Spicy Ginger Chocolate Brownies

Was browsing through a book from the library last week called 'Christmas Cupcakes & Cookies', looking for inspiration for some Christmas baking. We also had an event to raise money for our local community centre, so I thought I'd grab the chance to bake something new (on the basis that chocolate always sells well). This photo represents the only one left, didn't get a good photo of the whole batch piled up in all it's gooey glory.

Is it embarrassing to admit that I mainly wanted to make these because I'd found some edible tiny gold stars and *needed* an opportunity to use them? A bit probably, but never mind... Tiny gold stars, yay! And on with the recipe:

For the brownies:
275g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
175g butter, diced
125 plain flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
Generous grating of nutmeg
A pinch of cayenne pepper
A pinch of salt
25g crystallised ginger, finely chopped
175g dark muscovado sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp treacle
4 eggs
50g flaked almonds

For the ganache:
125g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
125ml double cream
1 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
A pinch of salt

To decorate:
More finely chopped crystallised ginger (about 25g) and edible gold sprinkles

Method:
1. Line a 20cm square baking tin with baking parchment
2. Preheat oven to 170 degrees
3. Put chocolate and butter for the brownies in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir until smooth and thoroughly combined. Leave to cool slightly.
4. Sift together the flour, spices and salt.
5. Lightly whisk the sugar, syrup, treacle and eggs in another large bowl. Add the melted chocolate mixture and fold in until combined.
6. Stir the almonds and the chopped crystallised ginger into the bowl. Fold in the sifted dry ingredients
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin, spread level and bake on the middle shelf of the pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes or until the brownies are set (I did for 30 mins and they were still pretty squidgy in the middle, they were devoured without complaint, so I'm guessing they were ok... I'm never sure what constitutes a properly cooked brownie)
8. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely in the tin. These brownies are best made the day before you decorate them, just make sure you wrap them up in clingfilm once cool.
9. Prepare the chocolate ganache - tip the chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream and sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved and the cream is just boiling. Add the salt. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and leave to melt. Stir vigorously until smooth, then leave to cool and thicken slightly before using.
10. Spread the ganache over the top of the brownies, score with a fork to make a diagonal pattern, then cut into 16 squares. Scatter chopped crystallised ginger and gold sprinkles over the top to decorate.

There you go, migraine on a plate, but verrrry tasty. Enjoy!

Bundting Marvellous (well sort of)

I think one of the important thing about a craft blog is sharing the things that didn't go quite to plan. Hence the photo here...

I've always wanted to make some kind of Bundt cake, but didn't have a tin - it's one with a hole in the middle. Then what should I find in Aldi on Wednesday but a half size Bundt tin, with lovely swirly patterns on the top. Thus equipped I set about making a cut down version of Nigella's 'Snow-topped Spice Cake' from Domestic Goddess. I reduced the recipe by half. It is a little faffy as you have to separate the egg yolks and whites (and whipping egg whites to a soft peak is a bit of a bastard when doing it by hand) but the texture of the finished article was really fluffy and tasted delicious.

However, when I came to turn out the tin (with lots of shaking, poking and muttered curses) a bit of a disaster occurred. Half of the cake remained stuck in the crenellations at the top of the tin, leaving the less than impressive item that you see above. Oh and I realised that I'd left out the ginger, which was kind of the main flavour of the cake. Oh well...

Of course we had to gobble it up as quickly as possible to hide my baking shame. If you'd like to have a go, the recipe is below. And apparently the proper lubrication (smirk) for such fancy cake tins is the impressively named Cake Release. Other baking supplies retailers are available, but I'm happy to tart myself for a free sample if anyone from Lakeland is reading this ;-)

Ingredients
2 eggs separated, plus 1 extra egg white
62ml vegetable oil
62ml water
1tbsp runny honey
100g dark brown sugar
38g ground almonds
75g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp all-spice (although I didn't have any of this)
good pinch of ground cloves
zest of 1/4 of an orange
50g caster sugar

How to make
1. Preheat oven to 180 (conventional) or 160 (fan)
2. Grease your tin *thoroughly*
3. Whisk together the yolks and oil in a large bowl, then mix in the water, honey and dark brown sugar.
4. Add the almonds, flour, baking powder, bicarb, salt, spices and zest and fold in gently
5. In another bowl beat the egg whites into soft peaks then gradually add the caster sugar
6. Fold the whites into the cake mixture in the large bowl.
7. Pour the mix into your Bundt tin and bake for about 35 mins or until the cake is springy on top and starting to shrink away from the sides.
8. Leave to cool in the tin for half an hour before attempting to turn out.
9. If you like you can make up some Royal Icing to decorate, but I think it was perfectly good un-iced.

That's all from me for today. I've also been doing some 'real' work, and making carrot chutney, so I'll be spending the evening washing the smell of cider vinegar out of my hair and getting ready (otherwise known as fretting about my outfit) for Mumsnet Blogfest tomorrow. Going to be on a train at stupid o'clock in the morning <yawn>

Fairy Cakes

When I was a kid these were the sort of cakes you had at birthday parties, a little sponge with a splodge of luridly coloured icing, maybe topped with a bit of dolly mixture or some sprinkles. Recently they seem to have mutated into something called cupcakes, which usually look beautiful but are often a bit of a letdown on the taste side. Cupcakes also usually seem to have mountainous swirls of buttercream on top, which I find just too icky.

