Adaptation of a Classic: Carnation Millionaire's Shortbread (Metric Measurements)

 Every so often, I take one of my tried and tested recipes and wonder does it need tweaking. So, this revamp is a good old English tea time treat: Millionaire's Shortbread!

For those from outside the Celtic Isles who don't know what Millionaire's shortbread is, it's a layer of plain shortbread biscuit, covered in a layer of caramel, and then topped off with a layer of chocolate.

Getting caramel just right is a challenge: do I need a thermometre? Do I need to water test it? How long does it need to cook for? It's finicky. I personally like a caramel that's creamy and smooth, more like an icing or filling consistency rather than a sugary, chewy caramel. For this, you need a caramel recipe that has just enough sugar to set it, and enough fat to keep the creamy mouthfeel. That's a difficult balance to strike.

To make my life easier, I thought I'd consult the leading authority on how to make good caramel for millionaire's shortbread: Carnation UK.

The Carnation UK website gives an excellent recipe for this shortbread, and the caramel recipe it gave was far too sweet for me! I tried halving the sugar, and it was perfect. Smooth and creamy, with just enough sugar to hold it together. The secret to this delicious caramel is condensed milk, and a lot of it: for one 8 inch (20 centimetre) square tray, you need an entire can, which is 14 ounces (400 grammes).

Another tweak I made was the base: the Carnation recipe suggests a crushed digestive biscuit base, like a cheesecake. I decided to make a shortbread base from scratch. I accidentally overcooked it, which it why it didn't cut properly. Oops.

So, here is my adapted version of Carnation UK's millionaire's shortbread recipe. Because it's an adaptation, I prepared it using the metric measurements given in the original: I thought it only made sense. There are, however, Imperial conversions.

Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

DIFFICULTY
Each technique is very simple, but there are a few steps

TIME

About an hour

RECIPE RATING

Easy!

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

For shortbread

225 grammes (8 ounces) plain white spelt flour

75 grammes (2⅔ ounces) rolled oats

200 grammes (7 ounces) very cold salted butter, or margarine, cut into cubes

100 grammes (3½ ounces) light brown soft sugar

For caramel

One 397 gramme (14 ounce) can condensed milk

150 grammes (5⅓ ounces) unsalted butter

75 grammes (2⅔ ounces) light brown soft sugar

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence

Salt, to taste

For chocolate topping

100 grammes (3½ ounces) dark chocolate

100 grammes (3½ ounces) milk chocolate

2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) sunflower oil

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

METHOD

• Grease and line a 20 centimetre (8 inch) square tin with non-stick baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4).
• In a food processor, pulse the flour, oats, and sugar together to combine. Add the butter and pulse on an off until you have a dry and crumbly mixture. The butter should be almost completely mixed in. If you don't have a food processor, you can rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers, leaving the oats whole.
• Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and press in. Bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 15 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown. Once cooked, remove from the oven and place the tray on a wire rack.
• As soon as the shortbread is cooked, prepare the caramel: put all the caramel ingredients, except for the vanilla essence and salt, into a heavy based saucepan. Cook over medium heat until it boils, then boil gently for about 5 or so minutes. The mixture should thicken and turn a shade darker.

Before cooking

After cooking

• Pour the caramel mixture onto the still-hot shortbread. If you put the caramel on the biscuit while both are still warm, they will stick together better.
• Once you've made the caramel, make the topping: melt the milk and dark chocolate separately with a tablespoon of oil each. You can melt in the microwave, or in a basin over hot water.
• When the caramel has set on the surface, which will take about 5 minutes, pour the melted chocolates on top and swirl to your liking.
• Allow to cool completely, which will take about an hour, before chilling in the fridge for 2 hours before cutting and serving.

THIS TIME IN 2015: Banoffee Pie (Wheat Free)

THIS TIME IN 2013: Classic Boston Brownies (and a simple formula for great chocolate glaze)

There was no blog at this time in 2017, 2016, nor 2014.

