Guess what!!! I have a new book!!
Dear Friends, after a LOT of hard work behind the scenes for the last few months, I'm so excited to finally announce that I have a new book coming out. The Best of British Baking is the perfect way to Master the most beloved recipes in British baking. From fluffy Victoria sponges to sausage rolls, the flavors of British baking are some of the most famous in the world.
"With scones, the fat is rubbed into the flour with a snapping motion. It is important to work quickly so that the fat does not melt."
There are tons more tips and tricks like this throughout The Best of British Baking. If you find this helpful take a moment to pre-order your copy on Amazon. Let me know if there are any other tips you would like me to share, and don't forget to hit the save/bookmark button to save this post for later!
Thanks so much for reading!
One of my favorite breakfasts, lunches or light suppers has to be French Toast. I have loved it ever since I first tasted it back when I was a girl.
I had a friend whose mother always made French Toast for their dinner on Fridays. (They were catholic and didn't eat meat.) I had never ever had it in my life, but it sounded so wonderful and exotic. She invited me over to lunch. (I think it was news to her mother!)
It was love at first bite and was something I made often for my children when they were growing up. I especially enjoyed making them Oven French Toast because it meant I was not chained to the stove.
I could often throw it together ahead of time, usually the night before, and then just bang the casserole into the oven in the morning when we were ready to eat.
Its something I hadn't really made for myself since I started living on my own. For several reasons really. One most recipes make far too much for me to eat all on my own.
I can handle one meal of leftovers, but not much more than that. I have always found that French Toast Casseroles don't freeze that well, and I hate waste.
Two, its just not practical for me to have something like that sitting in my refrigerator taking up space when there is only me to feed.
I decided to see if I could downsize a recipe to fit only two or three people and also one that didn't need sitting over night to set up. This baked French toast is not overnight French Toast. And yet it is every bit as tasty as one that is!
Its quick and easy to make and uses ingredients that most of us always have in our kitchens. Its also delicious!
It has all the richness and flavor of a full sized French Toast casserole without all of the faff and waiting around of the original one. I am all for that!
Its light and fluffy on the inside, buttery and crisp on the outside, and lightly cinnamon sugar glazed.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE OVEN FRENCH TOAST
Its simple really. I bet you have everything you need to make this delicious dish in your kitchen and refrigerator right now!
- three thick slices of bread (1 inch thick. Brioche, French, Italian, Sour Dough or Challah)
- large free range eggs
- whole milk
- whipping or double cream (you can use undiluted evaporate milk in its place if that is all you have.)
- vanilla
- ground cinnamon
- nutmeg
- butter
- granulated sugar (for the baked glaze)
HOW TO MAKE OVEN FRENCH TOAST
With no overnight chilling, Oven French Toast is not only time-worthy, but very easy to make. Its also a very tasty way to use up bread which has gone stale, breathing new, delicious life into it!
Today I used some thick sliced Italian bread for the recipe. I cut it in half so that I ended up with six half slices. This is not only easier to serve, but fit into my dish better and was visually better.
Two smaller halves just look nicer sitting on the plate than one full slice would look.
Once you have done that butter a small baking dish. Mine is 7 inches square. Be generous with the butter. You don't want your toast to stick, and it will give a lovely flavor and crust to the finished dish.
Beat together your wet ingredients, the egg, egg yolk, milk and cream. I do this in a small bowl that is large enough for me to be able to dip in each half slice of bread.
You will also need to beat in the vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cinnamon never goes in like you want it to. It tends to clump. That's okay. Don't worry about it, it will all end up okay.
You will need to dip your slices of bread into this mixture, making sure you coat both sides, and working one slice/piece at a time.
Lay these into your buttered baking dish, overlapping them slightly in a visually appealing way. Just because you are only one or two, that doesn't mean you don't want your food to look good!
If you have any egg mixture left in the bowl when done, pour it over top of the bread slices in the baking dish.
Cover your dish tightly with aluminum foil and set it aside for half an hour. Just go off and get on with something else. You can also set your oven to pre-heating.
At the end of that time, pop your dish into the oven and let it bake for about half an hour. You really won't know what's going on in the dish as its tightly covered, but trust me. If your oven temperature is right and you follow my precise timings all will be well.
At the end of that time, remove it from the oven. Take off the foil and discard it, or if you are thrifty like me, set it aside to use another time. It won't be dirty.
Melt your butter and whisk the granulated sugar and 1/2 tsp of sugar together. Drizzle the melted butter evenly over top of the French toast and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.
Return the French Toast to the oven and bake it for a further 15 minutes. At the end of that time it should be slightly golden brown and have a nice cinnamon sugar glaze happening.
