double yolk egg muffins ... lovely!

Hey, I found a double yolked egg. :) I cracked the egg and there were two yolks in one egg.
So I baked fruit muffins with my easy muffin recipe adding 100g of dried fruit.
I baked them as usual, but somehow, they rose more than usual. Is this an effect of 2 yolks?
I don't really know.....
Anyway, it was a lovely surprise and I'm very pleased about how the muffins turned out. :)

Maggie's Famous Flapjack

For me, good old British Home Baking is Maggie's flapjack. I have so many good memories of living in Birmingham and this is one of them. My very good friend Maggie makes flapjack which is everybody's favourite. Maggie, who is a great home baker, says that she nurtured, amended and adjusted the recipe over the years until she arrived at the recipe she really likes best. I love her flapjack, and since I moved to London this recipe has been on my fridge. 

 Ingredients

• 7oz margarine

• 3 tbsp golden syrup (62g/2oz)

• 7oz brown sugar

• 12oz oats

• 3oz sesame seeds, or sunflower seeds, or raisins, or chopped dates, or walnuts 

• 6oz wholemeal plain flour

Method

1. Melt margarine, golden syrup and brown sugar, then add the dry ingredients.
2. Spread in tin(s) and cook at Gas mark 5 /180°C for 20 minutes.
3. Cut before it hardens!

I like adding chopped walnuts and prunes.

A pretty jar of flapjack is a great wee prezzy to make someone smile. :)

My take on Pain aux Raisins

After making little Chelsea buns, I was wondering if I could make these a bit classier.... like Pain aux Raisins which I can't resist buying in the patisserie. I love the buttery flaky pastry with custard and raisins.  However, sometimes I fancy a lighter version, something like bread based Pain aux Raisins. So, here is my little bread version of  Pain aux Raisins. I used dried mixed fruit instead of only raisins to give more interesting flavour and texture. Well, I didn't make the custard though I could have done. I cheated by making custard from instant custard powder. I thought I had got rid of it, but the last packet was still there in my cupboard, and I had to use it up. I made the custard very thick in consistency and let it cool. I also soaked the dried fruits with some hot water to plump them up. You could soak the fruit with apple juice instead of water.
I made a half quantity of bread dough, but added 2 tsp of sugar before adding water. After the first raising, I flattened the dough and spread the custard all over. Then I sprinkled the mixed dried fruit. I carefully rolled up the dough as if I was making a Swiss roll, and cut this Swiss roll look dough into pieces about 2cm in width and flattened them. I placed them on a baking plate, then baked  in a 200c fan oven for 15 minutes.

Low-Fat Lemon Cake: Lemon drizzle cake

This is a very "lemony" version of my basic low-fat cake recipe. You need to pour lemon syrup after the cake is baked. 1 lemon would be enough, but try 2 if you like a really lemony flavour. :) 

 Ingredients

• 6 oz Castor Sugar 

  

  Baked in a lof tin. decorated with lemon icing
  (Lemon juice and icing sugar)

• 6 oz SR Flour (or plain flour + 2tsp baking powder)
• 6 oz Low-Fat Spread (ignore the note on the package “Not suitable for baking” It seems to work fine.) 
• 2 Eggs  
• The Zest of 1 or 2 Lemons
• 2 Tbsp Milk

 For Lemon Syrup 

• The Juice of 1 or 2 Lemons
• 1 or 2 Tbsp Sugar

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 °c or 160°c for fan oven.
2. Put all ingredients in the food processor, or stand mixer, and mix well. (but not too much) I normally use a hand mixer.
3. Bake in the oven for about 40 to 50 minutes.
4. When the cake is baked, let it stand in the tin for 5 minutes.
5. Make 12 holes with a fine skewer.
6. Make a syrup with lemon juice and sugar and pour over the cake.
7. Wait about 20 minutes for the cake to absorb the syrup and then remove the cake from the tin.
8. Finish with a thin even layer of granulated sugar and a few pieces of lemon zest

2-Egg Madeira cake

2 Egg Madeira Cake 

Is it just me who finds 2 eggs remaining in the fridge? I can find good cake recipes for 3 eggs, but not so many using 2 eggs. But, for some reason, there are often only two eggs in my fridge.  So, here is a recipe for my 2 egg version of the famous "Nigella Lawson's Mother-in-Law's Madeira cake". I love her recipe, but I need to adjust it for the last two eggs in my fridge. Although Nigella suggested using plain and self-raising flour, when I first tried her recipe I had run out of plain flour, but I used self-raising flour only. But it did the job well.  So here is my 2 egg Madeira Cake.

Ingredients

• 160g softened unsalted butter (low-fat spread works well, too) 
• 140g caster sugar
• Grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 large eggs
• 200g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp BP

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170 °C /gas mark 3. 
2. Cream the butter and sugar, and add the lemon zest.
3. Add the eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of the flour for each.
4. Then gently mix in the rest of the flour and, finally, the lemon juice.
5. Sprinkle with caster sugar (about 2 tablespoons should do it) as it goes into the oven, and bake for 40 minutes or until a cake-tester comes out clean.
6. Remove to a wire rack, and let cool in the tin before turning out.   

Basic Loaf

Basic Loaf 

I have baked this recipe so many times and it really works!! As long as the total amount of the flour is 500g, the combination of whole meal and white flour can vary.  Ultimate formula!  :)

Ingredients 

• 500g Strong Bread flower ( e.g. 400g Strong white + 100g strong wholemeal )
• 7g sachet fast-action dried yeas
• 1 tsp salt
• up to 350ml lukewarm water
• a little sunflower oil , for greasing 

Method

1. Make the dough by tipping the flour, yeast and salt into a large bowl and making a well in the middle. Pour in most of the water and use your fingers or a wooden spoon to mix the flour and water together until combined to a slightly wet, pillowy, workable dough - add a splash more water if necessary. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for at least 10 mins until smooth and elastic. This can also be done in a tabletop mixer with a dough hook. Place the dough in a clean oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise until doubled in size.
2. Heat oven to 220C/ fan 200C/ gas 7. Knock back the dough by tipping it back onto a floured surface and pushing the air out. Mould the dough into a rugby ball shapes and place them on a baking tray. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to prove for 30 mins. Dust the top of the loaf with a little more flour and slash the top with a sharp knife if you want.
3. Pour hot water onto the bottom of the oven or into a dish at the bottom of the oven to create steam. 
4. Bake the bread for 15 mins, then reduce the heat to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5 and continue to bake for 30 mins until the loaf sounds hollow when removed from the oven and tapped on the base. Leave the bread on a wire rack to cool completely. The loaf will stay fresh in an airtight container for 3 days or can be frozen for 1 month.