Tag: baking

Cakes & Bakes: White chocolate & hazelnut malt cookies

White chocolate & hazelnut malt cookies

In the past couple of weeks, we’ve been venturing back into Aberystwyth to pop to the shops. We visited Ty Coed Treehouse in their brand new home opposite the town’s train station. It’s the kind of shop where you can pick up ingredients that you don’t always find in a supermarket.

malt, sugar and butter in a mixing bowl Adding dry ingredients to cookie mixture

I’ve been looking for malt extract for a while, and they had it in stock. I’ve used it to make Paul Hollywood’s malt loaf in the past, but this time, I’ve made a batch of white chocolate & hazelnut malt cookies.

Chopped white chocolate and hazelnuts with cookie mixture White chocolate & hazelnut malt cookie dough on a baking sheet

In the early 20th century, when sweets weren’t as ubiquitous as they are now, children would eat spoonfuls of malt extract. Malt extract was used as a nutritional supplement given alongside cod liver oil… it probably helped to mask the awfulness!

White chocolate & hazelnut malt cookies

The cookies were lovely, with that particular taste reminiscent of Ovaltine and those childhood malt biscuits with cows stamped on the front. The white chocolate and hazelnuts go really well – as would milk chocolate with pecans or dark chocolate with Brazil nuts.

Click here or on the image below to save the recipe to Pinterest

White chocolate & hazelnut malt cookies recipe

White chocolate & hazelnut malt cookies
Yields 24
Cook Time
18 min
Cook Time
18 min
Ingredients
  1. 125g/4½oz butter, softened
  2. 115g/4oz malt extract
  3. 55g/2oz soft brown sugar
  4. 1 large egg
  5. 300g/10½oz self-raising flour
  6. 100g/3½oz white chocolate, roughly chopped
  7. 140g/5oz hazelnuts, roughly choppedWhite chocolate & hazelnut malt cookies ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/350ºF/Gas mark 4
  2. Line two oven trays with parchment paper
  3. Process the butter, malt extract, sugar and egg in a food processor until well combined
  4. Add the flour and pulse until just combined
  5. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the chopped chocolate and hazelnuts
  6. Roll tablespoons of the dough into balls and place on prepared trays about 4cm apart
  7. Flatten balls to about 1 cm thick and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden
  8. Cool on trays for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely
Notes
  1. Store in an airtight container for up to a week
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Adapted from Saunder's Malt Extract
Adapted from Saunder's Malt Extract
H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Carrot loaf cake with ginger buttercream frosting

Carrot loaf cake with ginger buttercream frosting

Here’s another baked item to add to my ever-growing ‘best loaf cake’ round up; carrot loaf cake with ginger buttercream frosting.

Dry ingredients and 3 eggs Grated carrot

I decided to make this cake because I had a bag of carrots that I bought for half price, but I may make a version of it again soon. Even more of our courgettes are ripening and I’ll simply swap the ½ pound of carrots for grated courgettes.

Carrot cake mixture

Again, if you don’t have walnuts in your cupboard, simply substitute them for chopped pecans or another of your favourite nuts.

Carrot cake batter in a lined loaf tin Baked carrot loaf cake in its tin

This simple frosting was delicious… and the best use I’ve found to date for the excess liquid from a jar of stem ginger in syrup.

Ginger buttercream frosting

Click here or on the image below to save the carrot loaf cake with ginger buttercream frosting recipe to Pinterest

Carrot loaf cake with ginger buttercream frosting recipe | H is for Home #cake #carrotcake #loafcake #recipe #baking #cooking #cookery #teacake

Carrot loaf cake with ginger buttercream frosting
Serves 8
Cook Time
1 hr
Cook Time
1 hr
For the cake
  1. 200g/7oz plain flour
  2. ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  3. ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  4. 1 tsp baking powder
  5. 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  6. 150g/5oz dark muscovado sugar
  7. 200ml/7 fl oz vegetable oil
  8. 3 medium eggs
  9. 225g/8oz carrots, peeled and roughly grated
  10. 50g/2oz chopped walnuts
For the frosting
  1. 100g/3½oz butter, softened
  2. 200g/7oz icing (powdered) sugar
  3. 2tbsp ginger syrupCarrot loaf cake with ginger buttercream frosting ingredients
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For the loaf cake
  1. Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2
  2. Grease & line the base and sides of a 500g/1lb loaf tin with parchment paper
  3. Sift the flour, spices, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together into a large bowl
  4. Stir in the dark muscovado sugar and mix together
  5. Lightly whisk the oil and eggs together, then gradually stir into the flour & sugar mixture. Stir well
  6. Add the carrots and walnuts. Mix thoroughly, then pour into the prepared cake tin
  7. Bake in the preheated oven for an hour, or until browned on the top and a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes away clean
  8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack. Reserve until cold
For the frosting
  1. Beat the butter and ginger syrup together until smooth, then gradually stir in the icing sugar until the frosting is completely smooth
  2. Once the loaf cake is completely cool, spread the frosting evenly over the top
Notes
  1. You could sprinkle a little of the stem ginger from the jar, chopped finely, over the top for an extra kick
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H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Graham crackers

 Graham crackers on a plate with mug of coffee

Graham crackers are the thing that American recipes usually call for to make the biscuit base in a cheesecake.

Flour and butter in a food processor bowl

Unfortunately, they’re not something you can find easily here in the UK – so I decided to make some of my own.

Rolling pin and Graham cracker dough on a sheet of parchment paper Cutting graham crackers with a pizza cutter

The biscuits got their name due to the fact that they’re made using Graham flour;  Again, not something that you can get hold of here, but I used an extra-course wholemeal flour from Shipton Mill. I think it was a good substitute for the Graham flour and the wheat bran.

