Category Archives: Baking

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Ultra gooey chocolate beetroot brownies

Beetroot brownies

Beetroot brownies

When I worked near Borough Market, every Friday was brownie day and I devoured an obscene amount of brownies in my quest to determine which stall sold the best. They were judged purely on taste and sheer eating pleasure, although it was very tempting to take the size into account ­­as some of them were ginormous slabs, the size of books.

The texture was also a contributing factor to the winning brownie because a satisfying crust on the top with a fudgy centre is absolutely essential for a great brownie. Quite a few weren’t squidgy enough for my liking, but to be fair to the bakers, if the brownies very gooey then it would be tricky to then cut into perfect pieces and transport to market. But after many weeks of indulgent brownie sampling and lots of finger licking, I found a deserving winner and continued the Friday tradition for as long as I worked at London Bridge.

Understandably, I abstained from brownies for a while after that splurge – as much as I love a good brownie you definitely can have too much of a good thing. But the allure of Nigel Slater’s extremely moist chocolate beetroot cake was just too much, so I fell off the chocolate wagon with a bang. Whilst Nigel’s beetroot and chocolate cake is utterly delectable, I just love the crust and extra squidginess you get with brownies, so I committed myself to baking on an unhealthy scale to achieve my perfect beetroot brownie.

I like my brownies to be rich but not overly sweet, so this recipe provides the perfect balance between sweetness and bitter chocolate, with earthy beetroot deliberately obvious but sitting in the background. As well as a deep pink hue, the beetroot gives the brownies the most wonderful velvety texture which make these a joy to eat. I have enjoyed these treats just as they are, washed down with a glass of cold milk, but they also make an excellent dessert: served warm with orange zest and a dollop of crème fraiche.

I was so happy with these I’ve considered reinstating the tradition of brownie Friday, but I think they are best reserved for the occasional treat when I can just enjoy them without analysing every minute detail and giving marks out of 10!

beetroot-brownie-dessert

Makes 12

Ingredients
200g unsalted butter
250g good quality dark chocolate
200g golden caster sugar
3 eggs
60g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
Half tsp baking powder
Pinch of sea salt
300g cooked beetroot

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350/gas mark 4. Grease and line a 20cm x 20cm tin.
  2. Puree the beetroot in a food processor until smooth and set aside.
  3. Melt the butter and the chocolate gently in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.
  4. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until increased in volume and are lighter in colour.
  5. Stir in the chocolate mixture, then sieve in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and add a pinch of salt, stir to mix then fold in the beetroot puree with a large metal spoon until everything is well combined.
  6. Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the middle of the oven for about 25-30 minutes. Mine took 28 minutes but ovens vary so check before the cooking time. Use your fingers to test the brownie: you want a lovely firm crust on top with softness underneath. If too soft, put back in for a few more minutes. You can also insert a skewer; you’re looking for some moist chocolate crumbs sticking to it.
  7. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack. They’re easier to cut when cooled properly but I can never wait that long.
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Very gingery shortbread

stem-ginger-shortbread

Shortbread has got to be one of the best British biscuits. In fact, I’m struggling to think of any near contenders that satisfy on every level as a simple piece of sweet, buttery shortbread. Even if I wasn’t Scottish and slightly biased towards my birthplace’s fine culinary exports, then I would still be passionate about this fine biscuit. The magic of shortbread is the sheer simplicity of only using three ingredients – butter, sugar and flour – to create something so utterly delicious. The texture should have a crumbly, almost sandy texture, with an indulgent rich buttery taste that melts in the mouth.

Shortbread has an interesting history that dates back to medieval times. It evolved from leftover bread dough that was twice-baked, sweetened and hardened in the oven to form a rusk. It doesn’t sound too appetising, does it? Thankfully butter eventually replaced the yeast and the tea-time treat that we know and love today was born.

The type and texture of the dry ingredients greatly influences the character of the biscuit. From researching many shortbread recipes, using plain flour – based on the traditional recipe – creates a biscuit similar to crunchy sweet shortcrust pastry; it’s good but not quite your perfect cup of tea accompaniment. Adding ground rice or fine semolina gives the shortbread a grainy, crumbly texture while corn flour gives a slightly denser texture.

