Category: Baking

Baking

Practice Makes Perfect

Sophia Wells

Have you ever looked back and thought about where you were 3-4 years ago? Considering how much you’ve grown and the lessons you’ve learned? Sometimes its so crazy to think about. You don’t feel any different…and yet you are no longer the same person somehow.

4 years ago, around Christmas I wanted to make a whole bunch of baked goods to gift to family and friends. I picked out a few cookie recipes and gathered all of the ingredients. On baking day, I excitedly open the oven to see my first batch come out. They had spread horribly throughout the entire pan and were burnt. Extremely unappealing and unusable as a Christmas present.

Discouraged, I continued baking my entire cookie supply. All with the same fate. I was getting more and more upset but the second. Finally, I decided I would stop trying to be fancy and would just get a bag of pre-made cookie mix. I thought “There’s no possible way I can screw this up!”

Well, folks….I was wrong. They were a disaster. It was at this point I sank to the floor of the kitchen and dramatically cried how I would be a horrible mother one day since I couldn’t make a simple batch of cookies. My poor fiancé (now husband) did his best to soothe me, but I was at a complete loss why the cookies all failed.

In my defense, we did discover that the oven I was using was a cheap gas oven. Gas ovens, while great for cooking, aren’t the best for baking unless you have a top of the line one. Gas ovens heat up by emitting a burst of heat into the oven. So for the chemistry of baking, it’s not the best combo. I’ve been learning from my mistakes ever since then!

Every bake I’ve done, I have gained more confidence and skills. There have been many many mistakes. I have experienced massive amounts of stress and tears. I sat crying in the middle of my kitchen many times wondering aloud if I was cut out for this or if I should quit.

Luckily, I’ve had an amazing support system. My husband has never doubted what I am capable of doing. Poor man has been the brunt of a many bad baking day…

Recently, I have felt how far I’ve come from that day in the small apartment kitchen.

This past week, I had the pleasure of being asked to create a mermaid cake for a good friend of mine and her daughter’s birthday party. This little girl requested a strawberry cake. I worked with my friend to find a few cake designs that I felt sure that I could achieve.

I love these projects that push me out of my comfort zone. While I have done several cakes before, I’ve actually have never done a fully frosted cake. I have also never done any sort of fondant work. I was so excited by the challenge.

The entire bake from start to finish was the smoothest bake I’ve ever worked on. Every step of the way I was reminded of an incident or two where I had failed a bake. This time around however, those mistakes helped me to perfect my baking process. And as my husband can attest, there was no stress, no tears, and more importantly no yelling at him!

I truly feel that this mermaid cake is my best work yet! Practice really does make perfect! So whatever you are struggling with: don’t give up! Keep trying, keep practicing, keep learning from your mistakes!

Homemade Strawberry Cake

(From Sally’s Baking Addiction)

Prep: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Yield: 10-12

Ingredients

2 and 1/2 cups (263g) sifted cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1.5 stickers; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 and 3/4 cup (350g) sugar

5 large egg whites, at room temperature

1/3 cup (75g) sour cream or plain yogurt, at room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk, at room temperature

1/2 cup reduced strawberry purée (see note)*

Optional: 1-2 drops red or pink food coloring

Instructions:

1. Make the reduced strawberry purée and allow it to cool completely. See note. You can make it a few days ahead of time and store it covered in the refrigerator or cover and freeze for up to three months. Thaw before using in the recipe.

2. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and lightly flour two 9-inch cake pans.

3. Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.

4. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until smooth and creamed, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Beat in the egg whites on high speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Then beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients until just incorporated. With the mixer still running on low, slowly pour in the milk *just* until combined. Do not overmix. Whisk in 1/2 cup of reduced strawberry purée, making sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be slightly thick. Stir in food coloring, if desired.

5. Pour batter evenly into the cake pans. Bake for around 24-25 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it is done. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.

Note:

Purée 1 lb of strawberries. You should have a little over 1 cup. Stirring occasionally, simmer the purée over low-medium heat until you’re left with 1/2 cup or a little over 1/2 cup. This takes at least 25-30 minutes, but could take longer depending on your on how juicy your strawberries were. *Do not add sugar or anything to the puree or reduced puree-it’s just pure strawberries.

Baking

Alpacas, Goats, and Horses…Oh My!

Sophia Wells

We’ve all seen them. Those beautifully decorated sugar cookies. The ones that look way too good to eat, but that when you eventually do succumb are very happy you did. Perfect sugar cookies to look at and to eat. That is the dream. But that type of perfection takes a ton of practice, patience, and piping bags.

Me and James in our matching aprons

This is why when a friend of mine reached out to order some alpaca cookies, I was extremely excited for the opportunity to practice my skill some more. Her and her husband own a plot of land with several different types of animals on it. Alpacas, goats, horses, chickens, turkeys, and a very sweet elderly dog.

The cookies were for an upcoming Shearing Party for the alpacas, which happens every year.

My little baking assistant

Once the order was placed, I quickly ordered my alpaca cookie cutters from Amazon. (What? Did you expect me to already have alpaca cookie cutters on hand?) During my process of creating an order, I enjoy looking on Pinterest for design inspiration. While cookie at the various alpaca cookies, I was overwhelmed at how intricate they all were. So much little detail and several colors. I know I can eventually get to that level, but for the time being baby steps. My challenge was to push my design on the cookies without pushing myself too much and creating something horrible.

