Apricot, Pecan & Ginger Biscotti

I absolutely loved making Biscotti when I made them for the first time a few weeks ago and they got rave reviews amongst my family and friends! I have been looking forward to making them again but this time I wanted to experiment with my own flavours rather than use Paul Hollywood's again but I still used his biscotti base - I'm not brave enough to mess with perfection! I popped down to my local Eco Store to fill up on ingredients and from there I settled on Pineapple & Coconut (a request from my good friend Nichola!) and Apricot, Pecan & Ginger. I am so pleased with how they turned out, they are still vary in line with a classic biscotti, you get a pinch of warmth from the ginger, sweetness from the apricots and crunch from the pecans. I think I prefer the pineapple & coconut in terms of variation but this is a lovely spin on a more traditional flavour and I will log this one down in my recipe file. 

Ingredients

For the Biscotti Base...

250g Plain Flour (30g extra for chocolate biscotti)
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
250g Caster Sugar
2-3 Eggs (beaten)

For the flavouring...

200g Pecans Chopped
125g Chopped Dried Apricots
1 tsp Ground Ginger

How To Make

1. Heat your oven to 140'c and line a baking tray with baking paper. Mix the flour, baking powder and sugar together in a bowl. Stir in the beaten eggs, a little at a time, making sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding more, you may not need all your egg. Continue until you have a firm dough, your dough should not be sticky.

2. Now add the ginger, apricots and pecans and mix by hand until thoroughly combined.

3. Once you have added you flavourings, turn your biscotti dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently before dividing in half. 

4. Roll each piece of dough into a long log, about 4cm in diameter. Place both logs on the baking tray about 5cm apart. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes.

5. Leave the logs to cool on the tray for 10 minutes to allow the dough to firm up slightly and then transfer to a board. Cut the logs, on the diagonal, into 2-3cm thick slices. 

6. Place the slices, cut side up, back on the baking tray. return to the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the biscotti are are dry through to the middle, turning them over halfway through. 


7. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Coconut & Pineapple Biscotti

I absolutely loved making Biscotti when I made them for the first time a few weeks ago and they got rave reviews amongst my family and friends! I have been looking forward to making them again but this time I wanted to experiment with my own flavours rather than use Paul Hollywood's again but I still used his biscotti base - I'm not brave enough to mess with perfection! I popped down to my local Eco Store to fill up on ingredients and from there I settled on Pineapple & Coconut (a request from my good friend Nichola!) and Apricot, Pecan & Ginger. I am so pleased with how they turned out, they are still the same classic crisp, nutty biscotti that we all love but with a refreshing tropical flavour which comes from the coconut and sweetness from the pineapple. I am definitely logging this one down in my recipe file. 

Ingredients

For the Biscotti Base...

250g Plain Flour (30g extra for chocolate biscotti)
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
250g Caster Sugar
2-3 Eggs (beaten)

For the flavouring...

150g Desiccated Coconut
125g Dried Chopped Pineapple
1 tsp Coconut Extract

How To Make

1. Heat your oven to 140'c and line a baking tray with baking paper. Mix the flour, baking powder and sugar together in a bowl. Stir in the beaten eggs, a little at a time, making sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding more, you may not need all your egg. Continue until you have a firm dough, your dough should not be sticky.

2. Now add the pineapple, coconut and coconut extract and mix by hand until thoroughly combined.

3. Once you have added you flavourings, turn your biscotti dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently before dividing in half. 

4. Roll each piece of dough into a long log, about 4cm in diameter. Place both logs on the baking tray about 5cm apart. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes.

5. Leave the logs to cool on the tray for 10 minutes to allow the dough to firm up slightly and then transfer to a board. Cut the logs, on the diagonal, into 2-3cm thick slices. 

6. Place the slices, cut side up, back on the baking tray. return to the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the biscotti are are dry through to the middle, turning them over halfway through. 


7. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Homemade Waffles

Randomly my eldest son asked for waffles for breakfast last week, he must have seen them on a TV program or something because I have never made them before! Initially I said no and then I remembered that my toastie maker has waffle plates on it and I have never used them, so I thought why not? I googled a few recipes to see roughly what the ingredients were and then made up a batter using what I had in the cupboards.They are relatively simple to make, you just have to take care when folding in the egg whites because this is what gives them a light fluffy texture over a stodgy one - cooked well they should be crispy on the outside and light and fluffy in the middle. They cook quickly and the variations for sweet or savoury toppings are endless - myself and the boys had strawberry and banana with maple syrup and the Hubby had crispy bacon with maple syrup! If you have any type of waffle maker at home I would highly recommend giving them a go! This batter made 6 waffles.


Ingredients

170g Plain Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
30g Caster Sugar
2x Eggs
250ml Whole Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

How To Make

1. Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Separate the egg whites from the yolks.

