was gorgeous – crisp, sweet and nicely crumbly – but not easy to work with. It broke into at least a dozen soft pieces trying to get it into the tin. I’ve learnt to simply press it into and around the tin gently instead.
The end result was a wonderfully rich, gooey and tasty tart with great pastry. Mmmm. Next time though, I’ll use a loose bottomed tin. It was impossible to get this one out in one piece. That’s why the slice shown here is so short and messy. (Excuses, excuses)
I was especially pleased with the brownie. I’ve seen quite a few cheesecake brownie recipes, but wanted to create something a bit different. I had strawberries from the garden, but thought they’d add too much moisture, so decided to use strawberry jam.
The result was excellent. When you bite into a piece you first get the rich dark chocolate sensation, which is great. Then there’s the slightly tangy sweetness of the cheesecake followed by the strawberry jam taste. It’s a wonderful 1 – 2 – 3 hits of flavour.
Sat. 4th July
First, Happy Independence Day to any U.S. readers out there. I hope you have a great day despite the restrictions.
If, as the saying goes, we learn from our mistakes, then I should have learnt a lot this month (and it’s only Day 4). To be fair on myself the main issue has been my “memory”. I forgot something very basic – twice.
The first time was when I made these lovely brownies. They’re cherry and coffee flavoured, which is a great combination. I made them having seen Jamie Oliver make superfast brownies in one of his 30 minute meal programmes. (The series and book are excellent.) My recipe included white chocolate chips and quartered cherries, both of which I should have tossed in flour or cocoa powder to stop them sinking, but didn’t.
Luckily I could simply invert the finished bake and pretend it was all part of the master plan. They still tasted fantastic. Have a look, or have a bake, and see:
I was equally remiss when I made a couple of loaf cakes for friends. At home we had some soft bananas and spare blueberries so the flavour choice was obvious. Again, I was able to rescue this one, but by luck not skill on my part.
The blueberries, which definitely needed to be coated in flour, all sank to the bottom during baking. But, don’t they look good down there? What a lovely purple layer. Quick – change the name – call it a layered cake. Good idea. What do you think? Did I get away with it?
The final “mistake” was actually more of an experiment that almost worked out, but not quite.
As you probably know I love soda bread and have made lots of lovely flavoured loaves as well as plain. Yesterday, I fancied simple soda bread rolls, but not just normal free-form ones, which I did some time ago. I wanted to try baking them in a Yorkshire Pudding tray (or muffin tray). I used my basic recipe, got everything ready, then made what is referred to as a “shaggy” dough. All good so far.
I divided the dough into twelve fairly equal pieces, did some rough shaping and etched the traditional cross into each one, using my very handy plastic scraper, which I dipped in flour each time. All still looking good.
The timing of the bake was a bit “hit and miss” and I’m sure I ended up over baking them. Well, actually the crust was hard, but the interior – the crumb – may have been under baked. With small bakes there’s a lot less leeway than with a big loaf. Let’s just say they were “well done” – maybe “too well” done. I put them back in the oven to make sure they got “done” on the inside, so the crust ended up very….. what’s the nicest word? ….. “crunchy”. Yes, they’re certainly crunchy.
If I make these again, I think I’ll have the oven high for the first few minutes then lower the temperature by 20 – 30 degrees to bake the interior more slowly. What do you think? Has anyone got any advice to offer?
Tues. 30th June
June is almost over and it’s been an odd month for weather here in Derbyshire: hot sunny days earlier in the month and now it’s almost autumnal. We’re gradually coming out of “lockdown”. I’ve been happy to stay at home but have enjoyed regular walks, runs and shopping forays. I hope you’ve coped as well.
Looking back over the month I can see a few themes to my baking. I’ve averaged almost a bake each day, despite not baking every single day. Most of my baking is to give away to various friends, neighbours and members of my church – Church In The Peak, Matlock. My wife and I lead a small group that normally meets on Thursday evenings. That isn’t possible these days, so I visit most of them each week and like to take along something I’ve baked, as a present. That’s probably why a lot of my baking has been soda bread and tray bakes.
With that in mind, I’ll briefly recap what I see as some June baking highlights, starting with my favourite soda bread. I made two “Roasted Red Pepper, Pine Nut & Basil” loaves – one to give away, one to eat. Great flavour and the pine nuts added a crunchyness that was excellent.
I can’t really pick a favourite tray bake, because there were quite a few that I was especially pleased with. Having said that, several of my neighbours declared that the “Cherry and Almond Brownies” were the best brownies they’d ever had. Who am I to argue?
Equally lovely were my Chocolate Topped Peanut Butter Caramel Bars (I must work on shortening the names of my bakes). Not all my tray bakes contained chocolate, believe it or not. I made a batch of Crumble Topped Date and Apricot Squares which were wonderfully gooey and tasty. Then, for something more tangy, there was the Lemon and Lime Ginger Slices that really hit the spot for citrus lovers. Here’s a few photos:
I hope you have a go at baking some of these. If you do – great – I’d love to hear about it, so please contact me and share your opinion (be nice about it.) Happy baking everyone.
Wed. 24th June
Hi again fellow bakers, I’ve had a mega busy few days, but have also managed tons of baking. (I hope my creations weren’t that heavy) I’ll just concentrate today on the past few days then, when I get a chance, I’ll look back and summarise the past few weeks. Hope that’s OK with you.
I love baking for others: neighbours, workmates, family, friends and even our postman, Nigel. It’s so much more purposeful and enjoyable, and it’s great to bless people.
Several of my friends can’t have anything containing gluten, so a few days ago I adapted a recipe and made a lovely gluten free Bara Brith, which is a traditional Welsh tea bread that’s crammed with dried and fresh fruit. Sometimes it’s easy to turn a recipe into a GF one; it was here. All I did was use Doves Farm “Freee” self-raising flour and a teaspoon of xanthan gum powder. I made a few other “tweeks” to Paul Hollywood’s original recipe. One “tweek” I’m really pleased about was the addition of black treacle.
Another Paul Hollywood recipe I fancied doing was his Stout Soda Bread. That’s “Stout” as in beer; it wasn’t tubby soda bread. I’ve always made soda bread freeform, so baking this in a tin was interesting. I had an “issue” though. PH’s recipe never mentioned slashing the top of the loaf prior to baking, so I didn’t. Mistake! It burst on the side – not too badly, but still a bit disappointing. Tasted OK though.
Much more successful was my Strawberry Layered Flapjacks. I made some very slight changes to a “Co-op” recipe. It was moist and tasty and just generally excellent.
Yesterday I baked a kid-friendly chocolate cake (Just realised what a silly expression that is. How can any chocolate cake be kid unfriendly?) It was for two neighbours’ children and grandchildren. I also made another Bara Brith for the grandfather.
Need a rest today, so no baking …. until tomorrow. I’ve had a request for cheese scones and a Turron bar (whatever that is. I’d better do some research).
Monday 1st June
Suddenly it’s June, but hasn’t May been mega hot and sunny? Regardless of the heat I’ve been baking loads – so much in fact that I’ve neglected my blog, so will try to catch up now.
