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Triple-layer Funfetti Easter Cake

Triple-layer Funfetti Easter Cake

  I love making my own birthday cake. I have a perfect excuse to test out baking a ridiculous creation and everyone else feels obliged has an excuse to eat all of it hehe!

This year it was a funfetti cake. A triple layer monster of creamy vanilla sponge laced with multi-coloured sprinkles, topped with vanilla buttercream and covered in yet more crazy sprinkles. I tried to recreate the ‘naked…

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Plaited Multi-seed Loaf

Ingredients

500g strong whole-wheat/granary bread flour + more to knead 30g poppy seeds 40g mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower and linseed) 10g dried yeast 380ml lukewarm water 1.5 tbsp olive oil + more to grease 1.5 tbsp brown sugar 1 tsp salt Salt, pepper and poppy seeds to top

Method

(Using an electric mixer with a dough hook)Combine the flour, seeds, yeast, sugar and salt in the mixing bowl…

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Salted Caramel, Pear and Walnut Tart

Delicious salted caramel, ripe pears and toasted walnuts, this tart has autumn written all over it! I keep watching TV cooking shows with fabulous thanksgiving/Christmas/autumn food and I just had to get stuck in and make a sticky, fruity pie. I love a good slice of pecan pie but that’s on the verge of OTT in my book, I love a bit of fruit for depth and decoration. Also – My second pie thats…

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Yeah I went there. And I’ll defend it too, these Cinnamon buns are the best, my favourite, hands down, or stick a fork in me and put me back in the kitchen.

It’s quite a big statement too because I love Ikea, it’s basically my ideal day out.

Anyway, another reason I’m going for the ‘better than Ikea’ statement is because I’m not one for the ‘Cinnabon-style’ rolls. Don’t get me wrong I’ll eat every crumb but given the choice I prefer them without the sticky-sweet icing sugar glaze that leaves you more than a little giddy on a sugar high for the next 10 days. With these it’s about 3 days, but at least its not 10.

Instead, I prefer the Scandinavian equivalent, rich and buttery with a bite of crunchy outside and soft in the centre, finished with an extra drizzle of extravagant buttery glaze that make these guys shine once finished. Although at first this may appear a tricky recipe, its actually pretty easy for a sweet-dough (especially compared to brioche etc.) but like bread, they need a little time to rise and a little love to create. But it’s all worth it for that smell.

Ingredients

For the dough:

1 sachet of dried, instant yeast

60g soft, brown sugar

60g slightly salted butter

150ml milk, warmed

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon nutmeg

325g strong white flour

For the filling and glaze:

1 medium egg

60g slightly salted butter

60g soft brown sugar

3 tsp ground cinnamon

For my butter glaze: Combine 1 tbsp melted butter, 1 tsp brown sugar and 1 tsp chopped nuts and spoon over each bun.

Method

Start with your butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl, creaming together until well combined then add the flour, mixing until fine breadcrumbs have formed. Add the yeast, and nutmeg to one side of the bowl and the salt to the other. Separately, whisk the warmed milk and medium egg, then add to the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine, then turn onto a floured surface and knew for 5-10 minutes or a stretchy dough. Leave to rise a warm place for an hour until the dough has doubled in size.

Once doubled, recolour the worktop then turn the dough back out. Punch the dough to knock it back and knead again a few times. Next, roll into a large rectangle until the dough is about 1/2 cm thick then spread generously with the filling. To finish, roll up carefully into an even sausage. Use a sharp knife or twine to cut into 12 slices.

Grease a large, non-stick baking tray well then equally space each bun. Cover with a light-weight cloth and leave to rise for at least an hour until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 210°C/200°C fan. Combine the second egg with a little water and brush over the buns before baking in the centre of the preheated oven for about 6 minutes until golden. Serve warm, (drizzled or glazed if you wish!) but always with fresh black coffee.

Better-than-Ikea Cinnamon Buns Yeah I went there. And I'll defend it too, these Cinnamon buns are the best, my favourite, hands down, or stick a fork in me and put me back in the kitchen.

