Cakes & Bakes: Boozy bread and butter pudding

The secret to this boozy bread and butter pudding is all about getting soaked. No, not in the getting drunk sort of way!

You need to soak the currants for a few hours or even overnight in the alcohol. Melt the butter in the microwave for a few seconds before spreading it on the bread with a pastry brush so that it soaks in. Allow the bread to soak up the custard liquid for half an hour before putting the dish in the oven – ‘soaked’ in a bain-marie.

I like using slices from a stale Warbies Toastie loaf. If you want to be fancy you can substitute the bread for panettone, brioche, challah, hot cross buns if it’s Easter time or stollen if it’s Christmas.

The boozy bread and butter pudding result was a delicious, warming, comforting pudding – perfect for the chilly autumn and winter months.

Boozy bread and butter pudding

Delia Smith's Cookery Course: Part One

My twist on Delia's classic bread & butter pudding!

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Cook Time 40

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Servings 4

Ingredients

100 ml/3½fl oz Baileys or rum, whiskey or Tia Maria... whichever you have to hand
8 slices bread
60 g/2oz butter
60 g/2oz currants
275 ml/10fl oz milk
60 ml/2½fl oz double cream
50 g/2oz caster sugar I used home-made vanilla sugar
grated zest of ½ small lemon
3 eggs
freshly grated nutmeg

Instructions

Soak the currants in the alcohol for a couple of hours (or overnight if you're forward planning!)
Grease a 1 litre/2 pint rectangular Pyrex glass or enamel baking dish
Butter the bread and cut each slice of buttered bread into quarters leaving the crusts on
Arrange one layer of buttered bread over the base of the baking dish, sprinkle half the currants and liquor over, then cover with another layer of the bread slices and the remainder of the currants and liquor
In a measuring jug, measure out the milk and add the double cream
Stir in the caster sugar and lemon zest, then whisk the eggs, first on their own in a small measuring jug and then into the milk mixture. Stir to combine
Pour the liquid over the bread before sprinkling over some freshly grated nutmeg
Leave for about an hour, allowing the bread to soak up the liquid
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4
Put the dish on a bain-marie
Bake for 30-40 minutes
Serve warm with pouring cream, ice cream or custard

boozy bread and butter pudding ingredients

Keyword bread, bread pudding, pudding

Cakes & Bakes: Coffee pecan cake

Justin has just declared this cake one of the best I’ve ever made – in fact one of the best he’s ever eaten – and he’s tried a few… so you must give it a try!

It’s a decadent coffee pecan cake.

It’s moist & light – the honey roasted pecans and muscovado sugar give it a toffee-like depth of flavour which is very apt for bonfire night.

A coffee liqueur-infused mascarpone cream frosting adds a really luxurious touch.

It’s garnished with more crushed pecans and chocolate-coated coffee beans. A very attractive cake with a taste to match!

A slice is lovely with a cup of coffee… with a measure of Tia Maria or Kahlúa if you prefer!

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

Coffee pecan cake

Tesco realfod

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Cook Time 30

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Servings 8

Ingredients

For the cake

175 g/6oz unsalted butter softened
175 g/6oz golden caster sugar
3 large eggs beaten
175 g/6oz self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder, high strength
2 tsp instant coffee granules/powder
60 g/2½oz pecans chopped

For the icing

500 g/1lb mascarpone
100 g/3½oz muscovado sugar
4 tbsp coffee liqueur such as Tia Maria or Kahlúa
handful pecan halves and a few chocolate-covered coffee beans to decorate

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C/355ºF/Gas Mark 4
Grease a pair of 20cm/8in loose-bottomed tins and line with non-stick parchment paper
Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, and beat well after each addition
Sift the flour and baking powder together before folding into the batter using a large metal spoon
Mix the coffee with a tablespoon of hot water and fold into the cake mix with the chopped pecans
Divide the cake mix equally between the two tins ensuring the surface is level
Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes away clean and the surface of the cake is slightly springy to touch
Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes in their tins before turning them out onto a wire rack. Leave to cool completely
Drizzle the flat side of one cake with a tablespoon of the coffee liqueur

For the icing

Beat the mascarpone together with the muscovado sugar and the rest of the coffee liqueur until smooth
Sandwich the cooled cakes with a third of the filling before covering the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the icing
Sprinkle the top with the pecan halves and chocolate-covered coffee beans

Keyword cake, coffee, coffee cake, layer cake, pecans

Cakes & Bakes: Honey-roasted fig & marzipan tart

We have some friends that live nearby who are having their kitchen renovated. For the next few weeks, all they’ll have to cook on is a single-burner camping stove.

