Secret Baker 2010 recipes

25g soft butter

Louise is it definately 25g as it says 125g on the message you sent me

Oops yes its 125g, I'll change the recipe, thanks.

Ta, off to attempt now

For Lisa - Mummytofive

Rocky Road Bars

You can use any of your favourite chocolate bars. For cute individual servings scoop the mixture into cupcake/muffin cases before refrigerating...

book says use a 33x23x5cm baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. I used a variety of tins/tubs but did still line with greaseproof paper...

1.4kg milk chocolate, roughtly chopped
8 regular-sized chewy filled chocolate bars of your choice e.g. snickers or mars, roughly chopped (I used 9 Mars bars as that was the multipack size )
100g Marshmallows (I used the small ones)
180g chocolate-coated malt honeycomb balls (I used Malteasers and again slightly more as it was a 230g packet )
100g dried apricots, roughly chopped
100g raisins
100g cornflakes
100g chocolate vermicelli (sprinkles)

The book says it makes 12 generous portions... Erm I think it makes a bit more than that

Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave on a medium heat setting OR in a bowl over boiling water, or in a pan over a low heat. Stir occasionally.

Put the chopped chocolate bars, marshmallows, malteasers, apricots, raisins and cornflakes in a large bowl and pour in the melted chocolate (I used my HUGE stockpot as I didn't have a big enough bowl!!). Mix with a wooden spoon until everything is well mixed and the dry ingredients are evenly dispersed.

Press this mixture into the prepared baking tray, using a tablepoon to flatten and compress it. Sprinkle the chocolate vermicelli all over the top. Leave to cool completely, then cover and refrigerate overnight (okay so I didn't do overnight once cool a few hours in the fridge did fine for this lot but it wasn't necessarily as thick as the book makes it)

I think this would be fab if I'd used white chocolate malteasers but couldn't find any... Bashed up crunchie bars would also make a fab addition and just about any crunchy cereal could be used really...

Enjoy!!

Préparation : 20 min
Cuisson : 20 min

Ingrédients (pour 24 pièces) :

Ingrédients pour le gâteau :
- 3 eggs
- 300 g ricotta
- 200 g sugar
- 300 g ground almonds
- 250 g flour
- 4 / 5 tbs oil
- 6g yeast
- zeste of ½ lemon
- 1 tsp almond essence


Préparation :

Beat the eggs add sugar and beat again. Add the ricotta, oil, ground almond, yeast, flour and almond essence
The dough will be very thick
grease little moulds (I used muffin tin)
Bake for 10 minutes at 200C

TOBLERONE Cookies
Makes 12 cookies

Ingredients:
75g butter or margarine
75g granulated sugar
75g light muscavado sugar
1 egg
175g self-raising flour
100g bar milk TOBLERONE, roughly chopped

Preparation:

1. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets. Heat oven to 180ºC, 350ºF, Gas Mark 4.

2. Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg.

3. Fold in the flour and Toblerone pieces. Place large teaspoons of the mixture on the baking sheets, allowing room for them to spread. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

4. Cool on the baking sheets for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wirerack to finish cooling. The cookies can be eaten warm or cold.

Too many yummy looking recipes to try out. This is so not going to help my diet.

Hmmmm - not sure mine came out right - I made chocolate caramel shortbread but the caramel was more like fudge - nice enough but not right IYKWIM? Do you think I just didn't cook it long enough? I sied to make them years ago and it always worked then but can't find the recipe I used, this was a Nigella one

Well, my recipient hasn't asked for the recipe, but it is LUSH so I'll share it anyway It's from The River Cottage Family Cookbook by HFW and Fizz Carr (an excellent book btw, it's actually aimed at children, HFW says 10-12 yo's should be able to cook from it with only a little help/supervision from an adult)

(Dark) chocolate chip cookies

To make about 12 large cookies (this is what the recipe says, but I made double quantities and only got about 18 cookies , maybe I make them huge LOL)

Good dark chocolate, 100g (you could use milk if you are mad and don't like dark )
Unsalted Butter, 125g
Granulated sugar, 100g
Soft brown sugar, 75g
Egg, 1
Vanilla extract, 2tsp
Plain flour, 150g
Baking powder, 1/2 tsp
A pinch of salt

Also
2 large baking sheets, baking parchment, sharp knife, chopping board, small saucepan, mixing bowl, wooden spoon, teaspoon, sieve, dessertspoon, wire cooling rack.

