Sticky Ginger Cake

One of my teachers, Miss B, knows I love cooking and was proud to tell me that over the summer she had won six prizes for her baking. One of those award winning recipes, was this ginger cake.

After tasting a slice of her loaf, I knew I wanted to bake it, so I asked “is this your secret recipe?” Thankfully she replied no, it was from the Tesco website. And so, it was made and enjoyed. Twice :)

This cake is quite simple to bake, you’d think, all though the first time I made it, it was slightly undercooked. Whilst this didn’t stop us from liking and eating it, it was certainly better the second time! This loaf cake is the sort of bake that gets better (ie stickier!) after a week or so: but in our family this is unlikely to happen! It turned out moist and sticky, with a lovely warmth from the spices (I upped the amount of ginger and added cinnamon for more depth). Its also the sort of cake which you cut, eat and walk away from, just to want to go back for more. Its sturdiness makes it brilliant for picnics too! Now, after that effusive list of positives I’m just left to say: its pretty much an all rounder cake – enjoyed by everyone, its deservedly award winning, and just generally delicious :)

Blackberry & Apple Turnovers

Here in the UK, it’s that time of year where we experience the shift between the sunny days of summer and the rapidly cooling days of autumn. For me, the difference is most noticeable with the gathering of new stationery and uniform: and the inevitable return to school. But food wise, the change is also quietly happening. Instead of feasting on fresh strawberries, I enjoy blackberries. Instead of juicy nectarines and peaches, there are big, crunchy apples. Instead of cooling ice-creams and frozen mousse, I turn on the oven, bake and use pastry...

Blackberry and apple turnovers. Just delicious. They don’t claim to be fancy, they don’t take up your time and patience to make or sit proudly in Michelin-starred restaurants. They’re just there, quietly, humbly, for when you get in from a walk, or as a reward when you’ve finished homework. Going back to school is never going to be a hugely joyful occasion, but the addition of a juicy turnover will be guaranteed to make it that little bit better.

Other than the simplicity of them, another reason I enjoyed these turnovers so much was because of the ingredients. I made these whilst in our cottage in Suffolk, where the abundance of fresh fruit was great. We have a huge apple tree in the garden there, so the apples were all our own. And the lanes all around us were edged thickly with the thick wild brambles full of big blackberries. Baking is all the more fun when the ingredients are your own and free!

There is no recipe needed, really, as you just need puff pastry and glorious fresh fruit. Once the pasty is rolled, use an extra large cookie cutter (I just cut round a small bowl) to get large circles of the pastry. Pile your fruit of choice on one half of the pastry, and carefully fold the other half over the top, trying to avoid sharp chopped-apple corners! Crimp the edges together really well – otherwise they’ll all split open, as some of mine did, and you’ll lose all the lovely juices. Then just bake for about 10-15minutes until the pastry is golden brown and puffed. Its best to eat on the day they are made or the pastry goes a bit soggy – but I doubt this will be much of a hardship!
Till next time, :) XX

Charlotte Russe

My Mum’s birthday falls on the 8th August, right in the middle of our holiday in France and Spain. Whilst this meant she was lucky enough to enjoy sunshine and swimming pools on her birthday – there was no homemade cake! Now in family with bakers and cooks, there should ALWAYS be a homemade birthday cake. So once we were home, out came the recipes!
Before we had left, my Mum had noticed a gorgeous looking Charlotte Russe in the window of the patisserie Paul. Paul is a very fancy French bakery which has now spread its chains all over London as well as smaller branches at motorway service stations! Whilst the standard of baking there is very high, this sure pushes up the prices! The rather small (if beautiful) charlotte russe my Mum saw was practically £20! So, a homemade one it was definitely to be.
A Charlotte Russe is essentially when you line a tin or bowl with sponge fingers, and pour in a “bavarois”. The bavarois in the recipe I followed was a custard thickened with gelatine, with whipped cream and raspberry puree stirred in – then refrigerated in the tin. We (my Mum & I) topped our russe with whole raspberries which we set with a raspberry glaze, but we thought that the raspberries looked prettier without. The exact origins of the charlotte russe is, as with many desserts, not 100% exact. It is either thought to be named after the British Queen Charlotte (1744-1818, wife of George III) or to have been invented by the French chef Marie Antoine Careme (1784-1833), who named it in honour of his Russian employer, as russe is Russian in French.
You can find the recipe I followed here except I made a few alterations…..
Instead of four miniature desserts, I used one large tin. I found I needed 4 gelatine leaves to make the custard set properly, and I also used two packets of frozen raspberries for the mousse and bought extra fresh raspberries for the top. Although I just used shop-bought this time, the recipe also includes how to make your own sponge fingers, which would improve the dessert even more!