Back on the 19th I finally managed to give some blondies to our postman, Nigel. He’s such a good bloke and has worked throughout the lockdown period. I know he likes coffee and chocolate so made him a batch of Coffee & Walnut Blondies. https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/?s=coffee+and+walnut His verdict was “fantastic”. I’m happy with that.
The next day I baked for our church food bank: a Chocolate & Strawberry marbled loaf cake. https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/chocolate-and-strawberry-marbled-loaf-cake/ If I need a quick, easy bake then I usually go for a loaf cake of some type. This one is very tasty and very colourful; it worked well. Then I noticed we had an empty biscuit jar, so another quick bake: Oaty Choc Chip biscuits. https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/?s=Oaty+biscuits Originally they were classed as cookies, but they had such a great crunch that I’m calling them biscuits instead.
At the weekend I had a bit of a baking muck up. I made two loaf cakes using the same basic recipe with some variations. Unfortunately, they turned out rather dry. I think the bake was OK, but something distracted me and I left them in the tins for well over an hour before turning them out. They must have continued baking with the residual heat. So there’s the lesson – stay focused. One good thing came out of it though. I made a sort of ganache for one cake, combining peanut butter and melted chocolate. Mmm, wonderfully tasty. I’ll be using that again.
The following day was better. My Cheese & Spring Onion soda bread was lovely. Not only lovely, but quick and easy too. I love soda bread. I also love adapting my basic recipe by adding different savoury items. That’s why I haven’t put this recipe on my site as a separate entity. It’s just the basic plus about 100g cheddar and 40g spring onion. Give it a try and experiment.
See https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/my-bakes/bread/ for similar soda bread recipes
During the next week I made a gluten-free Carrot Cake for a friend. It looked good and she said it tasted good, so I’ll call that a win. The next day was interesting. Our lane is fairly quiet in terms of traffic as it dead-ends at fields, but with the schools being closed quite a few local kids have been out playing in the good weather – just like when I was their age (a long time ago).
I asked a couple of them if they’d like me to bake something for them. Almost immediately they asked for “one of those funny shaped chocolate cakes”. They’d seen a Bundt cake on my website. Next they asked for caramel in “the grooves”. But, it had to be red caramel. I said OK and disappeared quickly before it got any more complicated. A couple of days later they had their cake. Apparently it didn’t last very long.
The same week I made some Creamy-Oats & Chocolate Chip muffins for another friend who is also gluten intolerant. https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/?s=creamy+oats+and+chocolate+chip+muffins
I’ve discovered that quite a few recipes can be made gluten free simply by changing the flour and adding half a teaspoon of xanthan gum powder. It’s not always successful and so far I’ve not been able to work out the criteria for success. If you know, please tell me.
I rounded the month off with some super scones – Parsley & Cheddar flavour. Some I gave away, some we kept. I’d hate to live in a world without cheese. What a thought.
Friday 22nd May 2020
I’m still enjoying bread making and blondies. It’s not good to get stuck in a rut, however pleasant that rut is, so I also made a couple of other things this week.
My camera has been causing problems, so excuse the photos. That’s no excuse for the rather embarrassing image above of the two rolls. Having said that, the rolls themselves were excellent – Soft white milky bread with Cheddar and Jalapeno peppers – bread with attitude. Here’s the link: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/soft-white-rolls-with-cheddar-jalapenos/
The blondies were a gift for our postman, who’s a good bloke and has worked all through the lockdown period. They’re Coffee and Walnut – a classic flavour combination. They’re wonderfully rich and tasty. Give them a try: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/coffee-and-walnut-blondies/
I also made a batch of biscuits. I’m calling them biscuits rather than cookies because even though they’re wonderfully thick they’re still crisp and crunchy, exactly as I’d hoped. I’m not sure if this is official, but I tend to think of cookies as soft, while anything crunchy is a biscuit. Who knows? https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/chocolate-oaty-biscuits-with-chocolate-drops/ As you’ll see on the site, they began life as a dark chocolate oaty biscuits, but these new ones are even nicer. See what you think.
Finally, I made a Chocolate and Strawberry Marbled Loaf Cake. I made it to give to one of my church’s food bank recipients. I’ve no idea who got it; hopefully they’ll enjoy it. https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/chocolate-and-strawberry-marbled-loaf-cake/
Saturday 16th May 2020
I’ve been baking regularly recently – really enjoyable. Looking back though it seems I’ve made mainly soda bread and brownies or blondies, not that I’m complaining. Both soda breads were extra savoury and extra tasty. First was my Herby Soda bread, the other was Sun dried Tomato & Basil. Great with soup.
https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/two-savoury-soda-breads/
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Last Saturday, my son, who rarely eats whatever I bake (bless him), actually asked me to bake some Naan bread as was making a curry. I’d never made any before, but could hardly refuse, so I found a recipe in my trusty Paul Hollywood 100 Great Breads book. Surprisingly, it didn’t work. There was no mention of kneading being required, but after two hours of inaction, I decided do some kneading and managed to rescue it. Also, I had to guess the time in the pan. The end result was passable for a first time. Actually, better than that – Matt, my son – said it was “a’right”. High praise from him. Here’s my Paprika Naan:
Now for the tray bakes. I’ve made blondies a few times and always been a little disappointed that they never had the same wonderful “squidgyness” of brownies. My Coffee Blondies were a bit like that. Great taste, but rather cake like at first. So I changed the name and called them Coffee Blondie Cake Squares – always worth a try, that one. My second attempt was much better. Have a look: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/coffee-orange-blondies/
I changed the recipe for my next attempt and my Orange & Blueberry Blondies were wonderfully moist, squidgy and rich; really pleased with them – a great success. Equally good were the more recent Fudgy Brownies.
When you consider what goes into these tray bakes – chocolate, butter, chocolate, eggs, chocolate (I’m sure you get the message) – it’s hard to go wrong. One vitally important tip is to take them out of the oven early enough. It’s always a risk, but go for it. Then put them in the fridge to firm up.
https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/orange-and-blueberry-blondies/
https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/fudgy-brownies/
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Friday 8th May 2020
We’re well into May and still in “Lockdown” mode. I hope this blog finds all of you healthy and not too bored. I think I’m baking more these days, certainly more bread – with or without yeast. Yesterday, I made four Stilton & Chive Mini-loaves. (To be honest, I’d planned to make rolls, but something went a bit awry and I had four rather than twelve lumps of dough. Maths never was my strong point.)
Earlier this week I made three Cream Cheese and Chive loaves. These, like the soda bread were really tasty with a great texture. Chives featured in both bakes, mainly because I like them, but they’re also so easy to use in a dough. I made a good old plain soda bread loaf too, just a quick one for a friend. If you intend making soda bread, maybe for the first time, one piece of advice I’d give is to think “rough and ready and quick”. To its credit, soda bread needs no finesse. Add the wet to the dry, give a few squeezes, drop it out of the bowl, roughly shape it, cut a cross on top and bung it in the oven. Simple and beautiful, beautifully simple.
