Very Lemony Muffins

If you love lemon flavour it can't get more lemony than this.

All sweet Valentine Day's treat with a tangy twist. Classic. :) 

Ingredients (makes approx 12 muffins)

For Muffins: 

• 280g/10oz plain flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 115g/4oz caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 200ml milk
• 6 tbsp/ 90ml sunflower oil
• juice of one lemon and zest of 2 lemons
• approx 4 tbsp lemon curd (optional)

For the lemon syrup

• Juice of one lemon and a bit of zest
• 80g granulated sugar

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F/Gas Mark 6 and grease muffin tin or place cases in muffin tin.
2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder then stir in the caster sugar.
3. Lightly beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then beat in the milk, oil and juice of one lemon. Make a well in the dry ingredients’ bowl and pour in the beaten liquid then stir gently until combined but try not to over mix. Then stir through the zest of two lemons (You could leave a little for the lemon syrup to make it extra lemony).
4. Spoon half of the mixture into the prepared muffin tins or cases then add a teaspoon of lemon curd into the centre of each one before spooning the rest of the muffin mixture on top if you would like the muffins to have a lemony creamy surprise. However, the muffins are just lovely without this.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes until they are well risen, golden brown and firm to the touch.
6. While baking the muffins, make the lemon syrup with the juice of one lemon, granulated sugar and lemon zest. Mix the lemon juice and granulated sugar in a small bowl to give a runny consistency.
7. Then transfer to a wire rack. Prick the warm muffins all over with a skewer then pour over the drizzle – the juice will sink in and the sugar will form a lovely, crisp topping

Happy Christmas Baking

Happy Christmas Everyone

My Christmas log this year has Chestnut cream filling which I made and kept in the freezer.  

(click here for the chestnut cream recipe) 

This is a much smaller swiss roll (Genoise cake) recipe with 2 eggs instead of 3 eggs.

• 2 eggs
• 60g caster sugar
• 50g plain (or self raising) flower + 10g cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 10ml vegetable oil 

Click here for the swiss roll recipe. 

Chocolate ganache couldn't be easier. I melted 100g of plain chocolate with 2 tsp of milk in the microwave. 

More Christmas baking? Why not some ginger biscuits? :)  Happy Christmas.

Apple Flapjack

A friend of mine has a BIG apple tree in her garden that produces a lot of Bramley apples.
I just can't resit her offer of huge bags full of such lovely, juicy and tangy fruit.
So, I've been busy making apple chutney, muffins and cakes.... goodness knows pretty much everything I could think of.  When I almost ran out of ideas for using up the apples, I came across a recipe for "Apple Flapjack" which is not "crunchy" flapjack, but is very moist.
I suppose it's a different type of snack and very morish, a great afternoon treat for sure.

Ingredients

• 250g (8oz) butter or low-fat spread 
• 250g (8oz) caster sugar
• 175g (6oz) golden syrup 425g (14oz) porridge oats
• 2 apples (I used 300g of grated Bramley apples, which turned out VERY moist. Use 200g of Apples for a less moist result)

Method

1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4, 180°C, fan160°C. Line a 20 x 30cm (8 x 12in) cake tin with non-stick baking paper.
2. Melt butter, caster sugar and golden syrup together in a pan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the oats and apples.
3. Spread the mixture in the tin and sprinkle cinnamon sugar and bake for 25-30 minutes. Cut into 12-14 bars; allow to cool before turning out of the tin. 

Sweet Chestnut Swiss Roll

This Autumn seems to be a very good year for sweet chestnuts. Well, at least our local woods, Ruislip woods, have provided a lot of really good quality sweet chestnuts this year.

Collecting chestnuts is fun and we got so many. I made 2 jam jars and one ice cream tub of chestnut puree. So, I have been trying to be clever using the lovely creamy sweet chestnut puree.

Here is one of my successful attempts to enjoy this Autumn flavour. 

I spread too much puree on the sponge and, unfortunately, I could not Swiss-roll it. 

Can I still call it "Swiss roll"?

Well, let say it's "Ruislip roll." 

Ingredients:

For the Sponge

• 3 eggs
• 75g caster sugar
• 75g self-raising flour

For the Sweet Chestnut Puree

Click here for the recipe

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Grease and line a 23cm x 30cm/9in x 12in Swiss roll tin.
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy. 

