Taste of Thailand: Pink Milk Bread (Dairy and Egg Free; Wheat Free Option)

กินให้อร่อยนะ!

For the first installment in my new series, Taste of Thailand, I have some delicious pink milk bread.

I don't know any Thai apart from "Sawasadee ka" and "Kop khun ka", but I do know that I absolutely loved the squishy, fluffy, pink milk bread available in 7-Eleven shops all over Bangkok and Pattaya!

This is simply a Hokkaido milk bread that's flavoured mildly with "pink milk": pink milk could either be a Thai beverage of milk and sala syrup, which is also called snake fruit syrup; or simply strawberry milk. I haven't found the answer to which one it is yet, so I use strawberry syrup because sala syrup is hard to find, expensive, and I don't want a whole bottle for one experiment.

This bread is very sweet, and would make lovely Japanese fruit and cream sandwiches. If you don't want it as sweet, leave out some of the sugar. The dough is a little fiddly too, but persevere and you'll get a fabulous, fluffy, soft bread.

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DIFFICULTY

Requires kneading a very sticky dough

TIME

Over 4 hours

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate/Advanced

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INGREDIMENTS

12 ounces (340 grammes) strong white bread flour, at least 11.5% protein*

2¼ teaspoons (1 sachet) active yeast

1 ounce (30 grammes) caster sugar
1 ounce (30 millilitres) sunflower oil

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) salt

1 fluid ounce (30 millilitres) strawberry syrup, made up to 8 fluid ounces (240 millilitres) with lukewarm water

Pink gel food colouring

* - You can make this using plain spelt flour, but reduce the overall strawberry water amount to 6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres)

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METHOD

First, make the dough

• In a large mixing bowl, mix half of the salt, half of the sugar, 8 ounces (225 grammes) of the flour, and the strawberry water. 
• Mix into a batter, cover the bowl with a clean tea towel, and leave in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes, or until doubled in size.
• When doubled in size, add the remaining ingredients and some pink food colouring to make a gentle rosy colour. Mix well with a wooden spoon and turn out onto an unfloured work surface.
• Knead well, scraping the dough off the surface with a plastic or silicone bench scraper. The dough will be sticky, but do not be tempted to dust the surface with flour: this will make the bread tough. Knead for 10 minutes by hand until the dough passes the windowpane test.
• Pop into a clean bowl, dust lightly with flour, and once again cover the bowl. Allow to proof in a warm place for 60 to 90 minutes, or until at least doubled in size.

Then, shape the loaf

• Once doubled in size, turn out onto a lightly floured board and deflate. Divide the dough into three by weight, and roll each piece into a tight ball.
• Take each ball and roll out into a flat rectangle. Fold into three, turn by 90 degrees, then roll flat again into a rectangle. Roll the rectangle up and pinch closed.
• Place the three bread rolls into a greased and floured 2 pound (900 gramme) loaf tin, that has been greased and floured. Cover again with a clean tea towel and allow to rise to half an inch from the lip of the pan.

Finally, bake the bread

• Preheat the oven to 180C (350F), then bake the bread in the centre of the oven, covered lightly with foil to prevent too much browning. 
• Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the loaf sounds hollow.
• Allow to cool completely before slicing to get the best texture.

THIS TIME IN PREVIOUS YEARS

2017: Valentine's Day: I ❤ Pizza! (Wheat-, Egg-, and Dairy Free Base)

2016: Yeast and Wheat Free Cinnanomnom (or just plain Cinnamon) Rolls

2015: Strawberry Crumble Bars (Wheat Free)

Traditional Amish Whoopie Pies: The Secret Is Revealed.....

Today's offering is these deliciously soft and squishy chocolate whoopie pies with their traditional whipped buttercream filling! And these cakes really taught me a huge lesson.

Now, I now I've made whoopie pies before, but this time it's different. Sometimes an old dog can learn new tricks, and sometimes a metric person can be surprised by American cups. For my entire cooking career, I have measured baking ingredients in mass (weight) measurements: pounds, ounces, kilos and grammes have been part of my everyday kitchen practise. In my opinion, the accuracy of measuring things in weight makes the recipes easily repeatable with the same results every time.... in theory.

I've always been put off cups because the idea of having to dirty a cup when one could just measure all the ingredients in the same bowl on a scale makes no sense to me. Also, every cup of flour -- no matter how carefully you try to measure the cup exactly the same way every time -- weighs differently. An Australian cup is different to an American cup, and what do you do if you don't have a set of cups?

For all of these reasons, I have spent my entire baking career avoiding them. However, from personal experience, translating or converting cup measurements to weight measurements can fail absolutely miserably.

When I decided to make these whoopie pies, I found a traditional Amish recipe and, of course, it was measured in cups. I made the recipe using cups, and it worked perfectly! As I was scooping the cups of ingredients I was weighing them exactly. Having noted how much each cup of each ingredient weighed, I noted it for perfectly replicable results! Or, so I thought.

When I made them again using my painstakingly measured weights, they were an absolute failure. I was so confused: surely, it should have worked perfectly? I did it again with the cups, again measuring the weights of the cups, and even though this times most of the weights were completely different it still turned out perfectly like the first time.

So my main take away is: if the recipe is designed for cups, use cups. And if the recipe is designed for grammes, use grammes.

I believe now, after this wonderfully humbling experiment, that weights are not the be all and end all, and that recipes should be made using the measurements they were designed with. I'm just glad I had a set of measuring cups!