For this exact reason, I bake a few extra cookies to decorate. Those spare cookies are my “practice” cookies. They help me to see if what I’m picturing in my head translate well on the cookie. I’m so happy I had a few cookies to practice on, because I had a few very scary results before I perfected the look for the alpacas.

My horrible practice cookies

The biggest decision I had to make were about the eyes. When I tried to pipe them on my practice cookies, they turned into a thing of nightmares. Not cute at all. I went back and forth on these the rest of the day. It wasn’t until Roydon came home that a solution was discovered. Roydon suggested bypassing the eyes for the cute puffy fringe on the forehead. I was so grateful for his idea because it was exactly what was needed.

I was so happy with the final result.

It was decided that I would take James and drop the cookies off at her house so we can walk around and see all of the animals. I was excited to see how James would react to the different animals.

The first animals that he met were the goats of various sizes and colors. They licked at his bare feet and made him giggle. He even tried to reach out to them to pet once or twice. I didn’t expect that, since I don’t trust goats. They are very suspicious, but James had a lot of fun with them.

Next were, the alpacas. James wasn’t too sure of them. He would squeal at them if they reached their necks close to him. We tried to see if he would touch them but he was not having it.

After a bit we moved on to the horses. There was a horse dentist cleaning the horses teeth while we were at the barn. I found it oddly fascinating, because who would have thought? I’m sure my Mom would shake her head at this because of course horses had dental work done. There was a beautiful young horse who was absolutely the sweetest thing. She would poke her nose through the fence and James loved petting her. Though he did try once or twice to grab at the horses nostrils. This child.

After a bit, said our goodbyes, and headed back home with a carton full of fresh eggs. I think we’ll definitely have to return again.

The Best Sugar Cookies

(From Sally’s Baking Addiction)

Prep: 2 Hours

Cook: 12 minutes

Yield: 24 4-inch cookies

Ingredients

2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (170g) granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Royal Icing

(From Sally’s Baking Addiction)

Prep: 5 minutes

Yield: 3 cups

Ingredients

4 cups (480g) powder sugar, sifted

3 Tablespoons meringue powder

9-10 Tablespoons room temperature water

optional for decorating: gel food coloring

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the sugar and butter together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be relatively soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky for rolling, add 1 more Tablespoon of flour.

4. Divide the dough into 1 equal parts. Place each portion onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or lightly floured silicone baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use more flour if the dough seems tops sticky. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is even;y 1/4-inch thick.

5. Lightly dust one of the rolled-out doughs with flour. Place a piece of parchment paper on top. (This prevents sticking.) Place the 2nd rolled-out dough on top. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days.

6. Once chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats. Carefully remove the top piece dough piece from the refrigerator. If it’s sticking to the bottom, run your hand under it to help remove it. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with 2nd piece of dough.

7. Arrange cookies on baking sheets 3 inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the baking sheet halfway through the bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.

8. While the cookies cool, in a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat all of the icing ingredients together on high speed for 1.5-2 minutes. When lifting the whisk up off the icing, the icing should drizzle down and smooth out within 5-10 seconds. If it’s too thick, add a little more water. If it’s too thin add more powder sugar.

9. Decorate the cooled cookies with royal icing. Feel free to tint icing with gel food coloring. No need to cover the decorated cookies as you wait for the icing to set. If it’s helpful, decorate the cookies directly on a baking sheet in the refrigerator to help speed up the process.

10. Enjoy the cookies right away or wait until the icing sets to serve them. Once the icing has set, these cookies are great for gifting or for sending. Plain or decorated cookies stay soft for about 5 days when covered tightly at room temperature. For longer storage, cover and refrigerate for up to 10 days.

Baking, homebaking

Innocent Cookie or Bribe…or Both.

Sophia Wells

Last month my husband and I made a quick decision to buy a house. This house, however, is not built yet. So we are currently in the process of watching our first home being built. There are a lot of little things we are learning about home construction. Luckily, we know of a couple of friends who are going through the same. One of the tips we were given was to visit the house site often and bring the workers home baked treats. This sounds like a job for me!

I scoured all of my baking resources for the perfect cookie to bring with me and James on our first visit. I settled on an espresso shortbread from Dorie Greenspan’s book Baking: from my home to yours.

I’ve never made shortbread before, but I have eaten plenty of them. To me, shortbread is basically sweetened butter. And who doesn’t love butter?!

The Espresso Shortbread was extremely easy to make. Simple pantry staples like butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and flour is all it really needed to make. The dough was then rolled to the desired shape and thickness in a plastic bag and placed in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, I cut the cold dough into even squares and pricked each square twice with a fork. They then cooked in the oven for 20 minutes. Easily one of the easiest cookies I’ve ever made, and that’s including the basic chocolate chip cookies!

After James’ morning nap, we headed out to our future home. Our house now has the foundation poured and its getting easier to see how the end result will look like. July seems so far away!

I was finally able to flag down one of the workers, who I’m sure was not prepared to talk to me, and I handed him the bag of shortbread. The poor guy then felt obligated to stand with me for a bit and make small talk, when I’m sure he would have much rather hid behind the concrete machine.

We couldn’t stay for long, because the wind was insane and I was afraid it would carry James away from me. So we said goodbye, James even waved, took one last look at hour soon-to-be home and took off.

Now the whole point of this is to build up a good relationship with the people who are building our house. The hope is that if we need something done, we won’t just be strangers in an email thread but instead actual living people who have a face. Plus, you know, it doesn’t kill you to be nice.

