Moist-a-licious Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Cinnamon Cream Topping

Extra creamy pint of the black stuff anyone?

Inspiration comes from the funniest places… I had committed myself to baking a cake for some friends a couple of weeks ago, but as I had been so busy with work and training, I had asked that they be the ones to decide what I’d make. My one stipulation? Something that I hadn’t made before. 

Quite a challenge as, well let’s just say that since starting Baby Got Bake, I’ve covered A LOT of the bases.

*Ding-ding* my phone buzzes all of about 45 seconds after sending out my request for a suggestion, and my dear pal Simeon Le Good (I know, cracking name…. interestingly, his brother’s name is Simon) comes back with, “Mmmmmmmm…. Chocolate Guinness Cake please”.

Challenge accepted…

I knew enough about baking (and Guinness!) to know what sort of cake to expect in terms of consistency/texture and flavour for this one. I conducted my usual research into the recipe - checking out tried and tested methods, looking into tips and techniques, and of course seeing where there was room for variation so that I could put my own BGB stamp on it.

No caption necessary....

Now, when I say that the list of core ingredients for this cake is devilish… I am not being dramatic. There are reasons as to why Chocolate Guinness Cake is quite possibly one of the most mouth-wateringly exquisite chocolate cakes that I have ever made. Some of those reasons for this are……. butter, sugar, sour cream, single cream, double cream and cream cheese.

Let's crack on, shall we?

The Ingredients:

For the cake

• 250ml of Guinness (bottles draught is best – see the snap above)
• 250 grams of unsalted butter
• 75 grams of cocoa powder
• 400 grams of caster sugar
• 150ml of sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon (2x dessert spoons) vanilla extract
• 275 grams plain flour
• 2.5 heaped teaspoons of bicarbonate soda (or baking powder) 

For the topping

• 300 grams of cream cheese (plain full-fat philly is best)
• 150 grams of icing sugar
• 125ml of double cream
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• Optional – bronze sugar bits to shape into an angel

The Method:

• Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180 C /350 F, and butter a round tin (23cm / 9inch size is best)
• Pour the measured Guinness into a large wide and deep saucepan, add the butter in spoons or slices and heat until the butter has melted – a medium heat will do best. Make sure there are no lumps
• Keep the heat on but lower it slightly, and whisk in the cocoa (sieve cocoa to get rid of lumps) and sugar.
• In a separate bowl, beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and bicarb (again, make sure both the flour and the bicarb is sieved).
• Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin – this is important as it is quite a damp, moist cake. A tip – as soon as you take it out of the oven, put it in the freezer to cool for about 45 mins, before putting in the fridge or leaving on a cooling tray to completely cool. This helps the cake retain its moistness for longer and improves the consistency. Nom!
• While the cake is cooling, get started on the icing
• Lightly whip the cream cheese with a fork until it’s smooth and sieve over the icing sugar, then beat them both together.
• Add the double cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency. Don’t worry if it seems watery after adding in the cream, just keep beating and it WILL firm up.
• When the cake’s cold sit it on a flat board or platter and get to icing that bad boy – ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of a laaaaverly pint of hearty Guinness. Giddy up!

The Moosic:

Simple really, given the time of year it is….. Christmas songs. Lots and lots of Christmas songs. The cheesier the better! Par exemple – This bad boy.

Et Voila :)

A delicious and delectable Merry Christmas from BGB, to you all.

B x

Fenner's (Award winning) Flapper-Jackers

There is something really, bloody fantastic about flapjacks. I see them as the baked good of opportunity… the Cher of baked goods, if you will.

One nearly as nutty as t'other...

Why is that, you ask? Pull up a stool there. I’ll pour you a cuppah and tell you…

I've always been a big oat fan. Flahavan's porridge has been a morning stable for me for as long as I can remember. My nana let me in on some "porridge pimping" secrets years ago (her fave addition to the bowl is Rhubarb!), and I've pretty much applied that to flapjacks.

The really wonderful thing about flapjacks, is that not only are they incredibly easy to whip up, but they can be made in all shapes and sizes, and can contain a whole host of different combinations of delicious ingredients.