For those who are interested in making these beauties, I used Family Favourite's recipe Traditional Amish Chocolate Whoopie Pies to make these. They are moist, soft, sweet, and deeply chocolatey. The addition of egg white in the icing makes it super light and fluffy. I heartily recommend this recipe! If you want plain vanilla cakes, I have discovered that simply replacing the cocoa powder cup for cup with flour works a charm.

Let's Go To The Circus! A Cupcake Design

At 28 years old, I had never (as far as I could remember) been to a circus. So my husband took me to the one that was in town this week and I had a blast! All the performers were incredible acrobats, and the clown was very sweet.

I was inspired by my time at the circus to make these cute themed cupcakes! Chocolate cakes with a mildly peanutty buttercream, topped off with a mini candy floss!

I know that circuses don't have animals anymore, but I still associate elephants and camels and that old timey sense of wonder at amazing spectacles! And because of elephants, I thought of peanuts.... thus peanut butter. Also, while at the circus I had some candy floss; yumyum!

INGREDIENTS

12 chocolate cupcakes, in pink or blue cases

6 ounces (170 grammes) salted butter

3 fluid ounces (105 millilitres) condensed milk

3 ounces (85 grammes) smooth peanut butter

12 ounces (340 grammes) icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

A few drops of almond essence

6 paper straws with pink stripes

A tub of candy floss, pink and blue

Pink and blue sprinkles

METHOD

• Make a buttercream icing with the butter, condensed milk, peanut butter, icing sugar, vanilla and almond essences. 
• Use the icing to pipe swirls on top of the cakes, and sprinkle with the blue and pink sprinkles.
• Cut the straws in half and use each half as a stick for the candy flosses: wrap pieces of candy floss around the straws and gently squeeze to secure. Keep the candy flosses in an airtight container until serving.
• Decorate the cakes with the mini candy flosses immediately before serving, not in advance, otherwise the candy flosses will melt.

Making My Own Wedding Cake, Part 2: Wedding Cake Recipe

And here it is at last: the actual recipe for the wedding cake and cupcakes! After months of planning, designing, and practicing, it finally came together.... with a few unfortunate incidents (which you can read all about in Part 1)

(I'm awaiting the professional photos: this was taken by a guest, Simon)

This recipe isn't complicated, just time consuming. I made the main cake and 120 cupcakes over the course of a few days: I can only fit 24 cakes in my oven at once, so I had to do 5 batches in total. 

I baked, cooled, and iced each two-dozen cupcakes at a time before freezing, iced and all. However, if you want to add other decorations like sprinkles, they don't freeze well at all so the cakes will have to be frozen un-iced then iced and decorated after defrosting.

I baked the Madeira cake, sliced it into layers, and then froze it in advance before completely defrosting to fill and decorate a few days before the wedding. I recommend making the cake about two days in advance to let the syrup soak in and for the whole cake to set nicely.

My husband Simon hand-painted the figurines that sat atop the cake. Despite giving the hotel instructions on how to mount them on the two provided flower nails and place them into the cake, they simply balanced the models on the cake. Next time I do a cake like this, I'll send a family member in to oversee the construction if I can't be there!

(I'm awaiting the professional photos: these were taken by a guest, Katie)

The ladybirds were bought from Lidl during their Easter season. I used them because they're black and red, like our theme colours. You could always decorate with seasonal flowers, toothpick flags, or even fondant figures or flowers.

For the cupcakes, make sure to get cases that are coloured inside and outside: some coloured cake cases are white cases that have been printed with edible ink on the outside, but better quality cases are made out of paper that is dyed which gives them a solid colour, inside and out. SuperValu sells them in packs of 50, and as of writing this they cost €2 a pack. Or, buy Culpitt brand cases online from Amazon or eBay.

INGREDIMENTS
There are many, many ingredients

Lemon Cupcakes

For 2 dozen cupcakes

5 eggs, at room temperature

10 ounces (285 grammes) caster sugar

5 ounces (140 grammes) sunflower oil

2 teaspoons vanilla essence, or 1 teaspoon of vanilla pod paste

10 drops almond essence

Grated zest of half a large lemon

5 tablespoons (75 millilitres) milk

10 ounces (285 grammes) plain white flour

⅝ teaspoon baking soda

¼ tsp ground sea salt
24 solid black cake cases (see note above)

To ice

8 ounces (225 grammes) salted butter

8 ounces (225 grammes) condensed milk

1 pound (455 grammes) icing sugar, sifted

Up to 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) extra milk

Zest of quarter of a large lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla pod paste

Chocolate Cupcakes

For 2 dozen

5 eggs, at room temperature

10 ounces (285 grammes) caster sugar

5 ounces (140 grammes) sunflower oil

2 teaspoons vanilla essence, or 1 teaspoon of vanilla pod paste

5 tablespoons (75 millilitres) milk

1½ ounces (45 grammes) cocoa powder, preferably Bournville or another good brand

8½ ounces (240 grammes) plain white flour

⅝ teaspoon baking soda

¼ tsp ground sea salt
24 solid red cake cases (see note above)

To ice

8 ounces (225 grammes) salted butter

8 ounces (225 grammes) condensed milk

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

1½ ounces (45 grammes) cocoa powder

14½ ounces (410 grammes) icing sugar, sifted

Two 19g packages of red gel food colouring (I bought mine from Aldi)
If you're not using the colouring, add up to 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) of milk to adjust the consistency


