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29Mar

Jammy Dodgers biscuits

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Kids corner Our recipes
2 Comments

Jammy Dodgers biscuits.

Jammy Dodgers biscuits

I have a very tasty recipe for you – Jammy Dodgers biscuits and I am sure you are familiar with these!

Everyone loves biscuits and we crave them more when we haven’t got them. So I have created my own Jammy Dodgers biscuits.

The world has gone a little bit crazy recently and we all are familiar with the recent news of social distancing, lockdown and quarantine. People have gone crazy in many countries and bought much more food than they have needed. Now the sad reality is some of us can’t get the basics products including biscuits.

Jammy Dodgers biscuits

I know many of you will agree with me that home made goods are much tastier and baking helps bond us. So I came up with this simple recipe to make Jammy Dodger biscuits that would vaguely resemble the well known brand. Why vaguely? Well because these are much tastier and healthier than the shop alternative.

Live Bake Along!

On Sunday afternoon 2pm UK time many of you from all over the world have tuned in and we have baked all together. People from New Zealand, Argentina, Poland, Germany, UK, America just to name a few countries, all in different time zones connected by the love of baking!

We had tiny kids, teenagers, parents, mums, dads even grandparents baking with us. People who never baked before and those who are very experienced!

Even though we were separated we were still together! Please join us HERE 

Many of you haven’t had all the ingredients and I have worked out some substituted as times are tough.

The recipe is super easy and quite quick covering many key points of learning for kids so another winner.

Right, I will stop convincing you to make them, just go ahead and try it!

 

Method.

To make Jammy Dodgers biscuits you will need:

  • 260g of plain flour
  • 160g of icing sugar
  • 3 heaped tbs of corn or potato flour
  • dash of vanilla extract or 1/4 of tsp or real vanilla beans
  • 200g straight from the fridge cold butter, chopped finally

Put all the above in a bowl and work it with your hands for all the ingredients to incorporate.  You can use a mixer if you wish but we quite like using hands for this recipe.

When nice and smooth, flatten it and put in a fridge for 20-30 minutes and turn on the oven to 180C top and bottom heat to warm up.

When the dough is rested, take it out and cut in half.

Start with rolling one half to 5mm thickness using plenty of flour to avoid sticking to the worktop.

Cut even amount of circles and in half of them cut a small shape, weather it is a heart, star or just a smaller circle.

Jammy Dodgers biscuits

If you roll it and cut it quite fast you can start baking it straight away. If you can’t work quite fast then chill again in the fridge for a few minutes.

When you are ready put it in the oven for 9-10 minutes but keep a close eye on them as they bake very quickly.

 

When they are ready leave aside to cool down and firm up.

Jammy Dodgers biscuits

You will also need one or a selection:

  • jam or marmalade
  • chocolate spread
  • any nut butter
  • lemon curd, etc.

After cooling spread a nice dollop of one of the above and cover with another biscuit with a cut shape.

Sprinkle with icing sugar if desired.

 

Voila!!

Enjoy and let me know in the comments below your thoughts.

 

Happy baking,

Aggy Dadan

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10Dec

Gin Cookie Cupcakes

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Our recipes
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Gin Cookie Cupcakes?

My simple, easy and totally delicious Gin Cookie Cupcakes are such a treat you might not want to share them with anyone.

Gin Cookie Cupcakes are light, crumbly yet moist cookie cases filled with delicious sweet & sour cherries and white chocolate. You can eat them cold or hot, almost naked with just a sprinkle of icing sugar. Or you can go full on and top it off with a swirl of white chocolate and violet ganache decorated in edible flowers.

A little secret…

I’m going to tell you a little secret about me. In my previous life I’m a trained mixologist. At Christmas I put this talent to good use and one of my favourite cocktails is an Aviation.

For those of you who have never head of Aviation cocktail let me explain and you can see how this beauty of a drink inspired me.

The Aviation cocktail is a classic made with gin, maraschino liqueur, crème de violette, and lemon juice. All sounded like an a perfect match made in heaven. To make it more decadent I am adding white chocolate.

 

Gin Cookie Cupcakes are very easy and reasonably quick. Best way is to watch my Deadpool Christmas Special and you will see for yourself how simple Gin Cookie Cupcakes are.I am sure as soon you try it once you will love it for life!

What Gin Cookie Cupcakes taste like?

Delicate bitterness of gin, sweetness of the cherries and white chocolate and subtle freshness of lemon zest. Already a winner! Now to put it into the practice!

Today in my recipe I will be adding my favourite Aviation Gin (pun not intended it really is my favourite). However if you are feeling generous and decide to share these definitely adult only treat with the kids you can leave the gin out and add a splash of vanilla!

 

Method.

Turn on the oven to …. and set aside clean and dry cupcake tin

Put in your mixer bowl

  • 200g sugar
  • 225g butter, soft, room temperature

Cream the above together in the mixer until light and fluffy.

Add

  • 2 eggs

and continue until mixed well.

In the meantime prepare

  • 120g grounded almonds
  • 320g plain flour
  • Couple of shots of your favorite gin
  • 3/4 tsp lemon zest

Add it all to the mixing bowl and incorporate well. Tip it onto a baking paper and roll a long about 2″ thick sausage. Put the Gin Cookie Cupcakes dough in the fridge. Rest it for a while (you can leave it for an hour or two or even overnight) until nice and firm and easier to cut.

The white chocolate and cherry filling.

