Showing posts sorted by date for query bread pudding. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query bread pudding. Sort by relevance Show all posts
I never got anything new baked to share with you this weekend. The weather has been uber hot here and I just can't bring myself to do much in the way of cooking. I thought it would be another opportunity to share some of the recipes from my old Oak Cottage Blog that I used to have years ago. Although the photography is not the best, the recipes are all sound and delicious. There's a little something here for everyone!
You can't beat a delicious Sticky Marmalade Loaf. It has a beautiful flavour and texture. Filled with toasted pecan nuts, with more adorning the top and a final glaze of marmalade, this is one you will want to enjoy with a nice hot cuppa! We like to spread slices of it with butter when we eat it!
*Sticky Marmalade Tea Loaf*
Makes 1 2-lb loaf (serves approx. 12)Printable Recipe
I like to use extra chunky marmalade in this delicious tea bread. It helps to give extra texture to the baked loaf and prettifies the top! Yorkshire Tea company does make a lovely marmalade loaf of their own, which is quite good, but you just can't beat homemade! It's always infinitely better! (Besides my own is twice the size and half the price, not to mention just that bit tastier!)
140g of marmalade (reserve 1 TBS for later) (2/3 cup)
170g of butter, softened (3/4 cup)
170g ounces light soft brown sugar (3/4 cup)
3 large free range eggs, beaten
280g self rising flour (2 cups)
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
100g pecan halves, divided (scant cup)
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4. Lightly butter a 2 pound loaf tin and then line it with greaseproof paper. Set aside, along with 1 TBS of the marmalade (in a small sauce pan.)
Put the butter, remaining marmalade, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and spices into a large bowl. Blend with an electric beater for two minutes or so until smooth and light. Stir in 2/3 of the pecan nuts.
Tip the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the remaining pecan nuts over top evenly. Bake in the heated oven for about 1 - 1 1/4 hours until a skewer inserted in the centre of the loaf comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly touched. (If it is browning too much you can cover it with foil after 45 minutes) Once cooked remove it from the tin and allow to cool slightly on a wire rack.
Gently heat the reserved marmalade and then brush it evenly over top of the warm loaf. Allow to cool and serve cut into slices.
This is a lovely refreshing pie in the summer months. You do need to bake it briefly in the oven, but not long enough to really heat up the kitchen!
Serves 8
Printable Recipe
This pie is not only easy and quick to make, but oh so very tasty. With it's wonderfully scrumptious lemon filling and it's spicy gingersnap crust it is moreishly delicious! A real pleaser on all levels! Another one from my big blue binder.
FILLING:
the grated zest and juice of 3 lemons (I always use unwaxed)
3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten (freeze the whites to make a pavlova or meringues at a later date)
1 14-ounce tin of sweetened condensed milk (400g)
1 TBS sugar
a pre-baked gingersnap crust (see below)
TO SERVE:
1 cup heavy cream, chilled (240ml)
1/4 cup sugar (45g)
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4. Stir the lemon juice, lemon zest and the egg yolks together in a bowl. Whisk in the condensed milk and sugar and combine thoroughly.
Pour the filling into the prepared crust and then place on a baking tray. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Cover with cling film and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.
When ready to serve, beat the cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and beat just to combine. Cut the pie into slices and garnish each slice with a nice dollop of the sweetened cream to serve.
*Gingersnap Pie Crust*
makes one 9 inch pie crust4 ounces of gingersnap cookies, crushed into fine crumbs (about 1 cup of crumbs)
(Over here I use gingernuts and crush them in my blender)
1/2 cup finely ground almonds or pecans (50g)
5 TBS unsalted butter, melted
Pre-heat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Stir the gingersnap crumbs and almonds together in a bowl. Add the melted butter and stir to mix evenly together. Turn into a 9 inch pie plate and press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides to form a crust.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until it feels dry and firm. Let cool to room temperature before filling.