We’ve been in the exact same position in the past – it’s such a drag! We invited them round to ours for dinner tonight so we thought we’d cook them something that they can’t currently make at home.

Justin’s making the main course – chicken breasts filled with a fennel, pastrami and chicken mousse with a spinach and pine nut lasagne – and I’m making the dessert.

In keeping with the loosely Mediterranean theme, I’ve cooked a honey-roasted fig & marzipan tart. You can buy ready-made shortcrust pastry to make the base, but it’s really easy to make yourself at home – a simple 2-minute job… honest!

I’ve not made this tart before – I hope it’s a hit with everyone tonight!

Honey-roasted fig & marzipan tart

BBC Good Food Magazine

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Cook Time 1 15

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Servings 4

Ingredients

500g/18oz pack shortcrust pastry at room temperature or make your own
4 ripe fresh figs stalks trimmed
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs clear honey
100 g/3½oz softened butter
100 g/3½oz golden caster sugar
100 g3½oz ground almonds
1 medium egg yolk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas mark 6
Grease a shallow, loose-bottomed 20cm flan tin
Roll out the pastry on a lightly-floured work surface
Line the tin, carefully pushing it into the base & sides and making sure the pastry comes above the rim. Refrigerate for 30 minutes
In the meantime, halve the figs lengthways and put them cut side up on a roasting tray
In a small measuring jug, combine the lemon juice and honey before pouring the liquid over the figs
Roast in the oven for 10-12 minutes until just soft
Drain off the juice (if any) and reserve
Remove the pastry case from the fridge and prick the base all over with a fork, line with a circle of greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Bake blind for 15 minutes
Remove the paper & beans and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until the pastry is golden
Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150ºC/300ºF/Gas mark 2 Leave the pastry case to cool slightly before filling
In a food processor or using an electric beater, cream the butter and sugar until smooth & pale
Add the ground almonds and whiz briefly to combine
Add the egg yolk and 1 tbsp of the reserved fig juice and whiz again until smooth
Using a spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the marzipan evenly over the pastry case base
Gently press the figs, cut side up, into the almond mixture
Bake for 1¼ hours or until the top turns golden all over
Leave in the tin for 15 minutes before removing sides and transfer to a wire rack to cool
Serve cool or cold with crème fraîche or clotted cream

Keyword figs, fruit tart, marzipan, tart

Cakes & Bakes: Apple & sultana strudel

Some say life’s too short to stuff a mushroom, I say life’s too short to make home-made filo pastry. I’m more than happy to whizz up a quick batch of puff, shortcrust or hot water pastry – I think it tastes much better than shop bought. Filo, at least to me, is just that little bit too finicky and time-consuming to make from scratch.

That’s why I picked up a pre-made pack of filo for my apple & sultana strudel.

Yes, I know that filo (or phyllo) is Greek and apple strudel (or apfelstrudel) is German, but the former is the closest thing to the type of pastry traditionally used to encase the filling. Apparently you should be able to read a newspaper through it, it’s so thin!

The filling is quick to make, I added sultanas to my apples, but you could try adding walnuts, dates or figs instead. The trickiest part is the assembly. Place the pastry onto a clean tea towel or baking parchment before filling and use it to help with rolling.

This apple & sultana strudel is best served hot, and always with cream… or ice cream… or both!

Apple & sultana strudel

2018-01-16 20:11:50

Serves 4

Cook Time

35 min

Cook Time

35 min

Ingredients

2 Bramley apples
50g/1¾oz sultanas
30g/1oz soft brown sugar
½tsp ground cinnamon
80g/3oz butter
270g (6 sheets) pre-made filo pastry
1tbs Demerara sugar

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas mark 6 and grease a large oven tray
Peel, core and chop the apples into large cubes
Put the apples into a large saucepan with the sultanas, soft brown sugar, ground cinnamon and 50g/2oz of the butter
Cook over a medium heat for 5-8 minutes, stirring to combine well, until the apple just begins to soften
Set aside to cool
In a small microwaveable bowl, melt the remaining butter (about 5-8 seconds)
Fold the pastry sheets over in half, laying them out onto a clean tea towel or baking parchment
Unfold the pastry sheets, one by one, and brush the top of each sheet with the butter using a pastry brush
Using a slotted spoon to drain off the cooking liquid, place the apple & sultana mixture on the pastry forming a line along the long edge
Sprinkle the rest of the pastry evenly with the Demerara sugar
Using the tea towel/baking parchment as an aid, roll the pastry into a log shape, tucking in the ends so the filling doesn't fall out and place it onto the greased oven tray
Brush the top with melted butter and bake for 30-35 minutes
Serve hot

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