The charlotte russe involves quite a few steps, so I split it over two days – which is easy seeing how the bavarois needs at least 4 hours or overnight to set up well. I’m pleased with how the final product turned out and it looked so pretty waiting to be devoured! The rich raspberry mousse was delightfully offset with the crunchy sponge fingers, and the whole glazed raspberries added another dimension of sharp juicy goodness :) Whilst I wouldn’t rush to make this dessert again– it was a really good one to make as it was my first time using gelatine and a right show stopper!

The Markets of Barcelona

For a great start to our summer holiday this year, my family and I travelled to spend a few nights in the heart of Barcelona. Barcelona is a hugely varied, bustling city which has so much to explore. Just a couple of streets away from our apartment, was the huge street, La Rambla. On this was the indoor market: Mercat de La boqueria. Its a fabulous, thriving market, and here are some of the photos I took when we visited..enjoy!

Hokey Pokey Ice Cream!

Or, as it should otherwise be known…a bowl of pure joy :)

Like a lot of bloggers around this time of year, the summer weather has not been perfect for turning on the oven and baking away like crazy (although I say that, but our British summer currently consists of plenty of showers!). Therefore, as I still like to while away the time in the kitchen: I turn to ice cream. And not just any ice-cream, hokey pokey ice cream!!

I don’t know if hokey-pokey goes by the same name in America or Australia, so basically it is honeycomb. Everyone knows honeycomb, right? Golden syrup+sugar=caramel. Mix caramel with baking soda, let harden – honeycomb! Pure sugar really, but so very good!

After the honeycomb is hardened, you simply mix it with whipped cream and condensed milk and freeze. No churning or stirring needed – just chuck it in a box in the freezer until you want it. And my, will you want it! You could eat this mixture by the un-frozen spoonful [in fact I almost did :) ]

The delightful recipe was from this Thane Prince book, one I have not cooked from before but plan to experiment with more ice creams and recipes from it over the summer if they all turn out like this one! So honeycomb lovers: MAKE this ice cream! And even if you’re not, this may convert people with its rich and creamy glory :)

Honeycomb Ice-cream, from Simply Good Food by Thane Prince
This ice-cream does not need stirrings as it freezes.
Use within ten days.

5tbsps white sugar
2tbsps golden syrup
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
600ml (1pint) whipping cream
1 large tin condensed milk

1) Start with the honeycomb. Place the sugar and syrup in a saucepan and cook over a low heat until the sugar melts. Now boil rapidly until the caramel is a deep gold in colour.

2) Remove from the heat and sift over the bicarbonate of soda. Stir the frothy mixture, then pour on to a lined baking sheet. Allow to cool, then break into smallish chunks.

3) Whip the cream until floppy, then beat in the condensed milk. Continue beating until the mixture is quite stiff. Fold in the pieces of honeycomb plus any crumbs, then scrape into a freezer-proof bowl/box, and freeze for about 8 hours or overnight.

BBB: Bakers Blogoversary Battenberg!

It all started with a little conversation like this, exactly one year ago...
ME: I’d like a blog…when I’m older I’ll start my own blog.
SISTER:Why not just start one now?
ME: *long pause* Because I can’t!
SISTER: Why? You bake enough!
ME: *long pause*
A couple of hours and some pootling on Blogger later, Teen Baker was born!
I can’t believe that it has been a whole year since I started, with my first bake of Welsh Cakes! Although I don’t want this to become a soppy speech, I do feel like I’ve come a long way in this one year! And I do want to thank all you readers who comment here because thats what keeps me going! Marie, Steph, Jessy, Ash, George – and everyone! Thank you – I hope Teen Baker has many more years to come :)
To celebrate my first blogoversary, I made a Blogoversary Battenberg :)

I’ve always liked battenberg cakes, even if purely for their pink and yellow checked prettiness. The thought of someone thinking, “hmm, if I dyed half my cake pink…and then stacked it checkerboard style..wouldn’t that be good?” just makes me smile :) In reality, the battenberg cake origin is not 100% certain but is thought to have been created in honour of the royal 1884 marriage between Queen Victoria’s granddaughter and the Prince Louis of Battenberg. The four cake squares in the cake are thought to represent all four Battenberg princes: Louis, Alexander, Henry, and Francis-Joseph.
Lots of desserts which look extra pretty often include extra hassle, extra work. Other than the final assembly, and perhaps one extra bowl – battenberg dispels this myth! Once you start investigating recipes and actually baking it: you realise how simple it is: just a sponge dyed different colours, layered and wrapped in marzipan! Proper layered sponge cakes are way more complicated because of the balancing act that goes on: with a battenberg loaf as long as the little rectangles of cake are even, the assembly is a pretty simple job.
I am proud of this cake and its checked glory – it tasted mighty good too :) I found the recipe here, except I used shop bought marzipan. This battenberg cake proves that again you can easily bake things which you normally buy! Hopefully its success is a good omen for the coming Teen Baker years!
PS. Im off on my summer holiday for two weeks now, but I have scheduled posts which should hopefully come up - including the most delicious ice cream, and part 2 of the chocolate museum!