The revival of Queens of Tarts...

So ladies, it’s been a little quiet on the baking front of late hasn't it? We’ve all been busy over the summer, but with the Great British Bake Off finished for another year, it’s time for the Queens of Tarts revival!

And so I put to you our latest baking challenge... CHOUX PASTRY

Choux pastry is a very light pastry dough, which apparently was first invented in 1540. Over the years that followed, the recipe of became known as pâte à popelin and was used to make popelins – which are small cakes in the shape of a woman’s breasts. Later on in the eighteenth century, a patissier called Avice, used the light pastry dough to create sweet filled buns, which (inadvertently) resembled cabbages. And so, thanks to Avice and his sweet cabbage buns, we now enjoy all sorts of choux pastry treats.*

Crisp, puffed up choux pastry is light and airy due to the high water content in the mixture. The water, which creates steam during the baking process, forces the pastry outwards, giving the pastry shell a crispy cavity which can be filled with sweet or savoury fillings to make scrumptious snacks and puddings.

From éclairs and profiteroles to fancy swans and croque-en-bouche show-stoppers, choux pastry is often filled with a soft cream filling, and topped with chocolate or a fruit glaze.

So without further ado.. dust down your aprons, pre-heat your ovens, BAKE!

*Extra points for those who remembered their high-school French, choux = cabbage!

Hummingbird Bakery Classic Brownies

Well, off for a uni gathering in Bath this weekend so thought I'd do a little bake for the troops - as i'd missed all of their birthdays due to galavanting around India and determinned by January purse strings, I thought I'd treat them to a birthday esque bake!!! And what else is a winner other than the Classic hummingbird bakery brownie?!
Pressure on though as my sister in law has baked these on many occasions and they never fail!

Ingredients
- 200g Dark Chocolate roughly chopped
- 175g Unsalted Butter
- 325g Caster Sugar
- 130g Plain Flour
- 3 Eggs
- Icing Sugar

a 33 x 23 x 5cm Baking tray lined with greaseproof paper

Method

1. Prehead the over to 170 degrees
2. Line the tin with greaseproof paper
3. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and leave until melted and smooth
4. I gave it a little stir to combine the remaining butter and chocolate together to ensure it was fully mixed and smooth
5. Remove the Chocolate mixture from the heat and add the sugar - still until all incorporated.
6. Now add the flour and still well - ensuring all are coated and combined.
7.Whist the eggs and add to the mixture and stir until thick and smooth - i found that the mixture became glossy in appearance
8. Once all combined and mixed - spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tray and bake in the oven for approximately 30-35 mintues.

The recipe advised that around the 30minute mark  to check the brownie to ensure that the edges didn't become overcooked as they can become crunchy and hard. I found that 35minutes was perfect time, - flaky on the top and a soft centre (as desired) and removed from the oven and left to cool.
Once cooled i cut them up into small brownie size squares - obviously could do any size porton, but i felt the smaller brownie is always a winner as they are gloriously chocolately!
Once cooled and cut i dusted with icing sugar.

The recipe suggests that 12 are made, however as i cut mine into smaller squares I had more than 12, so set some aside for the Uni gals, and guess what - the office feeder strikes again!! I brought the rest into work - this time the Birmingham office!
Feedback - squidgy on the inside, flaky and a crunch on the outside, and a nice chocolatey flavour.

I will definitely make them again, and perhaps even attempt to rival the sister in law with them!!

Cornflake tart - nostalgic bake

As this month is nostalgic bake topic.. I opted for a cornflake tart!

For me this is steeped in memory because it is a bake that I use to have at school.. was a perk to a school lunch.. That and cowboy pie!!! It just connotes happy school memories, and as something that I haven't really seen elsewhere, it has complete school days association.

I obviously had an idea of the recipe, but searched the internet for one as the cookery books I had at home didn't have a recipe in. The recipe I used is from www.allrecipes.co.uk.

Ingredients:
- 55g Unsalted Butter
- 25g Dark brown sugar
- 115g Golden Syrup
- 85g Cornflakes
- 1 pinch of salt (I ommitted this)
- Pastry recipe/ready to use shortcut pastry
- 100g Strawberry Jam

Tart Tin

Method:
1. I rolled out the pastry and lined the greased tart tin with it - trimming the edges. I lined it with baking parchment and filled it with baking beans and placed in the oven for 20mins at 200 degrees.