1. Preheat the oven to 190 deg/Gas mark 5. Line each baking sheet with a piece of baking parchment. Chop the chocolate into little chunks and set aside.

2. Heat the butter in the small saucepan very gently until it has just melted. Meanwhile, put the two sorts of sugar into the mixing bowl. Pout the melted butter on top of the sugar and beat well with the wooden spoon.

3. Break the egg into the bowl and add the vanilla. Beat until the mixture is well blended.

4. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the mixing bowl and stir them in, then add the chopped chocolate. You should have a pretty sloppy sort of mixture.

5. Dot heaped pudding spoonfuls of the mixture over the lined baking sheets, leaving plenty of space between them - these cookies really spread out.

6. Oven gloves on. Put the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are just turning golden brown.

7. Leave the cookies on the baking sheets to harden for a couple of minutes, then carefully lift up the baking parchment and transfer them to a wire cooling rack.





I've also, in the absense of soft brown sugar, made these with palm sugar, which you can buy in Asian supermarkets in solid blocks (it looks a little like Kendal mint cake), which you break a small bit off and then pound in a mortar and pestle. They were even more delicious than normal .

OMG Louise the Rocky Road.......I'm drooling and need to get some tissues to clean my laptop.

Here's my recipie for hint of lemon shortbread

500g softened butter
200g caster sugar
2 teaspoons lemon extract recipie says vanilla but i decided to experiment
500g plain flour

method

1. Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas mark 4.
2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in vanilla/lemon; add flour and mix well.
3. Put through biscuit press and form biscuits onto baking trays. Alternatively, roll out to 1cm thickness and cut out desired shaped with biscuit cutters. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

They took much longer to cook in our oven and then to finish I dusted with the gold dust Louise uses I made butterfly shapes and tea pot shapes (or watering cans as the kids thought )

Anzac biscuits~
Ingredients85g porridge oats
85g desiccated coconut
100g plain flour
100g caster sugar
100g butter , plus extra butter for greasing
1 tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1.Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Put the oats, coconut, flour and sugar in a bowl. Melt the butter in a small pan and stir in the golden syrup. Add the bicarbonate of soda to 2 tbsp boiling water, then stir into the golden syrup and butter mixture.
2.Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the butter and golden syrup mixture. Stir gently to incorporate the dry ingredients.
3.Put dessertspoonfuls of the mixture on to buttered baking sheets, about 2.5cm/1in apart to allow room for spreading. Bake in batches for 8-10 mins until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Lamington cakes~
Cake Recipe:
2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (120 ml) milk

Chocolate Frosting:
4 cups (1 lb.) (454 grams) confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted
1/3 cup (30 grams) cocoa powder (I like to use Dutch-processed)
3 tablespoons (42 grams) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (120 ml) milk

Coating:
2 cups unsweetened desiccated coconut, finely ground

Method~
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position. Butter, or spray with a nonstick cooking spray, the bottom and sides of an 8 inch (20 cm) square cake pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In bowl of electric mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with flour.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool the cake in its pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Re-invert. Once the cake has completely cooled cut it into 16 two-inch (5 cm) squares. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or even overnight. The reason for doing this is that it is much easier (less crumbs) to coat a cold cake with frosting.

Chocolate Frosting: Place the confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, butter and milk in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir the mixture until it becomes smooth and of pouring consistency.

To assemble Lamingtons: Make a production line; put the 16 squares of cakes on a wire rack that is placed over a baking sheet (to catch the drips). Have ready the coconut on a large plate and the chocolate frosting. Spoon or ladle the chocolate frosting over each square of cake, making sure you cover all sides. (It is best to do a few squares at a time.) With a small offset spatula or knife transfer the chocolate covered cake to the plate of coconut and roll the cake in the coconut, covering all sides. Gently transfer the lamington to a clean wire rack to set. Repeat with the rest of the cake squares. Once the Lamingtons have set, store in an airtight container for several days.