You can go the simple route, and make plain flapjacks – so, the staple ingredients of oats, sugar and golden syrup, with a pinch of vanilla or cinnamon to add flavour. Alternatively, you can jazz your batch up by adding your choice of additional ingredient. I find the most popular ones tend to be fruit, nuts and/or seeds.

The beauty of the flapjack is that, because they are so versatile (just like Cher, right?!) there is always the option of playing around with them in some way or another. Here are some of my favourite ways to do just that -

Layer bake - You can go the layered flapjack route, by separating two slightly thinner flap-jack layers with jam (homemade jam that isn't too sweet is best - i.e. prune, apricot)

The Chocoholic – Some bakers add chocolate to everything they make, and if done the right way, the flapjack is ideal for a good aul choccin' up. Best ways are either small chunks or chips within a plain or nutty mix, or drizzles of dark chocolate on top of your mix once in the tray. White chocolate drizzles go well with cranberry flapjacks.

Flapjack cake – Make double the mix quantity and use a deeper tin. Simples. 

Flapjack mini bites – Exactly what it says on the tin. Combine with one of The Chocoholic methods above if you’re feeling cray-cray.

Festive flapjacks – Because of the mix type, flapjacks are easily moulded into random shapes, so they are great for festive occasions… think hearts, Christmas trees and shamrocks :)

See? So many versions. They really ARE the Cher of baked goods.

*Bursts into song* If aawwhhhh courrrd turrrn behhck teeeeee-ummmahh..!

Moving swiftly on…

My company, The Red Consultancy, hold an annual bake-off competition called 'The Great Red Bake-Off', the proceeds for which are given to charity.  I'll write more about this in my next post. The judging took place last Friday, with any staff member eligible to submit as many entries as they want. I threw two entries into the ring. My newest flapjack creation was apparently the one that won me First Prize :-)

Below is the recipe. I call them Fenners Fruity Nutty Seedy Winter Wonderland Flapper-Jackers.

Quite a mouthful, you say? You have no idea.

The Ingredients:

140g light muscavado sugar

3 tbsp golden syrup

140g butter

200g rolled oats (I recommend Flahavans Organic Irish Oats)

**50g rice crispies

85g raisins or sultanas

85g walnuts or pecans (I used a mix of both this time)

50g mixed seeds

30g dried cranberries

50g ready-to-eat apricots, finely chopped

20g dessicated coconut flakes

**You don’t typically find rice krispies in a flapjack mix, but I decided to add them in with a view to creating a crunchier, lighter texture. Worked a charm!

Before and after - browning the coconut

The Method:

• Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3.
• Gently heat the sugar, golden syrup and butter in a large pan until the sugar and butter have both melted.
• In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients - oats, rice krispies, raisins, nuts, seeds, cranberries and apricots
• Stir the dry ingredients into the pan until covered in the butter mix. Large pan is best as you’ll find it easier to stir in the mix.
• Spoon the mix into a traybake tin (23 x 23cm works well). Make sure its nice and compact (no gaps!)
• Place in the oven for about 30 mins. You'll see that the mix is not solid after this length of time - don't panic, the hardening up part happens when you let the tray bake cool down
• Remove carefully from the oven and sprinkle a thin layer of the dessicated coconut flakes on top.
• Place back in the over for 5-7 mins, or until a golden / light brown colour forms (this really helps to bring out the coconut flavour
• Take out of the oven carefully and leave to cool completely, before cutting into 16 bars with a sharp knife. And for the love of God, be careful with the big knife!

The Moosic:

Cher. Cher, Cher and more Cher. And a little bit of Fleetwood Mac on the side for good measure. Great baking tunes.

So, there you have it. A nice recipe to follow if you're keen to flex your flapjack muscle. We all have one. Mine is in my kiss, ohhhh-ooh it's in my kihh-hiss....

Flapper-Jackers!

Go forth and Bake,

B x

Dark Chocolate, Hazelnut & Courgette Cake with Strawberries and Cream Coulis

Quite a mouthful, right?

So, I know the question on about 85% of the minds of those reading this right now - "What in God's name is she doing making a chocolate cake with courgette?"

Well, take a seat, grab a cuppah, pull up a chair... I'll tell you exactly why.