2. Whilst the pastry was baking, I got to work on the ingredients. I melted the butter in the pan, and added the sugar until it had combined and disolved in the butter. I then added the golden syrup, constantly stirring.

3. I removed the pastry from the oven and removed the baking parchment to allow the pastry to become golden brown and baked for a further 5 minutes.
4. I removed the mixture from the heat and poured in the cornflakes and combining them with the mixture, ensuring that all the cornflakes are coated in the mixture. Once all coated - I put the jam on the base and spread out evenly. The recipe suggests that the jam should be warmed, however i find that warming jam makes it too liquidy, so I felt the the heat from the pastry would be enough to warm the jam without it becoming to liquidy.
Once the jam was spread out evenly, I added the cornflake mixture - spreading it out evenly across the top.
I popped the tart in the oven for 5 minutes and allowed to cool once removed.

This recipe was super easy and quick, I did wonder if the tart would taste the same or come close to the flavour profile of the one I use to have at school... and it did!! Amazing!!! The taste is just as i remember. I opted for it without custard - the classic lumpy custard at school wasn't a firm favourite, so i stuck to it plain.
Obviously it's quite a sweet tasting dessert so the custard is good to help the flavouring.

Again - the office feeder strikes again - as I am in the Birmingham branch a different group of tasters to trial it on.. and the feedback was a resounding success. Flavour, consistency, and pastry all worked well together.
What I did notice that having made it the day before, the jam had obviously set better even after it had cooled, but I think that it would need to be eaten on the same day or at a push the day after due to the heavy consitency of the cornflakes - as it's a slightly wet mixture.

Katherine's lime and raspberry meringue pie

So, a tad behind schedule but May bake complete.. I decided to make individual pies rather than one large one.
After a bit of research I combined a recipe from BBC Good Food online.. Lemon and Raspberry Meringue pie http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10881/lemon-and-raspberry-meringue-tart and Delia's fail safe meringue recipe http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/meringues.html
The recipe suggests one uses lemon curd, but I had some lime curd in that I'd only used a little of, so thought I'd change the lemon to lime (waste not want not!!!)

Ingredients (tweaked)
Filling
1 jar of lime curd (411g)
2 whole eggs and the 2 yolks from the egg white mixture
250g of fresh raspberries
Pastry bases

Meringue
3 Egg Whites
125g Caster Sugar
Topping
Raspberries from the punnet used in the filling
Zest of 1 lime

Method
So firstly, getting to grips with the pastry base. I used 8 ready made pastry cases on this occasion.. Purely again because I had them in stock to use.
I preheated the oven to 190 degrees and put the pie cases on a lined baking tray.

I scattered 6 raspberries on each of the 8 pastry cases, and got to work on the filling.

Firstly I prepared the egg whites for the meringue and used the egg yolk for the filling. With the egg yolks I added two whole eggs and beat them together.
I emptied the lime curd into a non stick sauce pan and added the beaten egg mixture together and put the mixture on a low heat to simmer for 10 minutes or so. I ensured I constantly stirred the mixture as advised to ensure the mixture thickened accordingly. It took a little longer than 10 minutes..about 15 minutes to thicken. But once thickened I decanted into a glass bowl and covered with cling film and left to cool (I left the mixture to cool whilst I got to work on the meringues and completed house chores, so a good 45 minutes at least!).
Whilst the mixture was cooling I got to work on the meringue. For this is opted for Delia Smith's classic, fail safe meringue recipe. I used the egg whites that I had separated earlier and added them to the 125g of caster sugar. I used my mixer to whisk the meringue to soft peaks. To check the meringue is ready I did the old trick of putting it over my head.. Thankfully a success as I had washed my hair!!

I left the meringue whilst I spooned about 2 tablespoons of the cooled lime curd mixture onto the raspberry and pastry cases. Once all the lime curd mixture sufficiently filled the cases I spooned on about 2 tablespoons of meringue onto the mixture and created soft peaks with the back of the spoon.

The pies were ready to go in the oven, so I put them in the oven for 10 minutes at 190 degrees and then turned the oven down to 150 degrees thereafter.
Once golden brown I turned the oven off and left the meringues in the oven until cooled as advised by Delia.

Once cooled, I sprinkled the lime zest and a raspberry on top for aesthetics rather than taste.

