Battenberg Biccies

Inspired by yesterday's post about almond flavour I decided to make raspberry and almond flavour cookies.  Hence the name battenberg biccies.

I used my basic cookie dough making it in two half quantities.  I flavoured one half with natural almond and flavoured the other half with natural raspberry, which I also coloured pink.  I divided each flavour into sixteen equal balls then pushed one ball of each flavour together then pressed them onto the baking tray.

The end result is not as pretty as it could be.  I think it needs more pink colouring.  Perhaps mixing the two doughs together would have produced a marbled effect, but the cookies inevitably will brown a little in the oven.  However the proof of the pudding as they say!

Edited to add that these were approved by That Man, who doesn't like almond flavour (if it is artificial).  They were also approved by That Boy.  Handy Boy sadly didn't get to test them as The Boss (who is also his dad) approved of them so much that he ate them all before Handy Boy got back to the shop!

Enjoy

Karen Lizzie
xxx

Almond

Almond as a flavour seems to be a love or hate thing, many people detesting marzipan, or bakewell pudding (tart).  However not liking these things may not be the same as disliking almonds themselves.

Lots of recipes contain ground almonds which give a lovely texture to your baking.  What you may actually dislike is almond flavouring, in particular artificial almond flavouring.  Unlike vanilla, much less seems to have been said about almond flavour, but I believe that artificial almond is probably far more unpleasant than artificial vanilla.

If you don't actually like even natural almond flavouring (I don't) as it can be very strong, it does not mean that you won't like baking that contains just the nuts.

For those who do like almond you will find that Dr Oetker (which is currently in my collection) make a natural almond flavour which is readily available and not too expensive.  Some supermarkets I'm sure will offer their own brands too.

I also noticed that Doctor Oetker Marzipan does not contain any flavouring, just almonds, so perhaps we may all rediscover a love for marzipan on home made battenberg!

Karen Lizzie
xxx

Vanilla

Vanilla is actually one of the hardest ingredients to buy, because there are so many different ones to choose from.  Telly chefs just confuse things further by insisting that what you buy must be labelled extract, not essence or be very extravagant and use of whole vanilla pods!  Telly chefs don't live in the real world when it comes to price, availability, or labelling.

Vanilla can be paste, essence, extract, sugar or bean.  One is not necessarily better than another, the important word is natural, ie it is actually made from real vanilla.

The other important thing to realise is that different brands of vanilla can taste very different depending on the where the beans are grown.  Just because the flavouring you choose is the most expensive does not mean you will like the way it tastes!  It took me a while to realise this, and then a little while longer to find the brands I like best.  One is very cheap the other is a little more expensive.

For everyday flavour in cakes and cookies I find that the Lidl Belbake Natural Flavouring suits just fine.  Conveniently it also costs less than £1 a bottle!

If I want to make blancmange or custard I prefer the Lakeland Natural Professional Flavour that they call Custard.

It tastes more like your old favourite custard powder we all used to use, but somehow more so - hard to explain unless you taste it!  It costs rather more, but it is more concentrated and if you buy two at a time they are a bit cheaper.

Telly chefs seem to favour scraping the beans out of a vanilla pod or even putting the whole bean into some sugar and running the whole lot through a food processor to make vanilla sugar.  It really is far to extravagant for everyday baking and entirely unnecessary.

It may take a few bottles to work out which flavour you prefer and some experimentation to decide how much to use as strengths vary hugely.  For the Belbake I usually need two capsful in an average recipe, but for the Lakeland it is so concentrated I only need six drops.

Of course if you don't like vanilla then use a flavour you do like, it's your baking so you can choose!

Enjoy
Karen Lizzie
xxx

Sweet and Simple

Todays recipe is little buns simply filled with lemon curd.  Sorry the picture isn't so good, I don't think the flash liked my glass cake stand.

I tweaked the basic victoria sandwich recipe for these.  I only wanted to make six today, so used roughly half of the recipe, however to be sure I had enough mixture to make six decent sized buns I used 60 grams of fat flour and sugar, one egg and slightly more milk to ensure the mixture was soft enough.