Comfy? Great.

When it comes to baking, there are few things that piss me off as much as a slice of dry, dull cake. This is particularly true in the case of chocolate cake. Personally, when I choose chocolate cake for my dessert, I mean serious dessert ordering business. And that business involves a requirement for a rich, flavoursome, moist, dreamy, chocolate party in my mouth. Does it have to be a big portion? Absolutely not. In fact, you'll know you are eating a perfectly baked chocolate cake when one medium-sized slice is just perfect.

.....What?

With that said, I genuinely had to stop writing this after typing the above, to go and grab myself a(nother) slice. See the bowl in the picture there? See the way it still has chocolate residue in it? About 2 minutes after this was taken.... clean as a shiny new whistle.

So, where were we....

After a recent unforgivable chocolate cake eating experience, I took it upon myself to come up with a recipe that would result in the chocolate cake of Willie Wonka's dreams. After a couple of hours research, and about .5 litres of saliva generation, I came across an article on using certain fruits and vegetables as a 'moistening agent'. The usual suspects were listed - Banana, Apple, berries, carrots and even beets. Tick, tick, tick, tick and tick. I'd tried all of these before and I use them regularly in many different recipes, but with them comes their flavour, and that's not what I was after. I wanted a magical, invisible, tasteless ingredient that could help me to turn my chocolate cake recipe into something quite special!

Enter the mystical and clandestine Courgette.

Now, I did a bit of a number on this recipe. Traditionally, chocolate cake is meant to include, or be covered in, chocolate icing. However, I decided I wanted to "Summer-ize" this a bit, and so came up with the idea of my strawberries and cream coulis.

The Ingredients:

The Cake - 

350g self-raising flour

50g cocoa powder

1 tsp mixed spice

175ml extra-virgin olive oil

375g golden caster sugar (yep, I know. Woah.)

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

500ml grated courgettes (measure by volume in a jug, but it's about 2 medium courgettes)

140g hazelnuts roughly chopped (bonus flavour points if you can find roasted ones)

The Coulis -

150ml double cream

2 tbls honey (use a light honey)

About two handfuls of strawberries (this can vary depending on personal taste)

The Method:

Cake -

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, mixed spice and 1 tsp salt. Make sure everything is sieved
• In another bowl, combine the olive oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla essence and grated courgette.
• Mix the dry and wet mixture until just combined, then fold in the toasted hazelnuts. (see pictures below)
• Line a cake tin – ideally about 22 – 24 cms - with greaseproof paper, then pour in your mixture.
• Bake for about 40-50 mins, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out nice and clean.
• Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool

See for yourself - two full courgettes!

A note on baking with courgettes: These fellas can hold A LOT of water, which can affect your bake in a not so scrummy way. If your grated courgettes seem watery, place them into a dry, clean cloth and wring out some of the liquid. Then add the courgettes to the cake mixture as normal. 

Strawberries and Cream coulis –

• Place double cream into a bowl and whip. Bear in mind that this s double cream, so it will whip very quickly. It needs to be quite thick (I’ll explain why in my next point) but just make sure you don’t over-do it
• Mash the strawberries (a potato masher works well) in a separate bowl until liquefied with some bumpy bits still present
• Add in honey and stir
• Combine double cream, folding it all together
• You should be left with a thick, but still quite watery, baby pink coulis that smells like heaven’s smoothie shop
• Leave it to sit in the fridge for about 20 minutes – you’ll see it will thicken back up slightly

The Moozic:
I may or may not have gotten caught by my poor neighbours shaking my booty to Pharrell and Robin Thicke's new cracker  a lot, during the making of this yummy monster. Also had Young and the Giant's self titled album playing. It has a really nice Summer sound to it. I am particularly in love with the song entitled 'Strings'. THIS acoustic version is excellent; about as refreshing as my coulis ;-)

One of your 'Five a Day' right there ;-)

When the cake has cooled down, take a big, non-serrated knife, and cut a slice. As much as you may want to do otherwise at this point, I'd advise you don't risk death (or coma) by chocolate, and cut a reasonable size. You'll understand why I say this when your about half way through your first slice. This cake has a lot going on. You simply won't require a big slice. I revert back to my point above - if a chocolate cake is done right and done well, you won't feel the need to stuff your face with it.