Another bread-like bake was my Rye & Wholemeal Apricot English Muffins. I’ve recently “gotten into” making English muffins, they’re terrific. These came out brilliantly – it’s great when an experiment works out well. You can find them on: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/rye-wholemeal-apricot-english-muffins/
Other recent bakes have been my Coffee & Orange Blondie Cake Squares. These were an interesting experiment that went OK, but still needs some tweeking. I discovered that coffee granules added to melted chocolate don’t dissolve into the chocolate as I’d intended, however, the non-dissolved bits of coffee taste really nice in the end product. So, a win in the end. Definitely a bake to work on and – hopefully – perfect. Finally, I did a quick batch of biscotti, mainly for my wife. She loves biscotti and she loves chocolate so it had to be Double Chocolate Biscotti: dark choc in the mix plus pieces of white added in. Mmmm.
Friday 1st May 2020
Well, it’s a new month, but a bit dreary and wet here in Derbyshire. Is it the fourth or fifth week of “Coronavirus lockdown”? I’ve lost count. Hopefully, like me, you’ve been able to lessen the boredom by baking. In fact I’ve baked so often that I’ve got another backlog of postings, so here goes….
Going back to Tuesday 21st, I made Fudgy Date Brownies. I’d used dates to make sticky toffee pudding so I wondered if the same method would work in a brownie and it certainly did. I love dates anyway, so dates and chocolate was always going to be a hit. Ideally you should use Medjool dates, but they’re a tad expensive so I went for ordinary dates (or “Regular” in U.S.) Next time, I’ll splash out and go for Medjool. Here’s the link and photos. Let me know if you give them a go. (Hey, that’s catchy!): https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/fudgy-date-brownies/
Next was my “Supa Moist Chocolate Bundt Cake“. Sadly, this was one I never got to taste as it was for one of my church’s food bank clients. (Thought it wouldn’t look good to have a slice missing.) I did give it a sneaky push in with a clean finger – it was really springy and moist. You can find it here: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/supa-moist-chocolate-bundt-style-cake/
On the 25th it was a welcome return to scones. I love scones and have made lots of different flavours and types. But, still plenty out there to try. We had rhubarb in the garden and plenty of white chocolate in the garage (nice and cool in there) so Rhubarb and White Chocolate was an obvious combination and it definitely worked. Have a look on: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/rhubarb-and-white-chocolate-scones/
Most of the friends that I bake for enjoy soda bread, which is great ‘cos it’s so quick and easy as well as tasty. Recently, I decided to make a fruity version to give away. (This time, I had a crafty half slice, just to test it, of course. So glad I did – Mmmm.) Here’s the link to my Fruity Soda Bread: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/fruity-soda-bread-mark-2/ I’ve called it the Mark 2 version, because I’m sure I’ve done something similar before, but didn’t keep a record.
I also bake for one or two friends who can’t eat anything with gluten. I wouldn’t call myself a “technical gluten free baker” (if there is any such creature); I just use G.F. flour and a bit of xanthan gum powder and that’s it. Seems to work OK. I made this lovely Coconut and Almond Tart last week. The G.F. pastry was excellent – really crisp and friable as I wanted. It’s worth a try whether you do it GF or not. Have a look: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/coconut-and-almond-tart/
It was only a few weeks ago that I made my first ever English Muffins and I’m so glad that I did. They’re great and also pretty easy. On that first occasion they were plain, basic ones which were fine, but this time I wanted to add a bit extra so I made Double Cheese English Muffins. Not every experiment is an immediate success, but this one certainly was: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/double-cheese-english-muffins/
Most recent of all has been a re-bake of a lovely Fruity Oatcake to give to my daughter who likes to eat healthily. Well, this is as healthy as any cake could be as it has plenty of oats and tons of fresh fruit. If you want a healthy, almost “guilt free” cake here it is: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/fruity-oatcake/
Saturday 18th April 2020 – Catch up time with an apology
Sorry, I’ve been a bit “on-line lazy and laid back” for a few weeks and haven’t posted much even though I’ve been baking tons. So, here are a few items, just to let everyone know that while I have flour, an oven and time, I’ll be baking.
Some are on the site elsewhere, others not. If you want any of the recipes from these photos that aren’t on the site let me know and I’ll e-mail to you.
Thursday 16th April 2020 – Rye and White Rolls
retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/rye-and-white-rolls/
Friday 7th Feb. 2020 – Pear, Hazelnut and White Chocolate Cake
Pear, Hazelnut and White Chocolate Cake
Wednesday 29th January 2020 – Double Chocolate Whole Orange Cake
Double Chocolate Whole Orange Cake
Saturday 25th Jan. – Honey and Almond cake
A great flavour combination and a lovely texture make this a cake for a special treat.
Honey and Almond Cake
Tuesday 21st Jan. – Coffee and Almond Crunch Cake
The classic combination is coffee and walnut, but this may well become the new classic combination. Give it a try and see.
Coffee and Almond crunch cake
Friday 17th Jan. – Blueberry Bakewell Bites
Saturday 11th January 2020 – Orange Brownies
These are among the richest, yummiest, loveliest brownies I’ve ever made or ever eaten. Yes, they’re that good.
Go to https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/orange-brownies/
Tuesday 7th January – Lime and Almond Polenta Cake
Lime and Almond Polenta Cake
This ultra-moist cake beautifully combines sweetness with the tangy sharpness of limes. The harmony of tastes is repeated in the filling, where the cream and lime curd work so well together.
Double Chocolate & Biscuit Tiffin – Sat 4th January 2020
Here’s a lovely, chunky, triple layer no-bake treat, that’s packed with great taste and texture.
Double Chocolate & Biscuit Tiffin
Chocolate Rum and Raisin Torte – Tuesday 10th December 2019
Rich, dense and boozy – yes, I know it sounds like a character in a TV drama, but not so. This is a very yummy cake, jam-packed with chocolate and rum, among other things of course.
Chocolate Rum and Raisin Torte
Coffee and Cream Brownies – Sat 30th November 2019
I love rich, gooey, messy brownies; those guaranteed to leave you sticky fingered and chocolate lipped. I also like this one very much. It’s still quite rich and it could be very gooey with a reduced baking time, but here it’s firm and chewy and has a distinctive coffee flavour. It’s a more sophisticated brownie – the Audrey Hepburn of the brownie world, I’d say.
Chocolate “Forest” Cake – Tue. 19th November 2019
This is something I created for all my ex-colleagues at school and took in today. It began life as a Black Forest Gateau, but it’s been radically changed here. Both are wonderful in their own way.
Chocolate “Forest” Cake
Cherries and Cream Brownies – Sat. 19th October.
Sorry, I’ve not updated this page for a while so there are quite a few bakes missing. They’re on the site, in the normal sections though. Anyway, today’s treat is quick, easy, rich and very very tasty. Lovely – I promise. Here’s the link: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/cherries-and-cream-brownies/
Flourless Lime, Coconut and White Chocolate Cake – Tues. 20th Aug. 2019
Sweet and coconutty with just enough lime sharpness to give a great balance and oh so light – this is a delicate textured cake that definitely punches above its weight when it comes to flavour.
Flourless Lime, Coconut and White Chocolate cake
Cherry and Almond Chocolate Torte – Tues. 13th Aug. 2019
Here’s a bake that’s a little more tricky than other recent ones, but very tasty and worth the “fiddlyness”. I put a chocolate collar on it – just because I fancied doing one – but that could be left off. With or without the collar, this is a very rich cake with a range of flavours that compliment one another.