I baked them in paper cases (a bit girly but heigh-ho!).  To try and keep them even sized I measured them with a tiny sized ice cream scoop, one scoop was just enough for each bun.  If you aren't as obsessive as me, you can fill them with a spoon.  Try to keep them equally filled so that they bake evenly.

Bake for 15 minutes in total, turning them round after 10 minutes to ensure an even bake.

Allow them to stand for about 5 minutes before carefully turning them out onto a wire rack to cool.

Wait until they are completely cool before filling, if you don't it gets very messy!  I cut a little hole in the top of each, don't dig too deep or you will come out of the bottom!  I put a teaspoon of lemon curd (just an own brand value curd) in each and then put the tops back on, stuck a lemon jelly slice in the side because I have a big bvag full, then just for fun I dusted the tops with some sherbert powder from a good old fashioned Sherbert fountain  They used to be made by Bassett's but it seems they are now made by Candyland!

Quick and easy, but tasty too.

Enjoy

Karen Lizzie
xxx

Edited to add that the buns were light and delicious, but by the following day the sherbet had more or less disappeared, so I would recommend only dusting them just before you serve them.

Chocolate Bean Cookies

For That Boy's first day at work I have made chocolate bean cookies.  I say chocolate bean, but they are almost certainly Smarties, the colours are odd as they were a big bag of rejects from a local bargain shop.  You probably get about four times as many beans for your money.

I used my  basic cookie recipe  and topped them with chocolate beans.

Enjoy

Karen Lizzie
xxx

Victoria Sandwich

This is the basic victoria sandwich recipe that I use as the basis for the lemon drizzle cakes that I talked about in my last post.  I think this probably the most popular cake mix for recipes in Britain, once you know about it you will start to notice quite how many "new" recipes are just variations on the equal quantities of fat, flour and sugar and eggs.

In this recipe I recommend using one of the reduced fat butter spreads I mentioned in an earlier post.  I am using Aldi Norpak Lighter spread.  Be careful to avoid really low fat spreads or the cake won't work.  You can use butter, your cake will taste great but won't be as light.  You can use spreads that call themselves baking spreads, your cake will be light but won't taste as good.  The spreads I use give the best of both worlds.

Some people add extra baking powder to their sponges, I try to avoid doing this as it can easily add a bitter taste to your spinge and it also makes the cake a little drier.

Some people would make this cake using an all in one method, I don't, it doesn't save much time and the results are not as good.

Ingredients
100 grams caster sugar (sieved)
100 grams self raising flour (sieved)
100g light butter spread
2 eggs
1 capful natural vanilla
A little milk if needed

Heat the oven to
gas mark 4
electric 180°
fan 160° check your handbook to make certain

Method
Using an electric hand whisk beat the fat and sugar together until light, pale and fluffy, if you are using baking spread it won't take too long.  If you use butter, make sure it is soft before you start, but it will still take longer.  Scrape down the sides of your bowl regularly with a silicone spatular so everything gets mixed in properly.

Add one egg and beat it in thoroughly, then add the second egg and beat again.

Now put down the mixer and use your spatula to fold in the flour a tablespoon at a time.  Fold in the flour gently, you have spent a lot of time beating in air, to make the cake rise, you don't want to knock it all out again!  The mixture should be a soft consistency that will gently drop from the spoon, if it doesn't stir in a few drops of milk to soften it, be careful you don't want the mixture to be runny.

Use a 25cm tin lined with a paper liner (the ones that look like giant cupcake cases) turn the mixture into the tin, scraping the bowl out well with the spatula.  Gently level the top of the cake with the spatula.

Bake for 40-45 minutes in the centre of the oven, turning it around after 25 minutes to even out the cooking.

When your cake is done it will spring back if you gently press it, it should be a pale gold colour.

