Flour, Cake and Pastry

Happy St David's Day/Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus to all my Welsh readers and family! Have a spectacular day! Today's recipe is a classic Welsh one, and is a good old family recipe...Welsh Cakes. They are basically my favourite thing on the planet, and whenever I go to Wales I always come home with a pack (or ten) of these beauties. You won't be disappointed. Ingredients 8oz self raising flour Pinch salt 4oz softened butter 4oz caster sugar, plus a little extra for dusting 0.5 tsp mixed spice 1 tsp currants 4oz currants 1 egg, beaten Method Sift the flour and salt in a bowl. Rub in the butter. Add the sugar, spice, syrup and currants. Mix in the egg to make a soft dough. Pat out on a lightly floured surface, to a quarter of an inch thick. Use a medium scone cutter to cut out into rounds. Bake on a medium hot griddle pan, turning once until golden brown on both sides. Remove to a wire rack to cool and dust with sugar while hot. How simple is that? They rea...

Hello again! So today's recipe is the third and final instalment of our Mini Delights feature, showcasing our 3 favourite recipes from Mini Delights recipe book, which you lovely people can by on Amazon here . Brandy Apple Pies These pies can be cooked in advance and frozen when cool, just warm them through when needed! What I love is that Mini Delights tops each individual pie with letters to personalise them, perfect for your next dinner party! Ingredients 450g cooking apples; quartered, cored, peeled and diced 25g butter, plus a little extra for greasing 55g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting 55g sultanas or raisins Grated rind of 1 lemon 3 tbsp. brandy or Bourbon 1 quantity of ready-made sweet shortcrust pastry (find the recipe here ) A little plain flour, for dusting A little milk, to glaze Whipped cream, to serve Preheat the oven to 180C and grease 2 mini muffin tins. Pop the apples in a medium saucepan with the butter, sugar, sultanas and lemon ri...

Sometimes all you want is a little sweet treat just to get you through that gap between lunch and dinner. Hopefully, today's recipes will help you just do that; each recipe is from the recipe book Mini Delights which you can buy over on Amazon. Vanilla Fudge This recipe has just 5 simple ingredients to make the creamiest vanilla fudge in existence. Be careful when you stir the fudge, as the mixture can be very hot! Ingredients A little sunflower oil, for greasing 450g caster sugar 85g unsalted butter 150ml full fat milk 150ml evaporated milk 2 tsp vanilla extract Method Lightly brush an 8 inch square baking tin with oil. Line the base and sides with greaseproof paper. Put the sugar, butter, milk and evaporated milk into a heavy-based saucepan. Heat gently, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and boil for 12-15 minutes, or until the mixture reaches 116C on a sugar thermometer (if you don't have a sugar thermometer, spoon a little of the...

Sometimes all you want is a little sweet treat just to get you through that gap between lunch and dinner. Hopefully, these 3 recipes will help you just do that; each recipe is from the recipe book Mini Delights which you can buy over on Amazon. Maple and Banana Cupcakes Banana cake is inevitably a British favourite. These Mini Delights can be served plain, simply dusted with icing sugar, or swirled with a delicious maple buttercream frosting. Ingredients: 1 small banana 2 tbsp. maple syrup 2 tbsp. milk 60g lightly salted butter, softened 70g caster sugar 1 egg, beaten 100g self raising flour 150g lightly salted butter, softened 1 tsp vanilla extract 6 tbsp. icing sugar 7 tbsp. maple syrup 8 pecan or walnut halves, roughly chopped, to decorate Method: Pre-heat the oven to 180C, and line a 12 section mini muffin tin with 3cm mini-paper cases. In a small mixing bowl, mash the banana to a puree with a fork and stir in the maple syrup and mil...

Its Saturday once again, would you believe it? Today's recipe is not one for those on a diet (unless you're having a cheat day, then go right ahead). It's my take on the classic Tunnock's Teacake... The classic teacake has a dome of chocolate filled with marshmallow and supported with a biscuit bottom. However, I didn't have the right silicone moulds at home to create the dome of chocolate, so I thought on my feet and made a slightly different version...a buttery shortbread biscuit base, dipped in dark chocolate, gooey marshmallow meringue, and drizzled in more dark chocolate. Does it get much better? Read on for the recipe... Ingredients 300g dark chocolate (I used Bournville) 200g plain flour Pinch salt ½ tsp baking powder 50g caster sugar 50g butter 2-3 tbsp milk For the marshmallow 3 eggs, whites only 150g caster sugar 6 tsp golden syrup ½ tsp salt Method Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3. To make the biscuits, put ...

Happy Saturday! Today's recipe is Valentine's Day inspired, and is perfect with a mug of tea (or two). It's also dairy-free! This makes 20-24 biscuits, obviously depending on how big your cutter is! Ingredients 125g butter 55g caster sugar (plus a little extra for dusting) 180g plain flour 1 drop of vanilla essence To make this dairy free, use Stork Baking Block, which is perfect for biscuits and pastry. You should be able to find this next to the regular Stork tubs. Method Beat together the butter and caster sugar, until smooth and creamy. This should take 2-3 minutes. Add in the flour and vanilla essence and mix together thoroughly with your hands until it forms a soft dough. Roll out into a round of approximately 5mm thick. Use a heart shaped cutter and cut out as many shapes as you can. Re-roll and repeat this process until you use up all the dough. Pop the hearts onto a greased baking tray, and leave in the fridge for 20 minutes. This will help them to...

Would you believe its February already? I hope January was kind to you all, but if you're anything like me, I bet you're kinda glad it's over with. So the days are getting ever so slightly longer, the weather is getting ever so slightly better and winter is very nearly over. Today's recipe will make you feel like summer has arrived 5 months early: Tropical Pavlova. It's packed with flavour, and makes a great dessert on a Sunday night when you're curled up on the sofa. The meringue is so quick and easy, you'll be able to get it right every time. And you can top it with any fruit you like, meringue literally goes with anything. Ingredients 8 large egg whites Pinch of salt 350g caster sugar 2 tsp. cornflour Pinch of cream of tartar 1 tsp. white wine vinegar 4 drops vanilla essence 300ml double cream, firmly whipped Selection of prepared tropical fruit e.g. mango, pineapple, passion fruit. Method Preheat your oven to 180C. Line a...