Madeira Cake, Two Ways! A Traditional English Tea Time Treat

👻 ❤ HAPPY WORLD GOTH DAY EVERYONE! ❤ 👻

I had had another recipe planned for today, but unfortunately it went horribly wrong and went into the bin. Oh well, these things happen! I can't get it right all the time. However, a cake with eyes is spooky enough to qualify for a Goth cake....

So you hopefully have seen my most recent pride and joy—the Polish style loaf cake with eyes—and it relies on using a nice firm cake like a Madeira or Pound cake. As such, I thought I'd share with you my preferred recipe for a nice close-textured but surprisingly light cake.

It is commonly believed that Madeira cake is an invention of Portugal, where the Madeira Islands are: old wives tales will tell you that England imported the confection from their longest standing ally during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. However, this is incorrect: Madeira cake is simple an eggier version of a traditional English pound cake, and got its name because it was frequently served as an accompaniment to Madeira wine at afternoon tea.

Madeira cake can be made in two ways: using a meringue base, or by creaming the butter. Either way works, but if you're going to use the creamed method I strongly recommend using margarine: it emulsifies a lot better than butter.

This cake can be made into a loaf cake, or this amount will also fit in an 8 inch (22 centimetre) round deep tin. If you make a round cake, split it in half, and make it into a sandwich with strawberry jam and cream, you'll make a wonderful Victoria Sandwich. Just remember to dust with icing sugar!

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

DIFFICULTY

Requires gradually adding ingredients while whisking

TIME

Roughly 1½ hours

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

2 medium (US Large) eggs, at room temperature

4 ounces (115 grammes, half a cup) unsalted butter or block margarine, at room temperature. For a cake with more moisture, you can replace a quarter of the butter with sunflower oil

6 ounces (170 grammes, three-quarters of a cup) caster sugar

6 ounces (170 grammes, one-and-a-half cups) plain white spelt flour

1½ teaspoons (7 mililitres) baking powder

3 fluid ounces (90 millilitres, one-third cup plus one tablespoon) milk

Pinch of salt

METHOD

• Grease and flour a 2 pound (900 gramme) loaf tin very well and dust it with flour. If you like, you can line the bottom with non-stick baking paper. Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F, Gas Mk.3).
• Prepare the cake to one of the methods below, and put the mixture into the loaf tin. Smooth out the top as best you can, and bake on the centre shelf for 45 minutes to an hour. Check for doneness after 45 minutes, but no sooner.
• Once cooked, allow to cool slightly on a wire rack in the tin for about 15 minutes before turning out of the tin and returning to the wire rack to cool completely.

Method 1: Meringue Based Method (Traditional)

One of the earliest published recipes was by Eliza Acton in her Modern Cookery for Private Families (1845), which stated:

"A Good Madeira Cake: Whisk four fresh eggs until they are as light as possible, then, continuing still to whisk them, throw by slow degrees the following ingredients in the order in which they are written: six ounces of dry pounded and sifted sugar; six of flour, also dried and sifted; four ounces of butter just dissolved, but not heated; the rind of a fresh lemon; and the instant before the cake is moulded beat well in the third of a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda: bake an hour in a moderate oven."

This recipe makes a cake that's very heavy on the eggs, and the problem with eggy cakes is that if they don't rise properly they can taste like omelette. Also, I personally find it easier to whisk eggs to full capacity if they're separated first, then mixed back together: whisking whole eggs alone can take an age, as the fat in the yolks interferes with the aeration of the protein in the whites.

Below, is my adaptation of the traditional recipe. You'll probably have noticed I quite frequently do meringue- or sabayon based sponge cakes, because getting full and proper aeration in a creamed butter mixture can take a lot of practise.

