I looooooove to bake!! (No surprise there!) And if there's anything I like more than baking it's watching a program on the telly about baking. I'm very excited to let you know that on the 5th of March, 2012 on Channel 4 at 12:05 pm the second Series of "Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard" begins!

This new series runs for four weeks, every week day and sees Eric . . . the guru of all things sweet, beautiful and baked . . . at home in his own kitchen creating quick baking recipes along side of his signature glamorous desserts. I think the new series will easily appeal to bakers of every kind from the novice to the expert.



Each episode is 30 minutes in length and will also feature three members of the public who will come to his cooker school, Cake Boy, to demonstrate their baking skills and take part in a "Bake Off!" (I cannot imagine the pressure they must be under!) It promises to be a beautifully produced series which balances inspiration with information, engaging the viewer to try new things to add to their baking repertoire.

This show is sponsored by Bakingmad.com, a wonderful online baking community of over 100,000 members sharing a wealth of information, recipes, hints, tips and advice on everything to do with baking!



I was asked ahead of time to take part in a special challenge. I was given the choice of one of the full collection of recipes that Eric will be making in the 20 episodes to bake at home myself! I did not need to think twice about accepting the challenge. I already own Eric's first book and know first hand how scrummy his recipes are.



I chose to bake the Peanut Butter Blondies recipe, which I baked today and boy oh boy, are they ever moreishly scrummy indeed! Just imagine it . . .



Moist blonde brownies . . . flavoured with chunky peanut butter . . . stogged full of white chocolate bits and toasted walnuts (my idea to toast them, coz well . . . toasted nuts just taste better in my opinion!) . . . and topped with more white chocolate bits, some more toasted walnuts and a drizzle of dark chocolate!



A delicious concoction that smells absolutely fabulous when baking . . . and is oh-so-difficult to resist sinking your teeth into once they come out of the oven . . . but do be patient . . . you will want to wait until you have dressed them with all of the extras!



I dare say I wouldn't have to ask one of you twice if you'd like one would I??? I thought not!!!



*Peanut Butter Blondies*
Makes 12
Printable Recipe

Adapted from a recipe from Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard.

100g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing the tray (7 TBS)
150g crunchy peanut butter (3/4 cup plus 1 TBS)
1 tsp vanilla extract
175g golden caster sugar (15 tBS)
1 free range egg
75g white chocolate, plus extra to decorate (1/2 cup chopped)
75g toasted walnut halves, chopped plus extra to decorate (2/3 cup)
125g plain flour (1 1/4 cup)
1 tsp baking powder
dark chocolate melted, to decorate
white chocolate chips to decorate



Preheat the oven to 170*C/ 325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter an 8 inch square tin with butter and line the base with baking paper.

Cream together the butter and peanut butter until creamy, using an electric hand whisk at medium speed. Beat in the vanilla, sugar and egg until light and fluffy. Chop the white chocolate and stir into the mixture along with the chopped walnuts.

Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and fold in using a large metal spoon. Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tin, smoothing over the top.

Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until it has a nice golden crust but is still fudgy in the middle.

Allow to cool in the tin. Decorate with white chocolate chunks and walnut pieces and drizzle over some dark chococolate. Cut into squares to serve. Store in an airtight container.



If this fab recipe is any indication of the quality of baking which will be showcased during the airing of this series, I, for one, will be following along with great anticipation each week day for the duration of the series!



Here's a teaser! Some of the recipes that will be presented during this series are such delicious sounding concoctions as Blueberry Bakewell Tart and Key Lime Pie to name but two.

Don't forget to tune in on Monday, March the 5th at 12:05 PM on Channel 4 here in the UK. In the meantime why not check out Baking Mad.com.

You can also follow them on Facebook Twitter and YouTube.

Many thanks to Nancy and Baking Mad.com for affording me with this delicious opportunity!

 

What do you call a tasty little brownie type of square that is oh so buttery, rich . . . and moist.



Sweetly moreish with the lovely taste of light muscovado sugar . . .



Studded with scrummy chunks of oozing dark chocolate . . .



Sweet creamy hunks of delicious white chocolate . . .



Crunchy bits of toasted walnuts . . .



Decadently moreishly scrummily ADDICTIVE!!! That's what!!!



Bet you can't eat just one! And if you can . . . you're a much better woman than I am!



These little babies have been my undoing . . . but what a way to go . . .




*Double Chocolate Chunk Blondies*
Makes 48
Printable Recipe

Butterscotch flavoured brownies, moist, delicious and stogged full of white and dark chocolate chunks, and toasted walnuts. Moreishly delightful!

