My Bakery Favorite...

Hellooo!!

So September is here!! Everyone starting school again. I start College again very soon, which I can't wait for! That sounds so weird, someone wanting to go college! But I get to see all my friends again and my new timetable is really good :) Mondays have gotten a lot better!!

So anyways this post is all about the wonderful cheese straws!!! I love these however where I live no one can do them as good as the people of the north!! Lets get on with this post shall we...?

Aaahhh!!

What Do I Need?

• 225g Plain Flour
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 250g Unsalted Butter- Cold
• 150ml Ice Cold Water
• 200g Cheese

What Do I Do?

1. Sift the flour in a bowl, add the the salt. Place in the fridge. 
2. Cut the butter into cubes, then takes the bowl of flour out and using a spoon cover the butter in the flour. Pour the water in and use a knife to bring the ingredients to a dough. Add the cheese. 
3. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and shape the dough into  a fat, flat rectangle, without handling it too much. Place in cling film and chill in the fridge for an hour.  
4. Turn the dough on a floured surface and using a rolling pin, roll the dough in one direction until it's about 1cm thick and is three times as wide. Fold a third of the pastry towards the middle then again on the opposite side. Your should be layered now, roll out until it's the same measurements as before and repeat the process another 5 times. You should see buttery streaks, a marble effect, which is what you want. 
5. Then chill your pastry again in cling film for another hour. Preheat the oven to 200c.
6. Roll out your dough and cut into the desired shape and place on a greased baking tray and place in the oven for 30 minutes or until they are golden brown. 

Can you see the layers?

Let me know how yours turned out, I would love to hear from you, comment below. 

Post soon!

Bye!

Mamma Mia!!

Hi guys

So with it being the summer holidays, finding things to do during in the holidays can be difficult. So one day for lunch I made pizza!! This was the recipe I used...

Mine happened to roll out to a heart shape

I couldn't roll out a circle :/

What Do I Need?

• 175g Plain White Soft Flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp  Dried Yeast
• 1/2 tsp Caster Sugar
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 120ml Hand Hot Water
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Pizza Sauce
• Any Toppings of Your Choice

What Do I Do?

1. Sieve the flour, salt, yeast and sugar in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Then pour in the olive oil and water, mix with a wooden spoon and then using your hands when a dough has been formed. If the mixture is too dry add some water, if its too wet add some flour. 
2. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead for 3 minutes. Return to the bowl and place a oiled layer of cling film on the top of the bowl.  Leave to prove until it's doubled in size.
3. Preheat the oven to 200c 
4. Roll the dough out on a floured work surface into your desired shape and thickness.  Then place onto your baking tray. Then spoon your pizza sauce and spread around the pizza leaving a crust at the edge. Sprinkle on your mozzarella cheese and add any toppings you want all over the pizza. I used sweetcorn and yellow sweet pepper. 
5. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the pizza has turned golden brown. 
6. Mamma Mia! What a beautiful pizza!!

I hope you enjoy your pizza and let me know how it went in the comments below, I would love to hear from you. 

Bye for now!!

Shortbread Worthy For A Millionaire!

Hi guys

Today's recipe has to be one of my all time favourite and I know not many people are resist these. They are of course the Millionaire Shortbread, sometimes known as the Caramel Shortbread. These can't even last a day in my house, they taste so good!!!!

Yummy!!!

What Do I Need?

• 125g Softened Butter
• 55g Caster Sugar
• 180g Plain Flour
• 2 tbsp Icing Sugar
• 100g Softened Butter
• 50g Caster Sugar
• 400g Condensed Milk
• 200g Chocolate

What Do I Do?

1. Beat the 125g softened butter and 55g caster sugar together until light and fluffy. Sieve in the 180g plain flour and beat together until a dough has formed (you need strong arm muscles for this bit!)
2. Grease a 8 x 10" baking tin and line with grease proof paper and press the dough in and around the tin. Prick the dough with a fork and sieve with icing sugar and leave in the fridge for 20 minutes. 
3. Heat the oven to 180c and bake the shortbread for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside to cool completely
4. Whilst the shortbread is cooling, put the 100g softened butter, 50g caster sugar and condensed milk in a saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted. Bring to the boil for 10 minutes whilst stirring constantly. 
5. Pour over the cold shortbread and level with a spoon, ensuring all the corners are filled with caramel then leave the tin in the fridge until the caramel has set. 
6. Break the chocolate into a jug or glass bowl. Put the jug in the microwave pinging the chocolate in 20 sec intervals, stirring in between each interval. If you put the chocolate in a glass bowl put ontop a saucepan of boiling water, don't allow the glass bowl to touch the boiling water, keep stirring until the chocolate has melted. Once the chocolate has melted pour over the caramel and level out with a spoon. Leave in the fridge until the chocolate has set. 
7. Ta Da, enjoy your millionaire shortbread. 