I cut into the pie, and it was the perfect meringue - slightly guey on the inside, with a perfect cracking on top.

Taste test - as I'm not the biggest meringue pie fan, I was again, the office feeder and took these into work.
The feedback - resounding success! Meringue cooked well - crispy on the outside and Slightly guey on the inside as i had tested. The taste combination of  raspberry and lemon was apparently quite fresh and light, and the flavours complimented one another.

I would use this recipe again as it was easier than I had thought.. But I would probably play around with the flavour combinations.

June Baking Challenge

So, June is my baking challenge month, and I’ve been keeping this one under my hat for a while. I’m not sure it suits the current glorious weather that we are basking in (when not at our desks) but I’ve decided to stick with it.

June’s theme is nostalgia; more specifically – a favourite bake from school/childhood.

We can all look back and remember things from our childhood – Polly Pocket, Pogs, the collectable Kellogg’s cereal bicycle wheel adornments, dandelion and burdock, and the racoons on Saturday mornings before Live & Kicking – which all connote fond and happy memories, but I feel that there is something quite special about a food memory.

For me a food memory has the ability to take me back to that time, right there to that scene, like you’ve gone back in time and reliving it all over again – the smell, taste – everything! So, get your thinking caps on girls and get your nostalgic taste buds moving... feel free to add your memory and why you’ve chosen it.

Happy Baking!

Lemon Zest Cheesecake

Well, this was March/April's bake - 'Cheesecake' and I was on a cheeky trip to India, I decided to forego this challenge. However, I had bought cream cheese in the hope that I'd have time to make it before departure, unfortunately not, hence why I decided to forego the challenge.

However, as I had the cream cheese sitting in the back of my fridge, and still very much in date, I had a moment of cheesecake inspiration and decided to see if I could work in any ingredients I had at home and just step up to the challenge!
So - with the lemons, mint, digestive biscuits and vanilla essence I had in - my culinary juices started flowing and I stumbled on a very basic cheesecake - Lemon zest!! So, I searched the web for a basic cheesecake recipe - and found one in the shape of James Martin on the BBC Good Food website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lemoncheesecake_65665

Ingredients:

Base:

10 Digestive Biscuits - crushed

75g Butter, melted (using a little on the base of the tin)

1 tbsp Honey

Filling:

700g/1 1/2 lb Mascarpone Cheese*

2 Lemons - juice and zest

200g/7oz Caster Sugar

4 tbsp Icing Sugar

Mint to garnish

Notes:

- I used Full Fat Cream Cheese as opposed to mascarpone cheese as that's what I had in

- I used 2 1/2 lemons - juice and zest

- I ommitted the Icing Sugar - as I needed to replenish my stock - so I added 1 tsp of vanilla essence instead

Method:

First of all, I measured a circular piece of baking parchment out to fit comfortably in the base of the tin (23cm tin), then I measured out all my ingredients, and got to work on the base.

Whilst the butter was melting in the pan on a low heat, I put the digestive biscuits in a sandwich bag, and covered with a tea towel, and used a rolling pin to crush the biscuits into the desired specification - crumbs!

Once the butter had melted, I used a pastry brush to lightly coat the base of the tin, and placed the baking parchment on top.

Now with the melted butter, I added the digestive biscuit crumbs and the honey, and combine together. Once all fully combined, I poured the base mixture into the prelined tin (the recipe recommends a spring form tin, which I have lent out, so I had to use a basic tin - although I'd highly recommend a spring form tin!!) and smoothed out to the edges. Once complete, I popped it in the fridge to chill.

Whilst the base is chilling, I got to work on the filling - combining the cream cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla essence and caster sugar together. The recipe recommends not over mixing, so I ensured I mixed the ingredients together in a slow manner. Once all combined I poured the mixture over the chilled base and spread it out evenly using the back of a tablespoon and pallette knife. I placed it in the fridge to chill.

The recipe recommends at lea\st 2 hours - I let it chill overnight.

Now for the removal of the cheesecake from the tin! This is where the spring form tin would have come in useful! I used a hot cloth as recommended to loosen the edges - which it did, but as the tin I was using was a loose base, I had to push the base up - yes you can imagine the trauma!!

I managed to remove it in one swoop, however it did cause a little loss of 'edging' - which as you can see from the image below - made it appear a very rustic looking cheesecake.

