Category: Baking

Baking · Do-ahead

3 ingredient Coconut Macaroons

Belinda

Yes, only  three ingredients and incredibly low fat and low calorie, for those that care!

Makes 12

2 extra large egg whites
4 oz superfine sugar (caster sugar)
6 oz desiccated coconut

Heat the oven to 350 F.
Whisk the egg whites, sugar and coconut together in a bowl until they lightly come together.
With wet hands, press the mixture into a flat, round shape about 1 inch high.

Cut out 12 rounds about 1 1/2 inches using a small pastry cutter or upturned liqueur glass and place on a lightly oiled or non stick baking tray.

Bake in the center of the oven for 15 minutes until very lightly golden, just touched with color.
Transfer the macaroons to a wire tray and cool.
Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

 

Appetizers · Baking · Meat

Easy bacon and cheddar pull-apart bread

Belinda

This is almost not a recipe, but I was reminded of this yesterday and forgot it was in my “bottom drawer”!  Perfect for football season and SO tasty.

10 oz of your favorite mature cheddar cheese, grated
1 large round loaf of soft bread like a French or Italian loaf
10 oz diced, sliced bacon, cooked till crisp
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tbsp dry Ranch dressing mix from a packet

Cut the bread in 3/4 inch intervals, being careful not to cut all the way through.
Cut again in the same way, crosswise, still not cutting through. You are going to need a good sharp knife for this!
Place the shredded cheese in between all the cuts then sprinkle with the cooked bacon.
Blend the melted butter with the Ranch mix and drizzle evenly over the top of the bread.
Wrap in foil and bake at 350F for 15 minutes, uncover and bake for 10 more minutes.
Serve hot and pull apart the pieces to eat.

You can add fresh herbs, garlic and all sorts of other things to this bread and it just gets better!

 

Baking · Do-ahead

Easy Greek feta flatbread (Alevropita)

Belinda

This flatbread recipe is made with a simple egg batter and studded with Greek feta and comes from the region of Epirus.
It is very easy, thin crust and tangy with the Greek feta sprinkled over.
I have given you the basic recipe but I would recommend using chopped oregano or thyme to sprinkle with the feta and when you feel adventurous, some pieces of sun dried tomatoes, olives, rosemary, preserved lemon, garlic…..

Serves 8 to 10

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp vodka
1 large egg
1&1/4 cups flour, sifted
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp baking powder
12 oz Greek feta, crumbled. (don’t buy the pre-crumbled one as all the flavor has gone)
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Heat the oven to 500 degrees. Put in an 18″ by 13″ by 1″ rimmed baking sheet  for about 10 minutes

Meanwhile, whisk together 2 tbsp oil, the vodka, egg and 1 cup water in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together until well incorporated.
Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture and whisk until smooth

Brush the remaining oil over the bottom of the hot pan and add the batter, smoothing the batter with a rubber spatula to coat the bottom evenly, if necessary.
Distribute the cheese evenly over the batter and dot with the butter.
Bake, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until golden brown and crunchy, about 20 minutes.

Let cool slightly before slicing and serving

 
 

Accompaniments · Baking

Easy and tasty pesto croutons

Belinda

We had a couple of composer friends for lunch a while ago and the salad course was a Caesar, but just for a change I decided to make my own croutons and added pesto sauce.
They must have been successful as one of our friends who doesn’t usually like croutons loved them and recently asked me for the recipe.

1 loaf of ciabatta bread, chopped into chunks for the croutons. I leave the crusts on.
1 cup good pesto sauce, either homemade or commercial.
1/2 cup good extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic (at least) crushed
1 handful finely chopped fresh basil, if the pesto is commercial.
salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, add the pesto sauce, garlic, olive oil, basil, salt and pepper. Stir well and add more olive oil if it’s too thick.
Throw the bread chunks into the bowl and toss well.
Lay out croutons onto a large shallow baking tray and roast at 350 F for about 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown.
Watch incase they burn though.
Remove from the oven and cool.
Serve if you haven’t already eaten them all!