Cherry and Almond Chocolate Torte
Sat. 10th August 2019 – Berry Battenberg
This variation of a classic cake adds some vibrant colours and different flavours, but still retains the traditional look.
Berry Battenberg
Friday 9th August 2019 Gluten free low sugar easy Brownies
Gluten free low sugar easy Brownies
Sat. 3rd August – Smartie Tray Bake
Here’s a colourful, easy, tasty and quick bake that will impress and please kids from the age of 2 up to about 102.
Smartie Tray Bake
July 27th 2019 – Raspberry Oat Squares
They look good, they taste good and they do you good too. Yes, really – fruit and oats are very healthy. Sugar and butter? Well, in moderation OK. And we all know how essential chocolate is for our mental well-being, don’t we?
Raspberry Oat Squares
July 26th 2019 – Quick, Easy and Delicious Chocolate Millionaire’s Squares
Quick, Easy and Delicious Chocolate Millionaire’s Squares (QED)
July 17th 2019 – Fruit and Nut Flake Cake
Here’s a lovely moist fruit cake with the richness of chocolate. Hazelnuts add some crunch, while the filling and topping are silky smooth and delicious.
Fruit and Nut Flake Cake
July 10th 2019 – Triple Chocolate and Biscuit Fridge Cake
When you need a cake that’s mega-chocolaty, quick, easy and super-tasty, this is IT. No baking is required and, in case you were wondering, BIAI stands for “Bung it all in”. In other words, it’s a great, flexible cake. One that you’ll probably make lots of times, but it’ll never be the same each time.
Triple Chocolate and Biscuit Fridge cake
July 7th 2019 – Ginger-Fudge Topped Flapjacks
Firm and chewy with a gooey, gingery topping and healthy too (well, sort of), these are great for teatime, a picnic or as an “anytime snack”.
Ginger-Fudge Topped Flapjacks
26th June 2019 – Blueberry Cheesecake Brownies
As with all good brownies these are rich, gooey and very chocolaty (of course), but they also have the creamy smoothness of cheesecake and the tangy moistness of blueberries. What a combination.
Blueberry Cheesecake Brownies
25th June 2019 – Caramelised White Chocolate and Raspberry Cake
Here we have soft, delicate sponges with a sumptuous filling and topping. Add to that the mild sharpness of fresh raspberries and a dense chocolate ganache. It’s got to be a winner. Use the link below to find the recipe:
Caramelised White Chocolate and Raspberry Cake
19th June 2019 – Chocolate and Orange Cheesecake Tart
If you like white chocolate and cheesecake and tarts then this combination is perfect for you. Oh, I nearly forgot to mention the hint of tangy orange that just adds enough citrus bite to balance the sweetness.
Chocolate and Orange Cheesecake Tart
11th June 2019 – Tres Leches Cream Cake with Cherries and Chocolate
This unusual cake ought to be called the original sponge cake as it soaks up so much yummy liquid: the three milks in fact, as the title tells us. See below for the page link.
Tres Leches Cream Cake with Cherries and White Chocolate
10th June 2019 – Chocolate cake with Raspberries
This is a lovely harmony of two classic flavours that combine wonderfully well to give a great cake. And it’s quite easy too – promise. See below for the link.
https://wordpress.com/block-editor/page/retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/2323
30/5/2019 Lemon and Raspberry Shortbread Squares
I’m absolutely chuffed by these. They turned out even better than I’d hoped – my favourite bakes this week, and the others were tasty as well. For the full recipe go to: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/lemon-and-raspberry-shortbread-squares/
29/5/2019 Banana and Coconut Cake (with Mascarpone and White chocolate filling….Mmmmmm!)
Unlike me, this cake is light, subtle and delicate. Part of the reason could be the ultra-fine gluten free flour I used. A re-bake with standard flour may well yield a firmer cake, but I’m sure it will taste just as good.
Click here to find it: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/banana-and-coconut-cake-with-mascarpone-and-white-chocolate-filling/
26/5/2019 – Cheese and Onion Cornbread Squares.
Here’s the link: https://retiredblokeonfoodnstuff.com/cheese-and-onion-cornbread-squares/
Monday 11th February 2019
Once again, it’s been ages since I blogged. Sorry folks. Anyway, I’ll put photos of bakes + brief comments up to the end of January then try and catch up on Feb. another day soon. Hope that’s OK.
Fri 4th Jan: Chocolate Cupcakes – Still working on my piping skills (or lack of skills)
Sat 5th: Apricot, Plum & Poppy Seed Tray bake – Not the prettiest of bakes, but nice and moist. Very fruity too.
Tue 8th: Lemon Iced Madeira Loaf cake – nice moist cake with a tangy flavour.
Tue 8th: Boston Cream Pie – Lovely creamy mid-layer and lots of chocolate on top. An American classic apparently. Very nice to receive several positive comments from US Facebook friends.
Thu 10th: Chocolate & Banana Loaf Cake – Loaf cakes are so easy. Really pleased with how effective this simple decoration was – just lines made with a fork + sprinkles.
Thu 10th: Blue Cheese & Red Leicester Scones – the first of several recent savoury scone bakes. I love them.
Sat 12th: Two types of cup cake: Cherry & White Chocolate and Banana, Maple & Pecan. Both quite tasty. Piping marginally improved, still need to practice a lot more though.
Tue 15th: Caribbean Cake – I tried to add a latticed white chocolate collar, coloured in red, yellow and green. It sort of came off, but looked too messy. Cake tasted good though, very similar to a Hummingbird Cake.
Thu 17th: Chocolate, Coffee and Caramel Cake – Very tasty. Had another go at a chocolate collar. This one was a bit neater, but I made the mistake of taking off the acetate too early so some of the chocolate “smudged”. A lesson learnt.
Fri 18th: Sticky Ginger cake – Looked good and apparently tasted very good (I gave it to a friend).
Sat 19th: Malted Millionaire’s Slices – These were mega-yummy. Fantastic. Also really enjoyed doing the mixed choc swirls on top; very effective.
Sat 19th: Orange & Lime Drizzle Traybake – Another lovely mixture of sweetness and tangy fruitiness. Great combination.
Tue 22nd: Turkish Delight & Pistachio Cake – Wonderfully pink; I loved making and sharing this at school. It was very popular.
Thu 24th: Lemon Scones from the National Trust Book of Scones.
Fri 25th: Yet more scones, but savoury this time – Blue cheese and red (Leicester) cheese. Looked good, tasted good.
Sat 26th: Lemon Slices – Nice, but a bit disappointed by the way they looked. I’d hope for something a bit more impressive. Maybe next time I’ll decorate with lemon slices.
Sat 26th: White Chocolate Millionaire’s Slices – Having made a lovely dark choc version a few days earlier, I was keen to try these. And they were equally yummy. Again, it was great fun doing the swirly topping.
Tue 29th: I made Parker House rolls – apparently these are an American classic. They came out very light, which surprised me. Almost too light and airy, but OK. Lots of butter in the recipe, so tasted quite good.
Tue 29th: Honey and Banana Loaf – another cake that I gave away and received good reports back.
Tue 29th: Chocolate Cheesecake – Very chocolaty (no surprise there, I suppose) I used Bourbon biscuits for the base, dark chocolate in the main mixture, a chocolate ganache on top and white chocolate decorations… oh, nearly forgot the strawberries dipped in chocolate too. Not exactly a diet cake. (Do diet cakes exist, I wonder.)