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Well there’s a mouthful, literally and figuratively!

I really like proper hoisin duck wraps. All sweet and sticky and a bit crunchy from the spring onion and cucumber. But duck is a bit expensive and you’d really have to eat a few of them to feel full at dinnertime, so I did a bit of thinking. Soft tortillas, sticky roasted chicken and some kimchi-style pickled onion in the same delicious sauce, bundled in with cucumber a little salad, and voila! Fancy duck wraps made student-style! You can feed a crowd and still have tasty leftover chicken for salads, stir fries and pho style noodles over the next few days.

For the chicken (and wrap):

1 medium chicken Small knob of ginger 1 heaped tsp lazy garlic 2 tbsp brown sugar 2 tsp Chinese 5 spice 2 tbsp Chinese rice wine 1/2 cucumber 1/2 bottle of hoisin sauce Handful of salad or spinach 1 or 2 tortilla wraps each

For the red onions:

1 medium red onion 1 tsp brown sugar Pinch of salt 100ml rice vinegar

Method

First, turn on your oven to around 180C/170 Fan and prep the chicken for roasting. I spatchcocked the bird to make it cook faster and allow it to sit further down in the cooking liquid. To spatchcock, use a strong pair of scissors to cut down either side of the backbone from neck to tail, then turn over and push down on the chest o break the breastbone. Place on a large baking tray and set aside.

Next, whip up the marinade by combining the minced ginger, garlic, rice wine, sugar and 5 spice in a small bowl with 2 tbsp of water and 1 tsp of oil, whisk together then cover the bird, getting under the skin if possible. drizzle over 1 tbsp of hoisin the place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, basting in the marinade regularly. Its done when the juices run clear (not pink) from a. deep cut into the centre of the breast.

Meanwhile, for the pickled onions, finely slice then combine with the rest of the ingredients in a glass bowl, cover and allow to marinade until serving. Add a little chilli for a cheeky kick!

Once the chicken has finished baking, leave to rest for ten minutes and shred the meat with 2 forks, much like your would a duck. Finally, heat your wraps and slice the cucumber into batons for serving, alongside the shredded chicken, salad, some pickled onions, hoisin sauce and maybe a little light mayo for the ultimate fake-duck wrap experience.

Sticky Hoisin Chicken Wraps with Pickled Red Onion and Cucumber Well there's a mouthful, literally and figuratively! I really like proper hoisin duck wraps. All sweet and sticky and a bit crunchy from the spring onion and cucumber.

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You really need to be feeding a crowd if you’re making batch of this – it’s amazingly addictive! Rich and decadent, my Millionaire’s shortbread is a sinful concoction of buttery, crumbly shortbread, sticky salted caramel and dark chocolate, swirled with extra white chocolate for good measure. Make sure to share a batch with friends and family, ideally followed by some exercise to burn though the butter and sugar but don’t be put off, it’s more than worth the calories!

Also I just love the name “millionaire’s shortbread”. It makes me feel super fancy that with ingredients that can be found in any shop you can whip up a batch of tasty morsels once only available to the richest of the rich, a decadent treat that is now available to everyone, as it should be!

Ingredients

250g shortbread biscuits

50g rolled oats

60g melted butter

150g softened butter

150g brown soft sugar or Demerara

397g can sweetened condensed milk

Pinch of rock salt (more if you’re really going for saltiness!)

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

400g dark or milk chocolate

Approx. 50g white chocolate

Method

First, line your baking tray or casserole dish with grease-proof paper (I forgot but it makes it so much easier to cut up!). Put the shortbread in a ziplock bag and bash with a rolling pin until finely crushed. Tip into the lined dish then add the oats and melted butter. Stir well to fully combine, then press it firmly into packed layer with a spoon then refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the sugar and softened butter in a non-stick saucepan over a low heat until just melted. Add the vanilla, salt and can of condensed milk and bring to a steady boil, stirring well to prevent burning. Cook for around 2 minutes, stirring continuously until well thickened. Pour the caramel over the base, then allow to cool for about 30mins before allowing to set in the fridge*.