Baking · Do-ahead

Espresso chocolate chip cookies

Belinda

Oliver made these yesterday to take to work. They really were great and the espresso just enriched the cookies without a strong coffee flavor.

Makes about 36 small cookies.

8 oz (2 sticks) good European butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar
1/2 tsp good quality Vanilla Extract
1 tbsp espresso powder plus 1 tbsp boiling water
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup chocolate chips, again, good quality ones

Firstly, add the boiling water to the espresso powder and set aside until tepid.
In a stand mixer, beat the butter and confectioners sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes.
Beat in the vanilla and tepid coffee mixture, then reduce the speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough. Don’t over mix.
Fold in the chocolate chips with a large spoon or spatula.
gather the dough and place in between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll the dough into a rectangle shape that’s 1/4 inch thick.
Refrigerate the dough, flat, for at least 2 hours. You can put it onto a cookie sheet to keep it flat so it doesn’t break or bend.
After the dough is firm, preheat the oven to 325 F. Cup the dough into 1 1/2 inch squares or circles.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until they turn golden brown around the edges.

Baking · Do-ahead · Nuts

Walnut and olive mini breads

Belinda

These are irresistible!!

Makes about 45

For the Dough:


3+1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra if needed
Pinch of salt
2 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup corn or olive oil
4&1/2 oz unsalted butter, softened at room temperature (it should be really soft to touch)
2 tbsp apple cider or red wine vinegar
1 cup plain yoghurt
1 cup finely (but not too finely) chopped walnuts (you should feel the bite)
1 cup pitted sliced black olives (Kalamata)
To Glaze
1 egg yolk, beaten
Preheat the oven to 375 F . Lightly grease the bottom of a large baking sheet.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil, butter, vinegar and plain yoghurt. Stir to mix. Add the walnuts and olives and stir to combine.
In a medium bowl combine the flours, salt and baking powder. Stir to mix.Add the flour mixture to the walnut/olive mixture. if the dough is sticky, gradually add more flour and knead the dough until it is tender and pleasant to the touch but not too tight or sticky.
Taking a little at a time, shape into balls about the size of a big whole walnut.
Arrange the balls on the prepared baking sheet. Brush their tops with the beaten egg yolk.
 
Bake until golden, about 40 minutes.
Bring to room temperature before serving. 
The inside of these mini breads should appear moist, it’s normal! 
 
Baking · Do-ahead

Really easy Irish soda bread (almost no knead!)

Belinda

This bread is SO simple, which means you can have fresh soda bread at the drop of a hat.
Thank you to the Ballymaloe Cookery School, Shanagarry, Ireland

3&3/4 cups flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1&1/2 to 2 cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 375F
Sift the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center.
Pour most of the milk in at once. Using one (clean) hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, add more milk if necessary. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky
When it all comes together, turn it out onto a floured board, knead lightly for a few seconds, just enough to tidy it all up.
Pat the dough into a round, about 1.5 inches deep and cut a deep cross on it to let the fairies out!
Let the cuts go over the sides of the bread to make sure.
Bake on a baking sheet in a hot oven (375F) for 45 minutes or until cooked. You can tell that it is done by tapping the bottom of the bread. If it is cooked it will sound hollow.

Baking · Do-ahead · Nuts

Pine nut and rosemary shortbread

Belinda

These are fabulous!!   The recipe makes about 24 small cookies

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp fine-grain sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup natural cane sugar or white sugar
zest of 1 large lemon
2/3 cup pine nuts, toasted and loosely chopped
2 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Combine the flour and salt in a small bowl and whisk to combine.
In a separate bowl or stand mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and lemon zest and mix again, then add the flour mixture, nuts and rosemary and mix until the dough goes just past the crumbly stage and begins to really clump together (don’t over mix but under mixing will make the dough seem a bit dry, which can be difficult to handle) It’s a fine line!
Turn the dough onto a floured work surface. Knead the dough just once or twice to bring it together, then divide it into a ball (or 2 balls) and flatten into disks about 1 inch thick.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.
Roll the dough out to 1/3 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.
Cut into whatever shapes you desire and place on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are beginning to brown on the bottom.
The baking time will vary depending on the size of the cookies, taking less time for smaller ones.

