Classic Lemon Tart

I think there is only one food that I really don't like. Well, one common everyday food that is- not including strange things like snails! Lemons. I've always thought they tasted like washing up liquid - Lemonade, lemon sweets and lemon cakes. However my family do not share my dislike. In fact, lemon tart is one of my Dad's favourite deserts and he often orders it when we go out for dinner. 

I haven't had a lot of experience making tarts so this weekend I thought I would try a 'technical bake' (to quote the Great British Bake Off!) and treat my Dad at the same time; Fathers Day is only a few weeks away after all!  

This week was also quite exciting as my parents' kitchen is in the process of undergoing a refurbishment. So far the hob, sink and work surfaces have all been changed (as you may be able to tell from comparing the pictures in this blog with previous weeks) and it looks amazing. 

This recipe is taken from a baking book my Grandpa bought for me recently called Cake O'Clock by Good Housekeeping.  

Ingredients 

For the sweet shortcrust pastry - 

150g plain flour

75g unsalted butter

50g icing sugar

2 large egg yolks

For the filling -

1 large egg, plus 4 large yolks

150g caster sugar

grated zest of 4 lemons

150ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

150ml double cream

Method

1. Make the pastry by combining the flour and icing sugar and then rubbing in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Then add the egg yolks and a drop of water (if necessary) to bring the mixture together until it holds. 

2. Knead the dough lightly to form a ball and wrap tightly in cling film. Then chill for 30 minutes.

3. Grease and flour a deep, loose-based flan tin. 

4. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured worksurface into a circle large enough to line the tin (including the sides) and then carefully transfer the pastry to the tin. Perform any surgery patch ups and trim the excess.

5. Prick the base with a fork and chill for a further 30 minutes. 

6. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Bake the pastry case blind (using baking parchment and baking beans) for 15-20 minutes before removing the parchment and baking for a further 5-10 minutes until golden brown. Reduce from the oven and reduce the temperature to 170 degrees. 

 

7. Meanwhile, to make the filling put the whole egg, egg yolks and caster sugar into a bowl and beat together until smooth. Then carefully stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice and cream.
8. Ladle 3/4 of the filling into the pastry case. Then position the tin on the oven shelf and ladle in the remainder of the filling. 
9. Bake for 30 minutes until the filling bounces back when touched lightly in the centre. 
10. Cool for 30 minutes to serve warm or cool completely and chill. 
11. Serve with a big dollop of clotted cream and a dusting of icing sugar!

Despite my lifelong dislike for all things lemony, I had to try a tiny slice for my baking development. Although I wouldn't go so far as to say I've been converted, the lemony flavour was very nice - not at all like washing up liquid! The pastry was cooked perfectly if I do say so myself, no soggy bottoms, and the lemon filling set perfectly. 

I was very pleased with my first technical bake - I think Mary and Paul would be impressed and there were certainly no complaints from my family who wolfed it down within 24 hours! 

Until next week,

Hannah xx

Blackberry & Cinnamon Yogurt cupcakes with Crumble topping

This weekend has been the hottest of 2014 so far which can only mean one thing. First BBQ of the year and sunbathing! And despite wanting to spend most of the weekend in the garden, I still made time for baking. 

As it is finally starting to feel like summer I wanted to bake something light, summery and fruity. I found a recipe for blackberry & cinnamon yogurt loaf which I thought sounded really nice. However, being an experimental baker, I decided to make a few changes. I didn't want to make it as a loaf so I decided to bake the recipe as cupcakes. Also, the serving suggestion on the original recipe was simply to dust with icing sugar which I thought was a little boring so I decided to add a crumble topping. 

Ingredients:
135 ml sunflower oil
175g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
200g frozen blackberries
125g golden caster sugar
125g Greek yogurt
3 eggs
zest & juice of 1 lemon

For the crumble:
50g plain flour
25g unsalted butter, chilled
15g light brown soft sugar

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line a muffin tin with paper cases.
2. Make the crumble by rubbing the butter into the flour using your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Then stir in the sugar.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl, add the frozen berries and toss to coat. 
4. In another bowl mix together the caster sugar, oil, lemon zest & juice, yogurt and eggs. 
5. Pour into the dry flour mixture and stir well to combine. 
6. Divide the mixture equally between the paper cases, approx. 3/4 full. Then sprinkle each cake with a thin layer of crumble.  
7. Bake for approx. 30 minutes until the crumble has turned golden brown. It's also a good idea to do the trusty skewer test to check that the centre is cooked! 
8. Transfer to a cooling rack. 

Tip: When dividing the mixture between the cases, I ensured that the first dollop of mixture in each case didn't contain any blackberries. This was to guarantee a solid base as I didn't want the juice from the berries to affect the bake. 

I wasn't entirely sure how long these would take to bake, as the time on the original recipe was for baking it as a loaf and thus was much longer. Generally cupcakes take between 20 and 30 minutes to bake. Since these had a high fruit content I thought it was likely to be on the longer side, but I kept checking them and rotating the tray until a skewer came out clean. 

...and 30 minutes later!

Before...

Presentation is almost as important as taste; even if you knew something tasted amazing, would you want to eat it if it looked like a dog's breakfast? Answer, probably not! Since these cupcakes require no icing or decoration, I decided to use tulip paper cases rather than the standard cupcake cases, to make them stand out and look a little bit special. I've never used this type of case before but I think you'll probably be seeing a lot more of them in later bakes because I love them. 