I added a sprig of mint to garnish, and the cheesecake is complete.

Taste test.. as not an avid fan of cheesecakes, I passed the tasting mantel to my colleagues at work - and the 2 regulars are in fact great cheesecake fans (pressure is on).

Result:
The general consensus was very pleasing! 9 and 10's out of 10 - with feedback such as - just the right amount of lemon, and not too overpowering, as lemon can be somewhat bitter in some cases. The ommition of the icing sugar also seemed to make a difference, with one of the tasters saying it wasn't as 'sugary and overly sweet' as lot of cheesecakes can be.
The only critique was that the base could be thicker. I did think that when the recipe stated 10 digestive biscuits, that it was quite little, so if i was to ammend this recipe, I'd double the quanitity of biscuits because the cheesecake topping is so thick.

For saying it was a last minute step up to the plate and embrace the cheesecake challenge with a very rushed search for a recipe based on the ingredients at home, i'm very pleased with the results.

Hannah's Chocolate Meringue Pie

When you mention 'Meringue Pie', most people will think of lemon meringue pie, which is a classic. I'm not a big fan of said classic, and so went for a lesser known chocolate meringue pie. I was a bit hesitant with this month's bake, due to my complete lack of experience with using meringue, but it was actually quite a simple dessert to make. I also wouldn't like to use the word cheat when it came to my pastry case, i'm not sure of a more suitable word, but cheat seems a bit mean.

Ingredients
Filling

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons cocoa
• 3 tablespoons corn flour
• 2 cups milk
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pie shell

Meringue

• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 6 tablespoons sugar

Instructions
In a saucepan I mixed the sugar, cocoa, corn flour and salt; whilst gradually adding milk. This cooked over a medium-high heat until it bubbled and thickened. This needed to be stirred constantly, which i found out after ignoring it for a few seconds and returned to a thick, lumpy mixture. I reduced the heat and stirred it for quite a while until the mixture was smooth again. The mixture was remove from heat and I stirred about 1 cup of the hot filling into the egg yolks, returned it to the saucepan and brought it to a gentle boil for approx 2 minutes. I then removed the pan from the heat and stirred in the vanilla, before pouring the hot filling in to the pie crust.

For the meringue, I used my electric hand whisk to beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until soft peaks formed. I then gradually added the sugar and continued to beat until stiff and glossy. I spread this evenly over the filling, and made sure to go right to the edges to seal the meringue and minimise leaks/explosions. This then went in the oven at 150c (fan) for 12-15 minutes.

I have to say that it did look pretty impressive and the smell of the pie was really yummy! The chocolate mixture was very similar to that of chocolate custard, but wasn't overly sweet and went really well with the meringue.

Chocolate filling

End Result

Hannah's Polka Dot Cheesecake

Like quite a few people, i've discovered and become quite addicted to Pinterest. So after searching for cheesecake inspiration, there was plenty to choose from.

I chose a cheesecake that was vanilla but with chocolate 'polka dots' in it, with the idea that when you cut in to the cheesecake you would also see dots as well. However as i'm not really a fan of a buttery biscuit base (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfeyUGZt8nk), I chose to swap this for a chocolate brownie base instead.

Ingredients
Filling
16 oz softened cream cheese
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
2 oz dark chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup sour cream

Brownie Base
113g butter (room temperature)
113g dark chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 Eggs
1/4 milk
1 cup plain flour

Instructions
I started by pre-heating my fan oven to 155c and lightly greasing my 9 inch spring form cheesecake pan.
When measuring out my ingredients, I was excited to use my new scales, kindly bought for me for my bday by fellow tarts Felicity and Jess and as some of the measurements were in cups, I finally had an excuse to use my adorable duck measuring cups!

For the base I melted the butter and chocolate over a low heat until it was smooth, removed from the heat and then mixed in the sugar. After this mixture had cooled for about 5 minutes I added the eggs and milk and used my electric hand whisk to blend together (this needs to be done quickly to prevent the eggs from cooking and scrambling). Lastly I mixed in the flour, before spooning in to the cheesecake pan and baking for roughly 25 minutes.