What was your favourite flavour of pudding (North American Pudding) when you were a child. Mine was chocolate pudding. It was actually rather strange because I hated really did not like chocolate milk, but chocolate pudding, I was in love with!
*Chocolate Pudding*
Serves 4Alternately, don't cover it with the cream and instead serve it with whipped cream. Its also very nice with some crumbled cinder toffee sprinkled on top of the whipped cream. Just saying!
*Cinder Toffee*
Every child's delight this is a wonderful
concoction that magically turns from a thick syrup into a heavenly light
sponge of delicious sweet confection once you add the magic ingredient .
. . baking soda. One feels a bit like a mad scientist when they are
making this. It's soooo sweet and soooo good!
3 1/2 TBS salted butter, plus extra for greasing
300ml water (1 1/4 cups)
4 teaspoons malt vinegar
3 tablespoons golden syrup
450g granulated sugar (2 1/3 cups)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 bar of good quality chocolate, *optional (I use green and blacks organic milk chocolate)
Grease a large baking tin well with butter and set it aside. (mine was an 11 by 7 inch tin)
Place the butter, water, and vinegar into a large saucepan. Heat until the butter has melted. Add the golden syrup and sugar. Heat and stir until the sugar completely dissolves. Once it has dissolved and it is all mixed well together, STOP stirring. Clip your candy thermometer onto the side of the pan if you have one. Bring the mixture to the boil and allow to boil without stirring it until the mass reaches the hard crack stage on your candy thermometer. (if you don't have a candy thermometer a teaspoon of the molten toffee dropped into a saucer of cold water at hard crack stage will form brittle strands and crack when you try to shape it)
Be very careful as this mixture is very hot and can be dangerous. This is not a recipe for children to be making.
Remove the mixture from the heat and carefully stir in the baking soda. It will immediately froth up. Keep stirring gently until the bubbles begin to subside. Working very quickly, pour it into the prepared pan. Wait for between ten and twenty minutes until the mixture is set up but still warm, and then knock it out of the pan and break the toffee into pieces. Lay these pieces out on a wire rack until completely cooled, then transfer to an air-tight container (or your mouth).
*If you wish to coat yours in chocolate, break up your chocolate into small bits and melt it in a bowl set over simmering water. Dip each piece of cooled cinder toffee into the melted chocolate to coat, and then place the coated pieces on a rack to dry completely before storing in an air tight container.
3 1/2 TBS salted butter, plus extra for greasing
300ml water (1 1/4 cups)
4 teaspoons malt vinegar
3 tablespoons golden syrup
450g granulated sugar (2 1/3 cups)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 bar of good quality chocolate, *optional (I use green and blacks organic milk chocolate)
Grease a large baking tin well with butter and set it aside. (mine was an 11 by 7 inch tin)
Place the butter, water, and vinegar into a large saucepan. Heat until the butter has melted. Add the golden syrup and sugar. Heat and stir until the sugar completely dissolves. Once it has dissolved and it is all mixed well together, STOP stirring. Clip your candy thermometer onto the side of the pan if you have one. Bring the mixture to the boil and allow to boil without stirring it until the mass reaches the hard crack stage on your candy thermometer. (if you don't have a candy thermometer a teaspoon of the molten toffee dropped into a saucer of cold water at hard crack stage will form brittle strands and crack when you try to shape it)
Be very careful as this mixture is very hot and can be dangerous. This is not a recipe for children to be making.
Remove the mixture from the heat and carefully stir in the baking soda. It will immediately froth up. Keep stirring gently until the bubbles begin to subside. Working very quickly, pour it into the prepared pan. Wait for between ten and twenty minutes until the mixture is set up but still warm, and then knock it out of the pan and break the toffee into pieces. Lay these pieces out on a wire rack until completely cooled, then transfer to an air-tight container (or your mouth).
*If you wish to coat yours in chocolate, break up your chocolate into small bits and melt it in a bowl set over simmering water. Dip each piece of cooled cinder toffee into the melted chocolate to coat, and then place the coated pieces on a rack to dry completely before storing in an air tight container.