3. Fold in the flour and spoon the mixture into the tin. Bake in the oven 
for 7-10 minutes, or until light and springy to the touch. 

4. Remove from the oven and turn the sponge out onto another piece of greaseproof paper. 

5. For the filling, spread the sweet chestnut puree (click for the recipe) onto the sponge, leaving a small gap around the edges. 

6. Roll the sponge. 

7. Dust with icing sugar and serve. 

Mount Blanc cupcakes

"Mount Blanc" cake was one of my favourite cakes when I was little.
My mum wasn't a baker, so she got these beauties from the local bakery.
So, this reminds me of my childhood.
I leant that the French make "Mont Blanc" with meringue. But my Japanese version of Mont Blanc uses very soft sponge cake as a base rather than meringue. 
When you cut this little Mont Blanc, you will see the fresh cream inside. What a treat. :)

Sponge base (for 10 cupcakes)

• 2 eggs
• 35g sugar
• 30g Self raising (or 30g plain flour + ½ tsp BP)
• 5g cocoa powder (optional, if you would like to make chocolate sponge)

Method:

1. Whisk the eggs with a hand mixer until very fluffy and pale in colour.
2. Keep whisking and add sugar in three batches.
3. Add sifted flour all at once and gently fold with a spatula to combine the egg mixture and flour. Do not over mix.  You need to keep the air in the mixture.
4. Pour the mixture into the muffin cases.
5. Bake them in a preheated oven at 170c for 15-20 minutes.
6. Cool them completely before decorating.
7. Make sugar syrup with 3 tsp sugar, 2 tsp water  and 1 tsp rum.
8. Brush the sugar syrup on top of each cake.

Now, the cupcakes are ready to be decorated.

You'll need whipped double cream and sweet chestnut puree. (Click here for the recipe)

1. Place a mound of whipped cream in the middle of each cake.
2. Mix the chestnut puree with 1 tsp of rum and put it in a piping bag.
3. Pipe the chestnut puree around the mound of whipped cream to create a “Mount Blanc” effect.

Sweet Chestnut Puree

Harvest time. :)
We are lucky that there is a "secret wood" where we can find a lot of lovely sweet chestnuts every Autumn. Another great harvest this year.
Sweet chestnuts are commonly used in savoury dishes in the UK, but for me, sweet chestnuts should be for "sweet" treats.  So, I made sweet chestnut puree. Yes, "sweet" sweet chestnut puree.
First, the shell needs to be removed. That's the hard bit.
Here is the way I did it.

1. Cut a cross in the chestnut shell.
2. Pre-heat your oven to 200C and place a roasting dish or oven tray inside. 

3. Pop the chestnuts into a saucepan of water and bring it up to the boil. 
4. Once it is boiling, start your timer for 2 
minutes. At the end of that time, drain the water off the chestnuts and tip the still steaming chestnuts onto the hot 
oven tray in the oven. 

5. Leave the chestnuts in the oven for 7 minutes.
6. While the nuts are roasting, prepare a large bowl and put a tea towel inside the bowl. 

7. Toss the nuts inside the tea towel in the bowl. This will keep the nuts warm as you peel them. 
It’s easier to peel them when they are warm.
8. Pull one nut out at a time from under the towel and pull the shell and fluffy inner skin away from the kernel. 
Keep going until you’re all done. 
If you are making puree, the shape of the chestnut doesn’t matter. So, use a teaspoon and scoop out the flesh.

Now the next bit is much easier.  

For chestnut puree, you will need;

• 300g chestnuts (unshelled weight)
• 300ml milk

• 200g sugar

• 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp Vanilla paste)

Method:

1. Chop the chestnuts roughly then place in a saucepan with the milk, sugar and vanilla. Bring to a simmer so 
that all the sugar dissolves and continue to heat for about 20 minutes so that the chestnuts have a chance to 
absorb some of the milk. 

2. Remove the vanilla bean. Pour the remaining ingredients into a blender (be careful! It will be hot!) then blend 
until it forms a thick liquid. 

3. Return the liquid back to the saucepan and heat, stirring continuously until it thickens and forms a bubbling 
paste. Let the chestnut puree cool before using it.