For the filling I used by standalone mixer to beat the cream cheese until smooth and gradually added the sugar. I added the eggs one at a time on low speed, followed by the vanilla and sour cream.  I had to occasionally stop and scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure it was all mixing together. Out of this mixture I then took 1/2 cup of the cheesecake filling and set aside.

I melted the dark chocolate in a bain-marie and then stirred the chocolate into the filling I had set aside.

I poured the plain filling into the pan, smoothing out to the edges.  To make the dots, I filled a piping bag with the chocolate mixture and placed dots all over the cheesecake until the chocolate mixture was used up.
This was then placed in the oven and baked for 1 hour. When cooked, I turned off the oven and left the cheesecake in the oven for an additional 1 hr, which stops the top from cracking.  This was then meant to be put in the fridge for at least 24 hours, but that didn't happen, as it smelt so good and surely it doesn't need that long to cool?!

The end result was really delicious and although the dots weren't as circular as the ones I saw on Pinterest, it had the desired effect and looked quite pretty. If I was to make this again, I would use less of the brownie base as it did end up being quite thick.

Measuring cups

End Result

Meringue Gelato Cake with Chocolate Cream Sauce

With Bank Holiday just gone, and my Mother's birthday falling quite nicely on the Monday - I hosted a celebratory buffet at my house. So, this could only mean a bit of baking needed to occur.
I made the bakewell tart (using the recipe I posted previously) and as an extra, I decided to try my hand at Nigella's Meringue Gelato Cake from Nigella Lawson's Nigellissima Book.
A friend of mine had made this and given me a few pointers - the chocolate sauce makes a LOT - so one can half the recipe at least, and that it was a rather easy but amazing recipe to do.
(when a recipe is described as 'easy' it worries me - so I got to work with trepidation!!!!)

Ingredients:

300ml Double Cream
1 tbsp Coffee Liquer/Rum*
8 Merringue Nests (crumbled)
30g 70% min Dark Chocolate Solids - fine splinters

Sauce:
250ml Double Cream
2 tbsp Coffee Liqueur/Rum
125g 70% min Dark Chocolate Solids - fine splinters
250g Raspberries

Method:

Firstly I lined a 450g Loaf Tin with clingfilm, ensuring that there was plenty hanging over the sides (As recommended).

I poured the cream into my kitchen aid and whipped on a low setting until lightly whipped. Once whipped, I added the fine splinters of dark chocolate, and as I'm not a coffee fan, and I didn't have any rum in, I used amaretto and added 1 tbsp of amaretto to the cream and combine with a wooden spoon. Once mixed, I crumbled in fine crumbs of meringue into the mixture and folded it into the mixture. Once all folded, I started to pack it into the loaf tin - spreading out using a pallette knife to ensure the mixture was level.
I used the 'excess' hanging of clingfilm to cover the tin, and wrapped the entire tin in another coating of clingfilm, and popped it in the freezer over night.

On serving the next day, the sauce has to be done just before serving, so I warmed the cream up on a low heat, stirring all the time, and adding the chocolate - watching the mixture thicken, but ensuring it doesn't boil as it will effect the sauce. I removed from the heat and allowed to cool slightly, but constantly stirring the mixture. At this point the recipe states that you should add the liquer/rum, however I didn't feel it necessary so omitted this.
I removed the gelato cake from the freezer - in which it had expanded and was easy to remove due to the use of the clingfilm.
I garnished with the raspberries, and drizzled the chocolate sauce over the gelato cake - only a light drizzle, allowing the guests to add more if they wanted.

I have to say, this recipe was easy, but you wouldn't have guessed it as it was absolutely amazing, and my guests loved it. Think it could become a dinner party favourite.

Katherine's Jaffa Cake Cupcakes

Firstly, I was most excited about January's baking theme - cupcakes! Such a diverse topic, which made my culinary thoughts go into overdrive!!
I have a couple of cupcake recipe books, and ploughed my through, with my brief (that I gave myself) of something a bit bold, classy and tasty!

After much deliberation, the answer I knew, would be found in 'The Hummingbird Bakery Cook Book'. I then went on their website, and saw that this month's special bake on sale were 'Jaffa Cake Cupcakes'. So, i knew this was the one.. the only problem.. no ingredient measurements provided, just an ingredients list. Therefore I thought I'd be a bit bold and improvise!

I selected the Vanilla Cupcake Recipe, which I would tweak ( from 'The Hummingbird Bakery Cook Book', and the Chocolate Frosting recipe from the same book.