You have heard of Lemon Drizzle Loaf, this is a Jaffa Drizzle Loaf. Flavoured with orange and drizzled with chocolate!
Cuts into 8 - 1 slices
Printable Recipe
Chocolate and orange are an unbeatable combination. This light and zesty cake makes the best of those two lovely flavours.
FOR THE CAKE:
140g of butter, softened (2/3 cup)
280g self raising flour (2 cups)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
225g sugar (1 cup + 3 TBS)
3 large free range eggs
6 TBS milk
the finely grated zest of 1 large orange
TO FINISH:
3 TBS fresh orange juice
5 TBS sugar
2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a medium loaf tin and line the bottom with some baking parchment. Butter the parchment.
Put all the cake ingredients into a large bowl and beat with your electric mixer until light and fluffy. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf tin and level the top. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch when lightly touched with a fingertip. Alternately you can stick a toothpick into the centre. If it comes out clean . . . the cake is done!
In the meantime, heat the orange juice and sugar gently in small pan. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
Remove the finished cake from the oven and set aside on a rack. Do not remove from the pan. Take a toothpick or a fork and punch holes into it all over the top. Spoon the orange/sugar mixture all over the top, waiting for it to soak in before adding more. Leave to cool completely in the pan. Once cool, remove from the tin and place on the rack again.
Melt the chocolate bits in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, or in the microwave on medium for 1 to 2 minutes, depending on the strength of your microwave. (I microwave it at 30 second intervals until it is meltingly soft) Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cake with a fork and then leave to set before slicing.
Our Blueberries are ripening at the moment. Time to make this lucious Blueberry Sour Cream Cake.
*Blueberry Soured Cream Cake*Serves 10
Printable Recipe
Moist yellow cake studded with luscious blueberries . . . all topped with a delicious cream cheese icing and more fresh blueberries. This is a winning cake on all counts!
180g butter, softened (3/4 cup)
170g caster sugar (14 TBS)
3 large free range eggs
280g self raising flour (2 cups)
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
75g carton of sour cream, divided (9 1/2 TBS)
375g punnets of blueberries Scant 4 cups)
FOR THE FROSTING:
Moist yellow cake studded with luscious blueberries . . . all topped with a delicious cream cheese icing and more fresh blueberries. This is a winning cake on all counts!
180g butter, softened (3/4 cup)
170g caster sugar (14 TBS)
3 large free range eggs
280g self raising flour (2 cups)
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
75g carton of sour cream, divided (9 1/2 TBS)
375g punnets of blueberries Scant 4 cups)
FOR THE FROSTING:
2 TBS butter
2 TBS cream cheese
195g sugar (1 1/2 cup)
drop of vanilla
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4. Butter a 9 inch round deep cake tin and line the bottom with baking parchment. Butter the parchment.
Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and vanilla into a bowl. Beat for 2 to 3 minutes with an electric beater until it is pale and well mixed. Beat in 4 Tablespoons of sour cream, then carefully fold in half of the blueberries.
Spread the batter in the prepared pan and level it off. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 50 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly pressed or a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Cool in the tin for 1o minutes, then take out of the tin and peel of the parchment paper. Leave to finish cooling on a wire rack.
Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla with the icing sugar until you have a smooth and creamy mixture. Spread over the top of the completely cooled cake. Scatter the remaining half of the blueberries on top.
This cake will keep well in the refrigerator for several days. (If it lasts that long!) Deliciously moreish!
I scream. You scream. We all scream for Ice Cream! Especially if it boasts a lovely Maple Walnut topping!
*Maple Walnut Ice Cream Sundaes*Serves 1
Printable Recipe
This hardly seems a recipe, it is so simple. You can multiply the amounts according to however many people you are wanting to serve it to. Once you taste how delicious it is, and see how easy it is to do, you will wonder why you didn’t think of it yourself!
