Baking Bo

I was inspired by my lovely friend Barinder aka  The Baking Londoner  to make some Madeleines after she shared some Pistachio ones she had on her Instagram . I have adapted my old faithful Madeleine recipe, which is a Rick Stein one that I saw him make on his French Odyssey program when I was 12. Back in 2005, no one really knew what Madeleines were, so finding a tray was a bit of a mission. My Dad, who worked in London at the time, scoured the city to find one, and this is the one I still use to this day.  Ingredients: 3 eggs 100g caster sugar zest of 1/2 lemon 100g melted butter 100g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tbsp honey 120g white chocolate freeze dried raspberries Method: 1. Put the eggs and sugar together in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until thick and mousse-like.  2. Add the lemon zest, flour and baking powder and fold in using a metal spoon. Add the melted butter and honey, then transfer the mixture to the fridge to thicken for 15 minutes....

As it's Burns Night tomorrow, I thought I would share this traditional Shortbread recipe for those who wish to celebrate!  Ingredients: 250g plain flour 75g caster sugar 175g butter Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 160/140 fan. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. 2. Using a food processor, mix the flour, sugar and butter together until it forms a smooth dough-like-paste.  3. Roll the dough out into a rectangle and either cut into fingers and decorate with fork markings or use a cookie cutter to cut out your desired shape. Place onto the baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes until pale and slightly golden. 

After seeing this recipe on Bake Off, I knew I wanted to give it a go. I had the luxury of time the day I made it, so I followed the recipe really carefully and took my time following each step meticulously. The recipe I used was Paul Hollywood's  and I was really pleased with the result. The bread is light and fluffy. The chocolate is sweet and the nuts add lovely texture.  Ingredients for the filling: 65g blanched hazelnuts 100g unsalted butter       150g caster sugar 80g dark chocolate 40g cocoa powder Ingredients for the dough: 275g plain flour 5g yeast 25g caster sugar 1/2 tsp salt 2 eggs, beaten 50ml milk 80g butter, cubed and softened  Ingredients for the syrup: 100g caster sugar 100ml water Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 200/180 fan.  2. Put the hazelnuts onto a baking tray and roast in the oven for 4-5 minutes until golden brown. Tip onto a chopping board, leave to cool, then roughly chop and set to one side. Turn off the oven.  3. To mak...

Happy Veganuary! I wanted to share a recipe for anyone taking part in Veganuary this month! This recipe was recommended to me by my wonderful friend Kitty. It's Pret's Vegan Dark Chocolate and Almond Cookie recipe . She and her lovely partner Henry  (who is very clever and has written a  book! ) made them a LOT during Lockdown 1.0. Her advice was to follow the recipe exactly as they don't work as well otherwise. I was surprised how precise the measurements were but when I tried them, they worked!  Ingredients: 43g caster sugar 112g soft light brown sugar  4g salt 40g flaked almonds, lightly smashed 112g vegan dark chocolate, in pieces 205g plain flour 20g cocoa powder 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 65g coconut oil, melted  72g almond butter 100g golden syrup 40ml water Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 180 ° . Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.  2. Put the caster sugar, light brown sugar, salt, almond pieces, chocolate pieces, flour, cocoa powder ...

So, this isn't really a recipe... It's more instructions on how to assemble something that other people have done all the hard work for and you get to take the credit!  Ingredients: 250g puff pastry  250g sausage meat 1 egg, beaten Method: 1. Preheat your oven to 200/180 fan. Line a baking tray with silver foil. 2. Lightly flour your surface and roll out the pastry unto a long narrow rectangle.  3. Shape your sausage meat into a log and place down the middle of your rectangle.  4. Brush the sides of the pastry with beaten egg and tightly fold over the sausage filling.  5. Once neatly rolled, cut into 4 and place on the prepared baking tray. Make little slashes on top of each sausage roll and brush with more egg. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. 

Hello! Welcome to 2021! I took a little bit of a break from posting here after the #12BakesofChristmas series ended. I was so so happy with how it all went but I was quite creatively drained afterwards. So I took a bit of a break but now I'm back!  The first recipe I wanted to share this year is Snickerdoodles! I have shared these once before back in 2013, but thought they could do with an upgrade! I posted an IGTV of how to make them over on my @baking.bo Instagram so please pop over and have a look! Ingredients for the cookies 225g butter 268g granulated sugar 1 large egg 2 tsp vanilla extract 384g plain flour 2 tsp baking powder 2 and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp salt For the topping 50g granulated sugar 1 tsp ground cinnamon Method 1. Preheat the oven to 170 fan. Line two baking trays with baking paper. 2. For the topping, mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. 3. To make the cookies, put the butter into a large bowl and cream until smooth. Add the sugar and mi...