These cookies are absolutely delicious. they would be perfect with your perfect hot beverage in the morning. Heck, they’d be great with just about anything! These cookies are the perfect bribe.

Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

By: Dorie Greenspan, Baking: from my home to yours

Ingredients

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

1 tablespoon boiling water

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

1. Dissolve the espresso in the boiling water, and set aside to cool to tepid.

2. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in the vanilla and espresso, then reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough. Don’t work the dough much once the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chopped chocolate with a sturdy rubber spatula.

3. Using the spatula, transfer the soft, sticky dough to a gallon-size zipper-lock plastic bag. Put the bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and roll the dough into a 9-x-10 1/2-inch rectangle that’s 1/4 inch thick. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so it doesn’t create creases. When you get the right size and thickness, seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.

4. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

5. Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board (discard the bag) and, using a ruler as a guide and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2 inch squares. Transfer the squares to the baking sheets and carefully prick each one twice with a fork, gently pushing the tines through the cookies until they hit the sheet.

6. Bake fore 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the halfway point. The shortbreads will be very pale-they shouldn’t take on much color. Transfer the cookies to a rack.

7. If you’d like, dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar while they are still hot. Cool the cookies to room temperature before serving.

Baking, Uncategorized

The Viennese Whirls Challenge

Sophia Wells

This past Sunday, I had booked us in for a family portrait session. Since James was born, we haven’t had a good picture of the three of us. I thought that this upcoming holiday season was a good reason to get some nice holiday photos. We planned this for months. Painstakingly figuring out outfits for all three of us. What color scheme to use and if it was possible to wear what we already owned. Roydon had a very nice green button up shirt and a silver tie. The rest of our outfits went off of that. I happened to already own a silver sparkly sweater that would match and look festive. The only thing we needed was an outfit for James.

I found the perfect little set. It was a green, plaid button up shirt with khakis and a gray bow tie. We switched out the khakis for jeans so we could all match. I was so excited to see my little man all dressed up. He looked so adorable. I couldn’t stop giggling and cooing over him. James seemed to like his ensemble as well. After getting ourselves ready we were on our way. We parked and started getting James out of the car seat when we realized that he had blown out of the diaper and up his back. What were we to do?! We did not have as spare change of clothes that would be appropriate for our pictures. We ended up changing his diaper and wiping down James and his nice clothes as best as we could. We then proceeded to take the pictures and hurried home to throw his clothes in the wash.

Besides that unfortunate incident, the photo session went incredible well. We have some very sweet pictures of James and of our little family. I’m so excited to get them in the mail. James is so darn photogenic. 

It’s buttery, it’s crumbly. It almost dissolves in your mouth. Absolutely delicious” ~Paul Hollywood

I got to be honest, I almost forgot to do the challenge this week. Between James’ early morning jam sessions and attempting to keep up with my daily chores, I completely lost track of time. Before I knew it, it was already Thursday. Luckily, this recipe had very basic pantry items, so I was able to accomplish it in no time. 

These beautifully attractive biscuit sandwiches were relatively easy to put together. A nice surprise to a very exhausting week. For the biscuits, all that was needed was butter, powdered sugar, flour and corn flour (or as we Americans use, corn starch). That hardest part came in piping the batter in pretty swirls. The batter was extremely thick, and it took all of my strength to get it out. I wouldn’t say they were a very pretty sight, but it’ll do. While they baked in the oven, I started on the filling. 

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The filling was also simple to put together. It was basically similar to an American buttercream; butter, powdered sugar and a small bit of vanilla extract. That was whipped up until it came together to a creamy consistency. 

While I was laying out the cooled biscuits to begin assembling, I was joined by my little assistant. He recently discovered the kitchen and always makes his way in to join me. Can’t say I minded too much and he was so proud of himself.  

I just want to note that while the recipe includes making your own raspberry jam, I did not. I have tried making jam before and I haven’t quite mastered it. The jam always ends up way too liquidly which wouldn’t work in this case. So instead of ruining the rest of the challenge, I opted for using some raspberry preserves that I had on hand. 

I spread the raspberry preserves on one side of the biscuits and then piped the other biscuit with the icing filling. I then started to press the two sides together. On my first attempt, I cracked one of the biscuits. I didn’t realize they’d be so fragile. I was careful with the rest of them, but still managed to break on other one. They looked so amazing. I could not wait to try one.

OH. MY. GOODNESS. These were so mouthwateringly good! They simply melted in your mouth! The combination of fruit and icing was such a flavorful. I shouldn’t be surprised with how much they melted in your mouth considering they are basically nothing but butter. I will definitely be making these again. Though I better start doing some hand exercises. 

Viennese Whirls

(pbs.org)

Ingredients:

For the jam

200g (7 oz) raspberries

250g (9 oz) jam sugar

For the biscuits

250g (9 oz) very soft unsalted butter

50g (1 ¾ oz) icing sugar

225g (8oz) plain flour

25g (1 oz) corn flour

For the filling

100g (3 ½ oz) unsalted butter, softened

200g (7 oz) icing sugar, plus extra for dusting

½ tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. For the jam, put the raspberries in a small, deep-sided saucepan and crush them using a potato masher. Add the sugar and bring to a boil over a low heat. When the sugar is melted, increase the heat and boil further for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat ad carefully pour into a shallow container (pass it through a sieve if you’d rather not have seeds in your jam). Leave to cool and set.