Wed 30th: Layered Chocolate Guinness cake – broke with Guinness cake tradition and put in a lovely creamy mid layer. Worked well; very rich and very tasty.
Wed 30th: Flourless Orange and Almond cake – Another one given away, this time to a Gluten-free “client” on our church food parcel delivery list. I think she loved it.
So, all in all , January has been a brilliantly busy baking month.
Saturday 5th January 2019
Sorry, but I’ve not posted much during the holiday period due to family visits, travelling, socialising and eating. All usual Christmas activities. Anyway, let me start by wishing everyone a rather late HAPPY NEW YEAR.
We stayed with family over the festive period and although it was OK to use their kitchen I didn’t do a lot of baking. All I made was a cake for my wife’s birthday at the end of the month. She was a bit over-chocolated by then (if that’s at all possible) so I made her a Lemon & Lime Polenta cake. It was very tangy, but still sweet enough. I really like the texture that Polenta gives to a cake.
We had an open house on New year’s day, so I baked a couple of large loaves. One was a milk plait, the other was a rye, spelt, wholemeal and seed loaf. Basically, this meant bunging in whatever flours I had left. It came out surprisingly well.
On Wednesday 2nd I made a large Persian fruit cake for a church group of local elderly people. I also made a mini one for home consumption. The recipe was from a great new book that I was given at Christmas: “Crave” by Martha Collison. In fact, I was given lots of baking related books.
Yesterday we had a friend and her 3 year old son visit us, so he “helped” me make some chocolate cup cakes and was a willing “test pilot” along the way, making sure it all passed his taste test. I also made an Amaretti Rose cake to take to the MAD Bakers’ evening meeting.
The baking group is going well. We had an increase in number with nine attending and four bakes to share. Everything tasted excellent and we had a good time.
Sunday 23rd December 2018
It’s been another good, busy week of baking. Mainly Christmas orientated, but not everything. Some items such as the two-colour star biscuits and the Chocolate Reindeer Bark, I’ve already posted. The bark came out so well that I made another later in the week for the kids at church. This one was a Swirly White Chocolate Snowman Bark. It also went down really well. Barks look good and are so easy and so, so tasty.
I had a recipe for a Mincemeat cake, which seemed quite festive, but I wanted to add something to it, so decided to add in some marmalade, which gave it a lovely fresh tangy flavour. Coloured fondant shapes made it look pretty good too. Here’s my Mincemeat and Marmalade cake.
Tuesday began with wholemeal & Oatbran rolls. This was just the start though, most of morning was taken up decorating the previous day’s bake. It was my Golden Chocolate Wreath. It’s amazing how much better a chocolate cake looks with a quick spray of gold.
Being a lover of scones I often look for new flavours, well new to me that is. I love the classics – plain, dried fruit, cheese – but also less well known ones. I experimented with butterscotch chunks and crushed hazelnuts to make some nice soft and crunchy scones. They were quite tasty.
Later this week I made a gingerbread family: two large parent figures and about 30 smaller gingerbread “children”. (So far I’ve managed to avoid jokes about the fecund nature of gingerbread parents.) My final bake before travelling south to spend Christmas with family was a very quick and easy soda bread loaf with Red Leicester cheese.
Sunday 16th December 2018
Plenty of baking done during the past week, even though I only made one “proper” cake. At the weekend I made Chocolate & Hazelnut Biscotti to take to our Sunday morning meeting at Church In The Peak, Matlock. I like the crunchy hardness of biscotti. It’s a biscuit to admire; it stands its ground. If biscuits could talk, then these would utter something like, “Come on then, bite me if you dare. I’m no softie.” I have discovered though, that most recipes don’t give a long enough time for the second bake. My biscotti always seem to need an extra five, or even ten, in the oven. Standing them on their narrow side in the oven helps the bake as both flat surfaces are exposed at the same time.
I also made some seasonal scones – Cranberry & White Chocolate – which was a lovely flavour combination. They came out quite small, due the the cutter I used, so I decided to call them “mini-scones”. One vital lesson I learnt in my early baking days was that if something came out wrong you can rename it and pretend it was all intentional. (Unless, of course, it’s burnt to a cinder. The ploy probably wouldn’t work then.)
The week began with a nice basic oatmeal loaf for everyday use. Next came a major cake project. I wanted to make something a bit different, something Christmassy. In a magazine, I’d seen a cake with three tea-lights embedded in the top. What if I could do that, or better still, put them on top of a star shaped cake? (We have a star shaped tin) As it was a six pointed star, it seemed a good idea to have a tea light in every point, plus one in the middle of course.
It was too late to begin a “proper” rich, dense, boozy Christmas cake, so a Country fruitcake would have to do the job. Well, not quite – two country fruit cakes were needed, joined together by a thick layer of apricot jam. But who could I give the cake to? Aha…”Limelight”, the elderly group organised by Church In The Peak. It would be ideal for their last meeting before Christmas.
It went together very well. I enjoyed the new challenge of putting on the marzipan layer, especially as the shape was far from “user friendly”, but it was OK. Likewise, when I put on the fondant layer, it was a lot easier than I’d expected. To cut the holes for the tea lights I used an upturned empty tea light holder. Once again, this went well, much easier than anticipated. A few extra fondant stars round the bottom edge hid any slight gaps and silver sparkly bits on top finished it all off nicely. Here it is, unlit and lit:
And here it is partly eaten:
On Thursday I fancied making (and eating) some cheese and chive scones, but had no chives. I’ve often enjoyed cheese and apple together, so “why not” I thought. I made a nice batch of 9 big Apple and Red Leicester scones. It worked well – very tasty with a lovely fluffy texture. I used buttermilk in the mixture. I’m sure that gives a lightness to scones.
Later, I realised I’d not made any Christmas biscuits yet and had seen a set of star cutters in the cupboard. This got me thinking. Rather than just plain stars, why not try making two-colour biscuits. Looking back now, I wish I’d finished them off a bit nicer, possibly with some shiny silver or gold spray and some sprinkles. Next time maybe.
Saturday 15th December
This is a quick interim post, mainly so that I can put on the “Chocolate Reindeer Bark” that I made today. I’ll transfer it to a proper recipe page later. It was really enjoyable to make this and I’m looking forward to giving it to the two children I made it for, tomorrow. The original recipe is from the BBC Good Food website, but I’ve “enlarged” it and changed it a bit.
Ingredients: Approx. 200g milk chocolate, Approx. 250g dark chocolate; 18 – 21 red Smarties; lots of small pretzels (they break easily); white mini marshmallows (one for every red Smartie used); sprinkles & stars of your choice; black food writing pen or food dye.
Method:
Tip: Do the following preparation before melting the chocolate: Use a very sharp knife to cut the pretzels into pieces. They will break very randomly into different, but usable shapes. Make small piles of each shape so you can pair them later. You should also count out the red Smarties and also cut the marshmallows into halves ready to use.
- Line a 12″ x 8″ brownie pan or similar with baking parchment. Melt both chocolates, using your preferred method. Pour the dark chocolate into the tin. Tip it side to side to spread the chocolate evenly then pour the milk chocolate over it and swirl it around a bit – not too much or they’ll simply mix.