Recipes also vary by using butter at room temperature or straight from the fridge. Using cold butter does make the dough easier to work with but it produces a flaky looser result, whereas I’m definitely looking for crumbly. To achieve the perfect texture it’s also really important not to overwork the dough or it will become tough, so knead gently to combine then either pat it into shape using your hands or use a rolling pin very lightly. Chill the dough in the fridge till hard so the biscuit doesn’t spread and cook too quickly in the oven. Cook on a low heat to achieve the perfect crunch and pale golden colour. For such a simple biscuit there’s a lot to consider and I haven’t even thought about what shape to make! Decisions, decisions.

I buy good quality Guernsey butter, which is an amazing deep yellow and is the stuff of James Martin’s dreams. I’m almost tempted to keep it traditional but I decide to make my shortbread with stem ginger, with extra ground ginger, as I love the spicy warmth. I can hardly wait for them to cool on the wire rack before tucking in. The biscuits turn out heavenly and, with a piping hot mug of tea, is a perfect elevenses treat. Joy!

120g butter, at room temperature
60g golden caster sugar
130g plain flour
40g rice flour
1.5 level tsp ground ginger
Pinch of fine sea salt
3 balls stem ginger, chopped
Demerera sugar, to finish

  1. Preheat oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl using a wooden spoon until light and fluffy.
  3. Sift in the flour, ground rice and ginger. Add the chopped ginger and a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter. Stir gently to combine then use your fingers to bring together and form a dough.
  4. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and roll the dough into a sausage, about 5cm/2in in diameter. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes until hard.
  5. Cut into 1cm rounds and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment – ensure ensure the biscuits are not too close together.
  6. Bake for about 30 minutes until lightly golden. Leave for a few minutes then sprinkle with demerera sugar. Then using a spatula transfer onto a wire rack
    to cool.
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‘Exotic’ banana & Brazil nut bread

banana-bread-500

Everyone likes bananas, right? It’s meant to be the most popular fruit in the UK (according to sales anyway), but I’ve met a fair few people in my time who detest them with a passion. I’m sitting on the fence between loving and loathing these tropical boomerangs: a banana cooked slowly on the glowing embers of a BBQ stuffed with slabs of dark chocolate and a generous slosh of rum, then I’m definitely in the love camp; and, as a child I have fond memories of tucking into a big bowl of chopped bananas drowned in lashings of golden Bird’s Eye custard. But now, to eat a banana in its natural state really fills me with revulsion – do I sound overly dramatic? Perhaps.

On holiday in Belize recently, with my banana-a-day boyfriend, I tasted bananas full of flavour and musky sweetness, and if they weren’t served with our breakfast tropical fruit platter I queried their noticeable absence. But what sealed my reignited love was the most delicious banana bread I’d ever eaten – pleasingly moist, with an intense banana flavour and a texture; somewhere between bread and a light, fluffy cake. I requested an extra slice to make its way into our lunchboxes that day. With our stomachs rumbling, after a strenuous hike and bike ride up leg-screaming hills in the baking Belizean heat, we arrived at a jaw-dropping beautiful waterfall. We sat on some rocks, admired the beauty and ate our banana bread with smiles on our glowing faces.

Back home, I knew it would be tricky to recreate the deep banana flavour using our bland supermarket varieties, but there’s certainly no harm in trying. I think organic bananas have a better flavour, so I used these, along with creamy Brazil nuts to add a welcome crunch to the bread, and also because they seemed a more ‘tropical’ partner than, say, walnuts. I’ve used a blend of light muscovado sugar and molasses; the latter adding depth of flavour and appealing pockets of dark brown sugar throughout the bread. Using a mixture of both butter and oil gives you the best of both worlds – a bit of richness from the butter as well as extra moisture from the oil. The result was moist, moreish and utterly delicious. Was it as good as the Belizean version? Not quite, but then again, the only waterfall I can see right now is the trickling rain down the windowpane – but it tastes exceptionally good and has brought a slice of sunshine into my kitchen as well as a beaming smile to my face.