Instructions

• Set out a sheet of non-stick baking paper, and sieve the flour, baking powder, and salt out onto the paper. Set aside for later.
• In a a heatproof bowl over warm water, or in a jug in the microwave on the "Defrost" setting, heat together the milk and butter until melted, but not hot. Stir in half of the sugar, and set aside to cool completely.
• Separate the egg, and put the whites into a large mixing bowl. Stir the yolks into the melted butter mixture.
• Whisk the eggs to soft peaks, and then gradually add in the remaining sugar to make a stiff meringue.
• Take a spoon of the meringue and stir it into the melted butter to lighten it, then add that mixture back into the mixing bowl. Fold through gently but quickly with a metal spoon.
• Pour the flour back into the sieve, and sieve it into the bowl. Fold again gently but thoroughly until you have a batter of soft-dropping consistency

Method 2: Creamed Butter Method (Modern)

Every baker started with a good old pound cake recipe: quarter pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and self-raising flour mixed together with an electric mixer. The all in one method is very good for beginners, but runs the risk of being uneven or over-mixed, and the longer method of creaming the butter and sugar together and adding the egg gradually runs of the risk of splitting or curdling.

I personally have found the best way to avoid curdling of the butter and eggs is to use margarine, not butter: margarine contains emulsifiers that help bind the eggs and butter together. Also, when adding the egg, it's best to focus the beaters only on the area where the eggs are until it's completely emulsified, before running the beater around the whole bowl.

Instructions

• Set out a sheet of non-stick baking paper, and sieve the flour, baking powder, and salt out onto the paper. Set aside for later.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together very well for a full two to three minutes, until light and fluffy.
• Beat the eggs together in a jug, and add the egg to the butter mixture in 4 additions, beating well after each. As I explained earlier: focus your beaters on the butter surrounding the egg until completely mixed before running the beater around the whole bowl to mix the whole thing together.
• Sieve in a third of the flour and fold in gently but quickly until mixed. Fold in half the milk in the same way. Alternate the rest of the flour and milk, finishing with the flour.

THIS TIME IN 2017: Happy World Goth Day! (Goth Fairy Cakes)
THIS TIME IN 2015: Super Moist and Rich Chocolate Cake
THIS TIME IN 2013: Coconut Custard Creams (Wheat Free)
There were no blogs at this time in 2014 nor 2016.

Cake for Aimée: Madeira Loaf with Strawberry "Eyes" (Warning: Long Post)

On this wonderful day before World Goth Day, I present to you a cake that's been weeks in the making: Madeira Loaf Cake... with Spooky Eyes!

A few weeks ago, I began to make videos again for my YouTube channel. Normally when I do a video (although life has been a bit hectic recently so I've not done one for a while; I'd better correct that) I finish with an invitation for suggestions or questions. After I released a cake review video, I got a message from a friend of mine, named Aimée, who is currently travelling Southeast Asia. Our conversation went a little something like this:

"My Nannie used to buy this cake when we were younger but I thinks it’s been discontinued for a good while now, and I thought who’d be there most likely person to know about it: you my cake guru friend"

I was flattered to be referred to as a "cake guru", so I continued reading:

"It was a rectangle log, with shiny green-black wrapper, the inside was Madeira and the outside had a light layer of chocolate covering the whole thing. And through the middle were two strips of limey jelly so when you cut into it the line bit almost looked like eyes.

It was utterly delish but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was called and I've been trying for weeks to remember!"

After posting this question into a few baking groups on social media, and doing a bit of scratching around on Google, I came to a possible answer. After Aimée and I conversed back and forth, we came to the conclusion that the cake her Nan used to buy must have been this:

From my research I discovered that these kinds of cakes are very common on the continent, and used to be found here in Ireland in the Polish goods aisle of most large supermarkets: Aimée told me her Nan used to get hers in Supervalu. However, she was right in her assumption that this cake is now discontinued: I could not for the life of me find a cake like this in the Irish supermarkets, or the Eastern European supermarkets here in Limerick.

