36. Lime Lattice Cookies

Still working my way through the biscuit chapters, I baked these for some friends coming for morning coffee (tea for Rhonda). I thought I'd ring the changes from Fork Biscuits, although these were actually very similar; the addition of lime being the only difference. I grated the rind of two luscious limes, which filled the kitchen with their glorious scent and made our mouths water in anticipation. I did rush the mixture and bung everything in together, rather than creaming the butter and sugar together first, but I really don't stress about such things these days, now that I know what the subsequent processes entail. Something I found odd about this recipe was that there was no instruction to press the cookies down before baking. I had to roll them into walnut-sized balls and then use a skewer to make a lattice pattern on the top. I thought I'd bake 'by the book' and follow the recipe to the letter and see what happened. They were meant to bake for 15-20 minutes, but they were still quite anaemic-looking after 20 so I gave them another 5 minutes just to brown up a bit. We actually ate them still a bit warm (could wait no longer and the drinks were getting cold!) and they were nice and comforting and soft like that. Inevitably, they became more 'shortbready' once they'd cooled down. They need to be eaten within 3 days really - the last ones left were a bit on the stale side.

Baker's verdict: very simple to make; I'll press them down next time so they look better. Lovely tasting - never had lime biscuits before, but the flavours work really well. I always use salted butter; I could detect the salt, so I might see what they're like with unsalted butter another time.

Husband rating: 8/10 - amazing flavour of lime. Slightly bitter which went well with the sweetness. Almost like having lime cheesecake. Strangely, as good as they were, I only wanted one.

35. Mini Cakes

I have to say that this has been one of the most comical bakes I've done, to the extent that making these didn't really seem worth the effort! The most amusing element was husband not realising quite how 'mini' they would be, despite being sent a photo of my handiwork when they came out of the oven. He'd imagined them to be the usual 'bun' size, not the mouthful morsel they actually were, and then felt a bit embarrassed about taking them into work for his colleagues!

The recipe was basically the same as the all-in-one sponge recipe, but using smaller quantities. It was quite fiddly working with the petit-fours cases, manoevering 'scant' teaspoonfuls of the mixture into them. I didn't even attempt to level them off, just plopped the mixture into them in quite a haphazard fashion. I knew they'd spread out and fill the cases properly during the baking process. They didn't need long in the oven; I had to bake them in two batches so both had the benefit of the top shelf.

Decorating them was easier than expected; a simple mixture of icing sugar (lots) and water so that I could just dollop small amounts on each one and spread it out a bit. I decided to use bits of glace cherries rather than the suggested sweets, mainly because that's what I had in the cupboard. I thought they looked like little cakey bakewells when they were finished! I think they're great for children, and would be fab for children's parties; they're not especially satisfying for cake-loving adults though!

Baker's verdict: easy to make, although I'd rather knock up a Victoria Sandwich and get a proper wedge of cake to reward my efforts!

Husband rating: 6.5/10 - too small and too much icing for the size of the cake. Also a bit dry because they were smaller, but they had a nice flavour. The glace cherries worked well and they looked neat and professional.



34. Iced Chocolate Traybake

As being on Maternity Leave gives one the luxury of a bit of time on one's hands, my baking's coming along nicely. The only problem is that I've lost my usual panel of tasters (aka my work colleagues who polish off what Joe and I feel too guilty about stuffing our faces with!) so I have to bake with a different audience in mind. This one was made for my visiting friends, but even my chocolate-loving girls can only manage so much, so the rest was donated to Joe's colleagues. These traybakes are great for serving lots of people - they make 20 pretty big portions, which can be halved for smaller appetites.

They're also very easy to make, following the all-in-one method Mary uses for most of her sponge recipes. I was pleased that, unlike the lemon traybake I made last year, the cake didn't come out of the oven domed in the middle. It was fairly even, which I knew would make icing easier. I baked the sponge the day before I iced it, keeping it covered with tin foil. It needed brushing with warmed apricot jam before applying the icing, and I realised I haven't been passing the jam through a seive as you're meant to. I do feel that maybe life's a bit too short to do such things, especially as it's quite nice to get a little bit of apricot in the midst of a chocolate cake! The icing was very sweet, using lots of icing sugar, but a good consistency to work with. I left it to set before adding the chocolate drops - didn't really think it through - so I had to sort of press them in to get them to stay put. I always find it a challenge to serve cake like this - the cutting into (fairly evenly) sliced pieces was ok, but levering out the first slice is usually a bit of a shambles! It felt quite dry in texture as well, like I'd maybe over-baked it, but actually wasn't too dry in the eating. I think because it's quite a deep tin, you feel like you're getting a big chunk of cake with just a bit of icing on top, which can make it seem a bit on the dry side.

