Nutella bread thingies

Second attempt at enriched dough since doing the breadmaking course. Lot better than the first one (which was mostly uncooked!), but I guess it would have been better a bit thinner.

Nutella sweet bread

500g strong white flour
1tsp salt (6g)
30g white sugar
60g softened butter (+40g extra for second knead)
225g milk
1 egg (beaten)
14g fresh yeast
Nutella!!!

Mix in a big bowl the flour, salt, sugar and the 60g of softened butter with your hands.

In a jug mix the milk and egg, and dissolve the fresh yeast.

Pour the liquid into the flour bowl and mix it well with your hands, adding more milk if the dough is too dry (yeah, I know... what's too dry??). Take out of the bowl and knead for 10 minutes. Leave it to rest for 10 minutes and then add the extra butter (must be really really soft!), little by little as you knead it some more.

Leave it to ferment for 30 minutes.

Roll out to a rectangle (I'll try thinner than the one in the picture next time).

Spread nutella on the left half of the rectangle, and then fold the un-nutellaed side over the one with the nutella.

Cut in ~5cm wide stripes (a pizza cutter is very good for this). Using the same pizza cutter, make two little slits ~3cm from the edge (lengthwise) and ~5cm long. Then twist the end of the dough to pass it through the hole and do the same on the other end.

Prove for 40min and then bake at 210C for 15min.

Cool down on a wire rack, and then brush with some icing sugar mixed with water (not sure of the ratio, I don't think it matters too much!).

Oaty, coconutty biscuits

After trying out lots of recipes from the same cookie book, and failing miserably, I've managed to bake some that are not only edible but actually nice!

Anzac biscuits

100 g porridge oats

150 g plain flour

100 g soft light brown sugar

50 g desiccated coconut

115 g butter

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp hot water 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Preheat oven to 190C.

Mix oats, flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl.

Melt the butter and honey on a pot.

Mix the hot water and soda bicarbonate on a little bowl and then pour over the butter and honey. Mix together and then pour over the oat mixture.

Stir it all together and then, with your hands, make small balls, place them on a baking sheet and flatten them slightly.

Bake for 10 minutes until golden.

Leave the biscuits on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

Mama's lemon cake

which turned out quite well, considering it is absolutely impossible to whip evaporated milk in this country...

Lemon Cake

1 lemon (zest and juice)

1 glass of sugar

1 glass of water

175g of evaporated milk

Lemon gelatine (brought from Spain, so who knows how to get it here in the same format)

6 digestive biscuits

A bit of milk and a teaspoon of liqueur (I used baileys).

Some more sugar for the caramel (~3tbsp)

Put the sugar for the caramel in a fireproof tin (I used a normal oven tin) and melt it over the fire until it gets liquid. Let it cold down.

In a sauce pan mix water, lemon zest, juice and the sugar. Heat until it starts boiling. Remove from the fire and add the gelatine. Leave to cool down a bit.

Whip the evaporated milk (if you can!). I tried for quite a long time and gave up, but my mum swears she can do it...

Mix the milk with the sugar/lemon mixture and then pour over the cold solidified caramel. 

Mix three or four tablespoons of milk with the baileys and dunk the biscuits (without getting them soft!). Arrange on top of the cake (no need to make it too pretty, as this will be the bottom of the cake).

Leave it overnight in the fridge.

Cinnamon and Walnut Muffins

With a crunchy filling...

Cinnamon and walnut muffins

280 g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
60 g white sugar
1 egg
150 ml sour cream
180 ml milk
60 ml sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla essence

Filling:
85 g light brown soft sugar
85 g chopped walnuts
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Prepare the filling by combining all the ingredients and keep aside.

In a bowl sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar.

In another bowl, beat the egg with a fork and stir in milk, sour cream, oil and vanilla essence.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until just combined.

Spoon half the batter into the muffin cases. Add half of the filling mixture. Spoon the rest of the batter and top with the filling mixture left.

Bake for 23 minutes in a preheated oven (195C).

Butternut Squash Muffins

Supersoft and moist :-)

Butternut squash muffins

255 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp each of ground ginger, nutmeg and cloves
150 g white sugar
1 egg
130 ml milk
2 tbsp honey
1/2 butternut squash (~400g)
90 ml sunflower oil

Cut, peel and remove the seeds from the squash and cook in simmering water for 15 minutes until soft. Drain liquid and mash (or puree in a food processor). Ideally you should get ~250g of puree.

In a bowl, sift flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, all the spices and the sugar.

In another bowl, beat egg with a fork. Add milk, honey, squash and oil and stir well.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry, stirring until just combined.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cases and bake in a preheated oven (190C) for 18 minutes.

Lemon Souffle

Very easy to make and really few ingredients! It looks and feels like a cheesecake :-)

Lemon Souffle

For the base:
200 g digestive biscuits
100 g butter (at room temperature)

For the mix:
4 eggs
2 lemons
Small tin of condensed milk

To make the base, crumble the biscuits on a food processor and then mix with the butter and 1 tbsp of water. Pour into a 20cm round oven tin and cover the bottom and sides, pressing with the fingers until you have an even layer.

Squueze the lemons and sift the juice into a bit bowl. Add the egg yolks (of the four eggs) and the condensed milk. Mix well.

Whip the egg whites until stiff and then add to the lemon mix in two steps, stirring carefully.

Pour the mix over the biscuit base and bake at 180C for 30-35 minutes, until the top of the souffle is golden.

Take the souffle from the oven and let it cool down. (I think it's a lot better when it's been in the fridge)

Carrot cake

Not the lightest cake! The icing alone probably has more calories than a pizza, but it's really good, definitely worth it :-)

Carrot cake with a cream cheese icing

For the cake:
250 g brown sugar (I used 180 g of light brown sugar and 70 g or dark brown sugar)
100 g olive oil
20 g sunflower oil
3 eggs
160 g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger
200 g grated carrots
30 g chopped walnuts

For the icing:
170 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
225 g philadelphia
250 icing sugar
2 tbsp orange rind
A pinch of salt

To make the cake, mix together the oil (both) and the sugar (both) in a bowl with electric beaters for two minutes.

Add the eggs slowly, and then the sifted flour with the baking powder. Add the ginger, carrot and walnuts and mix well.

Grease the bottom of a 22cm round oven tin and cover with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180C.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 60 minutes.

To make the icing, beat the softened butter and the sugar in a bowl with the electric beaters until l it's soft and spongey (around 2 minutes). Add the philadelphia and beat for another two minutes. Add the sugar, the orange rind and the salt and beat for another three or four minutes.

Take the cake from the oven and let it cool down completely. Cut in half and fill with part of the icing. Assemble the two halves of the cake and decorate with the rest of the icing.