Showing posts with label Baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baking. Show all posts
As a child I was not overly fond of the flavour of pumpkin or winter squash for that matter. Thankfully as an adult my opinion of such things has changed! Pumpkin and squash are two of my favourite things!
Especially in the autumn, but then again that makes sense as that is the time of year that these gorgeous vegetables are available. Or are they a fruit?
I looked it up and Good Housekeeping says that they are fruits. Fruits are the fleshy or dry ripened ovary of any plant containing seeds. When you think about it, babies are considered to be the fruit of your womb, so I guess that pumpkins and squashes are indeed fruits.
Fruit, vegetable, whatever . . . I don't care. I just love them both roasted, mashed or baked into sweet bakes such as muffins, cakes, pies, cookies, etc. They also make fabulous autumn soups.
I think one of the reasons they work so well in baked goods is the naturally affinity they have for the flavours of warm baking spices.
Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom . . . vanilla. All go very well with pumpkin . . .
But then again, so do garlic, chillies, curry, etc. I guess they are quite happy either as a savoury treat or a sweet treat!
You will love these muffins. They are simple to make and smell heavenly when they are baking.
Moist and delicious, they are one of those mysterious baked goods whose flavour improves upon standing.
I always think they are at their best the day after they have been baked, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to enjoy one soon after they've been baked.
On the day, the day after, whenever! These are delicious muffins no matter when you choose to enjoy them! They are also great luncheon additions.
Try enjoying them along with a chicken or vegetable salad or even a bowl of soup. A bit unconventional maybe, but really don't knock it until you try it!
Yield: 12
Melt in Your Mouth Pumpkin Muffins
prep time: cook time: total time:
Sweet, golden and delectable. Tis the season! They smell heavenly when they are baking. If you are not fond of raisins, dried cranberries also work well as do dried blueberries.
ingredients:
- 190g caster sugar (1 cup)
- 60ml vegetable oil (1/4 cup)
- 2 medium free range eggs, lightly beaten
- 135g canned pumpkin puree (3/4 cup)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 60ml water (1/4 cup)
- 210g plain flour (1 1/2 cups)
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 115g raisins (3/4 cup)
- 60g chopped toasted walnuts (1/2 cup
instructions:
How to cook Melt in Your Mouth Pumpkin Muffins
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a medium 12 cup muffin tin with some paper liners. set aside.
- Whisk together in a bowl, the sugar, oil, eggs, pumpkin, vanilla and water.
- Sift together the flour, soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Stir all at once into the wet ingredients and mix together just until moistened. Stir in the raisins and nuts. Cover with a tea towel and let sit on the counter top for about 20 minutes.
- Divide the batter between the lined muffin cups. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, until well risen and the tops spring back when lightly touched. Tip out onto a wire rack and allow to cool slightly before serving. Delicious!
Did you make this recipe?
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I think pumpkin season is one of my favourite seasons of the year. I say bring it on. I know people go crazy for Pumpkin Spice. I am trying to understand that. You see pumpkin spice all sorts this time of year. Latte's, etc. Isn't pumpkin spice just cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger? That's what I thought. Its funny how people's minds work. Anyways, I hope you will bake these and enjoy them as much as we do. I enjoyed mine with a hot cup of apple spiced tea! Yum!
Despite my ailing back, I was determined to bake my husband a cake for the weekend. He does love a special treat at the weekend and I do like to spoil him. Normally it is a Victoria Sponge or some such. This week I decided to really bake him a treat.
A Coffee Cake. Not as in a cake you eat with coffee, but a cake which is coffee flavoured. A delicious cake. A, just a tiny sliver more cake.
I adapted this recipe from The Women's Institute cookery book entitled, Vintage Tea Time by Jessica Simmons.
It is a lovely little book composed of WI approved Afternoon Tea appropriate recipes.
You just know that if a recipe has the Women's Institute seal of approval, it has to be good!
The Women's Institute was formed in 1915 with the aim of revitalizing rural communities and encouraging women to become more pro-active in producing food during the First World War.
Since then their aim has broadened and it is now the largest voluntary women's organization in the UK.
It is also known to be a leading authority on home cooking. It is an organization which plays a unique role in providing women all over the country with educational opportunities.
Along with the change to build new skills, take part in a wide variety of activities and to campaign on issues that are important to them and their communities.
They also run a the WI Cookery School in Denman College, Oxfordshire, providing a whole range of courses designed to suit students of all abilities and interests.
I had a quick gander through the book this morning and settled on the Coffee Cake, as I thought it one that my husband would enjoy.
It also didn't require a whole lot of faffing about! We all know I can be lazy at times.
In North America Coffee Cakes are usually quite dense and meant to be enjoyed for breakfast or brunch with hot mugs of coffee.
This is not that kind of coffee cake.
Instead this is a light and airy cake, which derives its name from the use of strong coffee to flavour both the batter and the butter cream.
You can also use coffee essence/extract if you have it.
We don't drink regular black or green tea or coffee for religious reasons, but I do have coffee extract to use in baking.