To Make the Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and line two muffin tins with cupcake cases (mine measured 3cm x 5cm). Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature.
• Sieve the flour (and cocoa) with the baking soda and salt very well. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until about doubled in size, a pale lemon colour, and looks like a loose foam.
• While running the mixer, drizzle in the oil in a steady stream. Don't overbeat, though: adding the oil should take all of about 15 seconds.
• Fold in the milk and flavourings (vanilla, almond essence, lemon zest, etc.), then sieve in the dry ingredients. Fold well: don't fret too much about overmixing, and be careful not to undermix.
• Divide the mixture between the 24 cake cases, using a scoop or measuring cup/spoon. Fill the cases about halfway, two-thirds at the most.
• Bake the cakes for 14 to 16 minutes, turning the trays through 180 degrees halfway through baking. If the two trays are on different shelves, swap them around too. Do this very carefully so the cakes don't get deflated.
• Once baked, remove from the oven and tap the tins very firmly on the work surface to burst any air bubbles.
• Transfer the cakes to a cooling rack and cool completely before decorating.

To Make the Icing

• Make sure your ingredients are all room temperature, including the condensed milk.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and condensed milk together until light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients in four additions, beating well after each one. To adjust the consistency, add milk between the additions of dry ingredients, but add no more than one or two teaspoons at a time.
• If colouring, add the colouring in gradually until you have the colour you want.
• Ice the cakes, and then immediately freeze for later use, or store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Lemon Layer Cake

For the cake

One 8 inch Madeira cake, made with 5 eggs' worth of ingredients, and flavoured with lemon zest, lemon juice, almond essence, and vanilla pod paste (details below)
4 ounces (115 grammes) lemon curd, homemade or shop-bought
Lemon simple syrup, or soaking

For the icing

9 ounces (250 grammes) white chocolate, cut into small pieces
3 ounces (85 grammes) caster sugar
3 fluid ounces (85 millilitres) milk
3 ounces (85 grammes) salted butter, in small pieces
Vanilla pod paste
Optional: 1 teaspoon of lemon zest


To Make the Icing

• In a saucepan, heat the milk and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil, and cook for only a minute.
• Take off the heat and stir in the white chocolate and butter. Return to very low heat, stirring continuously, until all the chocolate and butter has melted and the icing is smooth and consistent.
• Stir in the vanilla pod paste (and zest, if using) then allow the icing to cool completely, about two hours, stirring every so often to prevent crusting.
• Once cool, beat with an electric mixer until creamy, fluffy, and spreadable. Whipping the icing makes it lighter and makes it go further, but if you want a denser, American fudge style icing don't whip it.
• Be careful not to whip too much! It can cause the icing to go crumbly. If that happens, simply melt it down again, and repeat the cooling and whipping.

To Assemble the Cake

• Bake the cake according to the above link, scaling up all the ingredients in proportion with 5 eggs. Flavour it with the zest of a lemon, 2 teaspoons of vanilla pod paste, and half a teaspoon of almond essence.
• You can use the juice of the lemon to make the lemon simple syrup. Pour the syrup into a large dish, big enough to dip the cake layers in.
• Once the cake is baked and cooled, slice into two layers and dip both sides of each layer in the simple syrup. Layer the cake with the lemon curd in the middle
• Crumb coat the cake, then chill for about 20 minutes before finishing the icing and decorating.

As you can see, there's a lot of making here! But, it was all worth it in the end. I think the cake disaster was a blessing in disguise, as it led me to using the white chocolate fudge icing that was a mega hit! If, however, you want to see how I was going to make the cake with the white chocolate glaze, I'll shortly be uploading a lovely white chocolate and coffee cake recipe....

To everyone who came to the wedding, and to everyone who helped on my journey, thank you all from the bottom of my heart! I hope that in sharing my experiences, anyone out there who wants to attempt their own cake is well and thoroughly warned!!

Birthday Cake to Me! Coconut Lime Mini Cake (Wheat Free)

Here is the written recipe for the recipe featured in the first episode of "Sweetie Pie Bakes Stuff" 2018 series.

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DIFFICULTY

Each step is simple, but there are a lot of steps

TIME

About 2 hours

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate

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INGREDIMENTS

For one 10 centimetre round cake

30 grammes (1 ounce) unsalted butter, soft
30 grammes (1 ounce) sunflower oil
85 grammes (3 ounces) caster sugar
1 medium egg
85 grammes (3 ounces) plain white spelt flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
30 grammes (1 ounces) desiccated coconut
60 millilitres (2 fluid ounces) light coconut milk

For the icing
115 grammes (4 ounces) white chocolate, in small pieces
40 grammes (1⅓ ounces) unsalted butter
55 grammes (2 ounces) caster sugar
Zest and juice of 1 lime, mixed with water to measure 60 millilitres (2 fluid ounces)

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FREE FROM

Wheat, yeast, nuts

CONTAINS

Eggs, spelt, dairy (dairy free option in italics), refined sugar

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メリークリスマス! Japanese Christmas Strawberry Shortcake

So, on my Facebook page, I recently announced that this December would be one without traditional dried fruit recipes: no mince pies, no fruit cake, no pudding, et cetera! This led me to do an awful lot of research into the Christmas food traditions of various nations from all over Eurasia, particularly Central Europe, and I was considerably educated!

However, before we delve into the Christmas traditional vitals of the central Europeans, here is an offering from the far East: Japanese Strawberry Shortcake!