¼ cup of pure maple syrup (60ml)
¼ cup chopped walnuts of pecans (35g)
1 large scoop of vanilla ice cream
Heat a non stick skillet over medium heat for a few minutes and then toss in the nuts. Toast them in the heated skillet for about two to three minutes. Once they are toasted and begin to smell all fragrantly nutty, pour in the Maple syrup and let it bubble up. Remove it from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes, until it is just warm. (Not hot, unless you want soup, instead of ice cream!)
Scoop vanilla ice cream into a dish andthen pour the maple nut sauce over top and enjoy!
I love it with walnuts myself, but that is probably because it reminds me of the maple walnut ice cream from home. That was always my father’s favourite flavour and every mouthful always reminds me of him.
This hardly seems a recipe, it is so simple. You can multiply the amounts according to however many people you are wanting to serve it to. Once you taste how delicious it is, and see how easy it is to do, you will wonder why you didn’t think of it yourself!
¼ cup of pure maple syrup (60ml)
¼ cup chopped walnuts of pecans (35g)
1 large scoop of vanilla ice cream
Heat a non stick skillet over medium heat for a few minutes and then toss in the nuts. Toast them in the heated skillet for about two to three minutes. Once they are toasted and begin to smell all fragrantly nutty, pour in the Maple syrup and let it bubble up. Remove it from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes, until it is just warm. (Not hot, unless you want soup, instead of ice cream!)
Scoop vanilla ice cream into a dish andthen pour the maple nut sauce over top and enjoy!
I love it with walnuts myself, but that is probably because it reminds me of the maple walnut ice cream from home. That was always my father’s favourite flavour and every mouthful always reminds me of him.
Our Strawberries are all but done now, but you can still load up on fresh Scottish strawberries at the shops!
Printable Recipe
Easy to make and a beauty to behold. This lovely tortecombines a wonderfully crisp and buttery shortbread crust with all the decadence of a luscious cream filling, topped with gorgeously sweet strawberries. A final dusting of powdered sugar is it’s crowning glory. It’s hard to believe that something so easy can be so impressive, but it’s true!
CRUST:
½ cup of pecans or walnuts, toasted (45g)
1 ½ cups plain flour (210g)
2 TBS caster sugar
¾ cup cold butter (180g)
8 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature (230g)
½ cup caster sugar 45g)
1 cup whipping cream (240ml)
3 cups fresh strawberries, halved
Icing sugar to dust over the top and a few whole berries for a garnish
Pre-heat the oven to 165*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Place the nuts in a food processor and pulse them until they are finely chopped, taking care not to turn them into a paste. It should only take 4 or 5 pulses. Add the sugar and the flour and pulse to mix. When well blended, add the butter, 2 TBS at a time through the hopper, pulsing until the mixture forms a crumbly consistency, and the butter is worked well throughout.
Remove the crumbs from the processor and spread into a 10 inch spring form pan. Press evenly on the bottom and pushing one inch up the sides of the pan to form a shallow crust with one inch sides. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, place on a wire rack and let cool completely in the pan.
Once the crust is cooled, place the cream cheese and sugar in a small bowl and beat together until fluffy and well blended. Place the whipping cream in another bowl and whip until soft peaks form, taking care not to over beat it. You don’t want it to be granular. Slowly fold the cream cheese mixture into the whipped cream, until well blended. Spread evenly in the cooled crust and then refrigerate for an hour or so to firm up.
When ready to serve, arrange the sliced berries on the top of the chilled cream mixture in a decorative manner, placing a few berries in the centre to garnish. Remove the sides of the spring form pan and place on a serving plate. Dust lightly with icing sugar.
*Note - Don’t ever wash strawberries. They become soggy and waterlogged. Just lightly wipe them with some damp paper towelling if they are dusty and dirty. Also, don’t refrigerate them. The flavour is so much better at room temperature, and if you can leave them out in the sun for a bit until they are lovely and warm and juicy, so much the better!