Whether you do or not... well, you're only human.

This is another cake that keeps very well, once refrigerated. If you can maintain self-control, it will last up to a week in the fridge after you bake it, and still taste amazing. The courgette works in your favour here.

    

My Cookery Masterclass with Celeb Chef Rachel Allen

Yesterday was a very good day for Baby Got Bake. A very good day indeed.

Chef Rachel Allen and I. Pals :)

After entering a competition with Sprite (The #SpriteRecipeChallenge) - which involved submitting your own take on a classic recipe, but with a healthy twist - I was picked (by someone very special!) as a winner.

The prize? A cookery Masterclass with the special one herself, the lovely Rachel Allen - A fantastic celebrity chef, who just so happens to hail from the homeland. The homeland is Ireland, for those of you reading who may not know I am all about the Eireannach. I have survived living away from home in London with the help of Rachel's cook books, and I grew up watching my mother baking recipes made famous, by Rachel's Mother in Law, the very well known and highly regarded Darina Allen.

So, this is how my very good day went...

I was picked up by a lovely chap, who brought me in his Prius to a beautiful venue in South East London, called Food at 52.

Food at 52 operates from a unique and atmospheric cookschool in the heart of Clerkenwell on Central Street. It is clear to see, from the moment of entry, that great care has been taken to create a homely and relaxed environment for visitors to learn how to cook in. The interior is beautiful, reminiscent of a country home, with an eclectic, urban curl.

In classic Becca style, I was the last person to arrive for the class. When I walked through the door, Rachel was sat with the seven or so other bloggers, sipping on champagne and chatting away. I introduced myself to everyone and the first thing she said - in that unmistakable posh South Dublin accent - was, "oh Rebecca, you're the one who wrote the hilarious post about your cookie recipe". I felt my face go bright red and immediately regretted the "casual" style that most of my blogposts tend to take. I am pretty sure the word 'Bollocks' features somewhere in that particular post. Oh well. She seemed to enjoy it.

After a few minutes we were ushered downstairs to the cookery area, where we took our positions around a vast, custom built oak and stone table. 

Class in session!

Rachel gave us a brief introductory chat, and explained that we'd be making the classic Pasta Carbonara dish (big fan!) and a light Strawberry fool for dessert.

The idea of the day was to create some beautiful, flavoursome dishes in a way that was a healthy, lighter alternative to how they are usually prepared. Sprite partnered with Rachel for this, after changing their own recipe, so it now contains about 30% less of the bold stuff, but still has that signature, refreshing taste we all know and love.

Tsssssss.. ahhhh!

We learnt how the drink contains the natural ingredient - Stevia extract - which at plain sight, looks like a grounded down herb, but is a zero-calorie sweetener from natural origins. We even got to taste the teeniest, tiniest little bit of this, and my goodness was it sweet!

In keeping with the Sprite theme, and to my initial horror, the Carbonara would not contain any cream or butter or pancetta, but would be substituted with pasta water (the water that the pasta is cooked in), extra egg yolk and green vegetables. It also meant that the strawberry fool, which is usually packed with sugary meringue, cream and syrup, would instead contain organic greek yogurt, a very small bit of light cream, fresh strawberries and a dash of Agave syrup.

At first, I was quite sceptical, and wondered how this could possibly compare to the dishes I was all too familiar with... I was soon to be enlightened by Mrs Allen.

Pasta Scarf?

Rachel did a wonderful job at showing us just how easy it is to make pasta from scratch. Now, there is a bit of elbow grease involved, as the pasta dough needs to be kneaded and rolled until paper thin, but I must say, I actually found that part of the process quite therapeutic.

It was really interesting to learn how this delicious Italian dish, a favourite amongst so many, has actually morphed into something quite different than how it was originally prepared by its creators. Carbonara didn't traditionally include cream, mushrooms, onion or meat - it was all about the egg yolk and pasta water, supported generously by green vegetables done al dente, fresh basil and a feck load of black pepper. 