From my superficial research, I was surprised to discover that mainstream Christmas celebrations weren't common in Japan until the American occupation after World War II, as such Japan doesn't have much of a Christmas food culture. Christmas is a primarily commercial affair to the mostly-Buddhist Japanese, and there aren't many particular foods that are associated with the event.

In all of my Pinterest surfing and Google searching had one cake in common, however: strawberry shortcake, called いちごのショートケーキ (ichigo no shōtokēki). This confection comprises of two light fluffy sponges (sometimes tinted pink) brushed with liqueur-scented syrup, sandwiching a sweetened whipped cream and fresh strawberry filling, iced with more cream and fresh strawberries.


While soaking cake in alcohol is very much a Christmas thing, the rest of it is something I'd associate more with a summer time dessert. And even the name is not fully correct, as the word "shortcake" refers to a cake which has a high butter or fat content, which this cake certainly does not as a (mostly) fatless sponge. Most articles say that this cake is a common generic celebration cake in Japan, and as such is eaten at Christmas as a celebratory food. I suppose this is a case of East is East, West is West, and ne'er the twain shall meet.

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DIFFICULTY

Each step is simple, but there are a lot of steps

TIME

About 2 or 3 hours

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate

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INGREDIMENTS

For one 7x11 inch (18x28 centimetre) rectangular cake

3 medium (US large) eggs

3 ounces (85 grammes) caster sugar

3 tablespoons (45 millilitres) sunflower oil

3 tablespoons (45 millilitres) milk, cream, or Baileys Irish Cream, or milk alternative

3 ounces (85 grammes) plain spelt flour

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence

A few drops almond essence

Pink or red food colouring

Simple syrup

2 tablespoons (30 grammes) caster sugar

2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) water

Optional: 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) liqueur of choice: Kirsch, rum, brandy, amaretto, Baileys Irish Cream

The liqueur can be replaced with a few drops of almond essence

Whipped cream and strawberry filling

3 ounces (85 grammes) strawberries, stems removed and cut into quarters

1 teaspoon (5 grammes) caster sugar

9 fluid ounces (250 millilitres) whipping cream

2 tablespoons (15 grammes) icing sugar

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) vanilla essence

A few drops of almond essence

6 whole strawberries, stems removed and cut in half

Optional: 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) Baileys Irish Cream

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FREE FROM

Wheat, yeast, nuts

CONTAINS

Eggs, spelt, dairy (dairy free option in italics), refined sugar

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METHOD

First, make the cake

• Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4). Lightly grease a 7x11 inch (18x28 centimetre) rectangular tin, and line with non-stick baking paper.
• Prepare the cake according to this recipe, adding the essences and enough food colouring to make a delicately pink mixture. Once baked, remove the paper and allow to cool completely.

Prepare the syrup

• Mix the sugar and water together in a jug or mug, and heat in the microwave for 1 minute on high, until the sugar has dissolved completely in the water.
• Mix in the liqueur, and allow to cool slightly until just warm. If you don't want to use alcohol, add in a few drops of vanilla and almond essences.

Prepare the strawberries and cream

• In a bowl, toss the quartered strawberries with the caster sugar and allow to sit for 10 minutes. The sugar will transform into a delicious syrup and the strawberries will become juicy.
• Whip the cream with the icing sugar, vanilla, and almond essences to soft peaks in a cold mixing bowl. Take about 3 ounces (85 grammes) of the cream and fold into the juicy strawberries.
• Keep the remaining cream and the strawberry cream in the fridge while you prepare the cake for assembly.

Now, assemble the masterpiece!

• Cut the cake in half to make two 7x5½ inch (18x14 centimetre) cakes. Brush liberally with the simple syrup to soak the surface. 
• On a serving plate, sandwich the two cakes together with the strawberry cream, spreading the filling to the edges. Press together gently, and chill for an hour.
• Take out of the fridge and trim the crusts; your cake will be reduced in size to roughly 6x5 inches (15x13 centimetre). Enjoy the cut offs!
• Ice with the remaining cream, smoothing to your liking, and then decorate with the halved strawberries.
• Chill for about 2 hours before serving. This cake can be cut into 12 little squares, or 6 fingers.

STORAGE

This cake will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 3 days.

Bakewell Gateau (Wheat Free, with Dairy Free Option)

My Dad celebrated his 57th birthday this year! It was a lovely day: he got some nice presents, like some new bubble baths and books on watercolors--which is a new hobby of his--and we got a lovely dinner made by my brother's fiancée (with his help).

So, to commemorate this special occasion, I decided to make a cake version of my Dad's favourite pastry: Bakewell tart! I've only had one brush with the iconic English delight on this blog in the past, and it was just a fairly straightforward traybake re-imagining to save some time on making individual pastry cases.

This cake pays homage to the delicious shortbread pastry case by encircling the whole perimeter with shortbread biscuits. The cake itself is made from two thick layers of buttery almond sponge, inspired by the dense, moist frangipane sponge usually found in a Bakewell tart. And you can't make this kind of cake without sweet fondant-style icing and glacé cherries!

Please set aside a good 5 hours to make this: it's not technically complicated, but it's time consuming. In fact, this tastes much better the day after it's made, not on the day.