Melt the broken up chocolate in separate bowls in the microwave on medium-high, stirring every minute. Pour the dark/milk chocolate over the cooled caramel and then add equally spaced teaspoon sized blobs of white chocolate. Swirl together with a spoon for a marbled effect, zigzagging across through the blobs. Place back in the fridge again to set. Once ready to serve, cut using a sharp knife into small squares (this is really rich!) and share around for a great little treat.

*(at this point be very careful licking the spoon, the caramel is burning hot and takes a while to cool!)

Salted Caramel Millionaire’s Shortbread You really need to be feeding a crowd if you're making batch of this - it's amazingly addictive!

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Multigrain Porridge with Vanilla, Fig and Blackberry

Multigrain Porridge with Vanilla, Fig and Blackberry

Figs! I had never ever tried a fig until the other day and they are incredible. I assume they vary in flavour but these were delicate and sweet like honey. I knew they were visually beautiful, I had seen many a dainty recipe in books but they’re also incredibly versatile; roasted, stewed, pureed or just smothered in honey, they are fab.

So back to the porridge, well no, actually the porridge…

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Blackberry and Vanilla Rum Liqueur

Blackberry and Vanilla Rum Liqueur

And so ends the blackberry recipe obsession! There were so many blackberries on the bramble bushes a month ago that they were stooping over, fat and heavy with delicious fruits. I often walked through Southampton Common with my Tupperware box collecting as many as I could, thinking of the variety of different recipes, marinades, desserts and preserves I could make.

I get a lot of my ideas from…

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Caramelised Walnut and Coffee Bundt Cake

Caramelised Walnut and Coffee Bundt Cake

I managed to make something that doesn’t contain blackberries yaaaay! Although I love them, three recipes in a row with blackberries was a habit I needed to kick, then Mum mentioned coffee cake and voila, this little bundt cake was in the oven. Bundt cakes are fabulous, a bit different but so easy to cook and serve. I have seen some really beautiful recipes around, either stunning due to the…

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I love pie, who doesn’t love pie? Sweet but tart fruity filling, all-butter short crust pastry and all with homegrown ingredients. Well okay I borrowed the apples from my neighbour’s garden and the blackberries from over the road but that’s as home-grown as I’ve ever managed to achieve in a recipe! Maybe one day I’ll be able to grow some vegetables and have a few chickens and bask in my garden of self-sufficiency? Haha no I’ll never have time.

Anyway, this pie! I’m feeling a little smug because my pastry, even bought pastry, always 100% fails. It always overcooks, undercooks (soggy bottom), contracts, my puff pastry aways explodes, the list goes on. But this just worked, and I didn’t make any massive holes or ruin the edges. Maybe I have finally watched enough Food Channel that I can work with pastry….or its a fluke. Either way I’m proud it looks pretty good and tastes even better! Maybe a bit autumnal for an August recipe but the fruits were ripe, the world wanted blackberry and apple (and so did my Dad).

The one thing I would say is taste the apples and the blackberries before you add the sugar. Most recipes will encourage you to just pile in the sugar and butter before adding the fruit but then especially wild fruit can vary wildly in it’s sweetness/tartness. Hence I melted the butter, added the apples, then most of the sugar to taste, knowing the berries were quite sweet already. Also, for a better explanation for the lattice top, head here to simplyrecipes.com.

Ingredients

2 blocks (or ready-rolled sheets) of all-butter shortcrust pastry

70g caster sugar

30g dark brown or muscovado sugar

1 heaped tbsp butter

1 egg (for egg wash)

1 tbsp plain flour

Method

*First things first, make or buy your pastry dough and leave in the fridge to keep cold until needed for rolling an shaping. Here’s a good recipe.