Because I couldn't get a hold of the actual cake itself, I had to do all of my investigation from photographs of the outer packaging, promotional photos of the cake itself on the company website, and from other people's blogs where they reviewed the cake.

I must have made about six versions of this cake (nearly all of which ended up in the food processor to be reincarnated as cake pops), and I tried loads of methods to get the two channels of jelly into the cake: I tried baking the cake with the jam in it with raw jam and cake, I tried freezing the jam into logs first and then baking it into the cake - some dusted with flour, some not - I tried baking half of the cake then adding the jam and the remaining cake mixture on the top to prevent to jam sinking. None of these worked, as each time the jam sank to the bottom, or there was a seam where the two cake halves met.

Then, on closer inspection of the photographs, the answer became clearer: the cakes were injected with jam filling. In the factory, the cakes must be stabbed with a double injection nozzle. Of course! It's so simple; and here was I making it unnecessarily complicated.

Here, you can see the difference between baking the jam in (left), and injecting is afterwards (right):

Of course, no-one has an industrial injection nozzle in their home, so the way I found to mimic it is to poke a channel, or two, all the way through the cake with a chopstick, widen it with the handle of a wooden spoon, and then squeeze the jam in with a piping bag. Make sure to make the opening of the piping bag quite narrow, and if needs be you can coax the jam all the way in using the chopstick.

I used raspberry jam which I had thickened with a little cornflour, as directed in my Bakewell Gateau recipe, and am still working on how to make a kiwi version as I've never, ever seen kiwi jam. I may just have to make it myself. I tried making a version using kiwi jelly crystals, but it was a miserable failure as the cake soaked up all the liquid jelly; you need to use something with a thicker consistency to prevent soakage, and you need a cake with a fairly dense texture, like a Madeira cake or a pound cake.

So, let me explain how I did it:

INGREDIMENTS

1 loaf-shaped Madeira or pound cake, made in a two-pound (1 kilogram) loaf tin, or shopbought

Roughly 4 ounces (115 grammes) filling of your choice: strawberry or any other jam, lemon curd, Nutella, custard, etc.

About 4 or 6 ounces (115 to 170 grammes) glaze of your choice: glacé icing, melted chocolate, etc.

METHOD

• Take your completely cooled homemade or shopbought cake and chill it for about 20 minutes to make it easier to work with.
• Because this cake will be served upside down, cut the dome off the cake so it will sit flat. If the two short ends are sloped, cut a narrow slice of each end to make them completely flat.
• Turn the cake up on its narrow end and using a chopstick, poke channels gently through the middle of the cake to resemble two eyes. Widen the channels by going through them again with the handle of a wooden spoon.
• Fit a piping bag with a narrow round nozzle - or better, an injection nozzle (don't worry, this isn't an affiliate link: it's just a link for visual reference) - and pipe the filling into the channels. To get the most filling in, you might have to fill from both ends and coax it down with the end of the chopstick.
• Pop into the fridge again for about 30 minutes to help set the filling.
• To decorate, glaze with some simple glacé icing, or with melted chocolate. I used a simple glaze of dark chocolate and sunflower oil.

STORAGE

This cake is best stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week, but is best served at room temperature. For that reason, I recommend taking the cake out of the fridge an hour before serving.

THIS TIME IN 2016: Mocha Cupcakes: Chocolate and Coffee Join Forces (Gluten Free; Dairy Free Option)

THIS TIME IN 2013: Bake Sale Madness: Raising Funds for Christian Aid

There were no blogs on this day in 2017, 2015, nor 2014.

"How do I make dairy-free milk?": Maple Pecan Milk

"How do I make a milk alternative using nuts? Shop bought ones are too expensive."

"I can't find nut milks in my local shop. How do I make my own?"