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DIFFICULTY

Simple sponge cake and shortbread making, and layer cake constructing

TIME

About 5 hours

RECIPE RATING

Experienced: time consuming

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INGREDIMENTS

Makes one deep 8 inch (20 centimetre) round cake

9 ounces (250 grammes) caster sugar

6 ounces (170 grammes) unsalted butter, or baking margarine, at room temperature

3 medium (US Large) eggs, at room temperature

1 to 2 teaspoons (5 to 10 millilitres) almond essence, to taste

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence

4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres) whole milk, or milk alternative

Pinch of salt

4½ ounces (130 grammes) white spelt flour

4½ ounces (130 grammes) ground almonds

2½ teaspoons (12 millilitres) baking powder

Jam Filling

4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres) seedless raspberry jam

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) cornflour

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) lemon juice

Shortbread Biscuits

3½ ounces (100 grammes) white spelt flour

1 ounces (30 grammes) cornflour

3 ounces (85 grammes) salted butter, or baking margarine

1½ ounces (40 grammes) sugar

To decorate

8 ounces (225 grammes) icing sugar

1 ounce (30 grammes) butter, melted, or coconut oil, or baking margarine

Hot water, to mix

7 glacé cherries, cut in half

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FREE FROM

Wheat, yeast

CONTAINS

Spelt, eggs, dairy (dairy free option in italics), refined sugar, nuts

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METHOD

First, make the biscuits to decorate the outside

• In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and icing sugar together until smooth. Sieve in the spelt flour and cornflour, and rub into the mixture with your fingers until you have a soft dough. Wrap in cling film, flatten into a disc, and chill for about an hour.
• If you like, while the dough is chilling, you can prepare the cake.
• Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F, Gas Mk.2), and line one or two flat sheets with a piece of non-stick baking paper.
• Dust the work surface with cornflour and roll out to about a quarter inch (5 millimetres) thick. Cut into rectangles measuring 1 by 2½ inches (2½ by 6½ centimetres) with a straight blade or a fluted pastry wheel. You can re-roll the dough twice to cut more biscuits, and you should have about 20 biscuits.
• Lie the biscuits on the baking tray, about half an inch (1 centimetre) apart, and bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are gently browned.
• After cooking, transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the cake

• Sieve together the flour, almonds, salt, and baking powder onto a sheet of baking paper, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together very well, until light and creamy. Using an electric mixer, this will take about 3 minutes.
• Beat the eggs in one by one, making sure to beat in each egg completely before adding the next. If you have a food processor, the eggs, sugar, and butter and be blitzed all at once for a couple of minutes.
• Beat in the essences, adding the almond essence to taste. Fold in half the flour mixture, followed by the milk, and finishing with the last half of the flour mixture.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, and bake on the centre shelf of the preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. If the top is browning too quickly, but the cake isn't done through the middle, cover with a tin foil tent.
• Once cooked, remove from the oven, loosen the sides, and allow to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack.

While the cake cools, prepare the jam

• Place the jam in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until it melts and begins to simmer. Mix the cornflour, lemon juice, and a few teaspoons of water together in a cup to make a slurry.
• Beat in the slurry and continue to cook for a minute or two, until the mixture thickens. Allow to cool completely before using to fill the cake.

Assemble the masterpiece!

• If the cake has a dome, cut it off. Cut the cake in half into two equal layers. Place the top half of the cake upside down on the serving plate, cover with the jam, spreading out to half an inch (1 centimetre) from the edge. Sandwich with the bottom half of the cake, upside down. Now, the flat bottom crust of the cake is the top.
• Make a thick but running icing with the icing sugar, melted butter, and enough hot water to get the right consistency.
• Cover the top and sides with a very thin layer of glace icing. Use a little bit of icing on the back of each biscuit and attach to the side of the cake to make a crust.
• If the icing has set too much, add a few drops of water and heat for a few seconds in the microwave to retrieve the flowing consistency. Pour onto the top of the cake to make a thick icing layer; the biscuits make a damn to hold in the icing.
• Decorate the top with halved glacé cherries, as you like. This cake is best made the day before serving, but if you don't have that amount of time, allow the whole confection to set for about 2 hours before serving.

STORAGE

Best eaten the day after it's made, but keeps in an airtight container for up to 10 days at room temperature.

No More Soggy Bottom Pies! Part 1: Blind Baked Bottom

It's apple harvesting season! Right up into October, people will be venturing outside to choose the nicest apples of their trees, or just going to the shop to reap the fruits of somebody else's labour, for cooking, making into jam, or simply eating out of hand.

But one of the best fates I believe an apple can have is ending up in a nice apple pie, made with delicious buttery pastry! There's nothing better than rolling out the pastry, loving chopping up the apples and sugaring them up, popping it into the oven, and smelling the delicious, cinnamony goodness waft around the house as it bakes... you open the oven, take out the pie, cut a lovely slice out and--

The bottom is a soggy, mushy, mess. It breaks your heart.

However! This doesn't have to be your pie! There are a few ways to avoid a soggy bottom, and over the next few days, I'll be sharing the benefit of my knowledge with you, starting right now with my most recent adventure: a blind baked bottom crust.

Simple bake the bottom crust separately before assembly, and you'll have gorgeous, crispy crust all the way through!

Pros of Blind Baked Bottom: no soggy bottom, repeatable every time, bottom can be baked in advance and frozen for another time

Cons of Blind Baked Bottom: a little more time consuming, a little fiddly, and you run the risk of an undercooked filling.