DSC_0005

3 very ripe bananas (300g peeled weight)
60g butter, melted
70ml sunflower oil
2 eggs, beaten
100g light muscovado sugar
70g molasses sugar
200g plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fine salt
60g brazil nuts, roughly chopped

  1. Grease and line a 450g/1lb loaf tin with non-stick paper, and preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.
  2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
  3. Mash two-thirds of the bananas in a medium bowl until smooth. Cut the remaining banana into small chunks and add to the bowl. Stir in the Brazil nuts and set aside.
  4. Put the sugar, eggs, oil and melted butter in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to whisk them until slightly increased in volume. Fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the banana and Brazil nut mixture until you can see no more flour.
  5. Spoon into the tin and bake for about an hour until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out on to a rack to cool completely.
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Golden beetroot seed cake

Beetroot and cardamon cake

Autumn is my favourite time of year for cooking – although all the seasons have their moments, of course. For a food lover, going to the farmer’s market at this time of the year is an exciting experience and provides an intense visual feast for the eyes as there is such an incredible array of ingredients on offer. Myriad squash varieties with their weird shapes and vibrant coloured skin, jewel-like rainbow chard, deep greens and sumptuous purples of bobbly textured kales and cavolo nero, the dazzling green of the almost genetically modified looking romanesco cauliflower … And that’s just some of the vegetables.

It was a horribly grey and damp day and I wanted to lift my spirits by baking with one of the vegetables I had bought from my recent visit to the market. If you’ve read any of my other recipes you might have picked up that I’m partial to a bit of beetroot. I had some beautiful golden beetroot in the cupboard and although I had already used some in a beetroot, feta, pear and walnut salad I wanted to use the rest in a cake. I had previously tried Nigel Slater’s chocolate and beetroot cake and thought it was heavenly but I wanted the sunshine golden colour to shine through and I didn’t want to use chocolate. I came across another of his recipes for beetroot and seed cake, which I have adapted for the recipe here.

Instead of cinnamon from the original recipe, I daringly used cardamom. I had not paired beetroot with cardamom before but thought the subtle earthiness of the beetroot and warmth of the spice would go rather well.  The aroma whilst I was baking was gorgeous and the resulting cake was beautifully moist with a satisfying crust around the outside. It had a gentle beetroot flavour with just a hint of cardamom and the flecks of seeds provided some additional texture. Lovely! It even got the thumbs up from my 13-year-old niece who had serious reservations. It definitely put a smile back on my face and the day didn’t seem so grey and miserable anymore.

Ingredients
Butter or oil, for greasing
225g self-raising flour
Half tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
Half tsp ground cardamom (approx 7 pods crushed)
180ml sunflower oil
225g light muscovado sugar
3 free-range eggs, separated
150g raw beetroot, peeled
Juice of half a lemon
75g sultanas or raisins
75g mixed seeds (such as sunflower, pumpkin and linseed)

For the icing
8 tbsp icing sugar
A little lemon juice or orange blossom water
Poppy seeds, to garnish

1. Preheat the oven at 180C/350F/Gas 4. Lightly grease a rectangular loaf tin (20cm x 9cm x 7cm) then line the base with baking parchment.
2. Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cardamom (or cinnamon).
3. Beat the oil and sugar using an electric whisk or in a food mixer until well combined, then introduce the egg yolks one by one, mixing after you add each egg yolk. Grate the beetroot coarsely and fold it into the egg mixture, then add the lemon juice, sultanas (or raisins) and the assorted seeds. Mix until combined.
4. Fold the flour and raising agents into the egg mixture whilst the machine is on a slow setting.
5. Beat the egg whites until light and almost stiff. Fold gently but thoroughly into the cake mixture, using a large metal spoon (a wooden one will knock the air out). Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 50-55 minutes, covering the top with a piece of foil after thirty minutes. Test with a skewer for doneness. The cake should be moist inside but not sticky. Leave the cake to settle for a good twenty minutes before turning out of its tin onto a wire cooling rack.
6. To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in enough lemon juice or orange blossom water to achieve a consistency where the icing will run over the top of the cake and drizzle slowly down the sides (about three teaspoonfuls), stirring to remove any lumps. Drizzle it over the cake and scatter with the poppy seeds. Leave to set before eating.

Beetroot and cardamom cake

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Xmas Eccles cakes

Xmas eccles cakes

I absolutely love Eccles cakes! In my opinion they are certainly not cakes as the name suggests but more like parcels – whatever their title they are delicious buttery flaky pastry ‘cakes’ packed with succulent currants and a joy to eat. I have come across the nickname ‘dead fly pies’ which are more than a discredit to these scrumptious cakes as they are so tasty it doesn’t really matter what they look like.

