Fudge crumbles

I've been doing some more baking with my grandson, and we made these treats. He loves fudge! They looked so moreish we had to try them. I know they're calorific, but as a treat...! The recipe comes from a magazine supplement on biscuits.

50g flaked almonds and a few for the top
75g fudge, chopped
200g plain flour
1/2 tspn bicarb. of soda
125g butter
125g light muscovado sugar
1 egg
1 tspn vanilla essence

Preheat oven 180c/gas 4
Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Pur flour and bicarb. in a bowl and rub in butter till breadcrumbs. Stir in the almonds, fudge and sugar and mix together.
Whisk egg and vanilla and add to the fudge mixture and mix till blended.
Put large tbspns of mixture on sheet, leaving spaces between them. Put a flaked almond on top.
Bake for 12-15 mins.
Leave on tray for 10 mins then put onto a wire rack.

They really are moreish, but very sweet. You could taste the fudge, but I thought it would have some texture - maybe I chopped it too small.

There are lots of different types of fudge you could use; if I make them again, I'll try a honey fudge. They're quick to make and bake - a good biscuit to make with children.

Chocolate whoopie pies with matcha tea filling

  Chele has chosen green for this month's We Should Cocoa challenge. This is a monthly challenge hosted alternatively by Chele and Choclette.

I didn't particularly want to use green colouring, so it would have to be either pistachios or green tea. I decided on the tea. I bought some matcha tea from a local shop, and looking for inspiration as to what to make, I found a whoopie pie recipe in my magazine. If I added cocoa powder to the recipe, then I could add the tea to the filling.
I was a bit apprehensive about making whoopie pies as I'd tried them once before and they they didn't turn out very well, even using a Dan Lepard recipe. Practice makes perfect!


35g cocoa powder
300g plain flour
1tspn baking soda
1tspn baking powder
Pinch of salt
100g unsalted butter, softened
175g dark muscovado sugar
1 egg
1tspn vanilla extract
125ml milk

Preheat oven 170C/fan 150C/ gas 3. Lightly grease two baking sheets.

Sieve together the cocoa, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Cream together the butter, sugar and egg. Lightly beat together the milk and vanilla extract. Add the cocoa and flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk mixture and beat till smooth.
Spoon the mixture into mounds onto the baking sheet, flattening the batter lightly. Leave room for them to spread.
This makes 12 cakes - 6 whoopie pies.
Cook for 15 minutes until firm to touch. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Filling
180g icing sugar
11/2 tbspn matcha tea
90g each cream cheese and mascarpone

Beat these together to make a smooth filling, then use to sandwich the whoopie pies together.

The filling IS a pale green colour! I looked at other recipes for a filling using matcha tea and they seemed to use the same amount as in this recipe, but the colour of their fillings was a much deeper green. I looked at my packet of tea and it said it was a matcha tea mix - a mix not pure matcha tea, could this be the reason for the difference in colour? I've not used this tea before, so was wary about adding more mix to deepen the colour.

The smooth filling has some tea flavour and is a good contrast to the cake texture.

The amount of filling is too much for the amount of cake mixture, so I'd certainly make less if I did it again.

One good thing -these whoopie pies are a great improvement on the last lot I made!

Cranberry and orange scones

Scones are something I make regularly as my family love them, grandchildren too; they're so quick and easy. So I was delighted to see that this month's Tea Time Treats challenge from Karen of Lavender and Lovage blog was sweet or savoury scones.
Tea Time Treats is a monthly baking challenge hosted alternately by Karen and Kate of What Kate Baked blog. If you'd like to join in, the rules are here .

The next thing was to decide what kind of scones to bake. I wanted to make something different, a bit luxurious. Lately I've been using a lot of dried fruit in my baking and had some cranberries to use up. What other flavour would go well with these? Looking through my recipe folders, I found this magazine recipe which used orange as the other flavour, and double cream for a very indulgent scone - just the thing. Instead of the usual jam and cream filling, it has a unusual cranberry and raspberry butter.