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DIFFICULTY

Requires experience with baking shortcrust pastry

TIME

About 2 hours

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate

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INGREDIMENTS

Makes one 9 inch (22 centimetre) round pie

About 1 pound (455 grammes) shortcrust pastry, premade or shop-bought

1½ pounds (680 grammes) of Granny Smith or Bramley apples, peeled and halved

4 ounces (115 grammes) light brown sugar

Zest of a lemon

Juice of half a lemon

4 tablespoons (60 millilitres) cornflour

1 ounce (30 grammes) butter, soft

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon (1 millilitre) ground cloves

¼ teaspoon (1 millilitre) grated nutmeg

Eggwash, for assembly, or use flour and milk

Demerara (Turbinado) sugar, for assembly

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CONTAINS

Gluten if using shop-bought pastry, eggs, dairy, refined sugar, pectin from apples

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METHOD

First, make the bottom crust

• Take roughly two-thirds of the pastry and roll out on a floured surface to quarter of an inch (5 millimetres) in thickness. 
• Using the rolling pin to support the dough, lift it up and drape into a 9 inch (22 centimetre) pie dish, pressing down gently into the dish. Trim the excess, and then chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
• After chilling, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4). Take the pie dough out of the oven, line tightly with tin foil, fill with a layer of dried beans or rice, and blind bake on the centre shelf for about 20 to 25 minutes. You want it cooked all the way through and dry to the touch, but not browned.
• Once cooked, allow to cool slightly, but leave the oven on for the next step.

Then, finish off the pie

• Slice the peeled, halved, and cored apples into quarter inch (5 millimetre) slices, and mix in a mixing bowl with the rest of the filling ingredients.
• Roll the remaining dough out to the same thickness as the base to make the lid. If you want to make a decorative lid, cut the pastry as you need to.
• Brush the baked crust liberally with eggwash, or you can mix some flour into a slurry with milk or water and use that instead, add in the filling, and drape over the lid.
• Firmly press the lid onto the edge of the base crust, then trim off the excess. If your lid is whole and uncut, cut at least one slash in the top to allow for steam. Eggwash the top, or brush with milk, and sprinkle with Demerara sugar.
• Return to the centre shelf of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the crust is a beautiful golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving hot, or allow to cool completely for serving cold.

STORAGE

These will keep in an airtight container for up to three days in the fridge.

No Crack Swiss Roll Recipe (Wheat Free, with Dairy Free Option)

I cannot believe that in all my years of running this blog that I've never once made a Swiss Roll!

The only time in my life that I've ever made a Swiss roll was when I was about 20: I was meeting the parents of my boyfriend-at-the-time for the first time, and I hate turning up to a house empty handed. It was a few years after that cake that I started doing this here blog, but in the three or four odd years that I've been writing this I've never attempted another one.

However, I've had my interest reignited: my companion has told me that for his birthday in July he'd love an Arctic Roll! (For those of you who managed to miss the '80s and '90s, an Arctic Roll is a Swiss roll made with an ice-cream filling). I figured I'd need to get some practise in rolling cakes before the end of July.

The sponge itself varies quite a lot from recipe to recipe: a traditional English rolled cake uses a 100% fat free cake recipe, whereas rolled cakes from East Asia add in oil and milk to make it more flexible. I have found that the East Asian approach works a hell of a lot better, but I have maintained the ratio of egg-to-sugar-to-flour that I'm used to, as the East Asian recipes tend to use very little sugar and flour to every egg, resulting in something that's more like a slightly sweet omelette.

By blending a little bit of both recipes, I found a way of making a super light and fluffy cake, which is still flexible enough to roll: the addition of cornflour reduces the amount of gluten in the flour, and the addition of milk and oil adds the needed moisture to make the rolling easier.

I will say, mind, that a homemade Swiss roll benefits massively from two major steps: 1) the cake being pre-rolled while hot, so that it re-rolls nice and tightly on being filled, and 2) the said filling should be a thick, firm filling; avoid thin, runny fillings.

With that said, let's move onto how I made it.

INGREDIMENTS
For one 9x13 inch (22x33 centimetre) flat cake

• 4 room temperature medium eggs, separated
• 4 tablespoons (60 millilitres) sunflower oil
• 4 tablespoons (60 millilitres) milk, or dairy-free milk alternative
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) caster sugar
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) white spelt flour
• 2 ounce (55 grammes) cornflour
• Pinch of salt
• 5 to 6 tablespoons (75 to 90 millilitres) filling of your choice: jam, chocolate spread, whipped cream, buttercream icing, lemon curd, etc.
• Optional: icing sugar, for dusting

METHOD

• Line a 9x13 inch (22x33 centimetre) rectangular tin with non-stick baking paper. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4), with the rack in the centre.
• Sieve the spelt flour, cornflour, and salt together onto a plate or piece of baking paper. Sieve it two or three times to make is super light and well mixed.
• In a jug, mix the yolks, oil, and milk together until well blended. In a medium mixing bowl, make a meringue with the egg whites and sugar, whisking to firm peaks.
• Take a scoop of the whites and mix into the yolks to lighten them. Return the yolk mixture to the whites and fold through gently but completely until there are no streaks of white.
• Sieve the flour onto the meringue and fold through completely until there no clumps of flour and the mixture falls from the spoon in thick ribbons.
• Pour into the lined tin and spread out evenly with the back of a spoon. Tap the tin on the work surface several times to further even out the cake mixture and release any trapped air bubbles.
• Bake on the centre shelf for 15 to 17 minutes until pale golden brown, well risen, and springy to the touch.
• Lie a piece of paper on a wire rack, and when the cake is cooked invert it onto the wire rack while it's still hot. Slide the cake off the rack onto a tea towel on the work surface.
• Cut all the crusts off and then--using the baking paper like a sushi mat--roll the cake up tightly. Tighten the ends of the paper, then wrap it in the tea towel. Allow to cool to room temperature, still wrapped.
• Once cool, unwrap and un-roll. Spread the filling over the cake, leaving the end opposite to the rolling end uncovered for about an inch (2½ centimetres). Roll it up again, wrap again, and chill for about an hour before serving. To serve, dust with icing sugar.

