Showing posts with label Baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baking. Show all posts
I have always found the chemistry of cooking fascinating. The process of combining together a few (or sometimes many) ingredients, which on their own are not all that remarkable, or even very tasty oftimes, into something that is so incredibly delicious, so wow that you can scarce leave it alone.
To me is like an mesmerizing magic that astonishes me at times. I find myself wondering about the brain of someone who was intelligent enough to be able to take that leap of faith in the first place. Take this pie for instance . . .
Other than the pastry shell you bake it in, it uses only four ingredients. Plain flour. (ever try to eat plain flour? YUCK!) Soft light brown sugar. (Fab on rice crispies or in your tea, but wouldn't eat it by the spoonful)
Butter. (Lovely on toast and baked potatoes and bread, etc. but again, you wouldn't sit down and eat a pound of butter on it's own.) Double cream, or heavy cream to you North Americans . . . (Something else which is good on or in things, but I couldn't just eat it alone.)
Four. Simple. Singularly ordinary. Ingredients. Put them together in just the right way however, and bing, bam, boom! MAGIC!! Beautiful. Magnificent. Amazingly tasty . . . magic!
I am betting you have just about everything for this pie in your kitchen right now. (I recommend my recipe for the crust here. It makes two crusts, but you can tightly wrap and freeze one disk for another time.)
Brown Sugar Cream Pie. Something magical that happens when you combine those four simple ingredients together.
Totally hedonistic and totally delicious. Totally N-A-U-G-H-T-Y, but in a totally scrumptious way.
Rich, smooth, sweet, and unctuously delicious. Not something you would want to eat every day, but something which you will totally not be able to resist digging your fork into, again . . . and again . . . when you do cave in and decide to bake it.
This pie is the type of dessert that you would not hesitate to serve to a guest . . . or some
hungry missionaries who are not bothered about calories . . . because,
well . . . they walk them all off during the day anyways, and . . .
What your
guests don't know don't hurt!! They say what the eye don't see . . . the heart don't
grieve!
It's blatantly scrumdiddlyumptiously glorious and so seriously very easy to put together, that literally all you
have to do is to whisk these few simple ingredients together and pour them
into an unbaked pie shell.
Really. Its as simple as that. I promise . . .
The hardest part is waiting for it to cool down and set enough to eat. A couple hours in the refrigerator does the trick.
You will want to serve it in thin quivering delectable slices, along with . . . yes . . . a dollop of softly whipped cream on top to garnish it.
In for a penny, in for a pound . . .
*Brown Sugar Cream Pie*
Makes one 9 inch pie
Makes one 9 inch pie
Creamy and delicious and not for the faint of heart!
one 9-inch unbaked pie crust
47g plain flour (1/3 cup)
125g butter, melted (1/2 cup)
200g soft light brown sugar (1 cup, packed)
1 pint (480ml) of double cream (2 cups)
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, flour and cream until well blended. Pour into the crust. Bake in the heated oven for 50 to 55 minutes.
The
centre should be still jiggly, but not liquid. Allow to cool completely
before cutting into wedges to serve, with or without a dollop of
whipped cream on top!
True, its not is something that you want to eat too often, as the calorie and fat
count must be so well off the Richter Scale of what's good for you that
you don't really wanna know.
This truly is a once in a blue moon treat, but once in a blue moon . . . its a beautiful way to indulge your naughtier side.
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I had my DNA done several summers ago and when I got the results, I was surprised and very pleased to discover that I was 27% Irish.
It brought a whole new meaning to Saint Patrick's Day because now I could actually participate in the wearing of the green with pride in my ancestry and where my roots came from.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day and what better way to celebrate than with a delicious cake! And not just any cake, but an Irish Whiskey and Ginger Cake!
This
is about to become your favourite teatime cake. It is fantastic, with a
warm golden colour and a pleasant sweet spicy flavour.
250g crystallized ginger, diced (approximately 2 cups)
3 TBS Irish whiskey
150g butter (2/3 cup)
100g caster sugar (1/2 cup)
3 large free range eggs
70g ground almonds (1/2 cup)
2 TBS ground ginger
150g plain flour (1 cup plus 1 1/2 TBS)
50g self raising flour (1/3 cup)
Preheat the oven to 150*C/300*F/ gas mark 2. Butter and line a 7 inch round baking tin with baking paper. Set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir together both flours the ground almonds and the ground ginger. Stir this ito the creamed mixture along with the soaked ginger and the juices from the soaking bowl. Spoon into the prepared baking tin, smoothing over the top. Sprinkle the reserved ginger over top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 80 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. This cake keeps well for 7 to 10 days in a tightly covered container.
This is a dense and moist cake that is really filled with lots of ginger flavours! Almost like a ginger pound cake, it goes really well with any hot cuppa.
You get a real ginger whammy from the abundant use of ground ginger along with crystallized ginger. I love ginger of any kind, but I adore crystallized ginger!