 

Now this lovely "sweet Chestnut Puree" is ready to be used for sweet treats.

I made "Mount Blanc cupcakes." I guess it's a Japanese-French fusion style of cake. 
Click here for the recipe.

... or you could make some little "Chestnut Truffles."
Simply, mix leftover cake crumbs and the chestnut puree together.
Roll into small balls and roll in cocoa powder. That's it. Enjoy.

"Kartoffelbrot" German Potato Bread

Yes. This is a potato loaf. A lot of potatoes are in there. When I came across this recipe, I was puzzled how 50:50 potato and flour makes a loaf.  But, here it is. It's soft, moist and more-ish. Although it's a bit of a fiddle to make this humble looking loaf, it's worth the effort. It has very distinctive texture different from any bread I have ever baked. The bouncy texture remains even a day after it is baked. 

Great with a bowl of soup.

Ingredients  

• about 375g/13oz potatoes, peeled and cut into even chunks (Exactly 300g/101⁄2oz peeled weight. Check the weight once they are peeled.)
• 1 tsp dried fast-action yeast
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 300g/101⁄2oz strong white flour, plus extra for kneading (or 100g/31⁄2oz strong wholemeal flour and 200g/7oz strong white flour) 

Method

1. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat slightly and cook for 15–20 minutes until they are tender but not falling apart.
2. Drain the potatoes in a colander over a bowl and reserve the cooking liquid. Return the potatoes to the pan and toss over a very low heat for 2-3 minutes until any excess liquid has evaporated.
3. Pour 75ml/5 tbsp of the warm cooking liquid into a large bowl and leave to cool for a few minutes. When it’s lukewarm, sprinkle in the yeast. Stir in the sugar and leave in a warm place for about 10 minutes until a light foam appears on the surface. (Add an extra tablespoon of the cooking liquor for a mixture of wholemeal and white flour.)
4. Mash the potatoes with the oil in the saucepan until they’re as smooth as possible, then stir in the yeast mixture.
5. Mix well with a wooden spoon and gradually add the flour and salt, a few tablespoons at a time, stirring well before adding more. Turn it out on to the work surface and knead the remaining flour into the dough. At this stage, the dough looks dry, do NOT be tempted to add more water otherwise the dough WILL become too sticky to work with.
6. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until soft and pliable. Place it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover loosely with lightly oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 60-90 minutes, or until well-risen and spongy to touch.
7. Knock back the dough with your knuckles and shape it into a rough ball. Flatten the ball on a floured surface, then bring the sides up to the middle to give a rustic surface to the bread. Sprinkle on some flour. Place it on a lightly oiled and floured baking sheet and leave to prove in a warm place for a further 30 minutes.
8. Preheat the oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C Score the dough with a knife along the pinched join and sprinkle the top with the onion seeds. Bake the loaf in the centre of the oven for 35 minutes until well risen and crusty on top. Cool on a wire rack. 

Crème brûlée tarts (Post Pavlova tarts)

Previously on "Kyoto.B bakes", I baked a Pavlova using 4 egg whites.  Obviously I had 4 egg yolks leftover. 
I could have made ice cream, mayonnaise, or custard, but in the end I decided to go with "crème brûlée tarts" which are basically posh custard tarts. As I used one egg yolk for the pastry dough, it was easier to work with than using no binding agent at all. And better still, the texture of the pastry melted in my mouth.  So, there was no waste. I used all the leftover egg yolks. Job done. 

I could have made an authentic crème brûlée by sprinkling some sugar on top of the baked tarts and caramelising with a blowtorch. As I don't have such fancy equipment, I just sprinkled demerara sugar on them instead. Just the job. 
I know they are rather chunky looking tarts but I enjoyed the "shortbread" style pastry. 
Of course you can make them as elegant as you wish by making very thin pastry.