THIS TIME IN 2014: Stracciatella Ice-Cream (Egg- and Wheat Free)

THIS TIME IN 2013: Fruit and Nut Flapjacks (Gluten Free)

There were no blogs on this day in 2016 nor 2015.

Variation on a Theme: Chocolate Chip Wholemeal Banana Bread (Wheat- an Dairy Free)

I haven't done banana bread in ages, and seeing as I have a load of overripe bananas hanging around, it seemed timely...

This banana bread is made with wholemeal flour, with the naughty addition of some milk chocolate chips. You can't always be healthy in this life, and this doesn't have any butter so the odd chocolate chip should be okay!

I used the same recipe as my vegan banana bread, with the totally un-vegan addition of two medium eggs. I mixed them into the bananas, oil, and sugar before adding the dry ingredients. I personally like to add eggs for texture and structure, but you don't have to add any eggs if you want to keep it eggless. I also stirred in some milk chocolate chips for added interest.


If you would like to make the bread yourself, here is how you do it.

INGREDIMENTS
This will yield one 8x4 inch (20x10 centimeter) loaf.

• 8 ounces (225 grammes) wholemeal spelt flour
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) baking powder
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) mixed spice
• Pinch of salt
• 3 large overripe bananas
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) soft brown sugar
• 3 fluid ounces (85 millilitres) sunflower oil
• 2 medium eggs
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) chocolate chips, milk or dark, or use dairy free chocolate
• Optional: Golden syrup or honey, for brushing

HOW-TO

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4, or moderate). Grease and flour a loaf pan.
• Sift the flour, baking powder, and spice into a large mixing bowl. In another bowl or large jug, mash the bananas with the sugar and salt until smooth and runny. Beat in the oil and eggs.
• Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the banana mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon only until combined. You don't need to beat it, as the texture will be tough if you do.
• Gently fold in the chocolate chips, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes. Test the loaf with a cocktail stick, and if it's still sticky in the middle, bake for a further 5 minutes. Repeat this process if needed.
• Remove from the oven once baked and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• If you would like to glaze your bread, brush the top of the loaf with some golden syrup of honey as soon as it comes out of the oven.
• Eat when it has fully cooled, and store the leftovers in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Hot Cross Bunnies: a Cutesy Twist on a Traditional Favourite (Wheat Free)

What do you get if you pour a kettleful of water down a rabbit hole? Hot cross bunnies!

I know I shouldn't be so flippant on the day of our Lord's death, but it's a joke I always heard growing up. What better way to interpret it than in edible form?

Traditionally, hot cross buns are eaten on Good Friday, as they are marked with Jesus' cross, and spiced in memory of his embalming. However, they are available throughout the entirety of Lent in most Irish and UK supermarkets. Easter in my household is indeed a religious celebration, and not just a social custom, as it has become for most Irish and British people. As such, I like to honour the traditional Christian practices at this time of year.

My mother for years has been deprived of hot cross buns and, seeing as in the past six months I've properly learnt how to make yeast risen dough, I thought I'd break her fast, pardon the Lenten pun.

I made a batch of sweet bread dough according to this recipe, only added in about 3 ounces (85 grammes) of dried mixed fruit with candied peel, 2 teaspoons mixed spice, and 2 teaspoons of lemon zest. If you don't like dried fruit however (like my companion: he hates dried fruit), you can use the same amount of chocolate chips, or nuts.

I divided the dough into 12 pieces, and roll into balls. I arrange on one or two flat trays, depending on size, about two or three inches (5 to 8 centimetres) apart so that they wouldn't touch each other as they rose and baked, and slightly flattened so they didn't rise into giant balls, but domed as they rose instead. I then proofed until the buns doubled in size. Make sure to roll the dough balls better than I did, however, mine went a little mental and lost their shape because I didn't tighten the surfaces of the dough balls.

Once they doubled, I used scissors the cut the ears out of the bunnies, and pulled them away from the bodies slightly. I then brushed the bunnies with some eggwash. Then, I mixed about 2 ounces (55 grammes) of white spelt flour with enough water, a teaspoon at a time, until it became think and pipe-able, like royal icing. I piped on the crosses on the bunnies' backs using a small baking paper piping cone. Putting the crosses on after eggwashing means the bunnies become golden, but the crosses stay white.

I baked on the centre shelf of an oven preheated to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4) for 15 to 20 minutes, until well risen and golden brown. If the bunnies' ears begin to burn, cover the bunnies with tin foil, but mine were okay. I removed them from the oven and, while they were still warm, I brushed them with golden syrup. You could use apricot jam, or honey, or even just some icing sugar mixed to a syrup with hot water.

They're delicious straight from the oven, but I recommend letting them cool down a little so they're easier to cut open and lather with butter.

These however, don't keep very well. Like with all my other recipes made with sweet bread dough, eat on the day they're made, and toast the next day; on day three, they're only good for bird food.