Variations-  Use chopped raw or toasted walnuts and 1 tbsp coarsely ground coffee in place of the lemon, pine nuts and rosemary

 

Baking · Do-ahead

Mary Berry’s ultimate lemon tray bake

Belinda2 Comments

This is similar to the previous recipe I posted, but it’s what I call a “one bowl” cake.
Everything is done in one bowl with no whipping of the butter and sugar. If you don’t have much time and want a light, moist tray bake to serve with fresh berries and cream or ice cream, nothing beats this.
This also has the lemon/sugar syrup poured over at the end. It’s more of a tray bake than a cake.

This makes about 30 squares
Ingredients
225 grams butter, softened
225 grams caster (superfine) sugar
275 grams self raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 large free range, organic eggs
4 tbsp milk
2 lemons, grated zest only (save the juice for the syrup)
For the crunchy topping
175 grams granulated sugar
2 lemons, juice only
(You can also add the grated rind of 1 large orange to this as an extra touch)
 
Method
Cut a rectangle of non stick baking parchment to fit the base and sides of a 11 by 9 by 1 1/2 inches roasting tin. (approximately, it doesn’t have to be those exact measurements)
Grease the tin with butter and line the tin.
Preheat the oven to 300F
Put all (except the crunchy topping ingredients) the ingredients for the tray bake in a large bowl and beat well for 2 minutes. An electric mixer is best for this.
Empty all the mixture into the prepared tin and level it off with the back of a spoon.
Bake in the middle of the oven for around 40 to 45 minutes until golden and the sponge springs back when lightly pressed.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin for about 15 minutes and remove from the tin using the parchment paper to help.
Carefully remove the paper and allow to cool on a rack.
For the crunchy topping, mix the ingredients together in a measuring jug or small bowl until the sugar dissolves and pour it evenly over the cake while it’s still just warm.
Cut into squares when completely cooled and serve.
 

 

Baking · Do-ahead · Nuts

Nigella’s lemon and almond polenta cake

Belinda
Serves 16

Serves 16

Everyone needs this recipe in their life as it’s so moist, rich and lemony with the fresh lemon syrup poured over the cake after baking so it stays unctious!
(Sorry about the metric measurements)

1 cup (200 grams) soft unsalted butter, plus some for greasing the cake tin
1 cup (200 grams) caster sugar or the very fine white sugar.
1 cup (200 grams) ground almonds
1/2 cup (100 grams) fine polenta or cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder (gluten free if you like)
3 large organic, free range eggs
zest of 2 lemons, save the juice for the syrup

For the syrup

Juice of 2 lemons
125 grams icing (powdered) sugar
1 x 9″ spring form cake tin

Line the base of your cake tin with parchment paper and grease the side with butter.

Preheat the oven to 350F

Beat the room soft butter and sugar together till pale and whipped. You can use a freestanding mixer or just a wooden spoon.

Mix together in a bowl, the almonds, polenta and baking powder and beat some of this into the butter/sugar mixture, followed by 1 egg then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, beating all the while.

Finally beat in the lemon zest and pour into the prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

it may seem a bit wobbly when you take it out but if you can put a skewer or dry piece of spaghetti through it and it comes out clean, it’s ready. Also the edges of the cake will have started to shrink away from the sides of the cake tin.
Remove the cake from the oven and put on a cooling rack  but leave it in the tin.

Make the syrup by boiling together the lemon juice and icing sugar in a smallish saucepan.
Once the icing sugar is dissolved into the juice, you’re done.

Prick the top of the cake all over with a cake tester or another dry piece of spaghetti, pour the warm syrup all over the cake and leave it to cool and soak in before taking it out of it’s tin.

Note
I love to serve this with a mixture of creme fraiche and lemon curd mixed together with some grated lemon rind added. 
There you have the ultimate lemon experience!!