Not as tricky as it looks :)

While we hung out our pasta strips, we very quickly prepared the Strawberry fool. It was all so simple. First, we mashed strawberries - which are in season at the moment, so packed with yummy, juicy flavour. The smell they released when we began mashing them was mesmerising (and a little drool enhancing, if truth be told). Second, we lightly whipped a very small portion of cream and folded it into some greek yogurt. We then added a dash of light Agave syrup.

Dessert, fool!

Finally, we mixed all of the above together very lightly and placed in the fridge for later. It was tough to say goodbye, if only for a short time. I am pretty sure I actually waved a solemn farewell when Rachel's assistant came to take it away.

We then got back to the pasta dish. There wasn't much left for us to do at this stage, but throw the veg onto the hot pan, and place the pasta into the boiling water. The vegetables - baby courgette and broad beans - went first, because with the pasta being fresh, it takes all of a few minutes to cook.

Rachel instructed us to be ready to eat our pasta at the very moment that it was ready to take off the pan. I had no problem with this whatsoever (in fact, she caught me eating direct from the pan, then joined in). She explained that this is when pasta should be eaten, as for every moment you wait at this point, will effect the consistency of the pasta. In simple terms - it will dry up very quickly. If this does happen, you can simply add more pasta water and a small bit of beaten egg yolk to loosen it up again.

So, how did it taste? Let's just say I will never appreciate a non-fresh pasta dish as much as I may have in the past. Fresh pasta, when done right, is absolutely exquisite. I cannot wait to try this again myself.

Done!

Something that really took me by surprise, was that as someone that suffers from IBS, and typically struggles to digest white pasta, this gave me no problems at all. In fact, I went for a run in the evening, and felt I had the perfect level of energy for it.

I enjoyed every minute of this day, and learned so much about how to transform a classic, delicious, but typically heavy dish into something just as mouthwatering - with half the feeling of guilt that comes with it.

I also got to chinwag with the delectable Mrs Rachel Allen, about food, running, marathon training, back home in Ireland, my perfect mother (and no.1 favourite chef), and - more randomly - our mutual love for rose gold jewellery. 

Thanks so much to the Sprite crew for a truly memorable day! 

B x

Nostaligia-licious Upside-down Pineapple Cake

Ah yes, the good old Upside-down Pineapple Cake. When I started baking this one, I got what seemed to be the same feedback from everyone...

"Ah, no way, that cake reminds me of -

a - My mom"
b - My Gran"
c - My Gran's house"
d - My Gran's house in summer when I used to stuff my fat little face with pineapple cake"

... And if it isn't Gran or mum, it's aunt or great aunt.

Everyone has a place in their hearts - and room in their tummies - for this cake. If I had my own restaurant, which I really hope to have some day, i'd have a mini menu, called "Comfort Food". It would have a half dozen savoury dishes, and a half dozen sweet dishes. This would 100% be one of the sweet dishes.

If Upside-down Pineapple cake were a person, you just know it'd give the best hugs, and tell the silliest jokes.

Ok, back to business...

My recipe for this treaty wonder is super simple, and it includes the classic caramel topping. Also, if you fancied whipping up an upside-down Apple cake, you can use the very same recipe and just sub out your pineapples for some good old granny smiths :-)

The Ingredients:

100g / 4oz margarine

100g / 4oz caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

200g / 8oz plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarb of soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 medium eggs

100ml milk

1/2 pineapple or tin of rings (not chopped. Rings!) 

50g / 2oz soft brown sugar

The Moozic:
In the spirit of nostalgia, i've been rocking out to Flight Facilities. Treated myself to one of their epics mixes, which takes you through some of the 'whippest' tunes that were born between 1992 and 2002. And they do it chronologically... What more can you ask for? Fantastic stuff.

Try this on for size!