2. Combine the yolks with the milk and vanilla and then pour into the dry mixture and thoroughly combine. 

3. Whisk the egg whites until they a fluffy and form soft peaks. Then carefully fold them into the batter, keeping in as much air as possible. Let the mixture rest for a few minutes whilst you prepare you toppings and heat up you waffle maker. 

4. Cooking instructions may vary depending on your waffles maker. Mine is a 3in1 toastie maker and I cooked them by pouring approx 40ml - about half a ladle - of batter onto the bottom plate of the waffle maker and then closed the lid and cooked them for 4 minutes.

5. Once cooked, pop them onto a plate and top with your desired topping!

Flour-Free Chocolate & Beetroot Cake

This is another recipe from the wonderful "Live, Bake, Nourish by Amber Rose" and it's surprisingly delicious and light and very chocolatey! If you like alternative bakes or are looking for recipes that use less flour, are gluten free or sugar free then I would highly recommend this book! I have only ever used carrots in cakes and so I was keen to try a beetroot bake and see how it enhanced the flavour of a cake and how it contributed to the texture. Along with this recipe being flour-free and also low in sugar it certainly was a new style bake for me and one I would definitely make again. The beetroot adds an earthiness that compliments the depth of flavour from the dark chocolate and the natural sweetness of the honey.My husband can't stand beetroot and yet he loved this cake, so it goes to show that the beetroot enhances the flavour rather than overpowers it. We enjoyed this lovely bake with a dollop of creme fraiche on top!

Ingredients

300g Cooked, unseasoned Beetroot, peeled and pureed
4 Eggs
4 tbsp Honey
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tbsp Cocoa Powder (plus extra for dusting)
1 tsp Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
125g Ground Almonds
125g 70% Cocoa Solid Dark Chocolate 
4 tbsp Olive Oil

How To Make

1. Preheat the oven to 180'c and grease and base line a 10 inch cake tin.

2. In a large mixing bowl beat together the beetroot, eggs, honey, vanilla, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt with an electric mixer. When these are thoroughly combined fold in the ground almonds.

3. Now its time to melt the chocolate. Amber Rose melts her "bain marie" style over a pan of water, whereas I used the microwave for speed. Once melted mix in the oil and then gently stir this chocolate oil combination into the rest of the mix until well combined.

4. Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 

*I checked on mine after 25 minutes because when I baked my Flour-Free Orange, Almond & Pistachio Cake (also from her book) it baked much quicker in my oven than what was suggested in the recipe. It was the same with this bake, it was indeed ready after 25 mins, and so I would recommend checking on your cake around the 25 minute mark.* 

5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for a while before turning out onto a cooling rack. Once the cake is completely cool, dust with cocoa powder and serve either on its own or with a dollop of creme fraiche. 

Marbled Chocolate Teabread

Using up over ripe bananas in cakes is something I do on a regular basis as I hate to see them go to waste so it's great to have plenty of recipes up my sleeve. This recipe is from "The Bread Machine Bible by Anne Sheasby" and I have adapted it to bake in the oven. This cake is so easy to make and expertly combines sweet banana with the depth of chocolate and the warmth of ginger. The marble effect looks lovely when sliced up, the perfect accompaniment to a cuppa! I made this one for my good friend Alexandra, who is working hard on the front line during this pandemic, she is someone who loves cake but at the moment has no time to bake it. Hopefully this will go down a treat for both her and her father. 

Ingredients

175g Butter (I use Stork)

175g Light Brown Soft Sugar

3 Eggs

225g Plain Flour

2.5 tsp Baking Powder

2 Bananas (peeled and mashed with some lemon juice)

25g Cocoa Powder

2 tsp Milk

1/2 tsp Ground Ginger

How To Make

1. Preheat your oven to 170'c and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Then gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little flour to prevent curdling.

2. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in, mixing well. Then stir through the bananas. Place half the mixture in a separate bowl, sift over the cocoa powder and add the milk. Fold together until combined. Stir the ginger into the plain banana mixture.

3. Place alternate spoonfuls of each mixture into the loaf tin. Then, using a skewer, gently swirl it through the mixtures to create a marbled effect. bake in the oven for 45-60 minutes, until risen and a skewer comes out clean. 

