Tag Archives: baking

Figger Rolls

Ah, fiendishly simple, and unlike the shop-bought fig roll originals, these babies aren’t getting any smaller! Hurrah!

Ingredients

  • Filo pastry
  • Dried figs
  • Black treacle, honey or golden syrup, you choose.

Method

Preheat the oven to about 180°C.

Open out the filo pastry. Chop the figs and sparingly add the treacle/honey/syrup – make a thick paste.

Spread the mixture over the pastry, and roll up.

Cut into slices.

Place on a greased or silicone baking tray and bake until crispy. Put the timer on for 12 minutes, and keep checking after that until they’re done to perfection.

Get a glass of milk, crack open the Ker-plunk and enjoy!

Almond, Fig and Orange Cake

Ingredients

  • 175g butter (softened)
  • 175g brown sugar plus extra for topping
  • 225g self-raising flour
  • 2 eggs
  • Vanilla essence/extract
  • 8 dried figs, chopped into little bits
  • 1 orange, grate the zest and slice the rest
  • 150g marzipan, cut into chunks
  • Carton of double cream
  • 2tbsp honey

Method

Preheat the oven to about 160°C

Mix the flour,  sugar, butter and eggs with some vanilla extract/essence and the figs, marzipan, and orange zest.

Spread into a cake tin (grease if they’re not silicon).

Top with the sliced orange.

Bake for about 40mins  (but remember to keep checking). When you think it might be done poke a fork into the middle; if it comes out clean of cake mixture, it’s about done (but there’s no substitute for common sense and a trained eye!).

While it’s cooking, whizz the cream and honey together.

When the cake is cooked, allow to cool for a few minutes before attempting to remove from the tin.

Serve with the honey cream, and put your feet up.

Chunky Oaty Biscuits with things in

Ingredients

  • 100g ReadyBrek (or ground oats)
  • 100g butter (softened)
  • 100g sugar
  • 100g brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • A generous dash of vanilla extract (or essence)
  • 120g self-raising flour
  • 200g of things to put in the biscuits – plain nutty chocolate is nice, or chunks of fudge, or whatever you fancy

Method

Preheat the oven to about 190ºC.

Mix all the ingredients together.

Form into balls, and place on either a greased baking tray or a silicone one.

Cook for about 12 minutes, but do keep checking after about 8 minutes.

Resist the temptation to eat them before they’re cool.

OK, now you can eat them.

Desert Island Cake

Just make sure you go to the gym first.

Ingredients

  • 175g butter (softened)
  • 175g sugar
  • 260g self-raising flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 bananas – mash 2 with some rum, reserve the remaining banana for the topping
  • 150g or thereabout of dark chocolate
  • Raisins soaked overnight in rum
  • 1 carton of double cream
  • 1 small can of coconut cream
  • 100g desiccated coconut

Method

Preheat the oven to about 150°C

Mix the flour,  sugar, butter and eggs with the raisins, bananas and chocolate.

Spread into a cake tin (grease if they’re not silicon).

Slice the remaining half banana and arrange on the top of the cake.

Bake for about 40mins  (but remember to keep checking). When you think it might be done poke a fork into the middle; if it comes out clean of cake mixture, it’s about done (but there’s no substitute for common sense and a trained eye!).

Whip up the cream, coconut cream and desiccated coconut altogether.

When the cake is cooked, allow to cool for a few minutes before attempting to remove from the tin.

Serve with the delicious coconut cream.

Try not to think about how many calories you just ate.

Toffee Apple Cake

Ingredients

  • 175g butter (softened)
  • 175g brown sugar plus extra for topping
  • 260g self-raising flour
  • 2 eggs
  • Vanilla essence/extract
  • 2 apples (Cox’s are best) (slice one for the topping and peel and grate the other)
  • Handful of chunks of dairy fudge
  • Raisins/sultanas
  • Lemon (grate the zest, and reserve juice)
  • 1tsp Allspice

Method

Preheat the oven to about 160°C

Mix the flour,  sugar, butter and eggs with some vanilla extract/essence and the fudge, raisins/sultanas, grated apple, allspice, and most of the lemon zest (reserve some for the topping).