Ingredients   (For 12 small tarts)

For Pastry

• 225g plain flour
• 60g icing sugar
• 125g butter, chilled, chopped
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons chilled water

For Custard               

• 300 ml pouring cream
• 1 egg
• 3 egg yolks
• 5 tablespoons caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Method

1. Mix the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add egg yolk and water and process until the dough just comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
2. Preheat oven to 180ºC (fan oven).  Grease the muffin baking tray. Roll the dough and cut 12 round thin discs. Place them in the muffin baking tray.
3. Cover the pastry bases with non-stick baking paper. Fill with baking beans. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and baking beans. Bake for 6 minutes or until golden. Reduce temperature to 140ºC (fan oven).
4. Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat. Whisk the egg, sugar, vanilla bean paste and extra egg yolks in a heatproof bowl. Gradually whisk in the cream until combined. Pour the custard mixture into the pastry cases. Bake for 20 minutes or until just set. Sprinkle the tarts with demerara sugar. Set aside to cool completely.

Pavlova

This is my first attempt at the famous "Pavlova." After a few disasters making Merangue, I thought I'd never be able to make this "egg-white wonder."  However, I thought I'd have a go as we have a lot of raspberries growing in our little garden.

It turned out far better than I expected. It had crunch outside and marshmallow texture inside. I'm so happy about the result. The only issue was the colour. It was as white as snow before I put it in the oven, but it came out slightly brown. So I asked my baking friends what I should have done to make it a "VERY white" Pavlova.  So, here is the list to check.

• Set the oven temperature VERY low. Think of "drying" rather than "baking".
• Turn  the temperature down immediately after when the pavlova goes in the oven. 
• Use a "conventional oven" rather than a "fan oven".
• Make pavlova in the evening and leave it to cool in the oven overnight.
• Keep the oven door shut when it's cooling if you want to have a "marshmallow" texture inside.
• Don't worry if it goes a bit beige, it's natural. 
• "The nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations, Australia and New Zealand, for many years, but formal research indicates New Zealand as the source,"  according to Wikipedia.

Unfortunately, my oven is fan and does not have a "conventional" option. So, I'll adjust the temperature lower. It's a good idea to make pavlova a day before serving.  Great news for a stress free dinner party. So, here is the updated recipe. 

Ingredients 

For the Base

• 2 tsp cornflour
• 2 tsp white wine vinegar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 4 medium free range eggs, at room temperature
• 200g caster sugar 

For the topping

• Your choice of fresh summer fruit 
• 1 tbsp icing sugar
• 250ml creme fraiche 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 140°C (fan).
2. Line a baking sheet with non-stick baking parchment, cutting it to fit. Using a cake tin or plate as a template, draw a 23cm diameter circle on the parchment with a pencil.

3. Place the cornflour, vinegar and vanilla extract in a small bowl and blend with a teaspoon until smooth.
4. Separate the eggs one at a time, taking care not to include any yolks with the whites.
5. As each egg is separated, tip the white into the large mixing bowl.
 Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff enough to hold their shape.
6. Whisk in the sugar a tablespoonful at a time, adding a little of the cornflour mixture each time.
7. When all the sugar and cornflour has been added, the consistency of the mixture will be thick and marshmallowy.

8. Using the spatula, turn the meringue mixture onto the baking sheet. Spread it to the marked line, then swirl with the spatula, making a slight indentation in the centre for the filling.
9. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 120°C (fan) and bake for 1 hour, then turn the oven off and leave the pavlova base to cool completely in the oven.

10. Spread some lemon curd, apricot jam or home-made summer fruit coolee over the indent in the pavlova. Then top up with the creme fraiche and decorate with the summer fruit.

Spiced Apple Muffins

Apple and spices like cinnamon and ginger are a great combo.
I add the spices quite generously as I love the flavour of them.
Chopped apple pieces make the muffins moist but keep them light.
I found if I mix grated apple rather than chopped apples the muffins turn out quite dense. I prefer light muffins like these.
Make sure to add the apple pieces into the dry mixture first to stop the apple pieces sinking to the bottom.
These are great to enjoy when they are still warm.