Take out a large heavy based casserole pan or frying pan and melt the butter over a medium heat. Next add the apples, spreading them evenly over the base of the pan to sizzle in the butter to caramelise for 2 minutes, then taste before adding most, if not all of the sugars, to your taste. Stir then allow to cook slow and low with the lid on for 10 minutes, then add the blackberries, stir and cook for 3 more minutes with the lid off. Once cooked, leave aside and turn the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 to preheat.

Next, remove your pastry from the fridge and (my new trick) cover the work surface with a piece of grease-proof paper then dust well with flour. Roll out the block until it’s just under 1cm thick and about 30cm wide. Butter a shallow 26cm pie dish and lay over the pastry, gently pressing in the corners. Use the rolling pin to pinch off the excess and prick the bottom.

Spoon the cooled fruits evenly into the pastry case, leaving the cooking liquid behind. Roll out the second piece of pastry, perhaps a little thinner than before and use a pizza cutter to make 1 inch thick strips. Lay 4 to 7 strips of pastry over the dough vertically to makes stripes (I used 5). Fold back every other strip half way, and lay over a strip at 90° to the original. Unfold, then fold back the other, opposing strips and lay another strip at 90°. Continue to create a lattice.

Brush the top of the pie with the beaten egg, sprinkle generously with sugar and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until the sides and top look golden brown and crisp. Serve warm with custard, cream or ice cream!

  Blackberry and Apple Lattice Pie I love pie, who doesn't love pie? Sweet but tart fruity filling, all-butter short crust pastry and all with homegrown ingredients.

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Rum-Soaked Blackberry and Nectarine Galette

Rum-Soaked Blackberry and Nectarine Galette

I went there, typical. Take a nice, innocent, rustic dessert, then add rum. You can take the girl out of University (temporarily) but you can never get the student out of the girl!

But it totally works! Wild blackberries are tart and flavoursome so really soak up and mingle with the firey rum (recipe for blackberry-rum liqueur coming soon, it needs some aging) which is in turn partly soaked up…

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Creamy Coconut Porridge with Blackberry Compote

Creamy Coconut Porridge with Blackberry Compote

I eat porridge nearly everyday. Whether it’s simple pre-made sachets, microwaved concoctions topped with fruits and nuts or stirred for an eternity on the hob, it just sets me up for the morning. I’m not such a fan of overnight oats though, compared to the stick to your ribs warmth of hot porridge, it seems sad and sloppy when cold although served up in a cute mason jar on a hot day I can see…

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Ottolenghi's Creamy Polenta with Garlic Mushrooms

Ottolenghi’s Creamy Polenta with Garlic Mushrooms

I made this after a long evening run and it hit the spot! Very filling, rich and creamy yet no cream in sight. The cheese is definitely the strongest flavour, tangy alongside the earthy garlic mushrooms. Other then the polenta consistency, this recipe is really easy but surprisingly impressive once plated. I hadn’t cooked polenta before and I definitely learned a few things today! I usually do my…

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Bake this and watch people swarm the kitchen, the smell drifts to every part of your house like the cinnamon buns in Ikea. I don’t know how cinnamon is the one smell that permeates every single square-inch of a house but it does, and it’s so good! But then again it doesn’t last long because it all gets eaten by the attracted swarm 😛 Anyway, Gove this a go! It’s the perfect fun recipe, great bread-baking practice with a bit of arty plaiting thrown in.

Mainly I’m just really happy I finally have the time and motivation to bake bread! Not bread maker auto-bread but real hand-made bread that makes your forearms hurt from kneading and your patience thin while its proving. I last went though a bread baking stage about 5 years ago and for my 18th birthday my Mum bought me a day’s cookery class at The Kent Cookery Scholar the Secret Garden Restaurant near our home. There were only 4 of us for the day and I was the youngest by about 40 years, give or take! I absolutely loved it, learning how to make sourdough starters, sweet, sticky brioche and crunchy ciabatta to name a few. then we would all sit down and munch away, bloated by happy. I keep meaning to go on another course but I think the prices has gone up alongside the rapid increase in cookery TV shows and millions of cookery books (not that I can complain about either of those).