THIS TIME IN 2016: Buttermilk Scones (Wheat Free)

THIS TIME IN 2015: Carrot and Orange Cake with Fresh Cream Icing (Wheat Free)

There was no blog this time in 2014

THIS TIME IN 2013: Black Forest Gâteau: a Retro Classic? (Wheat Free)

Something Savoury: Bacon and Onion Quiche (Wheat Free)

Bonjour, mes amis! Aujourd'hui, j'ai un repas pour vous: quiche, au bacon et onion!

I did French to leaving cert when I was 17, so by now it's a little rusty. However, my delight in French cuisine has not faded.

Having said that, I've never been the world's biggest fan of quiche. I've always been fed shop-bought varieties that are somehow simultaneously gelatinous and dry. But, my companion loves to eat it as a lunch.

Quiche is something that is quite present in the lives of English (and somewhat English) people, as English cookery is actually quite heavily influenced by French and German cuisine. Seeing that English renditions of European foods tend to be quite heavy and stodgy, I assumed that it was the same for quiche.... until I saw a quiche being made by a French woman.

I have a close friend who I visit often, and her housemate it French. I saw her making a quiche for herself, and when I asked her how she was making it her response was quite simply: It's like omelette in a pastry, and the pastry it has to be made with butter, otherwise it's not good. She didn't seem to be using any scales or measurements either, except to say that you use roughly twice as much milk as egg, and the quiche that resulted looked quite tasty!

Turns out that French people also like stodge, it seems. And it also seems that quiche is quite forgiving, and doesn't need precise measurements.

Although I heard straight from the horse's mouth that the pastry has to be made with only butter, I've never been the biggest fan of all butter pastry in savoury food. It's something I associate with sweet tarts, and find way too heavy going for a savoury dish, especially something as heavy as quiche (sorry, French housemate). As such I use a shortcrust pastry made in part with sunflower oil, which I know it completely blasphemous, but hey ho.

INGREDIMENTS
To make one 9 inch (22 centimetre) quiche

For pastry,

• 10 ounces (280 grammes) white spelt flour, cold
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of sugar
• 2½ ounces (70 grammes) butter, cold
• 2½ fluid ounces (5 tablespoons, 75 millilitres) sunflower oil
• Cold water, to combine

For the filling,

• 4 ounces (115 grammes) bacon rashers cut into little pieces, or lardons
• 1 medium red onion, sliced thinly
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) medium chedder cheese, grated
• 3 medium eggs
• Half an imperial pint (1¼ cups, 285 millilitres) whole milk
• Salt and pepper, to taste

HOW-TO

First, make the pastry

• In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, salt, and sugar together. Grate in the butter, dipping it in the flour every few strokes and tossing the flour around to stop everything from sticking. Once the butter is grated in, gently rub with your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs. Alternatively, which is what I do, you can keep running handfuls of the mixture through the grater instead of rubbing with the fingertips.
• When the butter is rubbed in, add in the oil. Rub again gently, only to mix the oil through.
• Mixing with the tip of a knife, add the water gradually until it forms a nice soft dough.
• Form into a disc, wrap in cling film, and refrigerate for an hour.

Next, prepare the fillings

• In a non-stick frying pan set over the hob with the heat off, add the bacon and turn the heat onto medium.
• Once the pan has fully heated, cook the bacon until well browned and all visible fat is thoroughly cooked.
• Remove the bacon from the pan, leaving the oil it has rendered behind in the pan. Add in the onions and cook over medium heat until well browned and fragrant.
• Allow the bacon and onion to fully cool.

Then, blind bake the pastry case

• Roll out the dough on a floured surface and fit into a 9 inch (22 centimetre) straight sided pie dish. My one is ceramic, but a metal or glass one would work so much better.
• Trim the edges, and prick the base and sides all over with a fork. Put in the fridge for about half an hour. 
• While it's chilling, preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, Gas Mk.7), with a flat baking tray in the oven on the centre shelf. Make sure the tray is large enough to accommodate your pie dish.
• Now it's time to blind bake the pastry case. Take out of the fridge, and line the whole case with a piece of tin foil, pressing it into every nook and cranny. Crumple any excess into the middle, making sure the foil is still covering all the pastry.
• Place in the oven directly on top of the preheated tray, and bake for about 15 minutes.
• After 15 minutes, remove the foil and bake for a further 8 to 10 minutes, or until the crust is lightly golden and fully cooked.

Finally, assemble and bake the quiche

• Remove the blind baked case from the oven and let stand for about 5 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4).
• Sprinkle the bacon and onion evenly on the bottom of the quiche, then top with about half the cheese.
• In a jug, beat together the eggs and milk, and season it to taste (I personally have no problem with tasting raw egg, but that's up to you).
• Pour the egg and milk mixture into the quiche, and then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
• Return to the oven, on top of the tray as before, and cook for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and crispy, the filling is slightly puffy, and when you touch the centre it feels set and no longer liquid.
• Remove from the oven and cool for about 20 minutes before serving, to let it set a little more. Or, you can let it cool to room temperature, chill it, and serve it cold.

THIS TIME IN 2016: American Style Chocolate Chip Muffins (Wheat Free)

THIS TIME IN 2015: Treacle Tarts, without Breadcrumbs (Wheat Free)

No blog from this time in 2014

THIS TIME IN 2013: Gingerbread of the Gingeriest Proportions (Wheat Free)