Ingredients

• 200g Plain flour
• 100g Caster sugar
• 50g Soft brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons Baking powder
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon powder 
• 2 teaspoons Ginger powder
• ¼  teaspoon Salt
• 90ml Milk
• 80ml Vegetable oil
• 1 large Egg, beaten
• 2 large Apples - peeled, cored and chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 C / 180 C (Fan) and add paper cases to a muffin tray.
2. Measure out flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices in a large mixing bowl. 
3. Mix the dry ingredients well and then add the chopped apples. Make sure the apple pieces are well coated by the flour mixture.
4. In a separate jug, mix milk, oil, and egg. Stir until just combined.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in but do not over mix.
6. Fill the muffin cases equally. 
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Chocolate Chip Flapjack

I have been trying adding different things to my basic Flapjack.
There were several unopened bars of dark chocolate in the cupboard.
It was quite a surprise they were even not opened.... !!
Anyway, I chopped one of the bars and added it to my flapjack mixture. Well, it wasn't a bad combo at all. So here it is. The recipe for the chocolate chip Flapjack.
Please just make sure not to add the chopped chocolate when the liquid mixture is still hot.
Otherwise, all the chocolate bits will be integrated to the flapjack. We need the chocolate bits to be seen.

Ingredients 

• 7oz butter or margarine (butter, if you prefer) 
• 2oz golden syrup
• 2 tsp black treacle
• 7oz muscovado sugar
• 12oz porridge oats
• 3oz plain flour
• 100g dark chocolate chopped

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C and line a 20cm/8in square baking tin with baking paper.
2. Mix the dry ingredients, (oats, flour, sugar, salt and chopped chocolate) in a bowl. 
3. Melt the butter or margarine in a medium pan over a low heat.  Add the golden syrup, black treacle and sugar to the margarine and heat gently. Once the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted, remove the pan from the heat and wait until the mixture becomes not too hot to prevent the chocolate bits melting. 
4. When the liquid mixture becomes cool enough, stir in the mixed dry ingredients. 
5. Pack the mixture into the baking tin and squash down. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes.
6. Once cooked, remove from the oven, leave to cool for 15 minutes, then turn out on to a chopping board and cut into squares. 

Cinnamon Buns

I love Cinnamon Buns. These are very sticky, light and very Cinnamony.

It's good to be generous with the cinnamon sugar filling as it gives a very distinct flavour. 

They are great for breakfast, coffee break ...... or anytime really. 

You can add crushed walnuts and/or sultanas in the filling, but I still love the simple Cinnamon flavour. 

Ingredients ( for the dough) 

•      600g (1lb 5oz) strong white flour, plus extra to dust

•      10g fast active dried yeast

•      100g (3½oz) caster sugar

•      275ml (9fl oz) milk

•      1 medium egg

•      50g (2oz) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease

Ingredients (for the filling and topping)

•      40g (1½oz) unsalted butter, very soft

•      60g (2½oz) caster sugar

•      2 tsp (or more) ground cinnamon

•      50g (2oz) pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped

•      50g (2oz) sultanas

•      125g (4oz) icing sugar

Method

1      Sift the flour into a large bowl and stir though the yeast, sugar and 1tsp salt. Heat the milk until it's just warm (too hot and it will stop the yeast from working). Whisk in the egg and melted butter, then add to the flour bowl in one go. Quickly mix to a soft but not sticky dough.

2      Scrape dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 min until elastic and smooth. Transfer to a large greased bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place until well risen (about 2hrs).

3      If you have time, take dough out of the bowl, knead it to burst any air bubbles, then return to the bowl. Cover and leave to rise for a further 30min (this will help develop the flavour).

4      Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. Lightly dust a work surface and roll out dough to a rectangle roughly 23cm x 38cm (9in x 15in). Arrange so a long edge is in front of you, then spread butter with your finger over the rectangle (right to the edges), and scatter over sugar, cinnamon, nuts and sultanas.

5      Brush the long edge furthest away from you with water (to help it stick). Roll up the dough tightly starting from the nearest edge - keeping it as round as possible, and pressing lightly to seal on the watered edge.

6      Cut roll into 2.5cm (1in) slices and arrange swirl-side up on the baking sheet (leaving space between the rolls to allow for expansion). Loosely cover with greased clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place for 30min to 1 hour.

7      Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5. Remove clingfilm and bake buns for 25-30min until nicely golden and well risen. Five minutes before buns are finished baking, sift icing sugar into a bowl and mix in just enough water to make icing with a smooth, thick, spoonable consistency.

8      As soon as the buns come out of the oven, spoon over the icing and leave to set. Serve warm or at room temperature.