2. For the biscuits, preheat the oven to 375° F. Line 3 baking sheets with non-stick baking parchment. Using a 2in round cutter as a guide, draw 8 circles on each sheet of paper, spaced well apart. Turn the paper over so the pencil marks are underneath.

3. Measure the butter and icing sugar in a bowl and beat until pale and fluffy. Sift in the flour and corn flour and beat well, until thoroughly mixed. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Pipe 24 swirled rounds (not rosettes), inside the circles on the baking sheets.

4. Bake in the center of the oven for 12-15 minutes, until pale golden-brown. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and harden.

5. For the filling, measure the butter into a bowl and sift the icing sugar on top. Add the vanilla and beat with a wooden spoon or an electric whisk until very light and smooth. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle.

6. Spoon a little jam onto the flat side of 12 biscuits and place jam side up on the cooling rack. Pipe the butter cream over the jam and sandwich with the remaining biscuits. Dust with icing sugar to finish.

Baking

The Jaffa Cake Challenge

Sophia Wells

My husband and I have been having a very exhausting week. Why may you ask? Because of my little baking assistant. Our little boy is going through some major growing, and with that comes a crazy sleep schedule. He wakes up multiple times a night wanting to be fed and held, but as soon as he is put back in his crib after falling asleep, his eyes snap wide open and he starts fussing again. Frustrating. 

I think we can all admit that this has been one crazy week. Tensions are high, and uncertainty is in the air. For my part, I feel extremely anxious and stressed. I’ve been doing my best to stay busy and to keep my mind occupied. I’ve roasted our jack o’ lantern and made about 5 cups of pumpkin puree. This will make many delicious pumpkin breads in the near future! I made a batch of chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I also deep cleaned the oven which desperately needed it. It was so bad that I couldn’t see through the window. I’m telling you, that feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment from getting it cleaned was unparalleled. Is this what adulthood is all about? I also made hot and sour soup from scratch one day. This has been something that’s been on my bucket list to make. It was absolutely delicious! Last but not least, I finally made this week’s challenge: Jaffa Cakes. Stress baking, cooking, and cleaning at its finest!

They’re a great British Classic…It’s got to be absolutely perfect” ~Mary Berry

I was pleasantly surprised at how simple the recipe for Jaffa Cake seemed to be. It literally only had 8 ingredients. The first thing to do was to start on the orange jelly. Now apparently the Brits make their jelly by adding boiling water to cubs of jelly concentrate. I couldn’t find anything remotely like that here so I settled for buying an orange pack of Jell-O. I followed the instructions on the box, with one exception. Instead of adding the Jell-O to one dish to harden in the fridge, I split it between two dishes. This was to make sure the Jell-O circles were thin enough to be added to the top of the cakes. With the Jell-O left in the fridge to set, I started on the sponge. 

One large egg and the sugar were whipped together until light and thick. Then, the flour was gently folded in. That’s it! I couldn’t believe how simple it was. A teaspoon of the batter was then scooped into each muffin tin and placed in the oven for only 9 minutes. Again, I’m telling you this recipe was far simpler than I thought it would be!

The last part was melting the chocolate over a double broiler. I was now ready for the assembly!

The first part was to cut small circles out of the Jell-o. This proved to be simple enough until it came time to actually get them out of the dish. Every time I tried to grab a Jell-o circle, it would fall apart. I finally had enough beautiful orange circles of Jell-o placed on top of the cooled cakes. With the melted chocolate in a piping bag, I carefully covered the tops of the cake and the Jell-o. Once the chocolate cooled slightly, I used the prongs of a fork to make line indentations on the top. They turned out great!

The goal when biting into a Jaffa Cake was to see three layers on the inside, the sponge, jelly, and chocolate. However, when I was able to sample one, I found that my orange jelly was not visible. I’m thinking the chocolate melted them? I honestly don’t know. I could still taste orange, but just without the visual….so who knows. Maybe it’s the American jelly not being as firm and stable as British jelly. 

Next challenge is Viennese Whirls.

Mary Berry’s Jaffa Cakes

(From: BBC Food)

Makes 12

Ingredients:

For the Jelly:

1 x 135g packet orange jelly

150ml/5fl ox boiling water

1 small orange, finely grated orange zest only

For the Sponge:

Unsalted butter, for greasing

1 large free-range egg

25g/1 oz caster sugar

24g/1 oz self-raising flour, sifted

For the topping:

180g/6 ¼ oz plain chocolate (about 36% cocoa solids)

Method:

1. For the jelly, break the jelly into pieces and place in a small bowl. Pour over the boiling water and stir until the jelly is completely dissolved. Add the orange zest, then pour into a shallow 30x20cm/12×8 in tray. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour, or until set.

2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 365° F and grease a 12-hole, shallow bun tin with butter.

3. For the sponge, whisk the egg and sugar together for 4-5 minutes until pale and fluffy, then gently fold in the flour. Fill each well in the bun tin three-quarters full (about a dessert spoonful per hole) and smooth the tops. Bake for 7-9 minutes, or until well risen and the top of the sponges spring back when lightly pressed. Leave to cool in the tray for a few minutes then finish cooling on a wire rack. 

4. To assemble, break the chocolate into pieces then melt in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Remove the bowl from the heat and leave to cool and thicken slightly.

5. Turn the jelly out onto a sheet of non-stick baking parchment. Cut 12 discs from the orange jelly using a 5cm/2in round cutter. Sit one jelly disc on top of each sponge.