Crystallized ginger is sometimes known as candied ginger or ginger chews. With its soft, toothsome texture and sweet, spicy taste, crystallized ginger can be added to cookies and cakes, as well as eaten on its own.
You can buy crystallized ginger in some grocery stores, and health food stores and Asian grocers often carry it. Chewing on a piece of it when you have an upset tummy or are suffering from motion sickness is usually a huge help.
I always have a large container of it in my cupboard. It is rather high in sugar however, so don't overdo it!
It really shines in this beautiful cake however . . . moist, dense and buttery, and studded throughout with golden jewels of the crystallized ginger.
Most of the ginger gets soaked in some warm Irish whiskey for a time before you fold it into the cake.
Its a very pleasant addition, however if you didn't want to do that, you could just marinate it in some flat gingerale. This ginger gets folded into the cake batter.
The rest gets scattered across the top of the cake prior to baking, like little gold glistening stones. It doesn't sink down too far, thankfully . . .
It just sits there on top, like shiny gold pebbles in a brook. This cake is beautiful with hot drinks. I can imagine it would go down really well after a meal with an Irish Coffee, cut into thin slivers.
Oh, I am thinking a nice sliver of Cashel Blue would be really nice served with this. I will have to bake another one now, just so I can see. The thought of that combination has my tastebuds tingling!
*Irish Whiskey & Ginger Cake*
Serves 8 to 10
Place the 3/4 of the crystallized ginger into a bowl.
Reserve the remainder for later. Warm the whiskey and pour over top of
the ginger in the bowl. Let sit for fifteen minutes.
Preheat the oven to 150*C/300*F/ gas mark 2. Butter and line a 7 inch round baking tin with baking paper. Set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir together both flours the ground almonds and the ground ginger. Stir this ito the creamed mixture along with the soaked ginger and the juices from the soaking bowl. Spoon into the prepared baking tin, smoothing over the top. Sprinkle the reserved ginger over top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 80 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. This cake keeps well for 7 to 10 days in a tightly covered container.
This is a farmhouse type of cake . . . the kind of cake that keeps well in the larder and the kind of cake you will find yourself thinking about in the middle of the night. Perfect for elevensies, coffee break, tea time . . . well anytime, but especially nice on this special day when we celebrate everything Irish!
May the road rise to meet you,
may the wind be ever at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and the rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of his hand.
may the wind be ever at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and the rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of his hand.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
I know what you are probably thinking . . . Prunes??? In cookies? Stay with me here. I adore prunes, and often eat a couple of them out of hand each day. They are excellent in baked goods. Think Prune Cake for instance. They are filled with fibre and very good for you! And they are EXCELLENT in these good old fashioned drop cookies!
These are great cookies, very like the type of cookie that your Nan or Great Aunt might have baked eons ago. My Nan made lovely cookies. Big soft puffy Molasses Cookies were a real favourite, so were cousin Lydia's Junior Cookies which were very similar to these, with plenty of walnuts and sticky raisins and a bit of mixed spice.
The simple batter for these is composed of a mix of butter and cream cheese beaten together with soft light brown sugar. Nice and creamy. A large egg is beaten into that mix . . .
And then a mixture of self raising flour, salt and wheat germ . . . for a bit of goodness . . . and plenty of cinnamon. Two whole teaspoons! Yum!
After that you simply stir in some chopped pitted soft prunes and lovely toasted walnut pieces. I always toast my nuts before using. It makes them taste . . . nuttier . . .
There is no rolling, no fiddling about . . . just drop the batter in soft craggy dollops, spaced on couple of paper lined baking sheets and bake, until they are nicely puffed and golden brown.
I wish I could describe how very wonderful these smell when they are baking! Like your grandmother's lap and home sweet home . . . . your family will come running because there will be no doubt in their mind that something mighty tasty is afoot!!
They'll have to wait just a bit however . . . because there is still that cinnamon drizzle glaze to flick over the top of them, and you really want them to be cooled off somewhat when you do that. Oh boy, oh boy . . . these are the best cookies ever. I guarantee!
*Cinnamon, Prune & Toasted Walnut Cookies*
Makes about 20
2 TBS cream cheese
1 large free range, lightly beaten
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Set aside. (alternately butter two baking sheets)
Cream together the butter, sugar and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Stir in the flour, wheat bran, cinnamon and salt. You will have a soft sticky droppable dough. Stir in the prunes and walnuts.
Drop onto the prepared baking sheets, using a heaped dessertspoon, leaving several inches between the craggy heaps. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown and set. Let cool on the baking sheets for several minutes before scooping off onto wire trays to cool.
Whisk together the icing sugar, cinnamon and enough water to give you a thin drizzle consistency icing. Flick it over top of each cookie and leave to set before storing in an airtight container.
If you only bake one thing this weekend, let it be these delicious cookies! You can thank me later. 😙 They truly are all that and more!! Trust me on this. Bon Appetit!
