Chocolate Shortbread

This recipe is a combination of my two favourite things in the whole wide world; shortbread and chocolate. A match made in heaven. It’s a simple shortbread recipe, taken from the Great British Bake Off (a great show) Book of Baking, and I’ve also added some variations that could make it really interesting.

Ingredients:
100g caster sugar
260g flour

200g butter

40g cocoa powder

To make:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.

Mix in all the dry ingredients thoroughly, then rub in the butter until you have lots of fine crumbs.

Tip into a round tin and press in with a fork or spoon, so it is packed tightly. Prick and score it also to make it easier to break into pieces once cooked.

Pop in the oven til firm – usually about 25 – 30 minutes. Remove, and cut along the scored lines. Then leave to cool.

Changes:

Chocolate Orange shortbread: add the zest of an orange for a bit of a kick and crumble in some chocolate orange pieces.

Lemon shortbread: swap the cocoa powder for corn flour and add the zest of a lemon.

Double chocolate: add chocolate chips!

Choc-Chip Cookie Bars with Cookie Dough Frosting

Another post from our favourite guest poster, Hollie! This week she has made cookie bars and they are AWESOME. If you have baked something yummy and want to share your creation, just email your recipe and 1-3 photos to rubyandhelen@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you!

Who doesn’t love cookie dough? Well this recipe is a double whammy! It’s inspired by the Domestic Rebel’s Recipe, which you can find here. I’ve added a few of my own variants with toppings and converted measurements.

For the cookie base:
9 tablespoons of soft butter
33g light brown soft sugar
100g granulated sugar
1 medium egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
100g of any kind of chocolate chips you fancy

For the topping:

9 tablespoons of soft butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
50g brown sugar
About 100g icing sugar
60 g of chocolate chips

peanut butter

1)Preheat the oven to 170 C and grease a small sized rectangular/square tin

2)Cream the butter and sugars. Then add the egg and vanilla extract till it is all combined well. Then add the flour, salt and baking powder. you should have a nice cookie dough going on.

3)Then add loads of chocolate chips!! Or perhaps there might be something else you fancy instead like nuts or fruit…

4)Pop the mixture into the tin – spread out as evenly as possible. Then put in the oven for 25 minutes, when it should be just the right golden brown.

5)When they are out the oven, leave to cool in the tin. Then when they are ready, put on the topping.

6)I spread peanut butter on half and then cookie dough on the other half (To make the cookie dough cream the butter, sugar and vanilla extract, then slowly add the icing sugar and finish with the chocolate chips). A variant would be to put the peanut butter on as a first layer and then smooth the cookie dough topping on top of this.

Enjoy!!

Viennese Fingers

Another guest post from our housemate Hollie 🙂

Ingredients:

100g butter
30g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
110g self-raising flour
200g plain/milk/dark chocolate
a pinch of cinammon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C and line/grease several trays.
2. Stir in the butter, sugar and vanilla extract until it’s all smooth and fluffy (and yummy), then add the flour to make it dough-like.
3. I created my own piping bag with some baking paper, but it’s probably best to buy one if you want it perfect, because you want to pipe the dough into long finger shapes onto the trays. To achieve the classic Viennese shape, use a nozzle on the end of the pipe. If you’re like me just use a knife to re-create it.
4. Leave them to bake in the oven for around 15-20 minutess or until just golden. Then leave to cool.
5. Melt some chocolate and then dip in your fingers! I branched out from the typical “just ends” and went for full coverage or all the way round the edge decoration. Then enjoy!

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients:                                                                                                        
110g butter
270g plain flour
15g cocoa powder
250g light brown sugar
a pinch of salt
2tsps vanilla extract
1tsp of bicarb
1 large egg
300g of any type of chocolat, cut into chunks

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 and grease/cover your baking trays with baking parchment.
2. Beat together the butter and sugar until smooth. Then beat the egg and add in the vanilla extract, then add this slowly to the butter and sugar until all mixed together.
3. Chuck in the flour, cocoa powder, salt and bicarbonate of soda.
4. Add in the chocolate, chopped up, then spoon it all into heaps onto the trays.
5. Then pop some chocolate on top of the cookies – you can be creative here and go with bits of a mars bar or snickers.
6. Leave them in the oven for 10 minutes – you want them cooked but nice and soft. Then leave to cool before you tuck in!

Chocolate Tarts

Hey, so another post from me and this one is sooo worth it. Definitely by far the best thing I’ve baked; taste- and look-wise!
These are tasty, chocolatey tarts baked from Gordon’s recipe (yes we are on first name terms!!) and they are very easy to make.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

125g butter

90g caster sugar

1 egg

250g plain flour

For the filling:
150g of plain/dark chocolate (Gordon uses 400g)

5 tbsps of double cream (Gordon uses 8)

40g of butter (Gordon used 60g)

and 2 tbsps of caster sugar (or a little more if you want it sweeter – I used 3)
plus some butter for greasing the tart tins (or Gordon uses oil)
(additionally buy some Carnation caramel (dulce de leche) to layer under the chocolate for a sweet twist!)

To make:

1. Combine the butter and sugar (either by hand or by food processor) until just well mixed and then add the egg. Pour in the flour until it starts to look like dough. Pop it out onto a floured surface and knead for a bit (but not too long). Then roll into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes. Don’t worry too much if it doesn’t quite keep its shape – mine started to deflate a little but turned out ok!

