Baking Bo

Last night, my friends Gail, Kitty & I did a seven mile walk, at Midnight to raise money for St Catherine's Hospice. Needless to say afterwards we were very tired and went straight to bed after. This morning, I woke up to a lovely family brunch with coffee and this brioche my Dad made for me.  Ingredients for the brioche 250g white bread flour 5g salt 30g caster sugar 7g yeast 150g egg (about 3) 20ml milk 125g unsalted butter For the filling 5 tbsp smooth peanut butter 4 tbsp apricot jam 100g milk chocolate, finely chopped 1 egg yolk Method 1. Place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast into the bowl of a freestanding mixer and mix together. Beat the eggs with the milk, add to the bowl. Knead for 15 minutes, until the dough becomes stretchy.  2. Slowly add the butter piece by piece, mixing still on medium. This should take about 5 minutes. When done, allow the mixer to continue for another 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth, silky and very strechy. Place the ...

Today I baked my version of The Baker Chick's Raspberry Swirled Lemon Cheesecake bars! You can find her original recipe here: http://www.the-baker-chick.com/2014/02/raspberry-swirled-lemon-cheesecake-bars/  Ingredients for the base 165g crushed digestive biscuits 100g very soft butter For the filling 450g cream cheese 100g caster sugar 2 tbsp lemon juice zest of a lemon 4 tbsp milk 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract For the topping 120g raspberries 30g caster sugar Method 1. Preheat the oven to 160 fan. Line an 8x8inch tray with baking paper. 2. Mix the digestives and butter together. Pour into the prepared tin and press down. Bake for 10-15 minutes until set around the edge. 3. Meanwhile, beat the sugar and cream cheese together. Add the lemon juice, zest, milk, eggs and vanilla. Spread over the baked base. 4. Blend the raspberries and press through a sieve. Stir in the sugar.  5. Drizzle the raspberry mix over the filling and use a skewer to swirl or feat...

As you may have seen, I have been posting smoothie recipes lately. I recently borrowed Dale Pinnock's cook book, 'The Medicinal Chef' from my local library and he has some excellent smoothie recipes. This one has a very special ingredient... CACAO!  Cacao is the botanical name for the nut from which chocolate is made. It is one of the most nutrient-rich foods on the planet. In it's raw, unprocessed form it has over 1500 beneficial compounds. Once processed into ordinary cocoa powder, only FIVE remain, the main one being caffeine!  Cacao is very high in mineral magnesium which encourages relaxation. It has two powerful compounds that can effect mind and mood and it is a stimulant but has less of a "burn out" effect than caffeine.  Ingredients 250ml milk  1 banana 2 tablespoons cacao (or cocoa powder if you can't find cacao!) 2 teaspoons honey Method 1. Put all the ingredients in a blender and process to make a thick, chocolaty smoothie and enjo...

I saw a picture of this recipe on John Whaite's Twitter page and couldn't wait to make it! The strawberries I used were hand picked by my family in the local strawberry field! Ingredients for shortbread 55g caster sugar 125g salted butter 180g plain flour For the filling 500g tub mascarpone cheese 150g icing sugar Zest of 2 lemons 50ml cherry brandy Punnet of strawberries Icing sugar to dust Method 1.To make the shortbread place the ingredients into a food processor fitted with blade and blitz together until a smooth dough forms. Flatten into a disc and wrap in cling and refrigerate for a good 30 minutes. 2. Preheat the oven to 180c fan. When the dough is chilled roll it out on a well floured worktop and cut into disks (about 16) using the circle cookie cutter. Place these on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or until gently browned. Allow to cool on the baking sheet to crisp. 3. For the filling, gently beat together the ingredients until smooth b...

Last night, I had a few old friends over & made them dinner. All recipes were from the Sainsbury's magazine, including this one!  Ingredients for cake 200g soft unsalted butter 175g light muscavado sugar 150g honey 275g self raising flour 2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp cinnamon 4 large eggs 100g creme fraiche  For the icing 200g full fat cream cheese 100g creme fraiche  50g soft unsalted butter 150g icing sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 tbsp honey 2 peaches Method 1. Preheat the oven to 180 fan. Lightly butter and line a 20cmx30cm tin. In a large bowl, mix all the cake ingredients together.  2. Bake for 25 minutes, cover with foil for the final 15, so 40 minutes total. Cool in the tin and then turn it out on to a wire rack.  3. For the icing, whisk all the ingredients together until light and fluffy. Spread over the cake. Drizzle with honey and roasted peaches.  It was the perfect pudding for a summer evening! X Bo

To celebrate my blog reaching 6000 views, I decided to create a very special recipe: Celebration Fruit Tart! It's perfect for any special summer event and totally delicious! Ingredients for pastry 250g plain flour 125g unsalted butter, cut into cubes 75g caster sugar 2 egg yolks a few drops of water For filling 250g mascarpone  50g icing sugar For decoration 23 raspberries 6 strawberries 15 grapes 12 chunks of mango 1 tbsp apricot jam Method 1. Place the flour and butter in a large bowl. Rub together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix together. Add the egg yolks and mix again, add a little water if necessary to bring the dough together. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.  2. Take the pastry out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. Roll out between two pieces of greaseproof paper. Transfer to the tart tin. Chill for 30 minutes. 3. Preheat the oven to 170 (fan.) Line the tin with greasep...

This morning, quite by chance, I created a wonderful smoothie! I was really just trying to use up some fruit that was about to over and the combination worked really well. This makes for one generous serving or two small ones. Ingredients 1 banana 1 ripe peach a handful of strawberries 1 glass of apple juice Method 1. Prepare all the fruit, washing, peeling, etc. 2. Put all the ingredients into a blender and blitz for 30 seconds. 3. Serve chilled! Didn't think to take a proper photo of this, just this silly one!  Soon I will do a masterpost of all my smoothie recipes. I made a super yummy, very healthy green smoothie (very trendy!) which I will post the recipe for soon, promise! X Bo

I saw this recipe on Audra Fullerton's blog, here's a link! http://www.the-baker-chick.com/2014/04/mini-vanilla-bean-strawberry-layer-cakes/  Audra's recipe gives quantities for 5 cakes and enough frosting for 2, in American measurements.  Here, I'm listing the quantities for 6 cakes, all frosted, in English measurements! I made these for a girls night. I made 6, one each for all of us. I made them with a 4inch cutter and they were MASSIVE! A smaller cutter might be better...  Audra used slices of strawberries in her cakes, but I used jam instead!  Ingredients for cakes 360g caster sugar 216g soft butter 4 eggs 3 1/2 tsp vanilla paste/extract 345g plain flour 3 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 350ml For frosting 500g butter 550g icing sugar 3 tsp vanilla paste/extract 3 splashes of milk 4 strawberries 12 tsp strawberry jam Method   1. Preheat the oven to 175. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. 2. Cream the caster sugar and butter ...