I reckon that's enough for you to be getting on with this weekend! Hope you are having a good one! Its Grace's first birthday party today and we are looking forward to going to that. I hope the sun shines for it!
I have always loved prunes. I used to make a beautiful Prune & Apricot Coffee Cake, which I haven't made in a very long while. Note to self: As soon as the oven is fixed, bake one.
We tend to associate prunes with the elderly and care homes . . . tinned yucky prunes that have a really pasty consistency and are blecch. (Sorry, don't like tinned prunes!)
Ready to eat, dried pitted prunes however, are lovely. Sticky and sweet, sightly chewy. As appealing as raisins or dried apricots.
This recipe I am sharing today is one that comes from this book. A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband, by Louise Bennett Weaver and Helen Cowles LeCron. It was originally published in 1917, and reads like a diary. Its quite good actually. I have cooked a few things from it, and all are very good.
The original recipe actually called for finely chopped Dates. I couldn't find any in my larder, so I used prunes instead . . . with great success!
I also added chopped toasted walnuts . . . for a bit of interest and crunch.
A simple batter containing soft bread crumbs, flour, baking powder, eggs, milk, sugar and suet . . . beaten together. I added some vanilla and lemon extracts.
Some people don't like to use Suet, or have a problem finding it. You can use frozen vegetable shortening, grated if you wish, and you could also use butter, but, personally, I think butter would make it very rich.
It is a steamed pudding . . . you simply mix the batter together and then pop it into a buttered pudding basin, or buttered individual pudding basins. If you do it as one large pudding, it will take roughly twice the time as the individual ones.
Don't worry if you don't have individual pudding basins, you can also use custard cups . . . even small tins, about the size of a mandarin tin. Just make sure you butter them well.
There is a lovely lemon sauce that you can also make to spoon over the finished puddings . . .
Its lush and low in fat . . . but large on flavour . . . don't be tempted to skip it. Its gorgeous.
You could of course also serve it with ice cream or even pouring cream . . .
Just don't skip the lemon sauce!
When I make it again (and I WILL!) I am going to add some chopped dried apricots . . . they are so jewel-like and taste fabulous with prunes!
Bottom line . . . with prunes, or prunes and apricots . . . with dates . . . toasted nuts or not, this is one very gorgeous pudding.
Your family is sure to love it.
Steamed Prune & Walnut Puddings
Yield: 4
These lovely steamed puddings are studded with sticky bits of prune and crunchy toasted walnuts. Don't skip the lemon sauce. They go perfectly, deliciously together!
ingredients:
- 40g soft fresh bread crumbs (2/3 cup)
- 80g plain flour (2/3 cup)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 85g finely chopped suet (2/3 cup)
- 125g granulated sugar a92/3 cup)
- 1 large free range egg
- 100g finely chopped prunes (2/3 cup)
- 40g chopped toasted walnuts (1/3 cup)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract
- 156ml milk (2/3 cup
Lemon Sauce:
- 95g sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1 TBS plain flour
- 240ml water (1 cup)
- the juice of one lemon
- 1 tsp butter
instructions:
How to cook Steamed Prune & Walnut Puddings
- You will need a steaming pan, and four individual molds, or custard cups. (heat proof). Butter the four molds or cups really well. Have ready 4 squares of tinfoil which you have also buttered and pleated in the middle, and which are large enough to wrap over the tops of the cups securely.
- Measure all of the ingredients for the pudding into a bowl, in order given. Stir well for several minutes. Divide between the four cups. Place boiling water in the bottom of the steamer. Secure the tops of the cups with the pleated and buttered foil, covering them completely. Place them into the rack of the steamer. Cover and steam over simmering water for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick into one. If it comes out clean they are done.
- About 15 minutes before they are done make the sauce. Measure the sugar and flour into a small saucepan. Whisk together and then whisk in the water. Cook, stirring for about 2 minutes over moderate heat, at which time the sugar should have melted and it will have slightly thickened. Beat in the lemon juice and the butter.