This recipe may seem long, but it's really simple, I hope you enjoy making these ( and licking out the chocolate bowl/jug) Comment below how these turned out for you, I would love to hear from you :)

Bye for now!

Swan Lake

Hi guys!

This post is for the more experienced bakers...swans made from choux pastry. These look amazing when they are done!! Definitely a table center piece and the best thing it's dessert. 

Strawberries + Cream + pastry = Yum! 

Ta Da!!!

What Do I Need?

Choux Pastry-

• 100g Plain flour
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 75g Unsalted butter, diced
• 175ml Cold water
• 3 Large eggs at room temperature, beaten

Chantilly Cream-

• 250ml Whipping cream
• 2 tbsp Icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp Vanilla essence

For The Swans- 

• 1 Quantity of choux pastry dough
• 1 Beaten egg, to glaze
• 10 Large strawberries, thinly sliced
• 1 Quantity of chantilly cream

Raspberry Sauce-

• 250g Fresh raspberries
• 1 tsp Lemon juice
• 4 tbsp Icing sugar

What Do I Do?

To Make The Pastry- 

1. Put the butter, salt and water in a medium sized pan and heat gently until the butter has melted- Don't let it boil!! Then quickly bring the mixture to the boil and add the flour in one go. 
2. Take the pan off the heat and beat furiously with a wooden spoon, the mixture will look like a lumpy mess but keep beating, you will get a smooth heavy dough.
3. Put the pan back on a low heat and heat gently to slightly cook the dough until the dough comes away from the sides and is glossy. 
4. Tip the dough in large mixing bowl and allow to cool until barely warm, then using a electric whisk add the eggs gradually. (A wooden spoon won't be effective enough.) You may not need all of the egg but the dough should be very shiny and almost paste like dough, if the mixture is too wet, it won't hold it's shape in the oven.

To Make The Chantilly Cream-

1. Whip the cream, sugar and vanilla essence together until soft stiff peaks form. 
2. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge until needed. 

To Make The Swans- 

1. Preheat the oven to 200c and place some of the dough into a piping bag with a plain nozzle and pipe 12 S shapes about 9cm long onto baking paper, allow room for expansion. Brush lightly with beaten egg to glaze. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown, don't open the oven door! Allow to cool when baked. 
2. With any left over dough spoon the dough the make 10 oval shapes onto another baking sheet about 8cm long, 4cm wide and 2.5cm tall. Again allow room for expansion and glaze with egg and place in the oven for 30 minutes until a golden brown colour. 
3. Reduce the oven temperature to 180c and open and close the door quickly to let out steam, then bake for an extra 5 minutes. Once removed from the oven prick holes into the shapes to allow steam to esacpe and allow to cool. 
4. Cut the ovals in half horizontally then slice the top half lengthways to make the wings. Place the sliced strawberries in the base of each oval. Spoon the cream into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe over the strawberries. Gently stick the neck into one end of each oval then set the wings onto the cream each side of the neck and dust with icing sugar. 

To Make The Sauce- 

1. Put the raspberries, lemon juice and icing sugar into a food processor and puree. Press through a fine sieve to remove seeds. 
2. Taste and add more icing sugar if needed. The place a spoonful into a small bowl and place a swan on top and serve right away. 

Ta Da!!! You've made your own swan lake! Yes these do take a bit of time to make but they look really impressive. 

Let me know how your swan lakes turned out, I would love to know, comment below!!!

Lets Drizzle It All Over The Cake!

Hi guys

So it's been a while since I have posted, this is because of the lack of internet connection and illness I've had recently, but I'm back and I've been cooking up a storm, so I can share the recipes with you! 

So today this post is about a British classic, the Lemon Drizzle Cake. I personally don't like lemons but a lot of my family does. Lets get started!!!

What Do I Need?

• 8 x 21 cm loaf tin
• 225g unsalted softened butter
• 225g Caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 225g Self Raising Flour
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 85g Caster Sugar
• 1 1/2 juice of 2 lemons

What Do I Do?

