Recipe 52/6 - Sticky Gingerbread

I love ginger cake, ginger biscuits... anything involving ginger! I love sticky toffee pudding. So when I saw this recipe for Sticky Gingerbread which sounded like a combination of the two I had to make it! 

Sometimes when I have a ridiculously long list of things to do, just stepping back and doing something else for an hour or two really helps to focus and de-stress me - and a bit of weekend baking can be the best thing! This recipe was perfect for this - relaxed and slow (basically just a lot of measuring out and mixing) I hate recipes where you have to try and get so many bits ready at the same time it stresses you out even more.

It was pretty time consuming as there are so many ingredients and it did create a mountain of washing up (you might want to avoid making this if you don't have a dishwasher...) But the smells of ginger, golden syrup and lemon when I was making it made it so worth it. It says the cake is best stored for 3-4 days before eating but I think I'm going to go and have a sneaky slice now...

You will need:

100g golden syrup

100g black treacle

75g unsalted butter

75g light soft brown or muscovado sugar

150g plain flour

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground mixed spice

1/2 tsp ground cinnammon

1 egg (lightly beaten)

75ml milk

finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

75g-100g finely chopped preserved stem ginger in syrup (drained)

to finish (optional)

50g icing sugar (sifted) - I think 50g was way too much but whenever I use icing sugar most of it ends up on me...

1tbsp lemon juice or water

50g whole stem ginger (2 pieces)

equipment

loaf tin (approx 20-10cm) lightly greased, base and long sides lined with baking parchment 

1. Preheat the oven to 170C

2. Put the golden syrup, treacle, butter and sugar into a small saucepan.

3. Place over a gentle heat and stir until the butter has melted and the ingredients are evenly blended.

4. Set aside to cool.

5. Sift the flour, ground ginger, mixed spice and cinnamon into a medium mixing bowl.

6. Make a well in the centre and add the cooled treacle mixture, egg, milk and lemon zest.

7. Using a wooden spoon, beat well until the mixture is smooth and glossy.

8. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in 1tbsp hot water.

9. Add to the mixture with the chopped ginger and mix thoroughly to create a pourable batter.

10. Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes, or until the cake is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

11. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes before turning the cake out onto a wire rack to cool.

12. When cold, mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice or water and drizzle over the cake, then top with slivers of stem ginger (mine were more like chunks!)

This cake is best stored for 3-4 days before eating. It keeps well for 2 weeks and freezes beautifully. 

Recipe 52/5 - Portobello Mushrooms with Cheese in Tomato Sauce

I found this recipe in a magazine but it looked like it could end up being a bit basic so I did cheat and make a few changes! I added some sausages... me have a meat free meal? I don't think so! 

It was really quick and easy to make and the result was really delicious, surprising when it only had such basic ingredients. If you love mushrooms like I do and you want something really quick this is a great recipe!

300g passata (I used a tomato pasta sauce instead)
4 large portobello mushrooms (peeled)
200g taleggio (sliced - I used cheddar instead)
1 tbsp thyme leaves
1 ciabatta roll (torn into small cubes)
2 tbsp cold pressed rapeseed oil

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Pour the passata into an ovenproof dish.
3. Place the mushrooms on the passata, stalks facing up.
4. Top with the sliced cheese and scatter with thyme leaves.
5. Toss the ciabatta cubes with the oil and scatter over the dish.
6. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden.

Recipe 52/4 - Cheese and Ham Pie

This week I decided to choose a recipe that has been on my pin board for a long long time. It looked simple and I am a big pastry fan!

It was really easy to make and I had some fun making the cheese and ham tower! The result was very tasty, if a bit basic, but I will definitely be making this a regular!