This is French Toast perfection. Trust me on this. Light and fluffy inside. Golden brown with crisp buttery edges on the outside.
Perfect for serving with crisp bacon or breakfast sausage, or (dare I say it?) both!
I've been buying the quick bacon. Its pretty much already cooked, you just need to warm it up in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds. Easy peasy.
I wouldn't do that if I had a whole family to feed, but for just myself, its really quite practical. Another thing I like to do is to fry up a whole package of regular bacon and freeze it into individual slices, ready to take out and use as and when.
Instead I enjoyed it with the bacon and lashings of pure Maple Syrup. It went down a real treat and I think it will with you as well!!
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!
Oven French Toast (small batch)
Yield: 3
Prep time: 35 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 1 H & 19 M
Not too sweet and perfectly spiced, this delicious recipe is sized for the smaller family. Small families deserve to eat delicious things without any waste!
Ingredients
- 3 thick slices of day old bread (Brioche, Italian, Sour Dough, French, Challah)
- 1 large free range egg, plus 1 egg yolk (freeze the white for another use)
- 2 1/2 TBS whipping cream
- 1/4 cup (60ml) whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- dash nutmeg
To Finish:
- 2 TBS butter melted
- 1 TBS granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- Icing sugar to dust (optional)
To serve:
- Bacon or breakfast sausage or both
- Maple syrup
- fresh berries or fruit
- Greek Yogurt
Instructions
- Butter a 7-inch square baking dish and set aside.
- Slice the bread in half so that you have two pieces from each slice (6 altogether).
- Whisk the egg, egg yolk, milk, cream, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a bowl. Dip each piece of bread into the mixture and then place into the buttered baking dish, overlapping them slightly. Pour any remaining egg mixture (if any) over top.
- Cover with aluminum foil and set aside for half an hour.\
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4.
- Bake the covered baking dish for 30 minutes. Uncover and drizzle the melted butter over top. Sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon sugar.
- Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve with warm with your favorite accompaniments.
If you are a Baking Enthusiast and a fan of British Baking you are going to love this new book I wrote, set to be published on the 28th of December (2021)!!! It is available for Pre-order now! From fluffy Victoria sponges to sausage rolls, the flavors of British baking are some of the most famous in the world. Learn how to create classic British treats at home with the fresh, from-scratch, delicious recipes in The Best of British Baking. Its all here in this delicious book! To find out more and Pre-order your copy, just click here.
I decided to use up the last of the roast beef today by making a delicious soup. Let it be noted, you do NOT have to have leftover cooked beef to make this soup! You can also use regular ground beef!
Not only is this tasty soup hearty and filling, but it is also very economical, using only a few store cupboard staples and if you have it leftover cooked beef! I don't know about you, but, I am always up for watching the pennies!
Not only is it very economical, but it is incredibly hearty and makes for a super quick mid-week or weekend supper. Especially if you pair it with some crusty bread and perhaps a salad on the side!
Soup and a salad works for me! I have also down-sized it from the original recipe to serve only 3 to 4 people or two with a bit leftover. Or, if you are really hearty eaters, a nice top-up!
This is a great example of thrift and economy. This is the type of soup my mother would have made. I think I have also seen it called Goulash Soup, but I could be wrong.
In any case, its delicious no matter what!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE TOMATO, BEEF & MACARONI SOUP
Nothing more than some meat and a few store cupboard ingredients, that's what!
- lean ground beef, or cooked beef (minced)
- onion
- garlic
- beef broth (I like to use the gel pots made by Knorr, reconstituted with water)
- tomatoes, both chopped in juice and pureed/strained (passata)
- Worcestershire sauce
- brown sugar
- dried basil
- Montreal steak seasoning
- hot sauce (optional)
- cooked macaroni
- salt and pepper
I always add a splash of hot sauce to mine, but it is by no means required. It all depends on how spicy you like it!
A lot of people ask me about the Gel stock pots that I use. I use the ones by Knorr. You can check them out here. They come in a variety of flavors. Beef, chicken, vegetable, and even fish.
I used them all the time in the UK and was really pleased to see that they were also available here in Canada. You simply reconstitute them with some boiling water.
You can also use other types of stock as you wish. The important thing is that you use beef stock/bullion.
Today I used elbow macaroni for my soup. You can use any short tubular type of macaroni that you want to use.
Ditalini is nice, as are baby shells, straight macaroni, and I have even used shapes like wagon wheels. The important thing is they have a shape that grabs the soup.