4. Leave to cool in the tin and then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Cinnamon Rolls

Friday was VE Day 75 and whilst everyone else was baking scones and Victoria Sponge I decided to try my hand at Cinnamon Rolls (making two batches of scones in a short space of time left us feeling a bit "sconed-out" if there is such a thing...). I love cinnamon rolls but have always avoided making them myself for 2 reasons; the first reason with them being a bread dough - I am not confident with any bread making that cannot be done by my bread maker and number two was how long they take to make - it's quite a long process. Well, time is not something I am short of here on lockdown so I decided to give them a go - especially as my new mixer has a dough hook which will help with a give the dough a good knead! I wanted them fresh for mid morning to have with a cuppa but equally I didn't want to get up at 5am to start making them so I had a search online and saw that you can make 'overnight rolls' whereby you do the extensive work the night before and then bake them the next morning which suited me perfectly. I didn't follow a certain recipe, I read through several online and then fused my own version from them based on what I had in my cupboards and how much time I had - risky I know! This recipe may look long winded but if you take your time and have everything to hand they are so worth it because they tasted AMAZING!!! Literally my husband was beside himself with praise for them - he went all Paul Hollywood on me and started talking about 'great aeration of the dough' and 'even distribution of filling' bless him!!! 

Ingredients

For the dough...
180ml Whole Milk
1 Satchet of Fast Action Yeast (56g)
50g Caster Sugar (you can use Granulated)
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
55g Salted Butter (melted)
380g White Bread Flour
1/2 tsp Salt

For the filling...
55g Salted Butter (softened to a spreadable consistency)
120g Light Brown Sugar (you can use dark brown if you prefer)
3.5 tsp Cinnamon

For the Glace Icing...
125g Icing Sugar
15ml Water

How To make

1. Warm the milk in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Tip into the bowl of your mixer and then sprinkle the yeast on top. Add in the sugar, egg, yolk and melted butter and mix until well combined. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour and salt until a dough starts to form.

2. Place the dough hook on your mixer and knead the dough on a medium speed for 8-10 minutes. The dough should form a nice ball and shouldn't be too sticky. If you don't have an electric mixer or don't want to use an electric mixer then use your hands to knead the dough for the same amount of time on a well floured surface. 

3. Transfer the dough ball to a well oiled bowl, cover with cling film and wrap in a towel. Leave the dough to double in size, this takes approximately an hour and a half. 

4. After the dough has doubled in size, transfer it to a well floured surface and roll out into rectangle approximately 16x9 inches. Spread the softened butter over the dough. In a bowl mix together the light brown sugar and cinnamon, sprinkle it over the dough and then press it into the butter - this gives it stick and is to stop it all falling out when you roll it. 

5. Roll up the dough, from the longest side, gently seal the seam and lay it seam-side down. Use a sharp knife (I used a bread knife) to cut the roll into 1 inch discs, I chopped about 2cm off each end first and discarded them. You should get 10 rounds from your roll. 

6. Grease and base line a 10 inch springform cake tin (it can be square or round) and then pop the rolls inside it and cover with cling film and a towel. Leave the rolls to have their second rise for 45 minutes. 

**If, like me, you want to leave them overnight, simply cover them in the clingfilm and pop them in the fridge. Get them out the next morning and wrap them in a towel and leave them to have their second rise for 45 minutes **

7. Preheat your oven to 200'c. Remove the cling film and towel and pop them in the oven for 20 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and leave them to cool in the tin for approximately 5 minutes. Then pop them out of the tin and transfer to a cooling rack and leave for another 5 minutes before icing.

8. For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and, using a fork, mix in the water to form a smooth drizzling consistency. Use the fork to drizzle the icing back and forth all over the rolls. Leave the icing to set for a few minutes and then pull them apart to serve. 

Gingerbread Dinosaurs

My eldest son loves to bake and a couple of nights ago we read the story of the Gingerbread Man before bed and he asked me if we could make some in the morning, I never pass up the opportunity to bake with my sons and so of course I said yes! Whenever I make these biscuits I always use Mary Berry's Gingerbread Man recipe (from her Ultimate Cake Book). This is such a simple dough to make and you can use it to make traditional gingerbread men (or women) or use it to cut any shape you like - in my dino-mad sons case we used it to make Gingerbread Dinosaurs!!! My Step Dad Ian got me these awesome little cutters for Christmas and they are a must have for any dinosaur mad kid who likes to bake because they not only are a great shape and size but they have the added stencils to imprint the dinosaurs skeleton onto the cookie.This recipe makes about 20 cookies.


Ingredients

12oz Plain Flour
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
2 tsp Ground Ginger
4oz Margerine
6oz Light Brown Sugar
4 tbsp Golden Syrup
1 Egg (beaten)

How To Make

1. Preheat the oven to 190'c and lightly grease 3 baking trays. Measure the flour, ginger and bicarb into a bowl. Rub in the margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. 

2. Stir in the sugar and then add the beaten egg and golden syrup to the dry mixture. Mix to form a smooth dough. 

3. Divide the dough in half and roll out one half onto a lightly floured surface to about 5mm in thickness. Cut out the gingerbread dinosaurs, imprint firmly with the stencil and then transfer to the baking tray. Repeat with the remaining dough. 

4. Bake for 10-12 minutes until slightly darker and then transfer to a wire rack to cool. I decorated these by piping white glace icing into the bone imprints on the cookies.