They are definitely a now-and-again treat as obviously the butter-laden pastry makes them highly fattening but Xmas time is no time to be worrying about calories. For an even more indulgent treat, I have served these as a dessert – warm from the oven and with a big dollop crème fraiche on top. Heavenly.

With Xmas fast approaching I wanted to put a Xmas spin on my Eccles cake although I’m sure purists which shriek in horror at my tampering with the recipe. The filling is more like mince pies with a hint of orange and spice and is encased in light, but butter rich, melt in the mouth flaky pastry. They are divine. Selling it to you yet? I have tried this recipe both with shop bought puff pastry and home made. Is it worth the effort? It sure is – by a long way. Making rough puff pastry might seem daunting but it really is straight forward to make. Yes, it takes a bit of time but it’s not as delicate to handle as shortcrust pastry and once you’ve got the hang of the rolling, folding and turning process you’re away. There are many recipes out there and I’ve tried a few but I would recommend following Valentine Warner’s recipe available on the BBC food website as I had good results. I used half the quantity for the Eccles cakes and froze the rest.There is also a useful video on how to make rough puff pastry here:

Why not have a go at making these instead of the usual mince pies? If you don’t want to eat them all (and there is a real danger of this!) then take them into work and I guarantee they’ll be gone in a flash to the sound of appreciative comments from your colleagues.

Makes 12

500g puff pastry
1 egg white, beaten with a fork
Caster sugar for sprinkling

Filling
50g light brown sugar
50g unsalted butter
50ml sherry or brandy
Zest 1 orange
120g currants
50g sultanas
50g raisins
30g mixed peel
50g cranberries
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground mixed spice

  1. To make the filling, melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat and add the sugar. When the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat, add the alcohol and allow to simmer for 1 minute.
  2. Pour this mixture onto the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix well to combine. Allow to cool.
  3. Roll out the puff pastry to about 1/2 cm thick and remove 12 discs using a 10cm/4 inch cutter.
  4. Place a heaped tbsp of the filling mixture into the middle of each disc. Brush water around the edge of the pastry and then gather the pastry into the middle around the filling and pinch to seal. Make sure it’s sealed well as the filling will ooze out.
  5. Turn the sealed parcel over and shape it into an oval using your hands and then gently flatten. Put each one in the fridge as you go along so the pastry doesn’t get too sticky.
  6. Cut each cake diagonally a few times and place on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Then brush the egg white all over the top of the cake and sprinkle with caster sugar.
  7. Bake them in a pre-heated oven at 200/390F/gas mark 6 for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack (although they are delicious still warm from the oven) and devour at the earliest opportunity with a nice cup of tea.
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Fennel seed soda bread rolls

fennel soda bread

Soda bread is so easy and quick to make – it requires no kneading and or yeast. I made it to particularly go with some home smoked mackerel pate but it’s great just with a smothering of butter or plain served alongside soups, such as the ultra comforting cullen skink – a recipe for cold, dark nights during winter though and not for a gloriously sunny day like today. I like to use a stoneground flour by Bacheldre Watermill which is perfect for soda bread as it has such a full flavour. The key to good soda bread is to handle it as little as possible. Some recipes say to knead gently for one minute but once I’ve added the buttermilk then I just bring it together, ensuring all the ingredients are combined well and shape as quickly as possible. The recipe is adapted from Delicious magazine, where I have added all buttermilk instead of a mix of both buttermilk and milk. I have also added fennel seeds instead of the suggested rolled oats.

Makes 12 small rolls
15 minutes prep, 20-25 minutes cooking

Ingredients
300g plain white flour
300g stoneground wholemeal flour
400ml buttermilk
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp runny honey
1 heaped tbsp fennel seeds, and extra for sprinkling

  1. Pre-heat oven to 200C / gas 6 / 400F.
  2. Sieve the white flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Add the stoneground flour, fennel seeds and salt. Mix to combine.
  3. Create a well in the centre and add the buttermilk gradually, as you may not need it all. It should be soft and sticky but not so much that you can’t handle it.
  4. Divide into equal sized portions. To shape the rolls into rounds then cup your hand over the piece of dough and use circular motions whilst pressing down gently.
  5. Put the rolls onto a lightly floured baking tray and brush with a little milk. Sprinkle over some more fennel seeds and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden. Test to see if they’re cooked by tapping underneath – it should produce a hollow sound. Leave to cool on a wire rack.