6. Spoon the melted chocolate over the jelly discs. Using the tips of the tines of a fork or a skewer, lightly press to create a crisscross pattern on top of the chocolate, then leave to set completely. You may need to reheat the chocolate a little if it starts to set before you have finished all of the jaffa cakes.

Baking

The Chocolate Soufflé Challenge

Sophia Wells

6-Months ago. 6-Months ago we were at the hospital getting to know our little boy. 6 months ago I had gone through several hours of pain, labor, and exhaustion and was now reaping the rewards. I know they always tell you how much time flies once you have children, but I never fully understood.

Every night when James goes to bed, I tend to go through all of the pictures and videos on my phone of him. I marvel at how tiny he used to be. How he would fall asleep after every feeding and how many times during the night we woke up to be with him. I miss him. Even though he’s sleeping in the next room, even though I spent the entire day with him and looked forward to bedtime for a small break, I miss him.

I’m enjoying every moment with him. I refuse to think of the future when one day he won’t need us anymore, when he won’t need me anymore. Our little bubberz. We love him so much. I often find that my chores are neglected because I don’t want to put him down. I’d much rather lie on the floor with him and play.

I’m sorry for the sentimental post.  Now on to this week’s challenge! 

I’ve never made one. Why have I never made a soufflé? Oh wait, because they’re a pain to make.” ~Nadiya

Luckily, my experience in making a chocolate soufflé was much more enjoyable than I anticipated. First however, I went on a mission to find four ramekins since they were not a part of my kitchen inventory. When I got to the store, I found that there were exactly four left. However, only three of them were the same color. So it came down to either having a mismatched set, or to go around town lugging a baby around in search of a complete set. I opted settling with the mismatched set. Call it charming, or quirky, or whatever.

I was able to make the entire sauce base of the soufflé ahead of time since these are best eaten straight out of the oven and I didn’t want to spoil our dinner. I started making the sauce base by breaking up 4 oz of chocolate and melting it down in a small pan with two tablespoons of water and milk. Once the chocolate was completely melted the rest of the milk was mixed in. 

In another pan, I melted the butter and then added the flour which created a soft dough. The chocolate mixture was then added and I combined the two together until it had thickened a bit. With a little bit of vanilla, I left the pan the cool completely. Once cooled, I beat in each of the egg yolks one at a time. I then took the egg whites and whisked them to stiff peaks with the whisk attachment of my new immersion blender. This was a purchase made after a snafu with a homemade mushroom soup and a blender. Let’s just say, I’m still cleaning up after it.

Now comes the hardest part, gently folding in the newly whisked egg whites. As Mary Berry says “If they fold [the egg whites] in too much it won’t rise. If they fold it in too little you’ll have big flecks of beaten egg whites. Not good.” It comes down to finding that perfect medium. Once the egg whites were completely incorporated in, I gently turned the mixture out in the four ramekins. Then in the pre-heated oven they went. 

The recipe I used said that they would take 10 minutes until they were done. After checking, though, I was disappointed to see that they had not risen very much and still looked extremely wet. I made the executive decision to keep them in the oven for a bit longer, which ended up being 20 minutes before I felt they were ready to be devoured. They certainly were. 

The only complaint I have is in the rise itself. While they did rise to a beautiful height, they were also cracked and domed which is apparently not supposed to happen with a soufflé. Apparently this happened because of the texture of the crème pat (the butter, flour, chocolate mixture) combining with the egg whites. As with folding in the egg whites, the texture of the crème pat needed to be just right as well. Not too watery, but also not too thick. With this knowledge in mind, I really would love to attempt making another chocolate soufflé.

With all of its flaws, we absolutely loved the flavor and the texture of the final product. I will definitely make it again. Next time, perhaps with a side of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Next week’s challenge: Jaffa Cakes

Hot Chocolate Soufflés

(Mary Berry’s Baking Bible)

Ingredients:

115g (4 oz) plain chocolate

2 Tablespoons water

300 ml ( ½ pint) milk

40g (1 ½ oz) butter

40g (1 ½ oz) plain flour

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

4 large eggs, separated

50g (2 oz) sugar

Process:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375° and place a baking sheet in it. Grease flour 8 fl oz individual soufflé dishes or a 2 pint soufflé dish.

2. Break the chocolate into pieces and put it in a pan along with the water and 2 tablespoons of the milk. Stir over a low heat until the chocolate has melted, then add the remaining milk and bring to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat.

3. Melt the butter in a small pan, stir in the flour and cook on a low heat for 2 minutes without browning, stirring continuously. Remove from the heat and stir in the hot chocolate milk and bring the vanilla extract and leave to cool.

4. Beat the egg yolks, one at a time, into the cooled chocolate sauce, then sprinkle over the sugar. Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry. Stir one tablespoon into the mixture, then carefully fold in the remainder.

5. Pour inton the individual soufflé dishes or large soufflé dish, run a teaspoon round the edge and bake on a hot baking tray in the preheated oven for 10 minutes for the individual soufflés or about 40 minutes for the large soufflé. Dust with icing sugar and serve at once, with whipped cream.