2. Take out the pastry and put onto a well floured surface so that it will be easy to peel off. Mine stuck a little I was fairly liberal with the flour – use as little as possible. Roll until the thickness of about a quarter of a centimetre and the get some small tart/flan tins (about 4 inches in diameter) and cut circles around them a bit bigger than the edge. Then lift off and place into the (greased) tin without breaking. Leave some overhang, this can be cut off later. Try to keep them all the same thickness otherwise they will need different cooking times. I made six, but mine were fairly thick, which is why I didn’t need as much chocolate. So if you make thinner ones and hence more, maybe increase the filling ingredients. Prick the bottom of the pastry and pop back in the fridge for 20 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 190C and start to make the filling. Chuck all the ingredients into a bowl over simmering water and wait until they have all melted and combine. Leave to the side.

4. Once the oven has got to temperature, pop the pastries in. The time suggested was 12 minutes – as some of mine were thicker than others I just went by eye. Expect the rim of the pastries (and the middle but not so much) to be a golden brown.

5. After baking, leave the pastries to cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, spoon in the chocolate (tip: make it spread out evenly by dropping the tins from a small height a few times.). If you’re using the caramel as well then put a thin layer on the bottom first then chocolate on top. Then put back in the fridge for 20 minutes, until the chocolate has hardened.

6. ENJOY!!

Chelsea Buns

Our Housemate Hollie has been doing some tasty baking again!

Ingredients:

250g very strong bread flour (white) – dough

1/2 tsp salt – dough

1 tsp caster sugar – dough

1 tsp yeast – dough

25g butter/margarine – dough

100 ml milk, warmed for a minute in the microwave – dough

1 small-medium egg – dough

75 grams currants/raisins/sultanas – filling

50g light muscovado sugar – filling

15g butter/margarine – filling

runny honey/golden syrup

caster sugar

 

To make:

1. Grease a tin with some butter. Sift the flour, sugar, salt and yeast into a bowl and mix. (Don’t worry about sifting if you can’t be bothered). Rub in the butter

2. In another bowl, mix together egg and milk. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and stir in the liquid until it goes doughy. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes (or until your arms ache!), then roll the dough out to a fairly thin rectangle.

4. Prepare the filling by mixing the sugar and fruit. Melt the butter and brush it over the dough. Then sprinkle the fruit on leaving a border of about an inch.

5. Start rolling up the dough from the long side and then pinch the ends. Cut into as many slices as you want (depending on how thick you want them – remember they’ll grow!). I made 8.

6. Pop them in the greased tin and cover with lightly oiled clingfilm and leave in a fairly warm room for an hour(-ish) to double in size.

7. Preheat the oven to 170C and pop them in for roughly 30 minutes, until a nice brown colour.

8. Remove from the oven and brush with honey/golden syrup and sprinkle with sugar whilst hot. And voila!

Tarte Tatin

Another guest post from Hollie. This time it’s a recipe for her very delicious tarte tatin.

Ingredients:

5 Apples (preferablyeating apples)

3oz Butter thinly sliced

5oz Sugar

7oz Puff Pastry

Method:

Core, peel and thinly slice the apples, and place them in the fridge. Cover the base of an 8inch pan with butter and then sprinkle over with the sugar. Then neatly arrange apples on top of butter and sugar.

Place puff pastry over the top tucking in the pastry down the sides and leave this for 30 mins in fridge. Preheat the oven to 220°C, whilst putting the pan over a hob for 12-15 minutes, until the sugar has caramelised to a light amber colour.

Pop in the oven for 15 minutes. Then remove to cool. Cover with a plate and then quickly turn it over, the pastry should now be the base of the tart. best served with ice cream.

Focaccia

Our housemate Hollie, who also loves baking, has written us some guest posts. Please email us at rubyandhelen@gmail.com if you’d also like to share your recipes!

Ingredients:

For the dough:                                                                                        For the topping:

500g strong white bread flour                                                         1 medium red pepper

1/2 tsp of salt                                                                                        1 orange pepper

7g of dried yeast                                                                                  4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil

mixed herbs                                                                                           1 clove garlic crushed

6 tbsps extra virgin olive oil                                                              8 sundried tomatoes

300ml lukewarm water                                                                      salt, pepper and mixed herbs

Method:

First combine the flour, salt and yeast and stir in mixed herbs and then the oil. Work in enough lukewarm water to make a soft just sticky dough. Turn out onto floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Return to lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave for 1 hour at room temperature.

Halve, deseed and cut the peppers into 2cm chunks, put in mixing bowl with olive oil and then grill til just speckled with brown patches. Put back in bowl and add garlic, salt and pepper. Roughly chop tomatoes.

Punch down dough then turn out. Set dough in the centre of oiled tray and press and shape with your hands. Press your fingers into the dough to make dimples and poke herbs into them. Scatter the chopped tomatoes over dough and top with pepper. Leave to rise for 20 minutes. Meanwhile heat oven at 220°c.

Drizzle the rest of the  olive oil over the bread and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn down to 190°C and bake for a final 15  minutes.  Serve warm with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.