I have a lot of lactose intolerant friends, and know a lot of lactose intolerant people: they all tend to drink some kind of nut-based milk alternative, most commonly almond. If you compare the prices of cow's milk and nut milks, however, you'll find that the nut milks are about twice as expensive and filled with ingredients you can't pronounce. This inspired me to see if I can make it myself at home.

There are hundreds of tutorials online, but all of them are American and measure everything in cups. In Ireland, people tend to measure things in grams, which is much more accurate and repeatable, yielding the same results each time. To make a nice, creamy nut milk, the ratio is:

1 part (weight) of nuts : 5 parts (weight) of water
Note: water has a density of 1:1, so if you measure a 100ml of water it will weigh a 100g

All you need to do is soak the nuts in the hot water for at least 4 hours, and then blend it up. And to separate the nut sediment from the milk all you need is a clean cotton sock: no need for any fancy equipment! However, if you do have a nut-milk bag, feel free to use it.

When you make your own milk, you can also experiment with flavours and start coming up with interesting summery drinks! If you want slightly thinner milk, just add water until it's how you like it.

This drink is inspired by the Mexican agua fresca known as "horchata", which is a refreshing drink made with long grain rice and almonds, and flavoured with cinnamon. I decided to make an American style drink using that all familiar flavour combination of maple syrup and pecan nuts, which you'll probably have noticed I seem to have a little bit of a fascination with if you've been reading this blog for a while!

Please note: because homemade nut milk doesn't contain any thickeners or stabilisers, if will separate when you keep it in the fridge. This isn't a problem, simply stir before serving.

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

DIFFICULTY

Requires using a blender

TIME

About 5 hours, mostly waiting time

RECIPE RATING

Easy!

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

4 ounces (115 grammes) walnuts

4 ounces (115 grammes) pecans

2 UK pints (1⅕ US quarts, 1135 millilitres) hot water

Salt, to taste

2 or 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 millilitres) maple syrup, or maple flavoured golden syrup

Ice, to serve

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

METHOD

• In the jug of your blender or in a large glass jug, add in the nuts and cover with the hot water. Cover with a tea towel, and soak for 4 hours, or overnight for a richer flavour.
• When the nuts have finished soaking, blend them on high speed until completely smooth.
• Strain the mixture through a clean cotton sock, or a nut milk bag if you have such fancy equipment, into a jug and then squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the sock. If you blend it well enough, and squeeze it well enough you'll get all 2 UK pints (1⅕ US quarts, 1135 millilitres) of water back as milk.
• Season with salt to make it taste creamier. I find a pinch for each half pint (1¼ cups, 280 millilitres) of drink. Add maple syrup to taste: I like mine to taste as naturally sweet as possible, so I use only a tablespoon (15 millilitres) of syrup, but if you want a sweeter drink add more.
• Chill until completely cold before serving. and serve over ice.

STORAGE

Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, and stir every time before serving

THIS TIME IN 2017: Kitchen Experiment: DIY Bundt Tin

THIS TIME IN 2013: Jammie Dodgers (or Linzer Biscuits) (Wheat Free)

There were no blogs at this time in 2014, 2015, nor 2016.

Zesteratops: the Return of the Novelty Dinnersaurus!

Say hello to Zesteratops!

When I launched my blog back in 2013, I made a dinosaur shaped cake for my mother's birthday that year. It's my blog's most popular blog post, racking up over 1000 views so far!

As such, I thought an update of my technique was well overdue. I'm not really a novelty cake person, which you could probably tell from the fact that I've only ever done a 3D dinosaur and a 3D panda cake in the past. However, my attitude towards novelty cakes has been changing: recently my parents decided to foster an eleven year old boy, and having a child in the family again really changes to chemistry of family gatherings! (He actually named this cake: I was originally going to call it Lemonpleurodon)

Mum loves lemon or orange flavour cakes, and the previous dinnersaurus was orange flavoured so this time I went for lemon. I also decided to decorate with buttercream rather than fondant. I absolutely hate working with fondant, but I used it to design the details, like the back sails, tail spikes, eyes, and smiling face.