Anyway, while I would love to remember how to make that brioche from 5 years ago, I can always remember this recipe. Every time I go to Ikea I think I should really make cinnamon buns myself but this is the same flavour but with a lighter texture. Also this is fab for parties or after a BBQ, a real tear-and-share bake.

Ingredients

For the dough:

7g dried yeast (or 15g fresh yeast if you can)

1 tbsp soft brown sugar

290ml lukewarm milk

450g strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tsp fine salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten, (1 for the dough, plus 1 for glazing)

1 tsp vegetable oil

For the cinnamon filling:

80g soft brown sugar

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

125g salted butter, well softened

Method

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt til well combined. Dissolve the yeast and the sugar in 1/4 of the lukewarm milk in a small bowl and leave for 5 minutes to bubble and ferment (exciting!!!).

Pour the yeast mixture, the rest of the milk and the beaten egg into the flour mix, then stir with a wooden spoon, it will seem very dry at first but persist and I guarantee you’ll be flouring the work surface in the end, not adding anymore liquid. Once a ball is formed, tip out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth and elastic and springs back when pressed lightly with your finger.

Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm to rise for 1 hour. Here’s mine tucked up on the windowsill!

Once the dough has roughly doubled in size, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knock it back for a minute or so (gently knead to distribute the air) then roll out the dough into a square about 1cm thick.

In a mixing bowl, combine the light brown sugar, cinnamon and softened butter. Set aside about 2 tbsp of the mix, then spread the rest evenly over the dough using a spatula or palette knife. Starting with one of the long sides, roll up the dough into a log. Using a rolling pin, roll the log into a long rectangle about 8-10cm wide but be gentle – don’t let it all split sideways.

Using a sharp knife, cut the rectangle lengthways into 3 equal strips, leaving 2cm dough intact at one end so the strips stay together. Plait the strips along the length, then squeeze the ends together to seal. Scrape up any filling that comes out and try and post it in somewhere.

Brush the reserved cinnamon butter over the top of the plait, then carefully lift onto a floured baking sheet. Cover loosely with a clean tea towel and leave to prove for 45 minutes or until the dough stays indented when gently pressed with your finger. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Bake for 30-35 minutes until puffed and golden (cover with foil if it browns too quickly). Cool completely on a wire rack, then slice or tear to serve.

Cinnamon Plaited Sweetbread Bake this and watch people swarm the kitchen, the smell drifts to every part of your house like the cinnamon buns in Ikea.

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A simple, filling meal with a summery twist of Caribbean flavours! I love a tray-bake, make it as a big batch, put it in the oven and let all of the ingredients mingle. Better yet you can easily make enough to either freeze or halve the next day, so you can sit back and know that lunch tomorrow is a real treat. Rice is especially good for soaking up the depth of the stock with all the jerk-style seasonings and sweetness of the fresh mango, much like an Indian Biriyani-style dish. Try with a foil covering for half the cooking time, then remove and turn up the heat for crispy, caramelised chicken drumsticks and fluffy rice for serving.

To add another depth of flavour (and make this even more filling!) try using a little over half the amount of stock and adding 200ml/half a can of coconut milk with a dash of extra seasoning. A real creamy indulgence.

Ingredients

3 spring onions

1 large red onion

1 tbsp fresh or dried coriander

3 garlic cloves

1 heaped tsp ground ginger

1 green chilli e.g. jalapeño

zest and juice 1 lime, plus 1 lime cut into wedges to serve

1.5 tbsp jerk seasoning

8 – 10 chicken drumsticks

300g long grain rice

(optional) 400g can kidney beans, haricots or chickpeas

500ml chicken stock

1 ripe mango, in chunks

1 tsp liquid seasoning

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce or mango chutney (depending on your spice preference!)