Baker's verdict: easy to make and good for en masse serving. Very light and functional, but not 'mmm' as a chocolate cake should be.

Husband rating: 8/10 - a simple chocolate cake, not as moist as it could be. Tasty, nice and chocolatey with nice icing on top. Just felt like it was missing something, like a bit of cream or something.

The rapidly emptying tin was met with disappointment by the colleagues...

33. Cheese Scone Round

After watching my Mum eat a cheese scone on a lunch outing, I decided instantly that I needed to bake some myself: cheese scones have been my pregnancy allies! I didn't plan to make one big one like this, but in the interests of remaining faithful to my project, I followed Mary's instructions to the letter, planning to adapt it to make smaller scones the next time. However, I did substitute cayenne pepper for mild chilli powder, not having any of the former in our usually well-stocked spice cupboard. I found this a very easy recipe; the only element I had an issue with was the liquid. I had to break the egg into a measuring jug and then 'top up' with milk to make a certain quantity of liquid. My hand wasn't steady enough and I poured a bit too much milk in, so the exact science of baking was disrupted slightly. I didn't use all of the liquid, but I do think the mixture was too wet, despite giving it a good knead in the flour on the work surface. At least I have some notion of the texture it shouldn't be - the 'doughy' nature of the bake only really became apparent once I'd cut into it and found a stodgy bit in the middle. Perhaps I didn't bake it for long enough, but there was definitely a soggy centre. This also turned a rather unappetising shade of grey over the next day or so! That said, it tasted good, and any further baking might've spoilt the outside of it, which was nicely browned when I took it out of the oven.

Baker's verdict: a bit of an experiment, with a few flaws I think I can easily rectify. I didn't get much scone for my effort - part of me thinks buying them in the shop would be just as rewarding, but the taste was great, and of course it was lovely served warm from the oven with lots of butter.

Husband rating: 7.5/10 - very tasty, just a bit doughy in the middle. Lovely and cheesy; don't normally like cheese scones but this was very nice and had a nice tang to it as well.

*UPDATE*

I followed this recipe the other day to make a batch of scones and they turned out really well. I had cayenne pepper this time, which actually made them a bit too spicy, so I'd either omit or put less in next time. I'm definitely coming on as a baker, as I was more careful with the liquid and got a better consistency, without using all of it. I tried not to 'overwerk' as Paul Hollywood would say, and didn't twist the cutter when I cut out the scones - these are little tricks I've picked up over the years. They got a pretty good rise, and apart from being a bit on the hot side, were really tasty. I'm looking forward to making more!

32. Chocolate Chip Cookies

I skipped ahead a few pages to bake these as I wanted to make some biscuits for afternoon tea with friends, accompanied by one of my now classic Victoria Sandwiches. I'm finding biscuits very pleasurable and very easy to make. They can be knocked together quickly, and now I have faith that mixtures will eventually hold together, I feel much more confident about making them. These actually formed quite a wet mixture as opposed to the 'short' biscuits I've made up to this point, probably because of the inclusion of an egg. They were intended to be 'slightly chewy' once baked as well.

They only needed 8-10 minutes in the oven; another reason why biscuit-making is so satisfying, and I took them out just as they were starting to go a bit golden around the edges. I did actually bake them in shifts: I needed to allow room for spreading, and only have 2 baking sheets! Because the recipe said they needed to go on the top shelf, I couldn't really put two trays in at the same time. We don't have a massive oven! Anyway, they smelt lovely and when nibbled warm they definitely had a bit of a chew about them. However, I might have cooked them for a bit longer than needed, as they certainly couldn't be described as 'chewy' once they'd cooled.

Baker's verdict: perfectly good biscuits, but I like gooey cookies, and I'm not convinced it was my execution that made these more biscuit than cookie.

Husband rating: 7/10 - very tasty, very moreish, but the texture was a bit like soft biscuits rather than chewy.