HOW TO MAKE TOMATO, BEEF & MACARONI SOUP
This is such an easy soup to make and goes together really quickly, once you have everything prepped and assembled. I am a real mise-en-place type of cook myself.
That way I am less likely to leave something integral to the recipe out by mistake! (Been there, done that!) Its easily done and I just find if you have everything assembled and ready to go, you won't forget things!
You begin by cooking off the ground beef (if using) and the onion in a medium sized saucepan. You can also brown off your minced cooked beef, but do note because there will be no fat in it, you will have to add a bit of fat to the saucepan.
I use butter (preferably), or a bit of light olive oil. If you are using ground beef and its not as lean as you would like, you will have to drain the fat off once its browned.
You will need to season it a bit with salt and black pepper.
Once you have beef and onion cooked, it is a simple matter of adding the remaining ingredients, with the exception of the cooked macaroni. I usually cook the macaroni while the soup is simmering so I can add it hot to the soup at the end.
Just throw everything else into the saucepan, bring it to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. Note, if you want to you can add some celery or chopped/sliced carrots to this tasty soup, but it really isn't necessary.
Everything simmers together for about 15 minutes to meld the flavors and the soup is done. All you need to do now is to stir in the cooked macaroni, heat through and serve it up!
If your macaroni is really hot, you can pop it into the heated soup bowls and then ladle the rest of the soup over top. Its really up to you!
If you want your soup to stay nice and hot NEVER EVER ladle it into a cold bowl. That is one sure fire way to cool your soup down quickly.
A soup like this needs to be served hot, hot, hot!! If you really wanted to you could top it with a bit of finely grated Parmesan cheese, which is very nice.
I just love it when the cooler months come along and we can enjoy hot and tasty tomato beef soup such as this one.
But then again, I love any kind of soup. Some other soup favorites are Chicken Noodle ( a childhood favorite), Hearty Tomato & Bean (exactly what it says), Tomato and Rice ( a personal favorite and another small batch recipe), and Farmhouse Cheddar, (rich and tasty.)
There is just something about a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter's day. It is like having a nice warm hug from your mother. It whispers "Home Sweet Home" to your soul.
There is nothing quite like it for bringing comfort to your table or to your belly. I always enjoy mine with some crisp buttered crackers. Oh, and yes, I do crumble some of them in. As my ex boss would say, I am quite common. But then, the best people often are.
Tomato, Beef & Macaroni Soup
Yield: 3 - 4
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 30 Min
Delicious, economical and hearty. You can use either ground beef or leftover minced cooked beef in this tasty soup!
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound lean ground beef (or the equivalent of minced cooked beef) (see note)
- 1/2 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 3 cups (720ml) beef broth
- 1 (14 oz/400g) tin of chopped tomatoes in juice, undrained
- 1 (14 oz/400g) tin of pureed tomatoes (passata)
- 1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- splash of hot sauce
- 1 TBS brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 3/4 tsp Montreal steak seasoning
- 1 cup (115g) macaroni cooked according to the package directions
- salt and black pepper to taste
- crusty bread or crackers to serve.
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef and onion together in a medium sized saucepan, until the beef is no longer pink. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
- Add the broth, chopped and pureed tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, basil and steak seasoning. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally.
- Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the cooked macaroni, heat through. Taste and adjust seasoning as required.
- Serve immediately, ladled into heated bowls, along with some with crusty bread or crackers on the side.
Notes:
If using leftover roast beef or cooked beef, you may need to add a tiny bit of fat. About 1 TBS of butter or light olive oil will suffice.
With the advent of December I wanted to bake something festive. Normally in December I do like to bake a lot using Mincemeat.
Don't be confused by mincemeat I don't mean hamburger. Mincemeat instead is a delicious combination of chopped dried fruits, apple, spirits, spice and suet, or butter (if you cannot get suet.) I love the stuff and use it a lot all through the year, but most especially in December.
One way that I enjoy using it is in these Mincemeat Buns. In the UK, they often call small cakes, or cupcakes . . . buns. This is Mary Berry's recipe.
I adapted it from one I found in her Complete Cookbook. I cut the recipe in half because the original recipe made 32 buns. I did not want that many. I also adapted it to use both North American and British/European measures.
Generally speaking each year I will make my own Mincemeat using this recipe. It is Delia Smith's. I have also made my own using this recipe for Brandied Mincemeat, which comes from Nigel Slater.
Failing having my own I buy it. This is the type I buy here in Canada and it is available in the baking section of most of the major grocery shops here in Canada. In the US you can find it on Amazon.
But really it is very easy to make your own and I can promise you that you will use it all up! I have an abundance of recipes for just that purpose here in my kitchen.