I love the dark purple marbling of the blackberries and the way the crumble separated out as the cupcakes rose. They definitely look better than any dog's breakfast I have ever seen!

YUM!

Hannah xx

Tanya Burr's healthy chocolate brownies

I recently went to Whole Food Market in London and bought lots of healthy baking ingredients such as coconut sugar, coconut oil and coconut flour. There is a big hype about them in the world of healthy eating since they make great alternatives to the regular baking ingredients which are high in saturated fats.

So I was very excited last week when one of my favourite youtubers/bloggers, Tanya Burr, posted a recipe for her healthy, gluten free & dairy free brownies made with coconut sugar and oil - perfect opportunity to test my new ingredients! 

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup Coconut Oil
- 300g Dark Chocolate
- 2 cups Coconut Sugar 
- 1tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Ground Almonds
- 1 mashed Avocado
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 3 Eggs

 When I first looked at the ingredients Tanya used I was interested to see avocado on the list. Beetroot is commonly added to brownies and I often incorporate root vegetables into my baking, courgette cake is my favourite, but I was less familiar with the use of avocados in baking. While I was already aware of the health benefits of eating avocados, I hadn't thought about combining them with something sweet. They are often perceived to be 'bad' as they are high in fat however this is a large misconception as these fats are unsaturated and promote a healthy heart - not to mention being good for your skin! They are also highly nutritious, containing vitamin E, iron and potassium. 

I decided to do some research into the use of avocado in baking to see how it would change the composition of a bake. I found that avocados are a good substitution for butter as they have a similar soft, creamy texture when mashed and can therefore be substituted in a 1:1 ratio. Anyway, after that geeky baking lesson, let's get back to the baking! 

These brownies are so easy to make; all the ingredients are combined in one saucepan which makes the washing up easy, as this usually the only downside to baking!

Method:
1. Pre heat the oven to 190 degrees C. 
2. Melt the coconut oil and chocolate in a saucepan over a very low heat - do not overheat or the chocolate will burn.
3. Stir in the coconut sugar
4. Add the ground almonds and baking powder
5. Pour in the vanilla extract
6. Mash the avocado on a plate before adding to the mixture
7. Crack the eggs into a mug and lightly beat before adding to the mix
8. Pour the mixture into a greased brownie tin and bake for 30 minutes
9. Leave to cool before cutting brownie into pieces. 

These are the gooiest, yummiest brownies I have ever tasted and what's even better -they are guilt free! They taste just as good as any normal brownie but have a slight hint of coconut which I really like. I feel like I should add a warning here though, do not eat too many at once or you will feel sick. I learnt the hard way! 

I would definitely recommend these brownies to anyone so why don't you give them a go?

Hannah xx

Rhubarb & Custard Cupcakes

Over the Easter weekend I celebrated my 23rd birthday and (not surprisingly) I received a lot of baking related presents which was great! Until recently I had been doing most of my baking at my parents house as their kitchen is like Lakeland! I'm not joking - my Mum owns every piece of baking equipment and every possible size cake tin you could ever need and since I have recently moved out I am still in the process of acquiring my own bakeware.

One of the presents I was most excited to receive was my own Kenwood electric hand mixer because I have been restricted in the recipes I can make without one. So I was eager to test it out straight away! 

For my first bake I decided to take advantage of the beautiful fresh rhubarb my sister grows and combine it with the custard flavouring she bought me and bake rhubarb cupcakes with custard flavoured cream cheese frosting. 

Ingredients (for the cupcakes):

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (I only added a pinch)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 1/2 cups rhubarb stalks, cut into small pieces 

I decided to try two different methods for incorporating the rhubarb into the cake batter. The first method was one I had seen in many recipes online, whereby the rhubarb pieces are simply stirred through the cake batter in the final step before dividing into the paper cases. 

However, I was interested to see what would happen if I cooked the rhubarb down to a soft consistency (similar to making rhubarb crumble) and then stirred it through the batter. 

I followed the following method but after step 5 I divided the batter in two - one half for each of the different types of rhubarb. 

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 180ºC. Line standard muffins tins with paper liners.

2. Whisk together flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt.

3. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla extract. Reduce speed to low.

5. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until combined after each.

6. Stir in the rhubarb.

7. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full (I made 15 cupcakes)

8. Bake, rotating thins half-way through, for approximately 30 minutes.

9. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely before frosting.

Here are the cupcakes before baking - the 6 on the right contain the rhubarb pieces and the 6 on the left contain the cooked rhubarb. 

And after 30 minutes this was the result - 

Now I know why I didn't find any recipes for cupcakes made with cooked rhubarb - it just doesn't work! They didn't turn a nice golden brown on top like the others, they were very dense on the inside and the centres collapsed once they had cooled.

However, the cupcakes with the rhubarb pieces were amazing - moist & fluffy with great rhubarb flavour.

While they cooled I had time to make the custard frosting. I used a basic cream cheese frosting recipe to add the custard flavouring to- 

Ingredients (for the frosting):

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
220g cream cheese
2 cups icing sugar (to taste)
Custard essence (to taste)

Method:

1. Cream the butter on a medium speed before adding the cream cheese. Mix until well combined.

2. Add icing sugar

3. Add custard flavouring and fold through with a spatula 

4. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes

and finally 5. EAT ALL THE CUPCAKES!! (or share them if you are feeling generous!) 

So it was a partially successful bake! One thing I need to work on is the presentation and decoration of my bakes. This is something I hope will develop throughout my blogging.

Hannah xx