Todd was just getting ready to throw the latest lot of over-ripe bananas the other day into the bin when I rescued them. Don't throw them away, I said! They are perfect for baking with!
I had been eye balling a recipe for a Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread in a book I have which is entitled The Best of Cooking Light, published by Oxmoor House in 2004.
Its a recipe I had been eyeballing for a very long time, but had never gotten around to baking until this week. Chocolate and Banana are two flavours that go very well together.
And at only 183 calories per slice, with less 5g of fat, it looked like a bread that someone who was watching the calories and fat could treat themselves to. Its a bit too high in the sugar department for me to indulge in however. That doesn't stop Todd from enjoying it though!
It is a very simple make. A cup of sugar gets creamed together with a small amount of butter. The original recipe suggested egg substitute, but I used regular large free range eggs.
Egg substitute is not something which is readily available over here, although you can get cartons of only egg whites.
I mashed and weighed the banana for the convenience of my British Friends. I had four smallish bananas and they worked out to the right amount of banana needed.
You will also need some low fat plain yogurt. This is something I always have in the house.
Also chocolate chips, which you melt and stir into a portion of the banana to provide the chocolate batter for the marbeling.
I weighed the batter needed for that process as well. You're welcome!!
I could have done a bit better on the marbeling I think. I didn't want to mix it in too much so I erred on the side of caution, but I could have been a bit more aggressive.
It doesn't make a massive loaf either, which suits us well as there is only Todd and myself, and he will basically be the only one eating it, which works.
I did have a taste however because I wanted to be able to give you my honest opinion of it!
*Chocolate Marbeled Banana Bread*
Serves 16
Whisk together the flour, soda and salt. Set aside.
Remove 210g (1 cup) of the batter from the main bowl to a smaller bowl. Stir in the melted chocolate chips to combine well. Spoon the batters alternately into the prepared pan. Swirl together lightly with a round bladed knife.
Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, prior to removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Wrap tightly to store. Cut into slices to serve.
It was not quite as moist as most banana breads, probably due to the lack of fat in the recipe. I wonder if that might change by using some brown sugar for a portion of the white? I will have to bake again, try that out, and let you know how it goes! In the meantime, this was a very good banana loaf and quite tasty for something which is half healthy for you! Bon Appetit!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
This happens to be one of our favourite cookies and I can't believe I have never showed it to you before today! I went to bake them this morning, and was looking for the recipe in my online recipe file, only to discover that it wasn't there, which meant I had never baked them for the blog.
I had to rifle through my big blue binder for the recipe, which was so not a problem, because I love rifling through my big blue binder!
This is a very old recipe which has a story attached to it. I love old recipes, and I especially love old recipes with stories attached! Don't you???
Apparently the original recipe was found pasted on a piece of paper pasted into the drawer of an old table, hand written in fading ink, in an old fashioned script . . . "For Ella."
I don't know how true the story is, or who Ella was, but the story certainly has its charm, and I never fail to think about Ella and her charms whenever I bake them. She must have been very special indeed to have someone want to bake these cookies for her!!
Why are they called Monkey Face Cookies? Because of the raisins which you apply to the tops of them prior to baking.
Two eyes and a mouth, which settle themselves into cute little droll expressions during baking, each one seeming to say something different!
Some looking surprised . . . others sad . . . some angry, and still others very nonchalant . . . or even mischevious . . . . kind of like monkeys!
Children love them. Partly because of the name, and partly becaus they are delicious! Its fun to pick the raisins off and eat them separately . . . its fun to eat them all together. Its just fun to eat them!
They go down really well with an ice cold glass of milk, be you a child or a grown up! Molasses cookies always taste wonderful with cold milk. That is my considered opinion at any rate!
See that one with the little sticky brown sugar nugget in it? I call dibs on that one! Its mine! Yum! Slightly chewy, and lightly spiced, these Monkey Face Cookies are good old fashioned pleasers. There's no denying it!
*Monkey Face Cookies*
Makes about 4 dozen 
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper. Set aside.
Cream together the shortening, brown sugar and molasses until light and creamy. Beat in the milk and vinegar. Sift together the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.Stir this into the creamed mixture, mixing it in thoroughly. Drop by heaped teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 1/2 inches in between each to allow for spreading. Place 3 raisins on each for eyes and mouth.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until set. Let sit on the baking sheets for several minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.
Cream together the shortening, brown sugar and molasses until light and creamy. Beat in the milk and vinegar. Sift together the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.Stir this into the creamed mixture, mixing it in thoroughly. Drop by heaped teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 1/2 inches in between each to allow for spreading. Place 3 raisins on each for eyes and mouth.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until set. Let sit on the baking sheets for several minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.
Oh this one does look rather sad doesn't he? I think I will gobble him up and put him out of his misery. Bon Appetit!
Note - there are no eggs in this recipe, don't worry I have not left them out. The recipe is exactly as written.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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