The cake is filled with a lush butter cream frosting, also flavoured with coffee and abundantly filled with chopped walnuts.
I always toast my nuts before I use them.
They just taste nuttier! Toasting really enhances their natural flavours. Its not hard to do. Just pop them onto a baking sheet and then into a moderate oven (350*F/180*C) They will be perfectly toasted in about 10 minutes.
You will be able to tell when they are done because your kitchen will smell all nutty toasty.
It only takes a few minutes and makes a world of difference flavorwise.
The top of the cake is garnished with a dusting icing sugar.
If you wish to mark out the servings you can very cleverly lay a grid on the top using wooden or metal skewers.
This was how it looked in the book. I thought it was very clever and very pretty.
At the head of each wedge pipe a rosette of the plain butter cream (or dollop it on like me) and top with a single toasted walnut.
A very pretty finish to a very delicious cake!
Yield: 8
Coffee Cake
prep time: cook time: total time:
Not a Coffee Cake in the American sense, but a delicious Coffee flavoured cake with a coffee walnut filling and garnish. Moist and delicious!
ingredients:
For the Cake:
- 175g butter, softened (3/4 cup)
- 175g soft light brown sugar (3/4 cup packed, plus 1/2 TBS)
- 1 TBS strong coffee, or a few drops coffee essence
- 3 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
- 175g self raising flour (1 1/4 cups)
- 1 tsp baking powder
For the Butter Cream:
- 110 butter, softened (1/2 cup)
- 225g icing sugar, sifted (1 3/4 cup)
- 2 TBS strong coffee, or 1 tsp coffee essence
- 80g toasted walnuts, finely chopped (2/3 cup)
To Decorate:
- icing sugar to dust
- 8 toasted walnut halves
instructions:
How to cook Coffee Cake
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter two 8-inch round cake tins and line the bottoms with baking paper. Set aside.
- Sift together the flour and the baking powder. Set aside.
- Cream the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Beat in the coffee and then the beaten eggs a bit at a time until well incorporated. If the mixture starts to curdle, beat in a TBS of the flour, and continue. Fold in the flour. Divide the batter equally amongst the prepared baking tins, levelling it off.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack, peeling off the paper and leaving to finish cooling.
- Beat the butter for the icing until soft and creamy. Beat in the sugar and the coffee, only adding as much coffee as needed to give you a thick spreadable/pipeable icing. Remove about 4 TBS of icing and set aside. Stir the chopped walnuts into the remainder of the icing.
- Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread the walnut icing over to cover. (It will be a nice thick layer) Top with the other cake layer. Lay 4 skewers on top in a criss cross manner. Sift icing sugar over top and then carefully remove the skewers. You should have the cake marked now into 8 servings.
- Into each serving section, pipe a rosette of the plain coffee icing and top with a toasted walnut half. Store any remainders in a covered container.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @marierayner5530 on instagram and hashtag it #EnglishKitchen
I think you are really going to love this cake. Its incredibly delicious! Happy Saturday!
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.
I am a real scone lover. Who doesn't love scones! People have a tendency to think that they are the same thing as baking powder biscuits, but they couldn't be further from the truth!
They are not at all the same thing.
Baking Powder Biscuits are light as air, fluffy and flaky, or at least they should be. If your biscuits are like rocks, I hate to tell you but you're doing something wrong!
They are also on the more savoury side, rather than the sweet.
Scones are sweeter and denser, and much crumblier than biscuits . . . Biscuits tend to use shortening, although some modern versions use butter. Scones always use butter.
The fat in biscuits is cut in until you have a variety of bits, some the size of small peas. In scones, the flour is "rubbed" in until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
So you can see, they really aren't the same at all. Both are beautifully delicious and wonderful in their own unique ways!
Its filled with tasty recipes using some of our favourite autumn ingredients like apples and pumpkin, sweet potatoes and plenty of warm baking spices!
Muffins, cakes, pies, breads, you name it!
I can't believe that it has taken me nineteen years to bake these! Wow! So long and now that I have baked them, I wish that I had baked them earlier!
They are actually called Golden Carrot Spice Scones in the booklet, but I thought Carrot Cake Drop Scones sounded so much tastier and believe me . . . these are plenty tasty!
They are everything a great drop scone should be. Dense, buttery, flavourful . . .
Flecked with sweet bits of carrot and studded with sweet sticky raisins . . .
Lightly flavoured with warm baking spices . . .
Glazed with a sweet and spicy glaze . . .
Altogether, all of these things create a scone that is so purely autumnal and delicious . . .
Put the kettle on and grab your tea pot, coz you are going to want to sit right down with one of these hot out of the oven and enjoy with a nice hot cuppa!