Ingredients

For the Sponge:
40g Unsalted Butter
120g Plain Flour
140g Caster Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
110ml Whole Milk
1 Egg
The Juice of 1/2 an Orange
The Zest of 1/2 an Orange

Firstly I preheated my oven to 170 degrees and lined a cupcake tin with cupcake cases.

I mixed together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder, then adding the butter (which I chopped into small cubes to ensure it combined with the flour mixture better) and using a hand held whisk I started to combine all the mixture together.
I then added half of the milk (the original recipe stated 110ml of whole milk, but as I was adding the orange to the mixture I didn't want it to be too runny, so substituted 10ml of milk for orange juice) to the mixture and used an electric whisk to combine. Once this was incorporated, I mixed togther the milk, beaten egg, zest of half an orange, and then juice of half an orange, then slowly added it to the rest of the mixture and whisked together, ensuring that the mixture was smooth, yet not over worked.

I used 2 tablespoon measures to fill the cupcake cases to two thirds full (which they recommend on the hummingbird bakery application). Once all cupcake cases were full, I put them in the preheated oven for 20-25minutes as stated.
I set my timer to 20minutes as my oven is rather hot and didn't want them to burn.

Whilst the cupcakes were cooking (which may I add, the smell of the orange was quite something!) I got to work on the Chocolate Frosting.

Frosting Ingredients
300g Icing Sugar, sifted
40g Cocoa Powder (I used Bourneville Cococa Powder)
80g Unsalted Butter
30ml Whole Milk
10ml Juice of 1/2 an orange

With the above ingredients, I combined them together until light and fluffy, adding the juice of 1/2 an orange for the extra flavour.

Once the cakes were sufficiently cooled, I got to work on the the centre of the cake. For this i used a teaspoon so remove a small 5 pence piece size (in circumference) hole from the sponge, and about half way down - to enable the filling to sit perfectly in the centre and ooze out when bitten - but not seap out of the bottom of the cupcake. I repeated this step on each cupcake - discarding the sponge that was removed. I then used a teaspoon measure of thick cut marmalade and filled the holes made in the sponge. Once all filled with the marmalade I added the chocolate frosting and completed them with a mini jaffa cake.

The taste test proved quite popular, and many were unaware of the marmalade centre - so were more than pleased with the little cupcake surprise.

I would definitely make these again, as they were easy to make, just a tad fiddily, but with the end results and feedback that I received, were highly worth it.

Katherine's Bakewell Tart

Firstly, what a glorious bake this month!

Derbyshire pride at stake though, so the challenge was definitely set!

This bake is one that I have made before, and therefore tweaked the recipe from previous experience.

The recipe I used was from Waitrose Recipes online.

Ingredients for the filling:

1. 100g Unsalted Butter (softened)
2. 3 Large Eggs, Beaten
3. 6 tbsp Strawberry Jam
4. 125g Caster Sugar
5. 1/2 tsp Almond Extract
6. 150g Ground Almonds
7. 25g Flaked Almonds

To Decorate: 1 tbsp Icing Sugar, sifted
(For the Pastry: 200g Plain Flour, 100g Unsalted Butter, chilled & cubed, 2 Large Egg Yolks, beaten)

Firstly, I had all good intentions to make the pastry, however due to timing issues I decided that bought pastry is just as good, so I opted for a nice short cut pastry.
I preheated the oven to 190 degrees, and rolled out the pastry to approximately 3mm as suggested (however, ensuring that it wasn't too thin). I greased the pastry tin, and fitted the pastry to the tin ensuring that it fit comfortably into the tart rivets, to ensure a nice tart shape when removed.
I then pricked the pastry using a fork, lined the pastry with baking parchment, and then filled it with baking beans and placed in the oven for 15 minutes.
I found that i had leftover pastry, therefore I decided to make mini ones, and fill a muffin tin with the pastry and followed the same procedure with the baking beans.
Once baked, I removed both items and removed the parchment and baking beans as instructed and baked for a further 5 minutes, at an adjusted heat of 180 degrees - but ensuring I monitored it, so to not overcook.
Whilst the pastry was cooling I got to work on the filling.