Bits n' Pieces

The Method: 

• Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/ 360°F/ Gas Mark 4
• Grease an 8″ round baking tin
• Cream the margarine, sugar and vanilla essence together using an electric mix (until it's all soft and creamy and lush!)
• Sift in the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda
• Add the eggs and milk
• Mix together until smooth, creamy and 'batter like'
• Sprinkle the baking tin with half of the brown sugar
• If you went the au-naturel route, peel and core the pineapple. Slice into thin rings and place half the rings into the baking tin on top of the brown sugar. If you took the lazy route and got a can, you really shouldn't need any direction
• Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar onto the rings after placing them down (check out my pic, it shows you the best way to set the rings - perfect for an 8" tin)
• Chop the remaining pineapple into fine pieces and stir into the batter
• Pour the batter onto the pineapples
• You're good to go! Cook for 40 – 45 minutes or until golden brown and an inserted knife comes out clean
• Remove from the oven and leave in the tin for 10 minutes to cool. 10 of the slowest minutes in existence.
• Then gently run a palette knife around the edge of the tin to loosen the cake and turn it onto a cooling tray

Pineapply Goodness!

• Serve that bad boy with warm with double cream or custard
• Leave it to cool completely before putting whatever is left over (if there is anything left!), into the fridge.

Slice me off'a piece-a THAT!

This cake keeps very well, essentially because it is doused in so much sugar. It will keep, and be insanely edible, for up to a week after you bake it. Just make sure it is kept refrigerated.

Happy Baking :-)

B x

Moist-a-licious Walnut, Carrot and Orange Cake

Carrot Cake. One of my all time favourite cakes. I love making this. Nearly as much as I love eating it.

I've baked carrot cake a lot over the last year or so and I have tried a number of recipes. I liked all of them for different reasons, but failed to find one that ticked all the boxes - moistness, devilish cream cheese topping, spicey flavour, fluffy but rich texture - so, I went and designed my own recipe.

"Here's one I prepared earlier" ;-)

There is nothing like a perfectly baked, slice of moist and flavoursome carrot cake. I love to have mine with a yummy cup of peppermint tea.

The Ingredients:

Cake mix -
175g light muscovado sugar
175ml sunflower oil
3 large eggs (lightly beaten)
140g grated carrots (about 3 medium ones will do!)
100g raisins
Grated zest of 1 large orange
175g self-raising flour
1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg (freshly grated will give you the best flavour)
1 bag of whole walnut halves

Icing mix -
200g soft cheese (one standard sized tub of Philadelphia Cream Cheese does the job well) 

50g butter, softened

85g icing sugar, sifted

Pinch of ground cinnamon

The juice of half of 1 large orange

The Moozic:
The Morning Benders, Big Echo

A great sound to bake to, this will have you sauntering about the kitchen. You can check out my own little review of the album on my other blog, here

The Method:

For the cake...

• Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/fan 160C
• Oil and line the base and sides of an 18cm square cake tin with baking parchment. I find the easiest way to do this is to cut two long strips the width of the tin and layer each strip crossways, covering the base and sides of the tin
• Tip the sugar into a large mixing bowl, pour in the oil and add the eggs. Lightly mix with a wooden spoon
• Stir in the grated carrots, raisins and orange rind
• Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices, into the bowl. Mix!
• Lightly mix all the ingredients - until everything is evenly mixed. The texture should be fairly soft and almost runny
• Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and bake for 40- 45 minutes, until it feels firm and springy when you press it in the centre
• Cool in the tin for about 5 minutes, then turn it out, peel off the paper and cool that bad boy on a wire rack

The look of concentration...

For zee icing...

• God I love this part... With an electric whisk, beat together the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and cinnamon until smooth
• Add in the orange juice and continue whisking, but only until it looks mixed in - you don't want to over-mix 
• Spread over the top of the cake with a tool similar to the one I am rocking in the picture above
• Decorate with walnut halves. You can do this whatever way you want but for ease of slicing, the way I have done mine works well
• When this is done, take the the other half of the orange you squeezed for the icing, and grate/sprinkle some zest over the cake.

Aaaaaand done! :-)

B x

Guilt Free Oatie Banana, Nut and Fruit Cookies

Cookies. They are awesome. If you don't like cookies, leave this page now, and never return. There is nothing here for you. You heard! Go!

Now that those silly divils are gone, I can tell you all about my latest cookie discovery. Yes, the title sums it up nicely, this cookie recipe IS guilt free.

"Guilt free cookies? That's a load of bollocks, Becca", is the jist of what most people say when I try to tell them about these little gems.