Graham crackers cooling on on a wire rack

The results were delicious. Thin & crispy with a hint of cinnamon – perfect with a coffee or glass of cold milk. They didn’t last very long! There certainly weren’t any left to try that afore-mentioned cheesecake base, but we can imagine how perfect that they’d be.

Click here or on the image below to save the recipe to Pinterest

Home-made Graham Crackers recipe

Graham crackers
Yields 16
Cook Time
15 min
Cook Time
15 min
Ingredients
  1. 95g/3&frac13oz wholemeal flour
  2. 65g/2¼oz plain flour
  3. 13g/½oz wheat bran
  4. 65g/2¼oz granulated sugar
  5. ¼tsp cinnamon
  6. ¼tsp baking powder
  7. ¼tsp bicarbonate of soda
  8. ¼tsp salt
  9. 95g/3&frac13oz cold unsalted butter, cubed
  10. 1tbsp honey
  11. 3tbsp milk
  12. ½tsp vanilla extractGraham crackers ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Put the flours, wheat bran, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in the bowl of your food processor and pulse until combined
  2. Add the butter and process until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs
  3. Add the honey, milk and vanilla extract and process until the dough begins to clump together
  4. Divide the dough in half. Take half of the dough and roll it between two sheets of parchment paper until it's 25cm x 23cm / 10"x 9". As you roll, periodically check the top and bottom sheets of parchment and smooth out any wrinkles
  5. Using a ruler and a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the 23cm / 9" width into 4 5.5 cm / 2¼" wide strips. Then cut each strip in half, so each cracker is approximately 5.5 x 12.5 cm / 2¼" wide and 5" long (you will get 8 rectangles from each half of dough)
  6. Slide the dough (and the parchment paper) onto a baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator for about ½ an hour
  7. Meanwhile, put the shelf in the centre position and preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
  8. Once chilled, remove the dough from the refrigerator and peel off the top sheet of parchment paper. To make the Graham crackers look like the store bought ones, take a sharp knife or pizza wheel and gently cut (score) each rectangle in half lengthwise and crosswise. Then using the tines of a fork or the end of a wooden skewer, make small holes in each rectangle
  9. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges of the Graham crackers are golden brown. The longer you bake them the more crisp they'll be
  10. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely - they'll become more crisp as they cool
Notes
  1. Store in an airtight container for about a week
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Adapted from Joyofbaking.com
Adapted from Joyofbaking.com
H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Pecan sponge layer cake with maple syrup buttercream frosting

Slice of pecan sponge layer cake with maple syrup buttercream frosting

It feels like it’s been ages since I made an iced sponge cake; it’s something we enjoy mid-afternoon with a cuppa. I recently replenished the stock of dried fruits and nuts in my pantry so I decided to bake a pecan sponge layer cake with maple syrup buttercream frosting.

Creamed butter & sugar and 3 eggs Sifting sponge flour and baking powder

During lockdown I couldn’t get my hands on any flour, so I stocked up on different types that I bought online direct from Shipton Mill. One was their soft cake and pastry flour; the consistency of the cake was much lighter as a result. I won’t be going back to plain old self-raising in a hurry!

Chopped pecans on a wooden board

Pecans are probably my favourite nuts to cook with however, you can try this recipe using walnuts or brazils instead.

Pecan sponge cake batter in two round lined cake tins Two cooked pecan sponge cake layers

I have a very sweet tooth, so the amount of frosting suits my taste. If you think it’s too much, you could always use 100 grams each of butter and icing sugar and 50ml of maple syrup.

Ingredients for maple syrup buttercream frosting

It’s pretty much the best cake we’ve had in a long time, lovely with coffee or tea.

Pecan sponge layer cake with maple syrup buttercream frosting

Click here or on the image below to save my pecan sponge layer cake with maple syrup buttercream frosting recipe to Pinterest

Pecan sponge layer cake with maple syrup buttercream frosting recipe

Pecan sponge layer cake with maple syrup buttercream frosting
Serves 8
Cook Time
30 min
Cook Time
30 min
Ingredients
  1. 175g/6oz butter, softened
  2. 175g/6oz caster sugar
  3. 3 large eggs
  4. 175g/6oz self-raising flour, sifted
  5. 1tsp vanilla extract
  6. 50g/1¾oz pecans
For the frosting
  1. 300g/ icing (powdered) sugar, sifted
  2. 150g/ butter, softened
  3. 100ml maple syrup
To finish
  1. 8 pecan halvesPecan sponge with maple syrup buttercream frosting ingredients
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For the cake
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF/Gas mark 3
  2. Grease & line two 18cm/7-inch round cake tins
  3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter & sugar until light and fluffy
  4. In a measuring jug, whisk the eggs and mix in the vanilla extract
  5. Add the eggs, bit by bit, into the butter/sugar mixture stirring constantly
  6. Carefully fold in the flour in 3 or 4 rounds, trying not to lose the airiness in the mixture
  7. Chop the pecans, fairly finely, and carefully fold them into the mixture
  8. Divide the batter equally between the two prepared cake tins, gently levelling the tops with the back of a spoon
  9. Place them on the centre shelf and bake for 30 minutes or until the tops have turned golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes away clean
  10. Put the cakes, still in their tins, on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Then, remove them from the tins, peel off the parchment liners and allow to cool completely
For the frosting
  1. Combine the softened butter and icing sugar
  2. Stir in the maple syrup until the mixture is light and fluffy
  3. Set aside while the cake layers cool completely
To finish
  1. Use about a ⅓ of the frosting to sandwich the two cakes together
  2. Spread the rest on the top and sides of the sandwiched layers and stud the top with the 8 pecan halves
Notes
  1. Instead of self-raising, I used cake flour to which I added 2 tsps baking powder
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H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/