Yield: 8 large scones
Carrot Cake Drop Scones
If you want you can shape this into one large round and cut into 8 wedges. I like to just drop them onto the baking sheet, in large dollops. They have lots of character that way and are, as always, delicious no matter what!
ingredients:
For the Scones:
- 280g plain flour (2 cups all purpose)
- 45g sugar (1/4 cup)
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp mixed spice or pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 80g cold butter (1/3 cup)
- 80ml double cream (heavy cream) (1/3 cup)
- 90g finely grated carrot (1 cup, about 1 1/2 medium carrots)
- 45g sultana raisins (1/2 cup golden raisins)
- 1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
For the glaze:
- 65g icing sugar (1/2 cup powdered sugar)
- 2 TBS milk
- 1/8 tsp mixed spice or pumpkin pie spice
instructions:
How to cook Carrot Cake Drop Scones
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a large baking tray with baking paper and set aside.
- Sift the flour into a bowl along with the baking powder and spice. Stir in the salt and sugar. Cut the butter into bits and drop it into the bowl. Rub or cut in until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the carrots and the raisins. Mix together the cream and egg. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet into that. Mix together with a fork to make a soft dough that leaves the side of the bowl, adding a bit of milk if it seems too dry. Drop by heaped spoons, 2 inches apart, on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until light golden brown.
- While they are baking make the glaze by whisking together all of the ingredients until you have a drizzle icing. Remove the hot scones from the baking sheet to a wire rack and drizzle the glaze over top. Enjoy warm!
The are just wonderful! Not just for tea times either, they go fabulously at an autumnal lunch with the ladies served warm with a tasty salad. Yum Yum!
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 recipe for this delicious pie has been sitting in my big blue binder for nigh onto 40 years or so now. Yes . . . unfortunately I AM that old! I don't know how it happened either . . .
My father's favourite pie has always been raisin pie. But by that I mean the old fashioned two crust raisin pie, with a rich and sweet sticky raisin filling. I confess to having a certain fondness for it myself. We are real pie aficionado's in my family. If its in a pie, you can be certain we will be crazy about it . . . within reason of course. Let it suffice to say that (up to this point) I have never met a pie I did not like!
You will need a baked 9 inch pie crust for this pie. I used my Butter & Lard Pastry for this. (Scroll down the page.) Its my favourite pastry recipe.
The filling is very easy to make. It is a lovely and lush basic cream filling made with sugar and milk, egg yolks, etc. and flavoured with a tiny bit of nutmeg.
Add to that an abundance of sticky sweet raisins . . . and at the very end, a quantity of sour cream . . . and you have a really delicious filling.
Gilding the top is a three egg white meringue, nice and fluffy and tall, just like what you might see in am American Diner!
Ideally you should chill it in the refrigerater for at least 3 hours prior to cutting it, but the light was fading and I needed to take a picture of it while I still could.
I really hate the way the light changes in the colder months . . . it means I have to take my photos earlier and earlier in the day. I suppose I should have left it in the refrigerator overnight and taken the photos in the morning, but . . .
I promised to show you the recipe today! I will take another photo of it all set up tomorrow and add it to the end of this post . . . so you can see how lovely it really looks.
That's not to say that these aren't drool worthy photos anyways . . . because they surely are.
Todd is actually eating a piece as I write this and he has just exclaimed about how delicious it is!
I call that a win! Oh, I do hope I can resist this . . . but somehow I don't think I will really be able to. I don't think I have enough willpower!
Yield: 8
Raisin & Sour Cream Meringue Pie
A lush sour cream filling dappled with soft plump raisins. This is pretty wonderful.
ingredients:
For the filling:
- 135g caster sugar (3/4 cup)
- 4 TBS cornflour (corn starch)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 480ml whole milk (2 cups)
- 3 large free-range egg yolks slightly beaten
- 230g raisins (1 1/2 cups)
- 120g sour cream (1 cup)
For the meringue:
- 3 large free-range egg whites
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 6 TBS caster sugar
You will also need:
- 1 baked 9-inch pastry pie shell
instructions:
How to cook Raisin & Sour Cream Meringue Pie
- Combine the sugar, cornflour, salt and nutmeg in a saucepan. Stir in the milk, blending all of the ingredients together until smooth. Cook, stirring constantly, over moderate heat, until the mixture comes to the boil. Boil for a minute and then remove from the heat. Temper the egg yolks with about a quarter cup of the hot mixture. Whisk this back into the remaining mixture in the saucepan along with the raisins. Cook until the mixture bubbles. Remove from the heat, stir in the sour cream to combine and then pour the whole lot into the baked pie crust.
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F. gas mark 6.
- In a clean bowl, and with clean beaters, beat the egg whites and the cream of tartar together until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, still beating, one tablespoon at a time, beating at high speed until stiff peaks form. Spoon over the hot filling in the pie, spreading it all the way to the edge of crust to cover completely. Place on a baking tray and bake in the heated oven for 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and then in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours before serving.
With its crisp flaky crust, lush creamy filling studded with raisins and its sweet and fluffy golden brown meringue topping, this is a real winner of a pie! I hope you will make it. I guarantee you won't be disappointed!
Now that it has had overnight to set up.
Now doesn't that look great??? I can promise you that it is!
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