For the filling I beat the sugar and butter together in my new mixer (very exciting!!!) until light, fluffy and pale, (the mixer made it all so speedy.. the muscle work with a wooden spoon can move over!!) and gradually added the beaten eggs a little at a time. Obviously this is to prevent any curdling!
I then added the almond extract, however from previous experience I found that 1/2 a teaspoon wasn't quite enough, therefore I added 1 and 1/2 teaspoons to give it a nice almond kick, yet not too overpowering. I then folded in the ground almonds, ensuring all was combined.
The filling is ready, so now I checked the pastry was cool, and added the strawberry jam. On previous bakes I have used different jams, cheap ones, fruitier ones, but I have to say that the jam does make the difference, and the conclusion was that the best jam to use was Bon Marme, and it really is worth it. The recipe suggests 6 tbsp, however, I ended up using a whole jar (obviously adding to the mini tartlets). I added the filling to the top, and ensured it was spread evenly, and decorated using the flaked almonds - to be honest, I did this by sight rather than the 25g measurement suggested as I like it to be covered in almonds - all personal preference.
In it went to the oven for 35 minutes.

Once cooled slightly in the tin, I removed and cooled further on a cooling tray.

Tasting test.. I took both the mini tartlets and slithers of the main tart to work, and received a resounding success. The bakewell tart was moist, and flavoursome. I experimented and put a couple of slices in the fridge, and my 2 regular tasters felt that it tasted even better, and remained moist.

I will definitely make again, and MAYBE just maybe, might attempt making the pastry!

Sarah's Raspberry Cheesecake

Having just posted my February bake - I've realised I should break away from baking with raspberries!

March's baking challenge called for a cheesecake. I must admit, I have a trusty lemon cheesecake recipe which I usually call upon - however I thought I'd make something I've not baked before - so I went for a baked cheesecake.

This recipe was from Rachel Allen, and I agree with the description on the BBC Food website - this was really light and fluffy. I used a bigger tin (23 cm) than the recipe called for (20 cm) but I just upped the recipe for the biscuit base and added 100g more crème fraiche and an extra egg.

Biscuit base
225g digestive biscuits
75g butter

Filling
500g ricotta
300g crème fraiche
175g caster sugar
4 eggs
zest and juice of a lemon
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp vanilla extract
250g raspberries

 This was really quick and easy to make as it required no whisking of cream or egg whites for example. Mix all the ingredients together, and stir through half the raspberries. Pour on top of the biscuit base, and sprinkle the rest of the raspberries on top. Bake for 40 minutes at 180C and leave to cool before chilling in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

We had a few friends over for Sunday lunch who were worthy participants for the taste test. This is Chris with his first portion...

I was surprised I liked this so much as I normally prefer refrigerated cheesecakes to baked cheesecakes, but this was so light and airy I would be temped to make this again - although I might try using blueberries next time, just to add some variety to my 5-a day!

Sarah's Raspberry and Amaretto Bakewell Tart

Apologies to my fellow QoTs, I am VERY late with my contribution for February! However, here is the my version of a Bakewell Tart. I followed (roughly!) a recipe from The Hairy Bikers which used ground almonds in the pastry for some extra almond goodness! The pastry was easy to make and very good to handle and roll out.

For the almond pastry, blitz all the dry ingredients in a food processor until breadcrumbs  then add the eggs and bring together using the 'pulse' setting of the food processor.

Almond pastry

425g plain flour

250g unsalted butter

100g caster sugar

50g ground almonds

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

2 egg yolks

Chill in fridge for an hour before rolling out and lining a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Bake blind for 15 mins at 180 C. When the pastry has cooled, spread with the raspberry jam.

Filling

400g ground almonds

175g caster sugar

8 eggs

1/2 tsp almond essence (I added a good slug of Amaretto instead!)

3 tbsp raspberry jam

50g flaked almonds to decorate the top

For the filling, mix everything together, saving the flaked almonds to sprinkle on the top. Bake at 165 C for 25-30 mins. 

This smelled so lovely when it came out the oven, it was a bit difficult to wait until pudding time! Tim really loved it and I will definitely make one again, the pastry was lovely and crisp with no soggy bottom! 

There was so much left that I froze the rest of it and have been defrosting a slice or two at at time. Goes well with custard, or vanilla ice cream.