"Errrhh muhrrr Guurrddd veeze ahhrre Delllisuss", is the jist of what most people say when they are tasting these nommy, nutty, oatie, fruity flavour-packed yums.

Other than the small amount of oil, and the sprinkling of Maple syrup (which is optional by the way), these cookies are very clean. They contain NO flour, sugar or butter and only the smallest quantity of salt.

Food for the heart

The Ingredients:

260g of uncooked oats (I use Flahavans Irish organic jumbo oats)
*130g of chopped walnuts
**130g of uncooked raisins or sultanas (make sure they are not coated in sugar/preservatives)
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
3x medium sized bananas
70mls of vegetable oil (or sunflower oil)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Organic maple syrup for some drizzley squizzley fun

*You can of course substitute walnuts for other nuts if you wish. I'd recommend almonds, golden linseeds, or if you are feeling crazy, a mix of all three. Just make sure they stay within 130g.

**Again, you can substitute here too. I sometimes like to mix it up with dried cranberries, strawberries or blueberries. Make sure you stay within the 130g. Also, make sure you use dried fruit as opposed to fresh fruit, otherwise the cookies will be far too moist and will effect the bake,  preventing them from setting. Result: Big squidgey mess.

Cookies near complete; Dry mix

The Method:

• Wash your hands, for the love of God, wash your bloody hands.
• Place baking paper onto a flat baking tray.
• Pre-heat your oven to 175º or gas mark 4.
• Combine the first four ingredients (your dry ingredients) in a large bowl; stir well.
• Peel and chop your bananas and place into a separate bowl and - here's the fun part - mash them up with your hands. You could use a fork but it will take longer and it is not nearly as much fun :-). Mash them up so that the consistency is even and liquidy; some little lumps are OK.
• Measure your oil in a jug and combine with the banana, along with your vanilla essence. Stir well
• Add the banana mixture to your dry ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon (less stick issues) to combine.
•  Let the mix stand for no longer than 15 minutes. Any longer and, because you have moisture sucking jumbo oats in your mix, it will start to dry up.
• Get a spatula and chopping board ready.... (this is purely for technique in shaping the cookies)
• Pick up small handfuls of the mix with your hands and roll/patt into flat ball shapes, but don't handle too much. Place the ball on the cutting board and use the spatula to squash down (gently, not too much) and flip the dough so that you are left with a slightly chunky cookie shape (see my pics for an idea - even flatter would be recommended so they are not too dry in the centre)
• Repeat until all the dough has been formed into cookie shapes. I make big ones, so I usually get about 12 cookies from the mix.
• Take your maple syrup and drizzle a very small amount over each cookie. This will give them a really nice, subtle sweet flavour. It goes perfectly with the flavouring of the baked fruit and nuts.
• Place those beauties in the oven and Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden. I usually flip them after about 10 minutes.
• Transfer cookies to wire racks for cooling

Done!

Nom :-)

These cookies are great to have in the fridge as a snack, and what's more is they keep for about a week, and they freeze very well. They are ideal as an on-the-go breakfast snack in the morning. If ever I have an pre-work gym visit or an early flight to catch, and am up at a silly hour, I always take one with me in my bag. It is nearly as good as the king of brekkies, a small bowl of porridge and fruit, and MUCH better than about 95% of the rubbish cereals you see along the supermarket aisles these days. They are also great as a late afternoon pre evening gym snack, as they provide a small balanced serving of complex carbs to give you the right kind of low GI energy boost you sometimes need at that time of day.

I am really proud of this recipe, as I kind of made it up from scratch when I wanted something yummy to snack on, minus the guilt. Hope you enjoy trying it out.

B x

Yummy "Pimpable" Brown Bread

Bread.

To put it simply, I love bread. I love it a lot. I love the smell of it baking in the oven, I also love the smell of it being heated up and browned in a toaster. I love the feeling of cutting through a freshly baked loaf (especially if it has a thick, crispy crust). I love using it to mop up whatever is left in my soup bowl, or my dinner plate after I chow down.

I love bread, dammit.

Moving on...

When it comes to baking bread, I would consider myself an amateur. But one thing I reckon I have mastered is how to make a delicious, healthy, nutty (and fruity if you like that kind of thing) proper brown bread.

