Mini Courgette Cakes

Carrot cake is a common coffee shop favourite up and down the U.K. Everyone seems to have accepted that carrots can be enjoyed in cake form. And yet when I mention courgette cake I often get some funny looks. But why should it be any different? It's just another root vegetable after all. 

My family have been enjoying courgette cake for a few years now so this is a tried and tested, fool proof recipe! However in the past I have always made it in a bunt tin and this weekend I decided to use a new mini sandwich tin with individual loose bottoms. 

Ingredients 

150ml vegetable oil

250g self raising flour

50g  pistachios, roughly chopped plus extra for decoration

3 eggs

175g caster sugar

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

225g courgette, grated

125g icing sugar 

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease the tin well (very important) and lightly dust with flour - tap out the excess. 

2. Chop the pistachios or pulse in a food processor and grate the courgettes. 

3. Whisk oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. Sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda and stir well to combine. Finally, add the grated courgette and pistachios. 

4. Spoon the mixture into the individual tin moulds and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. 

I filled the moulds to the very top so when they were baked it created cakes with domed tops, similar to muffins. If I was to make mini Victoria sponges, or cakes which traditionally have a flatter top, then I would only half fill the moulds. 

5. Once cooled remove the cakes from the tin. Then drizzle icing over each cake and sprinkle with chopped pistachios while the icing is still wet. 

I have been thinking about what other root vegetables could be incorporated into baking. Obviously ginger cake is another common flavour and beetroot goes really well in chocolate brownies. I wonder what sweet potato or parsnip would taste like in a cake? Maybe that's one for a future experimental bake!

On another note, The Great British Bake off has started again - my TV highlight of the year! Crazy to think I almost applied to be on this season. After the first episode I've decided that Richard is my favourite, I think he is going to do very well! I'm hoping I'll get some inspiration from the Bake Off for some future bakes so stay tuned!

Hannah xx

Grandmas Bread: American baking

I'm back! I didn't have a lot of time to bake in July as I was on holiday in America for two weeks. However being on holiday didn't stop me from baking! 

My Grandma who lives in America makes the best bread I have ever tasted. The recipe was passed down from her Grandma and is incomparable to any other bread, it's just mouth wateringly delicious and I was desperate to be able to recreate it for myself! 

For Christmas she put together a hamper of all the ingredients I needed to make her special bread, known as Grandmas Bread. Bread is renowned for being very difficult to master and my first attempt didn't go very well; I ended up with two bricks - rock solid. My error was that I had killed the yeast by using water that was too hot so it didn't rise during proving. So she kindly offered to give me a master class in Grandmas bread baking while I was visiting. 

She made it look so simple. So I decided to try it again on my own, while the master class was still fresh in my mind. I'm pleased to say that this time was significantly better and the bread was actually edible, which is always a good sign when baking! I didn't kill the yeast so the dough more than doubled in size. 

It still isn't perfect because it didn't rise over the top of the bread pans as it should. I think this might be because I didn't wait for the yeast to activate for quite long enough. Also the room temperature and humidity has a big impact on bread. My Grandmas kitchen has air conditioning but obviously in England that is rarely needed. Although at the moment the weather has been unexpectedly warm and so I was baking with the door open, who knows what impact that will have had! 

This is what the perfect loaf of Grandmas bread should look like...

And this was my attempt...














Mine doesn't have the same curl over the top - No muffin top. But bread will not defeat me!

 Hopefully third time lucky! Until then I will enjoy it with some peach jam. 

Xx

Revani

                               

I loved my family summer holidays when I was growing up. For many years we went to Greece and I have really happy memories from these holidays - we all learnt to waterski, I began scuba diving and we experienced a large earthquake! Greece is such a beautiful country, with some amazing food. So this week I decided to make a Greek cake called Revani. This is a moist and delicious semolina cake flavoured with orange and sweetened with a syrup flavoured with lemon and vanilla pods. 

To make the cake you will need to following ingredients:

5 eggs, separated 

100g caster sugar

50g plain sugar

100g  semolina

pinch of salt

1 orange, zest

50g unsalted butter, melted

50g no-peel marmalade 

For the syrup:

250g caster sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 lemon, zest

vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a 24cm spring form cake tin and line the sides and base with baking parchment. 

2. Beat the egg yolks and caster sugar in a mixer until light and creamy. While the machine is running on a low speed, add the flour & semolina followed by the salt, orange zest, melted butter and marmalade. Beat until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks and gently fold into the batter in 3 additions being careful not to knock the air out. 

4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown. 

5. While the cake is in the oven, prepare the syrup - put all of the ingredients, including the vanilla pods, in a small saucepan with 300 ml water and bring to the boil. Then reduce the heat and summer gently for 10 mins. The syrup will thicken slightly but won't be very thick. Leave to cool slightly. 

                     

6. While the cake is still warm and in its tin, cut into triangles. Strain the syrup, removing the vanilla pods, and slowly pour over the cake. 

7. Leave to cool and serve with Greek yoghurt and chopped pistachios. 

The photos do not do this cake justice at all! It was beautifully moist and sticky from the sweet syrup with a subtle orange flavour from the cake. I loved the texture of the semolina, it's so different to a fluffy flour cake. It's amazing how smells or tastes can remind you of happy memories. I'm positive they served this desert in the hotel restaurant all those years ago because the taste was very familiar and immediately transported me back to my Greek holidays.

I asked two of my Greek friends if they would like to try it and give me their opinion, since they know what real Greek Revani should taste like. I was a little nervous but they loved it and said it was exactly how it should be! So it was a successful first attempt at Greek baking - my next challenge will be to make baklava. 

Hannah xx

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

Welcome to Gregory's

Hi everyone,

Welcome to Gregory's! 

I have always had an interest in cooking and baking but my passion for experimenting with new recipes and healthy alternatives has only developed in the last year, since I graduated from university. 

I have read a lot of other blogs, both foodie and beauty, which have inspired me to start my own blog. 

At the moment my baking is only enjoyed by my family, friends and work colleagues. However I would like to share my passion with a wider circle. My ambition is to start selling my creations at food markets and hopefully get a shop front after that, but until that happens I am going to document my baking experiments and developments on here. Not all of my bakes will be a success but I hope to learn from my mistakes - practice makes perfect! 

I hope you enjoy it! Let the baking begin. 

My 23rd birthday present!