Mince Pies

Here is my first attempt at homemade, totally from scratch, mince pies. After having a very disappointing experience with some 'luxury' shop-bought ones, I was even more keen to make my own, and determined to make the mincemeat myself as well. No short-cuts for this baker! Unfortunately Mary doesn't have a recipe for either mincemeat or mince pies in her book, so I had to look elsewhere. I turned to Nigella for the mincemeat recipe and found it very straightforward, except it didn't specify how small to cut the apples, so I've got some quite big chunks! It consisted of bramley apples, raisins, currants and glace cherries, as well as chopped blanched almonds. Dark brown sugar was melted into some dry (Suffolk) cider to start with, and then all the fruit was added, to then simmer away

for about 30 minutes - until the mixture became 'pulpy'. I'd anticipated the apples turning to mush, which was why I didn't cut them too small. In the end, I fished as much apple out as I could be bothered to, and cut the chunks smaller. I'd already sterilsed the 4 x 50g jars by washing them in hot soapy water, rinsing them with freshly-boiled water and then drying them in a warm oven, so all that remained to do was add 6 tablespoons of brandy and distribute the mixture across the 4 jars, sealing them nice and tight. I used the rubber-seal jars rather than classic screw-top ones; they were what I found when shopping, but they also look good for gifts. We sent one of our friends home with a jar for Christmas. 

One week on, and I thought it was time to tackle the pie-making. Husband did a quick bit of research on his phone to find a recipe and stumbled upon one on the BBC Good Food website which had favourable reviews. I'm going to add the recipe here - as much for my own future reference as anything else - as this is a real gem and produced fantastic mince pies. I'd been worried about my pastry; I've made a lot over the years, but it's always been a bit tough and I've never made really short pastry before, which is essential for good mince pies. Well, this was so short you could never hope to roll it out and fiddle about with pastry cutters and perfect-looking pies. It was simply a case of pressing balls of pastry into the moulds, filling it with mincemeat and then flattening out a lid with your hands before laying it on the top. I experienced lots of crumbling and splitting, but just had to have faith that all would be well in the end. I knew they'd tast bloomin' good, owing to the amount of butter and caster sugar included. It took me a long time to make them, and I did get myself a bit hot and bothered with all the elbow grease involved, but now I feel confident with them, I'll go into full-on Christmas mince-pie production (to use up all the mincemeat!) They baked for 20 minutes and were cool enough to dust with icing sugar after about 45 minutes of being out of the oven and cooling on a wire rack. They didn't look beautiful; 'rustic' is the most favourable way to describe them. That said, they did look very appetising. You just knew they'd be good to eat.

Baker's verdict: quite fiddly and labour-intensive (the whole process), but so rewarding. I don't think I'll buy mince pies from a shop ever again. Best tasting mince pies I've ever eaten. Lovely cold, or warm with some creme fraiche.

Husband rating: 10/10 - the perfect mince pie. Buttery, crumbly, great filling. The best mince pies I've ever had.

 

Recipe:

Rub 225g of cold, diced butter into 350g of plain flour. Add 100g of golden caster sugar and a pinch of salt. Bring together into a ball, kneading briefly.

Pre-heat the oven to 180 (fan) and lightly grease 18 holes of a bun tin.

Form the pastry into walnut-sized balls and press into the tin.

Measure out 280g of mincemeat and divide the mixture between the pies (about a teaspoon in each).

Pat smaller balls flat in your palms to make the lids and just press lid and base together.

Beat 1 egg and brush the tops of the pies with the egg wash.

Bake for 20 minutes until golden; leave them to cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then use a knife to gently lever each pie out of the mould (they come out very easily).

Leave to cool and then dust with icing sugar.

31. Banana Loaf

What to do with some over-ripe bananas? Bake banana bread of course! I've made this several times before, although not to Mary's recipe, so knew it would be a nice, straightforward bake. I did worry that the bananas might be that little bit too mushy, but the recipe stipulated 'the riper the better' and actually they weren't too bad when I peeled them. The recipe was very easy - no bells and whistles needed, just the usual mixture for a sponge (following the all-in-one method) with the bananas added, which I'd mashed up beforehand.

The only issue I had was with the size of the loaf tin. I had a large one and two small ones; neither of which were labelled by weight. I didn't dare rely on my intuition, so I just checked the size of the tins I used for the malt loaves I baked earlier in the year and established I'd used two 1lb tins. So instead of baking one big loaf, I made two small ones. Very handy for stopping over-indulgence. There is now a lovely banana loaf nestling in the freezer for future emergencies. For small cakes, I was surprised they needed an hour to cook; something warned me that splitting the mixture into two smaller tins might require less cooking time, so I opted for 45 minutes instead, and they were cooked perfectly.

Baker's verdict: really simple to make; a great bake for those spontaneous baking urges! Tasted great.

Husband rating: 7.5/10 - totally guessing because I can't remember. I think I enjoyed it! (He did - I have a better memory, but must remember to update my blog in a more timely fashion)

UPDATE: I've baked these a couple of times since, and today (18th June 2013), husband has decided to give them 9/10 - they're lovely and moist, almost gooey but light at the same time. Nice pieces of banana in it and really strong banana flavour. The edges were nice, almost a bit crispy.