This project is very time consuming: from the moment I started mixing the cake, to the moment I put on the last tail spike, it took 6 hours. So keep this in mind when you go to make it!

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

DIFFICULTY

Requires cake shaping and novelty decorating

TIME

About 6 hours

RECIPE RATING

Needs experience

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

To make a dinosaur cake that will serve 16 to 20 people

One deep 9 inch (23 centimetre) round lemon flavoured cake

Some rolling fondant (sugarpaste) icing, to make decorative details

Food colouring

For the lemon curd

1 medium egg

4 teaspoons (20 millilitres) cornflour

2 large lemons

4 ounces (115 grammes) caster sugar

2 ounces (55 grammes) unsalted butter

Pinch or two of salt

For the icing

5 ounces (140 grammes) unsalted butter

5 ounces (140 grammes) Greek yoghurt

5 ounces (140 grammes) caster sugar

Zest of 1 lemon, see Method

10 ounces (280 grammes) white chocolate

Two pinches of salt

Yellow food colouring

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

METHOD

• Before assembly, prepare the icing and the lemon curd. This recipe makes twice as much lemon curd as you need, so you can use the remainder for another project.

To make the lemon curd

• Zest the two lemons, and place the zest of one of the lemons into a measuring jug. Use the zest of the other lemon for the icing later.
• Into the jug, squeeze the two lemons and then top up with water to make 8 fluid ounces (240 millilitres) of liquid.
• In a small saucepan, blend the cornflour, sugar, and egg. Slowly mix in the diluted lemon juice until you have a fully combined mixture.
• Cook the mixture over medium high heat, mixing constantly, until it comes to the boil. Boil for a full minute or so until thickened and it loses some of its opacity.
• Sieve the mixture into a bowl, and then mix in the butter and a pinch of salt. To make the lemon curd taste richer, you might need to add an extra pinch of salt.
• Allow to cool to room temperature before covering with cling film, making sure the film touches the curd, and chilling in the fridge for about an hour.

While the curd is cooling, make the icing

• Follow the instructions in my Simnel cake recipe to make the icing, including the lemon zest in the cooked yoghurt and sugar mixture and omitting the lemon juice. Allow to cool as instructed.
• Tint the icing a pale yellow colour to represent the lemon flavour. Or, you can make it any summery colour you like.

Assembly

• Take the cake, and cut it in half horizontally. Don't cut off the dome: you'll need that to help the shape of the dinosaur.
• Cut each half in half vertically. Now you will have 4 semicircles: two flat ones, and two with domes.
• Take the two domed semicircles and sandwich a flat semicircle between them. Use lemon curd to secure the shapes together.

• Take the remaining flat semicircle and cut it into thirds. You will have two rounded shapes, and one long, rectangular shape. The rectangular shape will be used later for the tail.
• Take the two rounded pieces and sandwich them together with the lemon curd to make the head.

• You now have a body piece, a head piece, and a tail piece. Secure all the elements together as shown using some icing, and then trim the cake to make it more dinosaur shaped.
• After all the cutting and trimming, you'll have roughly 4 ounces (115 grammes) of cake trimmings. Use these and some more lemon curd to make some cake truffle mixture, and use this to make some legs. If you don't have enough cake crumbs to make all four legs, just make two legs and form the remaining legs out of fondant.

• Fix the legs to the body with icing, cover the entire cake in a crumb coat, and then chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes before decorating however you like! I used a petal piping technique to make scales, but you could use fondant if you like.

THIS TIME IN 2017: American Style: Chocolate Fudge Tart
THIS TIME IN 2016: Chocolate Biscuit Cake, a.k.a: Rocky Road
THIS TIME IN 2015: Zingy Lemon Gâteau (Wheat Free)
THIS TIME IN 2013: Experiment: Homemade Sprinkles
There was no blog on this day in 2014.