It being the school holidays, and with the odd wet afternoon, we decided to indulge in a bit of baking yesterday. This is a really basic recipe that always seems to work. You could use soft butter, but I find the marg gives a nice texture to the sponge, and also is a bit lighter for everyday (for making biscuits I would always use butter...). A few drops of vanilla essence in the mix is good too but not essential.

Basic Fairy Cake Recipe
125g margarine
125g caster sugar
125g self-raising flour
2 eggs
2 splashes of milk

Decorations:
Icing sugar and a little water
Food colouring
Sprinkles, sweeties and all that jazz

To bake:
1. Preheat oven to 170 (fan) or 180 (conventional)
2. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper muffin cases
3. If you're doing this by hand, cream the fat and sugar until light and fluffy before beating in the eggs. Then gently fold in the flour until well mixed. If you have a food processor then just bung all the ingredients (except milk) in the machine and whizz it up.
4. Add a couple of splashes of milk to the mix and mix in
5. Divide the mix evenly into the paper cases
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cakes have risen and are golden brown
7. Leave on a wire rack to cool before decorating

To decorate:
Glacé icing is just icing sugar and water mixed up together until smooth and glossy. Separate the icing out into some little bowls and add a drop or two of different food colouring to each. Lay out icing, sprinkles, sweeties and cakes on a covered table and let your little blighters loose with their creativity. Resist the temptation to try and direct them...

Mmmm Muffins

Today was my daughter's first session at preschool, she's just doing two morning sessions to start with, but I'm excited about having some more time for sewing (my mother suggested that I could use the time to get some household chores done... ho ho!). This morning I did some more work on the rainbow quilt, and have nearly finished the patchwork top.

Things got a bit shouty at teatime yesterday, so in a spirit of reconciliation I made a 'proper pudding' today in the form of Apple and Cinnamon Muffins. Yep I like to bribe my children with baked goods...

I found a basic plain muffin recipe online and adapted it, the original recipe called for more sugar which I thought was overkill if you have dried fruit as well. I also used dark brown sugar because I love the flavour. And cinnamon and apples just go together

From a baking with small children perspective, muffins are pretty good as you don't need to beat the mix beautifully. However my children declined to bake with me today as they were glued to CBeebies post school-run...

Ingredients
250g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
125g dark brown sugar
1 egg
225ml milk
4 tbsp vegetable oil
60g dried apple (chopped)
60g raisins

How to make
1. Preheat oven to 180 (fan) or 200 (conventional)
2. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases
3. In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar
4. In another bowl mix up the wet ingredients: egg, milk and oil
5. Make a hollow in the middle of the dry mix and pour in the wet stuff. Mix briefly until just combined.
6. Chuck in the dried fruit and mix briefly
7. Spoon the mix into your muffin cases and bake for 20-25 mins until golden

Mince Pies

Today I gave in to the badgering from my son, who wanted to help make some mince pies. Now it is a truth universally acknowledged that having a five-year-old assist during baking must double the time spent making the baked goods.

But, hey that's what the school holidays are about, actually interacting a bit with the little blighters. As it happened he got bored half-way through and wandered off to chat with his Nana on the phone, having only filled about half the pies. Slack!

These pies were made with home-made pastry (mmmm buttery) and shop-bought mincemeat, as I'm not that much of a domestic goddess. I do like the little stars on top, and a brush of beaten egg before they go in the oven gives then a lovely golden shine.

I have a jar and a half of mincemeat left, but am going to hold off on making more pies until about Friday as they don't hang around long in this house...

Nice buns

No time for sewing today as that's pretty much impossible to do with the toddler around. Sadly we're reaching the stage when she doesn't have an afternoon nap <sob>, so less time for craft during the day. However, we're also reaching the age when the government says we can have up to 15 hours of free preschool provision. After Christmas the toddler, or preschooler I should say, will be attending preschool for two mornings a week. Hurrah!

But one thing she does approve of is baking, so today we made rock buns, from a recipe from my trusty 'Grub on a Grant'. This title was a bit of an anachronism even when I was (briefly) a student as maintenance grants went out in about 1995. I'd just like to explain for any younger readers that once upon a time most students were eligible to have their fees paid by a grant from the LEA, and some (including my husband) received a maintenance grant towards living costs on top of that! What a crazy system eh?

I'm sure today's students are too busy working two jobs to supplement their student loans, but if not, here's the recipe:

200g plain flour
1 tsp mixed spice
100g margarine (but I prefer butter)
grated rind of 1/2 lemon (I never remember to put this in)
100g demerera sugar
100g mixed dried fruit
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp milk

1. Preheat oven to 200 (conventional) / 180 (fan)
2. Rub together fat, flour and mixed spice with your fingertips until you have a crumb-like mixture
3. Stir in the other ingredients thoroughly
4. Place small dollops into bun-cases and bake for 15-20 mins until golden

I find this makes 12 buns, and it's a good one for getting children involved in as you don't have to worry about being too delicate with the mix.