Baking

The Mokatine Challenge

Sophia Wells

One of the greatest joys about being a mother is watching your little one grow and discover new skills. For example, James for the longest time could only roll from his back to his belly. Though he very rarely showed off his ability, despite how often I tried to get him to show me. A full month went by like that. One day, however, James suddenly started rolling over like a certified expert. Not only that, but he also started army crawling across the room. All within a span of a day! How does this happen so fast! As I’m typing this he is slowly making his way towards me. Well, actually, he’s been distracted by the large black recycle bin and has started making his way towards that. I feel snubbed. Any way…

The latest milestone has been his nap and sleep routine. Since I am a stay at home mom, I decided to forgo sleep training. I haven’t really felt the need to sleep train with him since he’s been sleeping through the night since he was 2 months old. I have come to learn that James will let me know when he’s ready. When we first started the process of transitioning him out of his swaddle, He would wake up every 40 minutes all through the night. It was highly exhausting. We stopped trying to force him out of the swaddle and decided to wait until he was ready to roll over. When that time came, we felt the urgency in getting him transition, so we tried again. It took one night. Now, he enjoys rolling all over his crib. It is kind of fun to see him in a different location in the crib than the position we left him in. 

Speaking of new skills, I really feel as if doing these challenges has helped me become a better baker. British baking is so precise, one measurement off and you get an entirely different bake. I have definitely learned from all of my mistakes, especially in the beginning. As the saying goes, “Practice makes perfect” and I agree wholeheartedly. Now on to this week’s challenge, Mary Berry’s Mokatines! 

They should be sheer perfection. The sort of thing that you find in the patisserie.” ~Mary Berry

I was very nervous going into baking mokatines since the base of the cake is a genoise sponge. If you remember in an earlier challenge, my sister and I had to bake a genoise sponge for our baking faceoff, Tiramisu Cake. I ended up mixing all of the air out of my eggs and the result was a cracker like cake. Funnily enough, a dry cake isn’t the worse thing to happen to a tiramisu cake, but for this delicate dessert would be a disaster. 

I cleared my schedule on Friday so that all I needed to focus on were the mokatines. Well, that and James of course. I started off with the genoise. I whipped the eggs up until I could trace a small pattern in them without it disappearing and I very carefully folded in all of the dry ingredients. This is where I have the biggest trouble, because you want all of the flour mixed in but the more you fold the more air escapes. Just when I thought I had the flour incorporated, I gently poured the batter into my prepared square pan. As the last bit of batter left the bowl, so did a giant pocket of unmixed flour. Gah!! Definitely not something you want. I quickly folded in the rest of the incriminating flour. At this point I’m really hoping I didn’t just kill my sponge. 

As the sponge was baking in the oven, I started on the crème beurre au moka. When making my shopping list for the week, I had looked over this recipe and found that the crème needed something called coffee essence. I couldn’t find anything like it, but I did find an easy recipe for it. All I needed was to boil coffee and sugar until it had reduced to a sort of watery syrup. After that the rest of the crème was a simple matter of melting the sugar and water over a low heat until reduced and whipping it in with the gently beaten up egg yolks. The coffee essence is then stirred into the crème. 

I took out the sponge from the oven and allowed it to cool. I was so far very pleased with how it looked. It had risen very nicely and bounced back slightly when I lightly pressed it with my finger. It was like a sponge!! What a novel idea! Once cool, I used a serrated knife to split the sponge through the middle. Then I added the crème over the top of one half and gently laid the other half on top. I then sliced the sponge into 9 even squares. I ended up using the entire amount of the crème although I was supposed to safe some for piping later. I had to go through the entire process of making the crème again, I just couldn’t believe it made such a small amount!

The coffee icing was just melting some butter in the pan with the instant coffee powder and then adding the powder sugar. 

The assembly was quite an experience. First to gone on was the icing. I dolloped a bit on the tops and allow it to coat the sides. I had to work quickly because it was setting extremely quickly. After a bit I had all nine of the sponges covered in the icing. I quickly chopped up some peanuts and started coating the sides with it. It was a challenge not to make too much of a mess, but, as my husband can attest, I failed. The final step was piping stars along the edge of the sponges. I had thought this would be the easy part. After all I have piped many cakes and cupcakes…this should have been easy. I soon found that I was struggling to get the crème piped smoothly. I think I had unconsciously trapped an air bubble in my piping bag. It made squeezing out the crème a bit impossible. Somehow I managed, until the last poor little sponge. All the pressure I had on the bag released dumping a whole pile of crème in a very unflattering way. I guess that sponge will not make it to the final photo shoot. 

I felt very proud of how they turned out. Were they sheer perfection like Mary Berry wanted? Not in the least. Most, if not all, of the cakes were slightly crooked, and my decorating could have been a tad tidier. However, I was happy with the result. I was even happier when I enjoy one of them. They were absolutely delicious! It had a nice coffee flavor, the sponge had a beautiful texture and I loved how creamy everything was. Absolutely, heavenly!

The next challenge Hot Chocolate Soufflé!

Mokatines

(From Mary Berry’s Baking Bible)

For the geneose sponge

40g (1 ½ oz) butter

3 large eggs

75g (3 oz) caster sugar

65g (2 ½ oz) self-rising flour

1 level tablespoon cornflour

For the crème au beurre moka

40g (1 ½ oz) caster sugar

2 tablespoons water

1 large egg yolk

75g (3 oz) softened butter

1 tablespoon coffee essence

For the soft coffee icing

3 tablespoons apricot jam

50g (2 oz) butter

3 tablespoons milk

1 level tablespoon instant coffee granules

225g (8 oz) shifted icing sugar

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Grease an 7in square cake tin then line the base with baking parchment. 

2. To make the sponge, gently melt the butter in a pan, then set to one side to cool slightly. Measure the eggs and sugar into a large bowl and whisk at full speed until the mixture is pale and mousse-like, and thick enough so that a trail is left when the whisk is lifted from the mixture. 