- Run a knife around the inside rim of each mold. Insert over serving plate (s) and gently tip out. Spoon a bit of sauce over top and pass the remainder at the table.
- Serve hot.
NOTES:
Any leftovers can be reheated gently in a steamer for about 10 to 15 minutes.
If you are a long time reader of my foodblog you will know that at present I don't have a working oven.
Well . . . I can do a few things in it, but not anything precise such as baking cakes, cookies or roasts. Not quite what I was hoping for a holiday weekend!
I did want to cook us a bit of a special meal, including a dessert. I have a cookbook by the Australian Women's Weekly, entitled "Slow Cooking."
It is a fabulous compendium of recipes to cook long and slow, in the slow cooker (crock pot), stove top or in the oven.
I had flagged this Chocolate Fudge Pudding a long time ago, and I thought to myself, there is no time like the present!
I have made Chocolate Fudge Pudding in the oven many times, and its a real favourite, but I had never considered doing it in the slow cooker.
There is also a rice pudding recipe in there I would like to try as well as a bread pudding. Watch this space.
I didn't want to drag out my large slow cooker however, nor did I want to have to deal with oodles of leftovers, so I threw caution to the wind and halved the recipe.
With great success I might add! It worked out beautifully, and was done in roughly 3/4 of the time.
I would start checking it halfway through the recommended cook time just to be sure.
Chocolate Fudge Pudding has always been a real family favourite of ours.
Its the kind of pudding that goes together simply and then bakes itself pretty much, with the end result being a delicious fudgy cake type of pudding (much like a steamed pudding)
Along with a rich chocolate sauce that bakes like magic at the bottom of the pudding.
I have never met anyone who doesn't like it, including my husband who says he hates chocolate desserts, but managed to put away two helpings!
It is best served warm . . .
When my children were growing up they liked it with cold Vanilla Ice Cream. My husband, he likes his with cream. Its delicious either way!
Chocolate Fudge Pudding
Yield: 6
A delicious gooey chocolate sponge pudding that makes its own sauce. This cooks in the slow cooker. You can very successfully cut this in half for the smaller family or smaller appetites.
ingredients:
- 90g butter (3 ounces) (6 TBS)
- 180ml milk (3/4 cup)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 190g caster sugar (1 cup)
- 225g self raising flour (1 1/2 cups + 2 TBS)
- 2 TBS good quality cocoa powder
- 1 large free range egg, beaten lightly
- 200g soft light brown sugar (1 cup, packed)
- 2 additional TBS of cocoa powder
- 625ml boiling water (2 1/2 cups)
To serve (optional):
- pouring cream
- vanilla ice cream
instructions:
- Butter a 4 1/2 litre (18 cup) slow cooker bowl. Melt the butter in the milk over low heat. Let cool for several minutes and then stir in the sugar and vanilla. Sift together the flour and first amount of cocoa powder. Stir this into the milk /butter mixture along with the egg, mixing all together well. Pour into the buttered slow cooker bowl.
- Sift together the brown sugar and remaining cocoa powder. Sprinkle evenly over top of the batter in the slow cooker. Pour the boiling water evenly over all.
- Cover and cook on high for 2 1/2 hours or until firm. Remove the bowl from the slow cooker. Let stand five minutes and then spoon out into bowls to serve. Pass the cream or ice cream!
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator and then reheat gently in the microwave when you go to serve it. This always goes down a real treat and its nice to know that you can cook it in the slow cooker without heating up the kitchen. Its also nice to know that you can cut the recipe in half and it will still turn out delicious!
I like to pull the stops out a bit at the weekend and bake a treat for my husband. To be honest, I don't bake much during the week because it gets in my mouth too easily and I need to really watch it.
My husband shouldn't be punished for my transgressions however, so at the weekend, I always like to do something special for him.
He really loves the Bakewell Tarts you can buy in the shop. Small short crust pastry tarts filled with jam and an almond sponge and then topped with a sicky sweet icing and half of a glace cherry.