- Arrange the red Smarties (the noses) over the chocolate, spacing them well apart to leave room for the antlers. Gently press the mini-marshmallow halves above the nose to make eyes. Add two pieces of curved pretzel to form antlers. Add your chosen sprinkles and stars. Leave it a while to begin to firm up.
- When it’s less squashy, use a fine black food pen to create black dots in the “marshmallow eyes”. (Another method is to apply a small dab of black food dye with a cocktail stick. Don’t use the point, it’s too fine. Cut it in half and use the flat end.)
- Leave in a cool place overnight and either break it into pieces or not, as you choose.
Friday 7th December 2018
It’s been a moderately busy few days since my last blog post. Last Saturday I made some so-called “Magic cakes”. It’s one mix, that “magically” turns into three layers as it bakes. The recipe was a bit unusual as it called for salted butter, not the normal unsalted, and also granulated sugar, not caster. As the author’s middle name was “Royal” I assumed all of this was “America speak”. No problem though. (NB I love America and Americans – not all of them of course.) Back to the plot – I made Vanilla Magic cake. I called it a “Vanilla Layer cake” as that sounds a bit more English and understated. Sorry, I seem to have drifted into a bit of an England/America thing here. Let’s leave it there and show a couple of pictures.
On Monday 3rd I made a Plum, Peach and Coconut cake. It was my adaption of a recipe in the excellent CCC “Year of cake” book. I added the coconut, which worked well and also changed the fruit part. Quite a different cake in the end, so I think I can claim it as “one of mine”. Can you copyright recipes? Maybe. Can you copyright cakes – doubt it. I made a mini one for home consumption and it tasted good, with a lovely moist interior. (It’s good being a cake test pilot.)
The biggest thing I made last week – and for quite a while – was my Mega-Chocolate Orange Cake. Again, it was a CCC “Year of Cake” adaption, this one from their Chocolate “Day of the Dead” cake. I used two 23cm tins rather than three much smaller ones, as the recipe said, and I also added orange in the mix and on the cake itself. This was quite a big and impressive cake. It certainly went down well at school once again. My Wednesday-only colleagues are a great, appreciative bunch. Most weeks someone claims the cake is, “The best one yet.” Three possibilities spring to mind:
1. All the previous cakes were pretty poor.(I don’t think so.)
2. They’re a kind, flattering bunch. (Possibly the case)
3. I’m getting better and better each week. (Nice thought, but unrealistic.)
Anyway, here it is.
Yesterday was an intensive day. I’d promised my daughter that I’d make some small baked items for her hairdressing salon. Every year, near Christmas, they like to give customers a coffee with a small “nibble” on the saucer. (I didn’t express that very well, but you know what I mean.) I made … well, you’ll see in the labelled picture below. They were fairly easy to bake, but very time-consuming to put together and arrange afterwards. I learnt a lot doing it though. And the salon are going to pay me. Hope this doesn’t compromise my amateur status and mean I can never apply for “Bake Off”.
Saturday 1st December 2018
It’s been a mega baking week. Lots to tell everyone and lots that I’ve learnt. (i.e. lots of mistakes I’ve made.) Let’s start with last Tuesday. I made a Spiced Marmalade Bundt Cake, based on a recipe by Martha Collison – she’s great. It was for our church’s free cafe, called “Jig-saw”. I’ve now just about mastered the art of greasing bundt tins so that the cake comes out in one piece. Melted butter brushed carefully into every crevice, then in the fridge, then do it again and finally dust with flour. It’s a faff, but it works.
For school I made a … (Long title coming up, you might need to sit down)….”Spicey Ginger Upside-down Baked Cheesecake“. (Told you it was a long one.) I’d better point out that the word “baked” in the title is very important to me. When I see cheesecake on the menu in a restaurant, I always ask, “Is it baked?” If the poor waiter doesn’t know then I assume it isn’t a baked one and choose something else. Anyway, I adapted a Nadia Hussain recipe, mainly by adding ginger in several ways, and it came out lovely. One of the tastiest things I’ve ever made.
Last Friday I went a bit savoury. Well, sort of – I made a rye flour loaf with added apricots, so a bit sweet, I suppose. Still nice in the morning with scrambled eggs on top though. Then we had a pie night to go to, for a church leaders’ group meal. I made a free-form sausage and mushroom pie. Our hostess has to have gluten free food and when she saw the phrase “free form” on my facebook post, she thought it was a typo and expected a “free from” pie. Maybe next time.
On Saturday 24th I tried to create blondies with pureed mango swirled into them. For the base, I made a nice chocolate flavoured shortbread, but the mango refused to swirl into the top. The blondies tasted fantastic, but looked a bit like a skin disease. Worth persevering with the recipe though. The next day was quite busy too. I made a basic wholemeal loaf, but tried to be a bit fancy scoring it across the top several times each way. The idea was good, but the execution too sloppy. Also tried adding 100g of bran. Tasted OK, but came out as a heavy loaf. Later that day I made Parkin for the church youth bonfire. Whenever I’ve made Parkin I’ve always been a bit disappointed by the end product, considering all the wonderful, yummy ingredients. I must try to leave it a few days to “mature” next time, so it goes stickier.
Tuesday was a very interesting (AKA frustrating) day. I tried to make a Blue Velvet cake as shown in the first CCC book, but it was disastrous. Part of the problem was my use of the wrong food colouring. Dr Oetker tubes just didn’t cut the mustard. The three sponges came out almost black. (I ate some and later noticed that the colour of a certain “bodily function” was a strange shade of army green – enough said on that one.) Anyway, I bought the right food colours, simplified the recipe, added nuts, and tried again. My “Nutty Blue Cake” in the end and the final decorated cake looked quite stunning, in my humble opinion. A few well chosen sprinkles and light shimmer spray can make a big difference.
I’d better round this post off now, it’s getting overlong – sorry. Tuesday’s bake was a Date & Nut Loaf cake – dead easy and very tasty. Thursday’s was Lemon Fig bars – very moist, tasty and maybe healthy. Both of these bakes were to give away for various church related activities, but I had to test each one didn’t I? Then yesterday – Friday 30th – I made Lemon & Lime Squares. These very wonderfully tangy, but also sweet. Great combination. I ramped up a basic Lemon Bar recipe with the addition of limes and it certainly gave it a terrific extra citrus kick.
Sunday 18th November 2018
It’s been another excellent week of busy baking. Here’s what I made and what I learnt – from my mistakes, as usual.
First, for our church Limelight group (elderly people from the local community) I made a batch of butterscotch muffins, which turned out well, because I remembered not to over-mix them. Before that I made a Peach and Almond Cake, which was really tasty. I know, because I, very sensibly, also made a mini one for home consumption. The recipe actually began life as a Plum, Lemon and Vanilla cake, but I was using lemon elsewhere so left that out. I defrosted some plums, but when thawed they tasted disgusting. (I think most fruit goes this way, so won’t risk that again.) The recipe actually called for tinned plums, but the local shop only had peaches. I fancied almond rather than vanilla. So, hey presto, a new cake recipe was born.