Spread into a cake tin (grease if they’re not silicon).

Top with the sliced apple, remainder of the zest, and sprinkle liberally with brown sugar.

Bake for about 40mins  (but remember to keep checking). When you think it might be done poke a fork into the middle; if it comes out clean of cake mixture, it’s about done (but there’s no substitute for common sens and a trained eye!).

When the cake is cooked, allow to cool for a few minutes before attempting to remove from the tin (particularly if its a loose-bottom tin, they’re lethal).

It’s fine to eat as it is (particularly still hot from the oven), but it’s also nice with some rum or brandy cream…

Chocolate, Chilli and Orange Biscuits

Ingredients

  • 150g butter
  • 200g sugar
  • 1 egg
  • vanilla essence
  • 200g self-raising flour
  • 50g cocoa or drinking chocolate powder
  • zest of one orange
  • 1tsp hot chilli powder

Method

Preheat the oven to about 180-120°C.

Soften the butter, then mix together with the sugar, egg, vanilla.

Once that’s all mixed, add the flour, cocoa, orange zest and chilli powder.

Form into balls and place spaced out on greased or silicone baking trays.

Cook for 8-12 minutes.

Allow to cool.

Dog Poo Biscuits

It’s all in the name, folks. Actually, there’s no dog poo involved, it’s just that that’s what the Nutella looks like once you’ve baked it. Tastes delicious though. These biscuits are excellent for children’s parties, or indeed for anyone with a touch of lavatorial humour.

Ingredients

  • 225g butter (soften until almost liquid)
  • 100g sugar
  • 300g self-raising flour
  • slosh of vanilla essence
  • Nutella

Method

Preheat oven to about 180°C.

Mix all the ingredients together except the Nutella.

Roll the mixture into small balls and lay on greased baking sheets.

Using your finger make a dimple in the centre of each ball.

Apply a dollop of Nutella into each dimple.

Bake for about 15 minutes.

Easter Alternative

Bake the biscuits for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and decorate with chocolate eggs by planting them firmly in the centres. Return to the oven and bake for a further 5 minutes.

Coconut and Raspberry Cake

This is a nice summery cake, ideal for baking on a warm sunny day. Whether you’re messing about in boats, or sitting under a tree with a good book, it will add a delicious Englishness to your afternoon. Pass the Earl Grey.

Ingredients

  • 175g butter (softened)
  • 175g sugar
  • 200g self-raising flour
  • 100g desiccated coconut
  • 3 eggs
  • Vanilla essence/extract
  • Raspberry jam
  • 1 carton of whipping cream

Method

Preheat the oven to about 180°C

Mix the flour,  sugar and eggs with some vanilla extract/essence and the coconut.

Divide between two cake tins (grease if they’re not silicon). Bake for about 25mins  (but remember to keep checking).

While it’s cooking, whip the cream.

When the cake is cooked, allow to cool for a few minutes before attempting to remove from the tin (particularly if its a loose-bottom tin, they’re lethal).

Spread the cream on the top of one of the cakes, and spread the jam on the other. sandwich the other cake on top so you have a lovely cream and raspberry filling.

If you have the urge you can decorate the top. A dusting of icing sugar is very simple and looks nice.

Pear and Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

  • 175g butter (softened)
  • 175g brown sugar
  • 100g self-raising flour
  • 75g cocoa
  • 1tbsp ground coffee
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 pears
  • 1 carton of whipping cream

Method

Peel, chop and blend pears.

Mix the flour, cocoa, coffee, butter, sugar and eggs with half of the pear gunge.

Divide between two cake tins (grease if they’re not silicon). Bake for about 25mins at 180°C (but remember to keep checking).

While it’s cooking, whip the cream and add in the remainder of the pear.

When the cake is cooked, allow to cool for a few minutes before attempting to remove from the tin (particularly if its a loose-bottom tin, they’re lethal).

Spread the cream on the top of one of the cakes, and sandwich the other cake on top.

If you have the urge you can decorate the top.

It’s normal for the cream to look curdled because of the pear juice, that’s fine. Once the cake is assembled it’s good to leave it to cool for a bit, because the juice from the cream soaks into the cake and makes it go fudgy, which is delicious.

Scoff it.