1. Heat the oven to 180c. Grease the loaf tin and line with grease proof paper. Beat together the butter and sugar until its light and fluffy. Then add the 4 eggs one by one, stirring in between each egg. 
2. Sieve in the flour and add the zest and mix together until combined. 
3. Pour the cake mixture into the loaf tin and level the top with a spoon. Then place in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown. 
4. While the cake is cooling in the tin, mix together the caster sugar and lemon juice and then pour over the cake to taste. Leave in the tin until completely cool before serving. Your cake may develop a crusty layer on the top, that's fine, it's the sugar. 
5. Enjoy your cake!

Let me know how this turns out for you in the comments below or tweet me a picture @whatbennybaked

I would love to hear from you! 

Easy Peasy Jam!!

Okay, so recently made jam and it went down a storm!! This recipe is really tasty as I had one of my toughest critics taste it...my little brother and it got the thumbs up. :)

What You Will Need

• 400g Strawberries (Or any other fruit you would like to use)
• 400g Granulated Sugar
• Jam Jar (or any other jar you have)
• Cold saucer

What Do I Do?

• Ensure that your jam jar is clean by washing it in water soapy water then rinsing it under water. Place a saucer in the freezer.
• Place the strawberries and sugar in a saucepan and heat on a low setting whilst stirring to allow the sugar to dissolve. On a low heat this will prevent the sugar sticking to the pan. 
• Bring the fruit mixture to a rapid boil, where the bubbles can't be tamed when it's being stirred. Boil for 3-5 minutes, until the jam has reached setting point (the jam will bubble slower and become thicker), to test this, take the saucer out of the freezer, remove the saucepan from the heat and take a teaspoon amount from the saucepan and place on the saucer, leave for a few minutes, if the jam wrinkles then the jam is at the setting point. If the jam hasn't reached setting point, return to the heat and allow it to bubble for 1-2 minutes more before repeating the same process.
• Pour the jam into the jar and place and twist the lid on whilst the jam is still hot, this will seal the jar and when you open the jar, it will make the 'POP' noise (one of my favourite noises :)) Allow the jam to cool completely before opening the jar. The jam will also thicken as it cools. 
• Voila! Your very own easy peasy jam!

I hope you enjoy your jam and leave comments below to let me know how your jam went. 

Cupcakes? Did Someone Say Cupcakes!?

CUPCAKES!!! My all time favourite thing to bake, I mean you doesn't love a good cupcake now and then? I always always use this recipe I have used it now for 6 years and it has never ever let me down, so if you want a easy peasy cupcake recipe then you're in the right place and here it is....

COLOURFUL!! :)

Makes 12

What You Will Need-

• Baking tin
• Cupcake cases
• 125g Self raising flour
• 125g Caster sugar
• 125 Softened butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla essence

What Do I Do?

• Preheat the oven to 180c.
• Cream the butter and caster sugar together until it's light and fluffy.
• Whisk the eggs and vanilla essence together. Then add to the mixture and mix together until it's blended evenly.
• Sieve the self raising flour into the mixture and mix together until the mixture is smooth. Make sure you get air into the cake mixture but whisking it as this will make your cake rise. 
• Spoon the mixture evenly into the cases and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a fork is clean after being poked into the cake. If the fork has cake mixture on put the cakes back into the oven. Allow the cakes to cool before decorating. 

I decorated mine with chocolate icing from Dr. Oetker and just added some decorations but you can decorate yours anyway you like or leave them plain it's up to you. I feel with a cupcake you can really put your own twist on it. I hope you enjoyed baking these and leave comments below to let me know what you think of the recipe. 

That's Cheesy!

Bread has to be my favourite savory piece of food, I love brown, granary, poppy seed, white, tiger bread, bread bread glorious bread! I could eat all day everyday! Anyway, you are looking for a recipe so here it is...

OMG!!! So Yummy!!!

 Makes 1 loaf

What You Will Need- 

• 1 loaf tin (9x5in 23x13cm)
• 1 tsp Active dried yeast (most of mine ended up on the floor, oops)
• 250ml Lukewarm milk
• 30g butter
• 420g strong flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 200g cheddar cheese

What Do I Do?

• Grease the loaf tin.
• Combine the yeast and milk, stir and leave for 15 minutes to dissolve.
• Melt the butter, let it cool then add the yeast mixture. 
• Sieve the flour and add the salt together in a large bowl. Add in the cheese and mix to ensure the cheese is evenly spread throughout.  Make a well in the centre and pour in the yeast mixture.
• Starting from the centre combine the mixture together until a dough has been formed. If it's too dry add 2-3 tsp of water. If it's too wet add some flour.
• Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic. Return the dough back to the bowl, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place to prove until it's doubled in size. 
• Preheat the oven to 200c.
• Knead the bread again and then place in grease loaf tin and place in a warm place to allow it to rise to the rim of the tin. 
• Bake for 15 minutes then lower the temperature to 190c for 30 minutes or until the bottom is hollow and the loaf is golden brown. 