I usually get a bit excited about making cakes, especially when they’re ones that I’ve created, or adapted from other recipes. I’m at that stage now, where I feel confident enough to tweek and change recipes. I saw a recipe for a 3-layer cake using peas, but wanted to change it. Among other things I added walnuts and it worked out really well. Everyone at school liked it. It became my Walnut, Pea and Vanilla cake.
Later in the week I had a failure. I wanted to improve my piping skills, having watched Kim-Joy on Bake Off and marvelled at her lovely designs. I made a very nice batch of digestive biscuits to practise on, but when I piped coloured water icing on them it was too thick or too runny, too pale, too sickly sweet, too……everything. I took some photos, but am too embarrassed to put them here. Not quite sure what I learnt. I’ll try again, so maybe it’s a lesson in perseverance. No, I did learn a few things. 1. It’s possible to brush a weakened mixture onto biscuits as a base layer. 2. I need a much stronger, dryer mix next time. 3. Biscuits lose their crispness when covered in water icing.
Finally, I finished the week with a creation of mine that worked really well. I had wondered for some time if it’s possible to top a shortbread base with a brownie mixture. And it definitely was. My Strawberry Shortbread Brownies were very, very tasty. Maybe a bit runny though – a few more minutes in the oven would have been good. Took them to church for after the meeting and they went super fast with several sticky-fingered people congratulating me.
Sunday 11th November 2018
Lots of busy baking days recently. Hopefully I’m still learning loads – often via my mistakes. I’ve always liked bread, but seem to be baking more these days, which is fine. After my fall a few weeks ago my shoulder still hasn’t healed, so I’m thankful for the stand mixer, which makes kneading so much easier. I just mix the bread ingredients using the paddle tool then change to the dough hook for ten minutes and it’s ready for the first rise. Simple. On Saturday 3rd I made Stilton, Prune and Treacle bread, which was OK. The flavour was interesting, maybe a little too sweet. On Friday 9th it was a batch of Buttermilk, Honey and Poppy Seed rolls. OK again, but not as soft as I’d hoped for. Not sure why though. Maybe I allowed too much extra flour to adhere to the mixed dough because it was very wet.
I continue to bake most weeks for our Sunday morning church meeting in Matlock. Last week it was Chocolate Muffins, this week I’ve made Apple & Apricot Treacle tart Squares. I’ve been looking forward to making these for ages. They were fine, but not as “treacly” as I’d hoped for. Quite a time consuming bake as I had to puree the fruit.
I’m always on the look out for people and groups to bake for. Neighbours, friends, family, church groups – all are worthy recipients or “culinary test pilots”, depending on how you see it. The church that I’m part of (Church In The Peak, Matlock) runs several groups for needy local people or the elderly; we also deliver food parcels each week. I like to provide cakes for these groups. These often include a nice, quick loaf cake. I use paper liners inside loaf tins when I make these; it’s so much easier especially for delivering them. I also made an interesting Caramel Sponge Cake. The mid-layer filling was made by pouring hot golden syrup onto egg yolks – a new method for me.
I’m still baking every week for school on Wednesdays. I love taking a cake in each week to share with colleagues on my one working day. Last week it was a super cake. I made a Chocolate & Cream Cake. It’s definitely worth a look at the recipe in the cakes section.
Our baking club – MAD Bakers – is going well. Last Friday we had a Savoury and Sweet evening. I made a Sausage and Pate Plait. A good friend made two lovely loaves and there were cakes and scones too. So, a good evening all round.
More recently, I made a terrific tasting tart (excuse the over-alliteration). I’m at the stage now where I enjoy changing recipes. They’re not quite my own creations, but end up different to the original. For this one I changed the cheeses, left out a few ingredients and added some different ones. I used a combination of Ricotta and Mascarpone cheeses and a few other small “tweeks”. 
Really pleased with the result, which is a gift for a friend. I’m so glad I also made a small version so I could try it out. Mmmm, lovely. I’m calling it an Italian Chocolate and Cheese Tart.
Friday 2nd Nov. 2018
It’s been half term week, so a bit more time available for baking. So, quite a mega week: done a lot, learnt a lot.
The baking week started with a savoury bake, one of my own attempts at creating a recipe. I’d seen recipes for sweet galettes – sort of open, free form tarts with fruit fillings. But I fancied a savoury version. Originally it would have been pork, Stilton and apple, but no-one else in the household liked the idea of those together. Instead I made a Chicken, Shallots and Honey Galette. I was concerned not to have a “soggy bottom” so took out all the moisture that I could, which meant that the finished article, although very tasty, was a bit too dry. Next time, I’ll make a sauce with it.
On Tuesday I made a very nice Pistachio, Chocolate and Orange cake, which I iced with alternating stripes. Looked quite good, but I thought it was over sweet due to all the icing sugar. Currently I’m experimenting with less sickly fillings and topping, mainly incorporating cream cheese. Also on Tuesday I had a bit of bundt tin disaster. Having successfully made a three flavour, three layer one last week I tried a similar one with a vanilla/white chocolate top layer, a cherry middle layer and a dark chocolate base layer. I’m sure I prepared the tin as meticulously, using melted butter, but it got stuck. Not sure what the lesson is here. But it still tasted great.
On Wednesday I made a Gluten free Cherry & Banana Loaf Cake to give away via our church food bank. Loaf cakes are so easy and still very tasty. This was a “chuck-in-whatever-you-can-find” type of cake. Came out well. I learnt to be adaptable. Also on Wednesday I made a Chocolate Orange Sponge Sandwich Cake. It began life as a very basic Victoria sandwich type of cake, then I decided to add an orange cream cheese filling. This prompted me to add a similar topping, but chocolate flavoured. It still looked a bit average so a few wavy lines and sprinkles finished it off well.
To finish the week I made a Blueberry Sandwich Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Filling Again, I learnt to be a bit more adaptable – or able to adapt a recipe. I didn’t have the required two 18cm square tins, so used a single 32 x 23cm tin and played around with the proportions. Other than the blueberries sinking to the bottom because I forgot to toss them in flour, it came out well. Time for a rest today. I need to get out for a run – been eating too much cake. Nice though.
Tuesday 23rd
It’s not that long since I last posted, but a few things have happened here, despite me STILL having a disgusting cold: thanks to our trip to Italy, maybe. (It was a good holiday though.) Anyway, I’ve soldiered on and created a couple of cake recipes. It’s really exciting doing this instead of simply following what a book says. One I’m calling MY Three-flavoured Triple-layered Bundt-style Cake. Not exactly zingy or catchy, is it? So, any other suggestions please? I’ve put the recipe in the cakes section, but it’s still a work in progress.
Other bakes over the past few days have been a Gluten Free Walnut & Banana Loaf cake for a friend. (Loaf cakes are so easy, but still very tasty.) Another of my own recipes has been the Wholemeal, Milk & Seed Bread, which came out really well. Then, for the Church In The Peak meeting last Sunday I made Walnut, Lemon and Chocolate Squares, which were lovely. But, I’ve got to be more patient and wait to cut tray bakes into pieces only when FULLY COOLED. (I’m definitely not very good at waiting.)
Anyway, most of these recipes will soon be on the site. Have a look, have a go and let me know. (Hey, that sounds quite catchy!)