There are these delightful little spicy cakes to begin with, but that's not all. A few other recipes which you might enjoy are Apple and Mincemeat Pudding ( a delicious dessert!!), Christmas Morning Breakfast Buns (like cinnamon rolls but with a mincemeat filling.)
Then there is Festive Apple Dumplings with spiced Creme Anglaise, Marzipan and Mincemeat Tea Loaf, and then of course mince pies.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to recipes on the blog which use mincemeat! Yes, I do love the stuff!
I started using the Advent Calendar my friend Diana sent me this morning and I wanted a sweet treat to go along with my cup of tea. It was a nice Gingerbread infusion today.
I remembered seeing these buns in Mary's cookbook and decided that today was the day I was going to finally baking them!
One thing I noticed in the UK was that people didn't let not having a muffin tin stop them from making bakes like this. They just drop the batter into paper cups and bake away.
The cakes are not quite as tall this way, but they do hold their shape as you can see from the photograph of the two buns on my tea plate below. I cooked half of them in my six cup muffin tin and half in just papers with excellent results.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE MINCEMEAT BUNS
Simple ingredients put together in the most delicious way.
- prepared mincemeat
- dried currents
- butter, softened (just use at room temperature)
- sugar (use finely granulated or castor sugar)
- free range egg
- self rising flour (I tell you how to easily make your own in the notes)
That is it. Six simple ingredients! No fuss no muss!
HOW TO MAKE MINCEMEAT BUNS
As always, Mary's recipe is pretty fool proof. You would expect nothing less from the doyenne of British baking!!
The GBBO just has not been the same for me since she left. I know many agree with me. I tried watching the Canadian version of the same last night and it didn't do it for me either. I need Mary Berry for full satisfaction!
I just trust her. She is nice and she knows her apples from her oranges.
You will need to either butter a 12 hole muffin tin really well for these, or use 12 paper cases. I used half and half so I could see how they worked either way.
They worked well both ways just so you know!
For these Mary employs the all-in-one method. That is simply bunging all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisking them together with an electric whisk until they are perfectly blended.
Nothing could be easier. I put the butter in first, then the sugar, flour, egg, mincemeat and currants and then just beat it all together. You can scrape the sides of the bowl down once or twice with a spatula just to be sure everything is in there.
And that's it, just divide the batter between your muffin/bun tin holes or paper cases and pop into the oven to bake. 25 to 30 minutes.
Try not to drool at the smells that will start emanating from your oven! These quite simply smell gorgeous!
They are done when they are golden brown and a the tops spring back when lightly touched. It may or may not take a tiny bit longer than the time suggested in the recipe. Test to be sure.
A toothpick inserted in the center also comes out clean. Pop them onto a wire rack to cool completely before dusting with some icing sugar to serve and enjoy!
These are so simple and yet so pretty. I dusted them with some icing sugar because I think, especially during the holidays, a little bit of icing sugar dresses most sweet things up perfectly!
Oh, I am missing my Christmas decorations from the UK. I try not to think about them, but I can't help it really. I suppose in time I will build things up again. Fingers crossed.
Don't let my lack of festive decor put you off from baking these fabulous cakes. Just don't. You will be missing out on something really tasty if you do.
Mincemeat Buns For an ‘elevenses’ treat or after-school snack, these buns are a delicious alternative to mince-pies but still pack a festive punch.
I expect I shall bake these several times in the coming weeks. Yes, they are that good! I also have it on good authority that they taste awfully nice with a healthy dollop of Brandy sauce on top.
Mary Berry's Mincemeat Buns
Yield: 12
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 35 Min
These little cakes are delicious. Moist, fruity and nicely spiced! Quick and easy to make as well!
Ingredients
- 6 ounces (170g) prepared mincemeat (scant 3/4 cup)
- 3/4 cup (115g) dried currants
- 1 large free-range egg
- 1/3 cup + 1 TBS (75g) finely granulated sugar (castor sugar)
- 1/3 cup (75g) butter at room temperature
- 1 cup - 1 TBS (125g) self raising flour (see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325*F/160*C/gas mark 3. Have ready 12 paper cases or a 12 cup muffin tin. (you don't need to put the cases in a tin, they will cook properly just as is if you place them on a baking sheet.) If using a tin, butter it well.
- Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and beat together for 2 minutes until light, fluffy and well combined.
- Divide equally amongst your muffin cups/paper cases.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown and springy to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
- These are very pretty served dusted with icing sugar.
Notes:
You can easily make your own self rising flour. For each cup of flour, measure out 1 cup and add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt. Whisk well together. I make mine 3 to 4 cups at a time so I have it ready to use whenever I need it.
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