Flour, Cake and Pastry

Happy St George's Day! In honour of our patron saint, here are 2 yummy dishes to get your Sunday dinner off to a patriotic start this weekend. Steak and Ale Pie Steak and Ale Pie is certainly a British classic. Filled with chunks of slowly cooked beef, and partnered with your favourite ale, this is not one to miss. Ingredients For the rough-puff pastry 225g plain flour, plus extra for rolling out ½ tsp fine salt 250g unsalted butter, cold but not rock hard 150ml ice-cold water 1 free-range egg, to glaze For the filling 1 kg braising steak, chunked 3tbsp plain flour 3tbsp olive oil 300ml brown ale 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped 2 onions, roughly chopped 250g carrots, roughly chopped 2 sticks celery, roughly chopped 1 bay leaf Handful fresh thyme sprigs 300ml beef stock 1tbsp tomato purée 1tbsp balsamic vinegar 500g chestnut mushrooms, halved Knob of butter Salt and black pepper, to season Method For the pastry, sift the ...

Hello! Happy Friday, and most importantly, happy National Tea Day. Here in the UK, we love our tea. Our lives can't function without it. In fact, in an average British person's lifetime, they will consume 17,000 cups of tea! So today's recipes all revolve around tea, from the best biscuits and scones to a yummy tea loaf, why not try baking some of these to enjoy with your freshly brewed cuppa. Tea Bread Loaf This recipe, from Nigella , is probably the easiest Tea Bread recipe you'll find. Its delicious both warm or cold, plain or spread with lashings of butter, and super simple. Ingredients 250ml cold black tea 227g mixed dried fruit 227g self-raising flour 113g caster sugar 1 beaten egg 2tbsp orange marmalade Method Place the fruit in a small bowl and pour the cold tea over the top. Leave this to soak overnight if possible, or long enough so that the fruit swells. Grease and line a 675g loaf tin. Preheat your oven to 180C. In a separate b...

It's Good Friday! Easter, like Christmas, is one of those times where you can eat as many sweets, cakes and chocolates as you like and no one really questions it. However if, instead of buying Easter eggs, boxes of chocolates and bags of Haribo, why not try making your own sweet treats? Below are 5 of my favourite Easter sweets and treats, so give them a go and have a truly scrumptious Easter weekend! Crème Egg Brownies Crème Egg Brownies are super popular, and they scream Easter. It's the only time of the year where you can enjoy a yummy gooey Cadbury's Crème Egg (unless you're super smart and stock pile them for the rest of the year), so what better way to enjoy them than in an equally gooey brownie! These brownies are made with a mix of melted dark chocolate and cocoa powder, so they are super chocolatey. They're also really versatile, so why not add different flavourings? From cherries, to chocolate orange, to coconut, anything goes in the world of chocolat...

It's the weekend! And why not celebrate with a dozen vanilla cupcakes! I decorated mine with buttercream and a black paw print made out of fondant, but you can put anything you like on the top of yours! Make them unique! Ingredients 250g softened butter 250g caster sugar 250g self raising flour 4 eggs 1 tsp vanilla essence 500g icing sugar, sieved 250g softened butter 1.5 tsp vanilla essence Method Pre-heat your oven to 180C and line 2 muffin trays with 12 cupcake cases each. Cream together the butter, sugar, flour and eggs until well combined and a cake batter is formed. I always do cupcakes using the all in one method, mainly because it makes them super quick and easy! Add in the vanilla essence and combine well. Pop a dessert spoon of cake mix into each cake case, until all the cases are filled. If you still have some cake mix leftover, just top up the cases. They should be filled about three-quarters full, so they still have room to rise in...

Here we are, it's Monday once again, and FC&P are back with a new recipe for you to feast your eyes upon! Today's bake is for some yummy Vanilla Shortbread rounds, which are topped with a sprinkling of caster sugar! Below will also be some yummy suggestions to make your Shortbread that extra bit special, so be sure to check those out! . Ingredients 125g butter 55g caster sugar (plus a little extra for dusting) 180g plain flour 1 large 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 in your local supermarket.  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 sausage shape, approximately 1.5 inches thick. Wrap well in cling film and leave to chill in the f...