375g puff pastry
1 egg (beaten)
50g mature cheddar (grated)
150g gruyere or similar (grated)
700g good quality cooked ham (sliced thin)

I ran out of ham way before 700g but the beauty of this recipe is you can do as many or as little layers as you want.

béchamel sauce (or cheat like I did by buying a ready made cheese sauce)
25g butter
25g flour
150ml milk
50ml double cream
salt, pepper, nutmeg

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half the pastry to a rough circle, about 24cm wide.
2. Roll out another circle about 26cm wide, cover this one and keep it cold.
3. Preheat the oven to 200C. 
4. Place the first pastry circle in a contained dish, brush the edges with beaten egg and put a spoonful of Béchamel in the centre of the circle.
5. Spread this over the the pastry with a pallet knife or the back of a spoon to within 3-4cm of the edges.
6. Sprinkle over a little cheese, followed by some ham.
7. Repeat these layers until all the ham, cheese and Béchamel have been used up.
8. Cover the filling with the other sheet of pastry and press down firmly around the edges to seal.
9. Trim the edges neatly, brush with beaten egg and score the top with the point of a knife to decorate.
10. Make a little hole in the centre of the top of the pie to let out steam.
11. Bake at 200C for 30 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180C and cook for another 15 minutes.

Recipe 52/3 - Red Velvet Cupcakes

As you might have seen, my Asos Marketplace Boutique was one year old on Thursday so it seemed like the perfect excuse to bake some 'Birthday' cupcakes for this weeks' Recipe 52! While flicking through my '200 Cupcakes' book (I swear everyone has this book) I came across the recipe for Red Velvet Cupcakes. 

I've never actually tried a Red Velvet cupcake or cake before but I've heard that they are yummy so I thought this was a good opportunity to try them... although baking something when you have no idea what the outcome is supposed to taste like isn't the best idea! Especially when the ingredients are as weird as this recipe - beetroot, cream cheese, vinegar.. really? 

It looked even weirder when you start mixing all the ingredients together, like some strange experiment not something I wanted to eat. I was almost reluctant to try one when they were done, worried there would be chunks of beetroot in it! But they were delicious, really light and didn't have that dry sponge you sometimes get with cupcakes. I couldn't taste any beetroot or vinegar, and that frosting is amazing. I would never have guessed cream cheese and icing sugar would make something so addictive! Mine were more brown than red (any tips for getting that red colour?) and my icing was too runny so they didn't look anything like the recipe picture (but they never do!)

Makes 12

150g self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
100ml buttermilk
1 teaspoon vinegar
50g lightly salted butter (softened)
100g caster sugar
1 egg
50g raw beetroot (peeled and finely grated)

Frosting

I added too much cream cheese which meant I had to use a lot of icing sugar to make it less runny. I ended up with enough frosting for about 50 cupcakes!

200g full-fat cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
300g icing sugar

1. Line a 12-section muffin tray with paper muffin cases.
2. Combine the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl.
3. Mix together the buttermilk and vinegar in a jug.
4. Beat together the butter and caster sugar in a separate bowl until pale and creamy.
5. Beat in the egg and the beetroot.
6. Sift half the flour mixture into the bowl and stir in gently with a large metal spoon.
7. Stir in half the buttermilk mixture.
8. Sift and stir in the remaining flour mixture then the remaining liquid.
9. Divide the muffin mixture between the paper cases.
10. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 20-25 minutes or until risen and just firm to the touch.
11. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
12. Beat the cream cheese with a wooden spoon in a bowl until softened.
13. Beat in the vanilla extract and icing sugar until smooth.
14. Swirl over the tops of the cakes.

Boutique Birthday!

My Asos Boutique is one year old today!

£1 off everything to celebrate with promo code 'BIRTHDAY'

https://marketplace.asos.com/boutique/tangerine-dreams

Win a pair of Monopoly earrings

We all have a favourite playing piece when we play Monopoly. To enter just head over to Instagram (tdjewellery), follow me and repost this photo with your favourite Monopoly piece as a caption. Don’t forget to tag @tdjewellery. Winner will receive their favourite playing piece as earrings. Competition ends 07/10.