140g of butter, melted (1/2 cup, plus 1 1/2 TBS)
400g light brown muscovado sugar (3/4 cup, plus 1 TBS lightly packed)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, beaten
300g plain flour (2 1/2 cups)
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
50g of toasted walnuts, coarsely broken (1/3 cup)
50g of good quality white chocolate, coarsely broken (1/2 medium sized bar. I use Green and Blacks)
50g of good quality dark chocolate, coarsely broken (1/2 of a medium sized bar. I use Fair trade dark chocolate with 72% cocoa solids)



Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F. gas mark 4. Line an 8 by 12 inch baking pan with foil. Lightly spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

Place the butter into a large saucepan and melt over low heat. Once melted stir in the muscovado sugar and stir in completely. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool for several minutes to lukewarm. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold into the wet ingredients, mixing only until thoroughly blended. Do not beat or overmix. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the nuts and chocolates evenly over top.

Bake for 25 minutes, until just firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes. Lift out by the foil and allow to finish cooling on a wire rack. Cool completely before removing the foil and then cutting into squares. Store in a tightly covered container for up to 4 days.

I'm going to show myself up right now for the somewhat ignorant gardener that I am. I love vegetables, but I have not had much experience in growing them.

At the beginning of this growing season, Todd and I planted all sorts of things . . . beetroot, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, squash, courgettes, lettuces, tomatoes, onions, cabbages, cucumbers and rocket. Everything was doing so so, but one row in the garden was growing by leaps and bounds.

"What is that?" I asked Todd. "Parsnips." was his answer. Hmmm . . . I thought . . .



Those parsnips are growing really fast. I had always thought they were a fall vegetable and needed the first touch of frost to really come in to their own . . .

In the meantime, every day I looked at them and they were growing larger and larger . . . and a few days ago they looked like they were going to seed . . .



I thought to myself . . . my goodness, but those parsnips have big and leafy tops . . . almost good enough to eat. I wonder if you can eat parsnip tops, coz they look as if they would make a rather tasty green . . . I know you can eat beetroot tops and turnip greens, and they are rather good.



I let them go for a few more days and then I just couldn't help myself. I just had to have a taste . . . they were growing so prolifically that I thought it was worth a try. Bravely I broke a leaf off and popped it into my mouth . . .

Only to discover that it was not parsnips . . . it was rocket!



So now I found myself with bags and bags of rocket that was almost past it's use by date . . . I'm not sure you can freeze it . . . I'm not even sure if it's still good for salads . . . but it is good for this. So you'll have to forgive me if you've seen this recipe on here before.



Some things are just so tasty that they bear repeating, and this is one of them. Besides . . . it helped me to use up a bunch of that overgrown rocket!

Please note, unless they are really young and tender, you will have to remove the beans from the pods, as the pods will be inedible. Put the beans in a pan, cover with boiling water, return to the boil and cook for 3-5 minutes. Then drain, empty into cold water, slit each pod along its seam and run your thumb along the furry inside to push the beans out. I really don't like the tough outer skin that covers each of the little beans, and so I always double pod them by taking a fingernail and slitting that outer skin open and slipping the tender sweet bright green bean inside . . . out! It can be a fiddly and time consuming job, especially if you are preparing a lot of them, but it is well worth the effort in my opinion. The beans will then be ready to re-heat gently with some butter and a bit of salt and black pepper, or to use in another recipe, such as the delicious one I have here today.



*Baked Potatoes with Broad Beans, Rocket and Blue Cheese*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Imagine a tasty baked potato, it's skin all crispy and split open . . . topped with a delicious blue cheese sauce stogged full of fresh broad beans and tasty rocket. This is wonderfully delicious!

4 large baking potatoes
coarse salt
300g broad beans
1/3 cup cream
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
4 handfuls of rocket, chopped


Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F. Wash the potatoes, and while still damp, rub them all over with a little coarse salt. Prick them several times with a fork and then place them into the oven, sitting them directly onto the oven rack. (This will help their skins to become really nice and crisp) Bake for 1 hour, then check by squeezing them gently, to see if they are done. If they are done they will yield slightly. If they are still hard, then bake them for another 15 minutes and try again.

Cook the broad beans in some lightly salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain well and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Drain well again. Slip off the outer grey skins by using your nail to slit open the skin and then popping the bright green bean out. Discard the outer grey skin. Set aside the beans.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add the broad beans and cook them gently for several minutes. Add the blue cheese and the rocket. Stir everything together and cook until the rocket has wilted.

Take your cooked potatoes and cut a cross in one side of each and squeeze the potatoes around the middle until they open up. Place each on a heated plate. Spoon some of the broad bean mixture over the top of each. Season with some black pepper and serve.

Note - This tasty dish also makes a really delicious light lunch or supper all on it's own!

Tune in tomorrow. I'll have some tasty brownies to show you and the best thing of all is . . . they're low in calories and fat! I kid you not!

 







If you are a fan of the baked donut you might also like these other versions.  (Clearly  I am a fan!)