They really are sweet however . . . and nothing tastes better than homemade anything, so this week I decided to bake him some Bakewell Slices, which closely resemble the tart but I think are a lot nicer.
Bakewell is a town in the Peak District here in the UK.
It is located on the River Rye and is quite well known for its traditional and original Bakewell pudding, which boasts a pastry base topped with jam and an almond custard.
And then there is the Bakewell Tart, which is similar. The pudding uses Puff Pastry and the tart . . . short crust pastry.
The pudding has a custard topping and the tart . . . an almond cake topping.
Both are equally as delicious. My recipe today favours the tart in that it has an almond cake topping
The pastry is a very simple short crust pastry. You will want enough to fill a 12 by 9 inch traybake tin.
I roll it out fairly thin and bring it 1/2 inch up the sides. (I hate it when jam touches the sides of a tin and sticks. It is much easier to remove the finished bake if jam hasn't baked onto the tin.)
This is the tin I use. It has a bottom which slides out, which makes it really easy to remove the cake.
You spread the jam over top of the pastry base. You want to be somewhat generous with it, in that you want the jam not to be lost in everything else.
The base is not sweet in the least and so a nice layer of jam is a must.
I use raspberry jam, but some people prefer strawberry jam. Both are equally as delicious.
A simple almond sponge batter is spooned over top of the jam. It can be a bit fiddly to spread this batter out.
What works for me is to dollop the cake batter over top of the jam in small dollops all over. Then I just spread it out with the back of a spoon.
I then use a fingertip to make sure it gets right to the edge of the pastry.
The top is covered with a nice layer of flaked almonds. They toast while the cake is baking to a lovely golden brown.
Yum . . . I do so love toasted almonds.
To finish them off I have drizzled a thick almond drizzle over top. Not as sicky sweet as the tarts that you buy, but just perfect.
It dresses them up nicely and adds just a hint of sweet on an already perfect slice. You can of course leave this off entirely!
Yield: Makes 24
Bakewell Slice
prep time: 15 minscook time: 25 minstotal time: 40 mins
A beautiful slice/square perfect for enjoying with a nice hot cuppa. Do be generous with the jam. No need to line the baking pan with paper as the pastry will not stick. You will need a 12 by 9 inch tray bake tin or roasting tin. (Mine has a removable bottom)
ingredients:
For the shortcrust pastry:
- 175g plain flour (1 1/4 cups)
- 75g butter (6 TBS)
- 2 - 3 TBS cold water
For the sponge mixture:
- 100g butter softened (scant half cup)
- 100g caster sugar (1/2 cup + 1 TBS)
- 175g self raising flour (1 1/4 cups)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 large free range eggs
- 2 TBS whole milk
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
To finish:
- 4 heaped TBS raspberry jam
- flaked almonds to sprinkle
instructions:
- First make the pastry. Measure the flour into a bowl. Add th butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Add the cold water gradually, mixing together with a fork to form a soft dough.
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle the size of your baking tin. Use this to ine the tin. ( I like it to come about 1/2 inch up the sides.)
- Measure all of the sponge ingredients into a bowl and beat together well until smooth.
- Spoon the jam into the pastry lined tin and spread it out with the back of a spoon. Dollop the cake batter over top and spread it out to cover the jam. (I find this easiest to do it in small dollops all over and then spread it out right to the pastry edge with the back of a clean spoon and finally my finger tip at the end.) Sprinkle flaked almonds over top to cover.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the centre and is golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin before cutting into slices to serve.
- I often drizzle an almond drizzle icing over top. Whisk together 65g/1/2 cup of icing sugar with a few drops of vanilla extract and just enough milk to give you a thick drizzle. Flick it over the top decoratively.
Created using The Recipes Generator
These really are nice and go down wonderfully with a nice hot cuppa.
I can't think of a better way to enjoy a break on a weekend afternoon, than a hot drink and one of these as I sit at the table with paper and pencil, looking out at the garden and pondering my plans for it in the coming months.
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