3. Sift the flours together into a bowl. Carefully fold half the flour into the egg mixture gently pour half the cooled butter around the edge of the mixture and then fold it in. Repeat with the remaining flour and butter. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. 

4. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 35-40 minutes or until well risen and the top of the cake springs back when lightly pressed with a finger. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack. 

5. To make the crème au beurre moka (coffee butter cream), measure the sugar and water into a small heavy-based pan. Heat very gently until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil then boil steadily for 2-3 minutes until the syrup is still clear and forms a slim thread when pulled apart between 2 teaspoons.

6. Put the egg yolks into a bowl and give them a quick stir to break them up. Pour the syrup in a thin stream over the yolks, whisking all the time. Continue to whisk until the mixture is thick and cold. In another bowl, cream the butter until very soft and gradually beat in the egg yolk mixture. Stir in the coffee essence to flavor. 

7. Cut the cold cake in half horizontally and sandwich the slices together with a thin layer of the coffee butter cream. Trim the cake edges and then neatly cut in half, and then cut each half into 4 to give 8 oblongs. Sieve the apricot jam into a small pan and warm gently. Brush the top and the sides of the cakes with the hot apricot jam.

8. To make the coffee icing, measure the butter, milk and coffee into a small pan and heat gently until the butter has melted. Add the shifted icing sugar and beat until smooth and glossy. Leave to thicken slightly, then use most of the cream to pour over each cake, smoothing the sides quickly if necessary. Leave to set and then decorate with the remaining piped coffee buttercream. 

Baking

The (Almost) Gluten-Free Pita Bread Challenge

Sophia Wells

I am relatively new to gluten free baking. Before we moved to Texas, I had absolutely no reason to bake anything gluten-free. I don’t have a gluten allergy and I didn’t know anyone who did either. However, it seems like every single person I know here in Texas is on a gluten-free diet. I have since made a few items like gluten free dinner rolls (delicious!) and have discovered gluten-free treats like macarons and macaroons (yes, these are two entirely different cookies). All of this to say, that I am still very new to gluten-free baking and, therefore, will explain what went wrong with this seemingly straightforward challenge. 

Baking can be done with a few simple ingredients, so it’s about simplicity and nostalgia – people are reminded of their childhood.” ~Paul Hollywood

I decided to tackle this challenge during the day on Friday while Roydon was at the dentist’s office. It was just me and my little baking assistant, James. This recipe asked for very basic pantry items except for one thing, nigella seeds. None of my local stores carried nigella seeds. I found a solution, though! A fitting replacement for nigella seeds is caraway seeds….which I also did not have in the pantry. So I decided to use celery seed instead. That should work well enough. Heck, I’m sure I could have used just about any spice/seasoning and it would have been fine. 

I started out gathering all of the ingredients on the counter. James was playing on the floor in front of me happy as can be chewing on whatever toy was closer. I turn my back for one second to get one last item out of the pantry, when I returned and saw that James had completely overturned his jungle gym and was giving me a look that stated quite clearly “Yeah, I did this! What you got to say about it.”

After rescuing James, I returned to the task at hand. I measured out the sugar, salt, yeast, white wine vinegar, olive oil, and cracked the eggs. I then went to measure out the gluten free flour and discovered that I had “just” the right amount for the bread. *phew* I then mixed up all of the ingredients in a bowl with 300ml of water. It was extremely sticky. A little too sticky. I was supposed to be getting a soft dough that was only slightly sticky. It was so sticky that it would have made kneading it on the counter close to impossible. Let’s see how many times I can say “sticky”. 

With all of this sticky, sticky dough, I figured I needed to add a bit more flour….the only flour I had left was a gluten filled one. What else was I supposed to do? I added the flour to my sticky dough. It definitely helped the sticky situation. Now on to the kneading! Of course, I need more flour to sprinkle on the counter before I turned out the dough…thus, my gluten-free pita dough ended up having more regular flour than gluten-free. Paul Hollywood would be so disappointed that I was butchering his gluten-free recipe. 

The dough was left to rise for an hour and a half and then was divided into 6 even balls. Those balls were rolled out into flat ovals and placed in the oven to bake. They looked beautiful when I pulled them from the oven and I was anxious to see if I have achieved the infamous pocket in the pita bread. I, sadly, did not. So, as far as Technical Bakes go, I had failed. Though, the bread was delicious with the Turkey meatball and kale soup that I made for dinner that night. Might I also add that the celery seed was way too strong and I probably should have gone back out to the store to find caraway seed to replace the nigella seed.Well, you live and learn. I know I certainly do. 

The next challenge is Mary Berry’s Mokatines!

Paul Hollywood’s Gluten-Free Bread

From BBC Food

Ingredients

30g/1oz psyllium powder

750g/1lb 10oz gluten-free strong bread flour, plus extra for flouring

3 tbsp nigella seed

15g/½ oz sugar

1 tbsp salt

21g/¾ oz instant yeast

3 large eggs

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

6 tbsp olive oil

Method:

1. Mix the psyllium powder with 300ml/10fl oz water. Set aside to allow the mixture to thicken.

2. Tip the flour and nigella seeds into a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Crack the eggs into the center of the flour, add the vinegar, olive oil and the psyllium mixture. Combine the ingredients to form a soft dough. Gradually add about 300ml/10fl oz water – you may not need it all, although the dough should be soft and slightly sticky.