Finally today, I must mention the MAD Bakers club. We’re not exactly mad, well only a bit. It stands for Matlock And District Bakers. We usually meet on the first or second Friday of each month, it’s usually at the Lime Tree Centre in Matlock, there’s usually a theme and there’s always some good things to eat. Our next meeting is on Friday 9th November from 7pm. The plan is that we each contribute part of a meal that we’ll have together. Send me an e-mail for further details or directions.
Friday 19th October
Sorry it’s been ages since I last put anything on this page. Partly it’s because we had a holiday in Italy and only arrived back a few days ago. We were on the Amalfi coast again, south of Naples. Lovely hotel with super food, excellent staff, warm weather and friendly fellow guests. It was only spoilt by me getting a cold halfway through. And, of course, I couldn’t do any baking either.
Talking of food, we had plenty of pasta, but different types. I managed to avoid the squid and octopus options. Plenty of “proper” meat plus various veg. One evening I had the cheese platter, which was OK, but would have been even better with some blue cheese and no Buffalo Mozzarella. It’s not my favourite cheese. One pleasant surprise though was the two dips with the cheeses. I was expecting pickles, but was given a small bowl of what I think was a fig or date puree and a bowl of local honey, both of which worked really well with the cheese.
Back to baking. I had planned to take an adapted Guinness cake into school on Wednesday (with the inclusion of a toffee mid-layer), but was too ill to work or to bake, so it’ll have to wait for another day. By Wednesday I’d recovered enough to make three cakes: a good old standard Country Fruit cake and a simple but tasty Lemon Drizzle Loaf cake. Both were to give away. Best of all though was my Orange, Lime and Almond Bundt cake. When I say “my”, I mean it was my recipe. This is something new for me, actually creating cake recipes. All quite exciting. Also, the first Bundt style cake I’ve ever made. It came out really well.
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Saturday 5th October
What a baking week it’s been. Well, it has been national Cake Week. Monday was a bit of a mega day. I baked two Beetroot & Apple cakes, a Country Fruit Cake and a Victoria Sponge.
On Tuesday morning I was on a half day Irish Cookery course at Coghlans’ Cookery School, just a few miles away in Darley Dale. As always, it was excellent. We made Irish Stew, Soda bread and a Guinness Chocolate cake. The latter two items I’d made before, but it was still good. The resident chef/instructor, Simon Lilley, is superb. Not only is he a Master Chef of Great Britain, but he’s also friendly, patient and helpful. Later that day I began assembling and decorating some of the cakes from Monday.
The first Beetroot and Apple case went into school on Wednesday for my colleagues and was very well received. The fruit cake and Victoria sponge were for the “Limelight” group, an elderly people’s group run by my church. I’m told that they enjoyed the cakes very much. On Wednesday evening I made a Walnut, Date & Honey Loaf cake to give away on Thursday via our church food bank delivery.
The second Beetroot & Apple cake was my contribution to the third meeting of the Matlock and District bakers club (AKA MAD Bakers). Our theme was cakes made with vegetables.
Finally, for now, I want to make a promise to you. I promise NOT to use the following phrases, because I’m fed up with hearing them from a whole plethora of TV chefs:
” A marriage made in heaven.”
“Take it to a whole other level” or “…..higher level” or “…….next level” or “…..new level”
Saturday 29th September 2018
It’s been another busy baking week. Mondays and Tuesdays seem to have become my main “cake days”, but this week I also made some Spelt and Wholemeal rolls using my own recipe. Very nice flavour and texture. I’m currently enjoying them with my breakfast scrambled eggs and also for lunch.
Two of this week’s cakes – Apple cake – used the same recipe, but I varied them a little. The recipe said to use apple sauce between the two layers and just put apple slices on top, dusted with icing sugar. Seemed OK, but not that inspiring and I had some cream cheese buttercream in the fridge so I used that. For the second cake I was slightly more adventurous; I put a layer of apple slices between the two cake layers, filled in the middle with apple sauce and used buttercream again with the addition of some food colouring. Both cakes were to give away. The feedback I’ve had has been very positive and encouraging.
The third cake was my weekly “take to school for colleagues” cake. It was a Courgette cake from the Clandestine Cake Club book “Year of Cake” (A terrific book). Again, I adapted the recipe. It was supposed to be single layer with a white chocolate buttercream topping, but I increased the ingredients and made two layers and used the topping mix between them. For a while I’ve fancied having a go at mirror glazing, so that’s what I did. It proved very interesting as the too-warm glaze refused to stay on the cake so I had to spoon it off the drip tray back onto the cake time and time again. Got there in the end. However, I don’t think that cake and the mirror glaze were totally suited. Not what Paul Hollywood would call “a match made in heaven”. It was OK, but not quite right. Another learning experience, I suppose. Looked good though.
Sunday 23rd September 2018
Just had a weekend away, so not done much on my site. Also, have been having problems getting the pages and links set up, so still no recipes showing. Really sorry, I’m being so slow. Got loads to put on, but I’m struggling with the technology. And the only baking I’ve done in the past few days is a Pecan Pie for a group meal. It’s from Paul Hollywood’s excellent book “Pies and Puds”. It came out very well and was wonderfully rich and tasty. The only adaption that I made was adding in some honey to the golden syrup and that was just because I had some left over and crystallising. 10 seconds in the micro-wave and poured it in the mix.
Thursday 20th September 2018
It’s still only Thursday and I’ve made four cakes this week. First was a quick and easy Raspberry and Almond Madeira Cake to send to “Jig-saw” (a free cafe run by our church). The next was a bit more involved – a Golden Pineapple Cream Cake. This I took into school on Wednesday to share with colleagues in the English Faculty. I changed the recipe a bit by using Cream Cheese buttercream instead of the standard buttercream, which I often find to be too sickly sweet.
Yesterday was my son’s birthday. He rarely eats my cakes, but I did a couple of toffee flavoured sponges, which we filled and topped with butterscotch Angel Delight and then piled tons of fudgy chocolaty bits on top. Even he couldn’t resist a slice. Finally, this morning, I decorated the Amaretti and Peach Cake that I made earlier. The sponge mixture contained crushed Amaretti biscuits, which worked really well. It’s to give away today to someone during our food bank deliveries.
Thursday 13th September 2018
Three bakes so far this week: two chocolate and almond marbled cakes using a “bundt” style tin lent to me by a friend so that I could try it before buying something similar. One I decorated with melted dark chocolate and various blue sprinkles, the other with white chocolate ganache, white chocolate leaves and dark chocolate sprinkles. I also made a Salted caramel cake. Here’s what I learnt:
- Using a “bundt” style tin: I used lots of melted butter (maybe too much), brushing it carefully into all the crevices. Both cakes came out OK with no problems. Point: no need to buy expensive cake release spray.
- Decorating with chocolate: OK just to use melted chocolate, but ganache was better.
- The caramel cake was two layers with caramel sauce between them, but using the sauce meant that the top layer was unstable. It also squashed out messily. I should have either used less or put a buttercream dam around the edge, because when I tried to use buttercream to crumb coat the cake it mingled with the caramel – messy, but very tasty.
The recipe said to pipe buttercream rosettes all up the sides of the cake. I just did a couple of rows on top and one at the base, leaving the side naked. It worked OK, but benefitted being left overnight in the fridge.
Retired Bloke on Food n stuff 