Jess's Bakewell Tarts

Yummy yummy Bakewell Tarts! One of my absolute faves, and as it turns out.. really easy to make! So.. first of all i have to confess that i used shop bought pastry. Next time im definitely going to make my own pastry but i didnt quite have enough time this time around.

I took my recipe from the Great British Book of Baking. Once i had made one cake,  really how easy and yummy it was, i then went on a bit of a baking rampage and the following night i made another two cakes, and also attempted a batch of mini Bakewells (following the same recipe for both types).

 Firstly, i rolled out the pastry and shaped it around the tin, taking care to remove all air pockets. I then prodded some holes into the bottom of the pastry with a fork, and then spread on a layer of raspberry jam.

I then mixed together butter, sugar, egg, flower, baking powder, ground almonds and almond essence. Then i just dolloped this on top of the jam, spread it around and put it in the over for 30mins. Once it was cooked, i made a lemon icing sugar, and spead it over the top of the tart, then dropped a few flaked almonds on top.. and hey presto!

I used the same method for the mini Bakewells, which tasted good but didnt look quite as impressive as the larger cakes.

I will defo make these again as they were very quick and simple, and tasted great!

March: Cheesecake

After recently visiting the big US of A, it was obvious that cheesecake was one of their most celebrated desserts. We stumbled across an eatery named 'The Cheesecake Factory' which had the most amazing variety of cheesecakes you could ever imagine. I took a sneaky photo as seen below:

The earliest mention of cheesecake comes from Greece, but is now a popular pudding all across the world. Cheesecakes are very versatile and are primarily made up of cream cheese and a base of hard biscuits, but after that the possibilities are endless. They can be baked or unbaked and can have many toppings with strawberry and vanilla being well established classics.

This month ladies, we will be trying out cheesecakes, lets try and do something less traditional and see what we come up with!

Felicity's Bakewell Tart

This is one of my absolute favourites so I couldn't wait to get started!

I used the recipe from The Great British Book of Baking and it was brilliant. I decided not to make the pastry by hand (extra points to anyone who does!) and instead bought sweet shortcrust pastry.

Once I'd rolled the pastry and lined a flan tin, I covered with blackcurrant jam - home-made by mum Pointer, no less!

The filling was straightforward and I beat the butter, sugar, egg, flour, ground almonds and almond essence altogether by hand. I spread it evenly on to the pastry and popped in the oven.

Once cooked I left to cool, then topped with icing sugar and flaked almonds - and voila:

This is, without a doubt, the best thing I have ever made - it was absolutely delicious! Special thanks to my assistant Leanne for her baking/tasting help!

February: Bakewell Tart

For February's theme I've chosen the Bakewell Tart - what better way to celebrate our Derbyshire heritage?!

Historically these beauties come from the small Derbyshire town of Bakewell, right in the heart of the Peak District, dating back to the Tudor times (or possibly even earlier).

There are a few different versions:

• the traditional Bakewell pudding - made with a puff pastry base and a creamy custard topping
• the newer Bakewell tart  - made with sweet shortcrust pastry, raspberry jam and filled with an almond infused sponge-like filling (frangipane) 
• the cherry Bakewell -  individual tarts covered in a layer of fondant and topped with a glacé cherry.

I'll leave that decision up to you! 

Anna's January Cupcakes!

Every January, I vow to be more healthy. Less of the bad stuff and more of the good! So, when Emma set the challenge of a January cupcake challenge I decided that I was going to see if I could find a recipe for guilt free cake eating! Thankfully, my foresight (in a bid to become more healthy) of purchasing the Hairy Bikers, Hairy Dieters recipe book, completely paid off. However, I also could not resist having a browse through my Humming Bird book. I was completely torn between what I saw as the 'healthy' option and what I believed to be the 'tasty' option, so...I decided to bake a recipe from both!

My first recipe was Banana and Chocolate cupcakes from the Humming Bird Bakery. I followed the recipe exactly, which produced a light bananary cake with an extremely rich and chocolatey icing. These cakes were extremely rich, possibly a bit too much for me, however, they did have that 'Humming Bird taste.'

My second bake was skinny lemon cupcakes with drizzly icing, from the Hairy Dieters recipe book. These were delicious and I think I preferred them to my chocolate and banana ones. They have reduced the sugar content and used half fat natural yoghurt and blueberries to make up for it. The lemon flavoured icing gave the cake a zingy kick and added sweetness. I will definitely be making these again!