3. Place onto a floured surface and knead to form a smooth dough. Place back in the bowl, cover and leave to rest for 1 ½ hours, or until doubled in size.

4. Heat the oven to 430° F and place 3 heavy baking trays in the oven to heat up.

5. Dust your work surface with flour. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and shape each one into a ball. Roll or press the pieces into oval shapes about 4mm thick.

6. Remove the baking tray from the oven and dust with a little flour. Lay four pitas on each tray and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until puffed up and cooked through. The pitas should have a slight color to them. Remove from the oven and wrap in a clean tea towel-this helps keep them soft.

Baking, Uncategorized

The Frosted Walnut Cake Challenge

Sophia Wells

I’m back with another Technical Challenge from The Great British Baking Show! I had taken a year hiatus because of my pregnancy and the birth of our son, James. Motherhood has been quite an interesting and amazing journey so far. My time had been consumed by this little nugget. I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. He is now 5 months old and able to play more independently, which grants me a little time here and there to get chores done or to start baking again! We have been so blessed with James. He is extremely easy going and has a hilarious personality. He’s just one giant goofball. Just this past week, he has mastered rolling over. Since then, He hasn’t stopped moving. Before I know it he’ll be crawling and then walking. I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet. It already feels like my little boy is growing up too quickly, and I keep picturing that sad day when he leaves home for good. Until then, He is going to be my little baking assistant.

I think baking is very rewarding, and if you follow a good recipe, you will get success.” ~Mary Berry

I make my return to this blog by taking on Mary Berry’s Frosted Walnut Cake. Upon looking at the recipe, the only true challenge I saw was with the boiled icing. First a show of hands, who has never heard of boiled icing? Me neither, although the method to creating this icing was very similar to making Swiss Meringue Buttercream. The big difference between the two is that boiled icing does not use butter. All it needs are egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar to help with stability. Using a double broiler, the ingredients are whipped into submission until thick. The recipe said it’ll take 10 minutes, but after 30 minutes of vigorous hand whisking I could not get it thick enough. So with the assistance of my KitchenAid mixer, I had produced a beautiful icing. 

The cake itself was very simple to throw together. Ground walnuts, self-rising flour and baking powder for the dry ingredients, and eggs, butter and sugar for the wet ingredients. The batter resembled that of banana or (more appropriately) nut bread. I spread the batter evenly over two 8 inch spring form pans and baked in the oven for a little over 30 minutes. Once finished, it was a simple matter of waiting for it too cool on a wire rack before proceeding to assemble. 

Since the icing sets extremely quickly, I had to make it after the cake was cool. Once it was ready, I coated the two layers in the boiled icing and attempted to make it look beautifully swirly the way Mary Berry does it in her cookbook. However, she really wasn’t kidding when she said it sets quickly. So although it doesn’t look perfect, I was proud of how it spread on the cake. 

The finishing touches were the candied walnuts. Sugar and a couple tablespoons of water went into a saucepan in an attempt to caramelize it so that I can coat the 10 halves of walnuts in it. However, I started having issues with the caramel browning. It stayed clear until all the liquid had disappeared and I was left with dry clumps of sugar that refused to melt and only stuck to the pot. I found it so strange since I have made caramel several times before. I added a little bit more water and allowed it to boil again before coating the walnut halves. Once they were cooled I decorated the top of the cake. 

I was able to try this cake out on a couple of friends who came over for dinner. They both absolutely loved it. One even commented on the how the boiled icing was an older technique that their mother would always use on their cakes. I loved the cake as well. The Icing was incredibly sweet but it paired well with the not as sweet cake. The texture of the icing reminded me a bit of a marshmallowy Pavlova. We all enjoyed a second helping, and the cake was gone by the second day. 

I may actually add this cake to my arsenal. It was very simple to bake and I’d like to try my hand at getting the swirl design better. Next week, I will be attempting a more savory bake: Gluten-Free Pita Bread!

Frosted Walnut Layer Cake

(From Mary Berry’s Baking Bible)

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

225 g (8 oz) Softened Butter

225 g (8 oz) Sugar

4 Large Eggs

225 g (8 oz) Self-Rising Flour

100 g (4 oz) Finely Chopped Walnuts

For the Frosting:

2 Large Egg Whites

350 g (12 oz) Sugar

4 Tablespoons Water

¼ Level Teaspoon Cream of Tartar

For the Caramelized Walnuts:

2 Tablespoons Water

100 g (4 oz) Sugar

10 Walnut Halves

1. Preheat the oven to 300° F. Grease three 20 cm (8 in) cake tins then line the base of each tin with baking parchment.

2. Measure all the ingredients for the cake into a large bowl and beat until thoroughly blended. Divide the mixture equally between the tins and level the surfaces.

3. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 25-30 minutes until the cakes are golden and springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack.

4. For the caramelized walnuts, tip the sugar and 2 tablespoons water into a pan and heat over a low heat until the sugar begins to melt. Increase the heat and cook the caramel to dark golden color. Remove from the heat, add the walnut halves and swirl to coat in the caramel. Transfer the walnut to a silicon sheet and leave to set.

5. For the frosting, measure all the ingredients into a bowl over a pan of hot water and whisk for 10-12 minutes until thick. Sandwich the cake layers together with a little of the frosting, then use the remainder to cover the top and sides of the cake, swirling the icing to form softened peaks. Work quickly as the icing sets rapidly. Leave to set in a cool place, but not in the fridge. Decorate with the walnut halves.