Drizzle of Caribbean/BBQ seasoning sauce

Method

First off, make the marinade to ensure your chicken is tasty and succulent! Chop the garlic, red onion and chilli and place in a large mixing bowl with the coriander, lime zest and juice, jerk seasoning, ginger and mix well to form a loose marinade. Add the chicken drumsticks, stir well to coat both the meat and the onion and leave to marinate for at least 1 hr or 2, but up to a day.

Just over an hour before serving, preheat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Find a large, deep roasting tin and tip in the rice. Remove the chicken from the marinade and set aside for later on. Mix the stock into the marinade in the bowl and stir well. Pour the stock over the rice (and beans or chickpeas if using), then put the chicken drumsticks and half the mango pieces on top. Cover the tray tightly with foil and bake for 30 mins.

Remove the tray from the oven (be careful of any spillages!) and take off the foil wrapper. Turn the oven up to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Spoon the sweet chilli/ mango chutney over the drumsticks, along with a drizzle of BBQ sauce and return to the oven, uncovered, for 35-40 mins, to brown the chicken pieces and allow the rice to absorb all the liquid. Before serving, fluff up the rice a little with a fork and add the rest of the mango chunks, lime wedges and a scattering of herbs.

Sticky Jerk Chicken, Mango and Rice Bake A simple, filling meal with a summery twist of Caribbean flavours! I love a tray-bake, make it as a big batch, put it in the oven and let all of the ingredients mingle.

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Who isn’t in search for the perfect cookie recipe? Crispy edges with a slightly chewy centre, rich and sweet dough but without all the chocolate melting to form a gooey mess. However, I’m usually terrible at creating the humble cookie, not enough sugar or all uneven BUT the Hummingbird Bakery have got it right. This is definitely my new go-to cookie recipe.

So not it’s raining like crazy, I can’t run because my knees hurt and I’m forcing myself to not re-read my thesis for the hundredth time….so cookies it is. These never disappoint! you can very easily double up the mixture, make larger or smaller cookies, bake them lower for a chewier texture or hotter for crispier biscuits! This recipe is very forgiving so feel free to adapt to your own preference!

Ingredients (for 12-15 smaller cookies)

115g butter 175g soft brown sugar 1 egg (replace with 2 tbsp water, 1 tsp oil and 2 tsp of baking powder for crispiness!) ½ tsp vanilla extract 200g plain flour pinch of salt 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 100g chocolate, roughly chopped

Method

Firstly, preheat the oven to 180C/170C fan/Gas 4 then line two large baking trays with tin foil or grease-proof paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat with a whisk to cream them together until light and fluffy. The lighter the butter, the better the texture of your cookies.

Add the egg and mix well to combine and loosen the batter, then add all the dry ingredients including the chocolate chunks until you have a well-combined, smooth dough.

To get the right size and a clean shape, the best way is to use a small ice-cream scoop but I used two rounded tbsp measures to form the ball shape with an even size. Evenly-space the cookie dough spheres on the baking trays, making sure to distribute them, allowing room for spreading in the heat of the oven.

Bake for 12-15 minutes depending on the strength of your oven (mine was a little slow!) until the edges are just catching a golden brown colour! They may seem still doughy at first but after 5 minutes of cooling they will be much crisper. Enjoy alone, with a coffee or even broken onto ice cream!

Hummingbird’s Chocolate Chip Cookies Who isn't in search for the perfect cookie recipe? Crispy edges with a slightly chewy centre, rich and sweet dough but without all the chocolate melting to form a gooey mess.

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Grilled Fish Tacos with Mango and Aioli

Grilled Fish Tacos with Mango and Aioli

I’ve have been dying to make these but never got around to actually buying the right set of ingredients. My bad and a silly excuse but if I’m buying wraps I’ll inevitably buy chicken. The thoughts of Mexican chicken fajitas or Greek-style gyros are completely instilled in my cooking repertoire and that’s a hard thing to diverge away from after a busy workday.

BUT, fish tacos have arrived and oh…