This recipe is a handy one, and here's why...

1. It takes very little time to prep
2. It is easy to remember and straight forward to follow
3. You can easily pimp the base recipe up, by adding seeds, nuts or fruit, if you fancy! Hence the name...

The Ingredients:
1lb of Wholemeal Flour (I use Stoneground extra coarse flour)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
2 teaspoons of breadsoda
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
500 ml of milk (I use soya milk or walnut milk because I am a lactose intolerant geek)

Optional - selection of seeds, nuts, fruit. I like to use poppy seeds, linseeds, crushed walnuts and orange sultanas.

The Method:

• Set your oven to 200º (or gas mark 6 for those of you with "vintage" cookers ;-))
• Use butter to grease up a loaf tin, and make sure you get all the edges so as to avoid any "stickage". Set it aside
• Mix together your flour, sugar, salt and breadsoda in a bowl. 
• Add together the milk, olive oil and red wind vinegar in a measuring jug and, using a non-metal spoon, add to the dry ingredients, mixing well
• Optional - Mix in 40g of your choice of nuts and 40g of your choice of fruit
• Pour the entire mix into your greased up loaf tin and sprinkle the top with a small amount of your nut/seed mix (about 10g)
• Pat down the topping with a wooden spoon, but not too much that it sinks into the mix
• Take the handle end of a fork and drag it down the middle - Lengthways - of the bread, as if you were cutting it in half. Needless to say, the mix is in liquid form, so you might think this is pointless, but it isn't. It will help to even out the mix and ensure it rises nicely
• Bake in the centre of the oven for one hour.
• When it's cooked, remove your bread from the oven and leave it to cool for about 5 minutes, before taking it out of the tin to cool completely on a wire tray. 

A tip - if you're not sure of the best way to extract the bread from the tin, take a tea towel and wrap it over the top of the tin. Turn the tin upside-down and give it a little shake to loosen the bread (if necessary). Ease the bread out and into the tea towel, then flip it back onto the wire tray to cool

Et Voila..!

Like it sweet? Bake the fruit and nut option, and have it with chopped banana and a dollop of apricot jam (Bonne Maman is my fave), or peanut butter.

Like it savoury? Bake with nuts and seeds only, and have toasted with scrambled or poached egg, avocado and feta cheese, with some rocket.

NOM!

Keep an eye out for lots more yummy bread recipes :-)

Becca x

PS. Perfect to listen to whilst getting your brown bread bake on? Van Morrison's 'Into the Music'. Number one track on the album had me giving it socks around the kitchen -

I Like to Bake it, Bake it

Last week, as part of some research for a client of mine in work, I was spending some time familiarising myself with a variety of Mummy/Parenting blogs.

Whilst at the height of my perusing I noticed that a lot of these blogs had dedicated sections for cooking/baking tips, recipes and what-not. Some weren’t great... Some were brilliant. I started thinking about how, if I had a blog dedicated to food, I would do it this or that way, etc. I'd focus on this and I'd write about that, etc. I found myself nosing through more blogs, but this time it was mainly dedicated food blogs. I realised that I had basically mapped out a foundation for my own food blog (yes, there was even a little illustration!) without the intention of really doing so at all. 

I then thought to myself, "why don’t I do this myself?!". I love food. I adore it, in fact. It is one of  two of my favourite consumable things on the planet. I make food all of the time. In particular, I love to bake, and find it incredibly therapeutic. I enjoy learning about food, and nothing really beats eating it, in my books. Especially if you do so in the company of good people, and good wine. Preferably red wine. Red, red wine.

Eventually, I’d like to own my own restaurant, or do something professionally that involves food – so I think this could be a good way to really keep track of what I cook and bake, what inspires me about food, and how I am progressing in terms of the skill itself. 

Also, this way I get to share my recipes, which is nice.

Sharing is indeed caring, after all.

Why the name "Baby got Bake", you ask? Simple really. I am a girl that likes to bake and I have a big bum :-)

I hope whoever finds themselves reading this blog, enjoys it even half as much as I know I will writing it.

Watch this space for my nommy (and slightly odd) recipes!

Re-Bake-ah x