 

This tasted so good, I managed to eat the half of the loaf  *guilty face* I hope you enjoy baking this bread and a bonus is that your house smells soooo good! Leave comments below to let me know what you think. 

Brownies and Oreos?!

Sounds like a great combination, right? This has to be one of my favourite brownie recipes. I've done this recipe with and without the oreos and they have both turned out amazing! This recipe is originally from Lorraine Pascle, I love her recipes!

Makes 16

What You Need

• 20cm/8in square baking tin
• Baking paper
• 165g Butter, plus extra for greasing
• 200g Dark chocolate finely chopped, (I used 70% cocoa)
• 3 Eggs
• 2 Egg yolks
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 165g Light soft brown sugar
• 2 tbsp Plain flour
• 1 tbsp Cocoa powder
• Pinch of salt
• 154g Oreos chopped into quarters
• Icing sugar for dusting (optional)

What You Need To You

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease the baking tin with butter, then line with baking paper with the paper overlapping the sides a little.
• Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat. When the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Leave to stand for a few minutes, or until the chocolate melts, and then stir together.
• Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla together in a large bowl until the eggs begin to get light and fluffy. Add the sugar in two additions, whisking between each. Pour it around the side of the egg mix so as not to knock out the air that has been whisked in. Keep whisking until the mixture becomes stiffer. Once the egg mixture is ready, pour the chocolate into it - again around the sides so as not to knock the air out.
• Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt and half of the biscuits and stir until fully combined, then pour the mixture into the baking tin. Scatter the remaining biscuits over the top, pressing them in slightly. Bake in the oven for 25–30 minutes. The middle should be very so slightly gooey. Leave the brownies to cool in the tin - the top will sink and crack a little.
• Pull the brownies out using the overlapping paper and cut into squares. Dust with icing sugar (optional)

I hope you enjoyed making these as much as I did, they taste soooo good. Leave comments below to let me know what you think!

Vanilla Ice Cream!!!

So recently Britain has had a heat wave and it feels like being abroad...yay! I thought it would be a good idea to make some ice cream!! I've used this recipe before and it worked really well. This recipe is really simple to follow, it just takes a bit of time to make.

Serves 4-6

You will need

• Saucepan
• Sieve 
• Glass bowl
• Whisk ( hand or electric)
• Wooden spoon
• 300ml single cream
• 300ml double cream
• 1 vanilla pod (you can buy these from most supermarkets or your local health store) 
• 4 large egg yolks
• 115g caster sugar

How to make it

• Put the single cream and double cream into a saucepan. Open the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds out and add them to the saucepan along with the whole pod. Heat the mixture up to almost the boil. Don't let it boil otherwise it will curdle.
• Leave to allow the vanilla to infuse the cream for 30 minutes. Whisk together the egg yolks and caster sugar together until the mixture is pale and leaves a trails when the whisk is lifted. Add the cream slowly whilst stirring into the egg mixture.
• Strain the mixture back into the saucepan and return to the heat for 10-15 minutes until the mixture has thicken and covers the back of  a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and allow to cool for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin from forming. 
• Pour into a container and freeze for 1-2 hours then mix the mixture to ensure it's smooth. Freeze the mixture overnight. Then Ta Da! You've made your very own ice cream!!

This ice cream is really creamy and best of all it's homemade!! Enjoy making and eating (the best bit of course) your ice cream. Leave comments below to let me know how you found this recipe. 

Monkey Business...

Today it's all about monkeying around! Banana muffins! I've tried many banana muffin recipes and this has to be my favourite! 

 Makes 12- 

To make these you will need:

• 12 cases; muffin or cupcake (I used cupcake cases)
• Baking tray/muffin tin
• 200g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 mashed bananas
• 150g caster sugar
• 75g melted butter
• 1 egg

What To Do-

• Preheat the oven to 180c and place the cases on the baking tray/in the muffin tin.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt then set aside.
• Combine the mashed bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. 
• Then fold the wet mixture into the flour mixture and mix until the mixture is smooth. 
• Spoon evenly into baking cases.
• Bake in the oven for 25 - 30  minutes or until the muffins spring back when lightly tapped.
• Volia! Enjoy eating your creation!

These were delicious and were really popular with everyone, I will definitely be using this recipe again. 

Happy Baking!