375g plain flour
1 tbspn baking powder
pinch salt
2 tbspn caster sugar
grated rind of an orange
60g butter, cubed
90g dried cranberries
2 eggs
120ml double cream
1/2 tspn vanilla essence
2 tbspn milk
2 tbspn light brown sugar

Preheat oven 220C/gas7 and lightly flour a baking tray.

In a bowl put the flour, baking powder, caster sugar and orange rind and mix together.
Add the butter and rub in to make breadcrumbs - not too fine.
Add the cranberries and make a space in the middle.
In another bowl beat the eggs, cream and vanilla essence together then add to the flour mixture. Use a fork to mix together into a dough. Don't over mix. Knead gently then pat into a 2cm round and put on a lightly floured surface.
Cut out scones using a 2cm cutter. I made 10 scones. Put on the baking tray and brush the top with milk and sprinkle with some brown sugar.
Bake for about 12 mins till golden. Cool on a wire rack and fill with centre with some cranberry and raspberry butter. I also sprinkled some icing sugar over the top.

Butter
175g butter, softened
1 tbspn cranberry sauce
1 tbspn raspberry jam
1 tbspn orange juice
1/2 tspn cinnamon

Beat the butter till smooth then add the other ingredients and beat together. Put in the fridge till needed.

These are not everyday scones! They're a really indulgent treat, but they are delicious. I found that the combination of flavours in the butter filling was unusual, but really complimented the scone. My cranberries were a bit dry, so I soaked them in boiling water for a few minutes to plump them up. The orange flavour in the scones was very subtle - needed more oomph! Maybe adding some orange essence or using some orange juice to replace some of the cream would give it the boost I think it needs. I'll have to make them again to try!

Spelt and honey cakes

I've started making bread again and trying different flours. I bought some spelt last week and made a lovely loaf with it. I had some left, so made some of these little cakes for my friend, who came to have a cuppa with me yesterday. The recipe was on my bag of flour.

175g butter, softened
175g caster sugar
3 eggs
150g spelt flour
pinch of salt
1 tspn baking powder
25g cornflour
3 tbspn milk
10tbspn honey, warmed
25g hazelnuts or pistachios, chopped

Preheat oven 180C/gas4
Grease 10 - 12 small rectangular tins, a 12 hole 'financier' tin [I bought mine in France] or a 12 hole muffin tin.

Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs slowly, beating between each addition.
Fold in the spelt flour, the salt and the cornflour. Add the milk and mix till smooth.
Divide into the tins and bake for 20 mins, till golden and firm.
When cool, drizzle each cake with a tbspn of warm honey and sprinkle with the nuts.

You can make a loaf cake in a 900g tin instead of small cakes. The spelt give the cakes a slight nutty taste which goes well with the nuts in the topping. There are so many types of honey to choose from; I used a heather honey from my local farm shop. I'll certainly make this recipe again, but as a large cake. Another quick and easy cake to make.

Welshcakes

I couldn't let St David's Day pass without making some of my Granny's welshcakes. I have her bakestone too [or llechfaen as she called it], rather black but still usable. Her recipe was in ozs and lbs so I've changed it to metric.

450g flour
1 tspn baking powder
110g margarine
110g lard
175g currants
1 tspn mixed spice
1 egg
2 tbspn milk

Sift the flour and baking powder in a bowl then rub in the fat. Add the fruit and spice and mix in.
Beat the egg and add to mixture to make a firm dough. if needed add siome of the milk. Don't make the dough wet!
Roll onto a floured board to about 1/4 " and cut into rounds.
Cook on a greased bakestone or heavy bottomed frying pan for about 3 mins each side till golden.
Cool and sprinkle with sugar.

I don't use lard or margarine, I use butter. Granny used to make about 30 Welsh cakes out of this amount; I seem to make much less - about 16! They're best eaten warm on the day they're made, as they tend to go hard - but they're still good to eat!