See you all tomorrow, as it's Friday I'm hoping to get some sewing done...

Ginger Biscuits

I'm in the middle of a baking frenzy at the moment, preparing for the Christmas Fayre on Sunday. Posts about sewing will resume when I actually get time to make something (also my mum is staying for a few days and is sleeping in my sewing room - otherwise known as the Spare Room). 

Today it was the turn of ginger biscuits, as one of the craft activities for children will be biscuit decorating. I say decorating, it's more dowsing liberally in runny icing, releasing an avalanche of sprinkles and then consuming immediately.

I had a recipe which always produced perfectly good biscuits, but the dough was really crumbly and tricky to work with. Given that I like to make these with my children I decided to do a bit of tweaking. So I added more butter (the original recipe asks for 50g), and to my mind more butter = better. It also helps if you rest the dough in the fridge for ten minutes or so before rolling out.  If you make a little hole in the top of the biscuit you can make them into tree decorations, not that they will hang there for long...

Ingredients:

25g dark brown sugar

75g butter

1 tsp ground ginger

1 rounded tbsp of golden syrup

150g plain flour

How to make:

1. Preheat oven to 170 (fan) or 190 (conventional)

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth

3. Add the ginger and golden syrup and mix well

4. Add the flour and mix until a dough forms - this is sometimes easier to do with your hands.

5. Rest dough in fridge for 10 mins (optional)

6. Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut out biscuits in suitably festive shapes.

7. Put on a greased baking tray and bake for about 10 mins or until just slightly browned at the edges.

8. Cool on a rack and then ice them if you fancy it or just scoff as they are...

Christmas Cake

If you only bake one thing for Christmas, it should be a Proper Christmas Cake - unless you don't like fruitcake in which case you are let off, but hey, I say make one anyway and give it to someone who does... But I digress, I thought I would share the recipe that we use in this house. I wish I could say that it is an old family recipe but the truth is that it's one I found on the interweb about 10 years ago.

Even if the recipe isn't that old, Christmas Cake is definitely one of our family traditions, with everyone in the house getting a stir and a wish. There is also the element of delayed gratification, as a rich fruitcake like this is best made a couple of months before Christmas.

You will need:

225g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
200g butter
200g dark brown sugar
2 tbsp black treacle
1 tbsp marmalade
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs, lightly beaten
800g mixed dried fruits (usually sultanas, raisins and currants)
100g mixed peel
150g glace cherries, halved
100g blanched almonds, chopped
Brandy (optional)

Also a 7 inch square tin (or 8 inch round) and preheated oven at about 150 degrees

How to make:

1. Weigh out your mixed fruit, peel and cherries. To make the cake lovely and moist, soak the fruit overnight in lashings of brandy (this bit is optional if you're not into booze in cakes)
2. Grease and double-line your tin with baking parchment
3. Sieve flour, salt and spices into a bowl
4. In another large bowl (I once made this in a clean washing up bowl as I didn't have a mixing bowl big enough) cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
5. Add the eggs to the creamed fat/sugar a bit at a time, with a spoonful of flour with each dollop of egg.
6. Mix in the rest of the flour thoroughly, add a bit of vanilla essence at the same time
7. Now time to add the fruit, tip it all in and mix well until all combined
8. Pour the mix into your prepared tin and smooth into corners
9. Put in the oven and cook for up to 3 hrs, time will depend on your oven. I find it helps to put a sheet of baking parchment on top of the cake to stop it browning too much.
10. Swear and realise that you forgot to include the almonds but decide that it doesn't matter too much as who likes nuts in Christmas Cake anyway?...

Store in an airtight tin and forget about it until Christmas Eve when you suddenly remember that you need to decorate it.

Best Flapjack in the World (probably)

I was never that bothered about flapjack, too many times I'd had something that was just too sweet and greasy, then I tried making it in school and must have over-baked it as it just welded itself to the tin.

But then I was introduced to this recipe by a friend of a friend and I am converted. I have tried it with several different combinations, but the version I made the other day was particularly tasty...

You will need a largish tin as this makes quite a lot. I have a traybake tin from Lakeland which is about the size of an A4 sheet of paper. Line with baking parchment and preheat oven to 160 (fan) or 180 (conventional)

Ingredients:

125g of butter/margarine
100g of golden syrup
150g of brown sugar
50g honey
350g oats
250g of 'other stuff' e.g. fruit, seeds, nuts (for my latest batch I added 100g of mixed seeds, 100g of raisins and 50g of dessicated coconut)

Making it:

Dead easy!  After weighing everything out, melt the fat, sugar, syrup and honey over a low heat in a large pan. Then stir in the oats and your 'other stuff', make sure you mix it thoroughly. Put the mix into the tin and push down firmly.  Cook for 15-20 mins.

Leave it to cool in the tin.  When it's completely cool, remove from the tin and use a sharp knife to cut it up into squares/triangles or whichever shape you like.

Eat...

p.s. I have a friend who is a flapjack purist and thinks that adding 'other stuff' to flapjack is a desecration.You decide...