Allow it to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes, then using the paper liner carefully lift it onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

With this basic recipe you can make big sandwich cakes, tiny fairy cakes and everything in between.  You can fill it or decorate it in any way you choose, as you will find out if you continue to follow the blog!

See you soon
Karen Lizzie

A Baker's Dozen

Just a quick picture of a little lemon drizzle cake sitting in its box awaiting delivery.  It is one of a baker's dozen of cakes I am making as a thank you for That Boy's teachers at school.  Recipe is based on my basic Victoria sandwich recipe.  Hoping to post that soon.

Karen Lizzie
xxx

Basic Cookies

Decided to start with my basic cookie recipe, the picture shows the basic recipe topped with jelly beans before baking.

Ingredients for 16 cookies
150 grams self raising flour
75 grams caster sugar
100g butter or full fat butter spread
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Set the oven to
gas mark 4
electric 180°
fan probably 160° but check your oven handbook


Melt the butter and allow to cool

Sieve flour and sugar into your mixing bowl and give it a little stir

Add cooled butter and vanilla to the mixing bowl and stir with a round bladed knife

When the mixture starts to come together use your hands to finish gathering it into a dough, don't knead it, just bring it all together

Divide the dough into 16 equal sized balls rolling it gently to shape them

Place the balls evenly spaced onto to baking trays, lined with baking parchment or reusable baking sheets

Press the balls down just a little to flatten them, not too much or they will be too thin, as they spread as they bake

Place the two trays towards the centre of the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes swapping shelves and rotating the trays half way through baking

Cookies should be golden brown when baked

Cool on the trays for five minutes then transfer to a wife tray to cool

As all ovens vary you may need to alter the cooking times and temperature to get the result you want.

This recipe should produce a crisp cookie, if you prefer a chewy centre then reduce the cooking time for a couple of minutes.

Enjoy
Karen Lizzie
xxx

The stuff I use

I bake because it is mostly cheaper and tastier than buying ready made.  Many of my recipes are based on a few basic recipes that are easy to change.  It also makes it more likely that you will have most of the ingredients already available in the pantry.

I don't pay any more than I have to for my ingredients, in most cases value or own brands will do just as good a job as the more expensive versions, if cheap won't do I will tell you.  If I specify a particular thing such as butter, it is because using soft baking spread it is because the recipe won't work if you use the soft spread.  I do use some types of spread, I like the Lurpak type spreads for flavour, but I use own brands from Aldi or Lidl because the Lurpak is too expensive.  Lots of companies are launching fancy types of fats for cooking with, I haven't tried them, they are very expensive and I fail to see any reason why they would produce a better result.  However if I ever find some reduced I shall probably test them out.

Suga


When it comes to white sugar then it is the same product in everyones bag.  It might claim to be Fairtrade, it might claim to be organic but the product in the bag will still work in the same way.  Cynic that I am I do not trust labels that claim to be more virtuous than any other as frankly there is no way to tell if the claims are true!  If you feel you want to buy these products that is up to you, but try to shop around for the best price.  What does matter is that you buy the right sort of sugar for the job.  If the recipe says caster sugar then you usually do need caster sugar, it is finer, meltsvfaster and generally gives a lighter cake or biscuit.  In an emergency you can substitute granulated but the end result is usually heavier.  In some recipes you can use granulated, if so I will tell you as granulated is usually cheaper.  Some recipes use brown sugar, but if you don't have it most recipes will tolerate white instead, again if it won't I'll try to tell you.

If the recipe says plain flour or self raising then it is important to use the right one.  You can use plain flour and add baking powder, but every baking powder seems to suggest different amounts to use so it is hard to predicy whether or noit you will get the same result.  Again I buy the cheapest I can find, generally the only difference is that you may not need to use a sieve.  I'm not willing to pay double the price to save the bother of using a sieve.  Some recipes need more specialist flours, but I will cover those when I get to them.

Sorry folks that is enough for now, it probably feels like you are back at school.  Anyone who knows me will tell you I talk too much.

I might get to a recipe soon.

Karen Lizzie
xxx