When dough is resting prepare:

  • white chocolate buttons and
  • a can of sour cherries in compote

To make perfect caramelised cherries for the filling is easy. Put the cherries in to a pan and bring them to boil. Cook it slowly on low heat until the compote is reduced and the cherries are sticky and shiny.

You can watch my recipe movie ‘Baking with Aggy’ – ‘Deadpool Christmas Special’ for the step by step instructions.

Preheat your oven to 175C fan.

When you dough is set slice it to 12 discs of 3/4″ (just under 2cm) thick and 12 1/2” (around 1cm) discs and fill all the 12 cupcake wells in your cupcake pan with the thicker pieces. You don’t need to grease it or use any cases as the dough is already full of butter and will pop out easily.

Press is gently making sure the dough is well distributed and make small indentations for the filling.

Put some cherries in each one and top it with some chocolate buttons. Then take the thinner slices and press firmly around to seal the Gin cookie Cupcakes so the filling doesn’t run out.

If the dough is still cool to touch you can bake it straight away otherwise put in the fridge for 10-15 min.

When ready put it in the oven and bake Gin Cookie Cupcakes for 15-17 minutes or until golden.

If you can’t wait to try (I can imagine how your kitchen smells like now) just sprinkle with icing sugar but if you want to save them for later top it off with some white chocolate ganache!

Voila!

Bon Appetite!

 

I know you will enjoy Gin Cookie Cupcakes as much as I do!

Happy baking and until next time!!

Love,

Aggy xxx

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25Feb

Apple pancakes

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Kids corner Our recipes
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Pancake Day is almost upon us. Today I have for you super delicious Apple pancakes!!

Don’t worry if you a vegan or dairy free as you can easily make Apple pancakes suitable for yourself.

Crazy about (Apple) pancakes?

In our house pancakes come as a regular thing… weekends, during the week, doesn’t matter. As soon we think about pancakes there is more likely one or a dozen going to magically appear on our table… Even Zara can whip up her own batch and guess what – her signature are chocolate ones obviously!

We eat them sweet or savory adding various fillings depending on mood, weather, season of the year you get the idea.

I don’t think anyone ever can get bored of traditional lemon pancakes though and because we like variety I am saving it for Pancake Day next Tuesday.

 

Thick, chunky (apple) pancakes? Sounds intriguing?

Yesterday I have made some super tasty, super delicious Apple pancakes. 

Apple pancakes can be eaten topped or plain because the apples I have used are already sweet.

Well, I have to admit, yesterday I have made it extra naughty. I have topped it with agave syrup and cream brûlée ice cream. Because Apple pancakes contain fruit I counted it towards my 5 a day.

The apple slices inside were still warm and slightly crisp. I have used my all time favorite Gala apples as those are the ones that we always have in the house. However if you prefer it less sweet or have your own preference you can use pretty much any apple brand.

What do Apple pancake taste like?

Crunchy apples dipped in cinnamon sugar covered in delicious, melting in mouth batter.

The pancake mix keeps the apple rings from fully cooking and it gives Apple pancakes a tasty, warm bite. The apples are sweet and juicy and the soft warm pancakes literally melting in your mouth!!

An absolute must try if you ask me plus super simple.

Method.

Peel

  • 5 to 6 apples

Slice it into 3 to 4 rings each and core each ring. Drop the apple rings in cinnamon sugar. Set aside.

Prepare batter. Mix together gently:

  • 250ml milk (or coconut milk if making Apple pancakes VEGAN)
  • 150g plain flour
  • 1 tbsp icing sugar (optional)
  • dash vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda

Semi warm up a frying pan. I have use non stick pan with a tiny bit of coconut oil.  Depending on your pan and preferences you can as well use 1 calorie spray oil for super light Apple pancakes or fry it in a dash of sunflower or rapeseed oil.

Dip earlier prepared apple rings in batter and fry it for couple of minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Enjoy hot or cold.

Bon appétit!

 

Ps. What will you top your pancakes with this year?

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24Dec

Deadpool Christmas special

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Our recipes
3 Comments

‘Deadpool Christmas Special’ and ‘Baking with Aggy’.

 

Well, when thinking about new projects it can be hard and daunting to get the idea processing in my head. On this occasion however I’m still not sure how I came up with Deadpool Christmas special. Could of been one to many aviation cocktails but it just seamed perfect.

Deadpool Christmas Special

Deadpool, everyone’s favourite anti hero, a bad guy who gets rid of the worse guys. Immortal mutant who fought this heartless disease that in current day affects so many of us!

What a perfect person to invite round to do some baking with. It sounded ideal. 

So, I have picked up the phone & made some calls and Deadpool was in.

Real life Heroes!

But we don’t need to watch a movie to see a hero. In Deadpool words ‘I might be super but I’m not a hero yet’ and I decided to dedicate this short story to real life heroes!!

 

We have heroes around us everywhere.

One of them is my friend Ryan. 

He is one of the bravest, positive people I have ever meet. Why is he a hero you would ask? Well, he is a fireman and he protects and saves others life’s. In my eyes whatever the definition of a hero might be he is definitely one of them.

Other hero is Ryan’s wife Lucy who has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. 

Lucy is a fighter and with the support of her friends and family she is tackling this awful disease head on! However Lucy need to take regular trips to St Richards Hospice in Worcester where she is receiving treatment and help. 

So me and Deadpool came out with a little plan. Deadpool Christmas Special was a perfect excuse to have a little play.

St Richards Hospice Worcester.

St Richards Hospice is where you can find the real super hero’s.

This place is run by staff with the fantastic and generous support of many volunteers. Selfless souls who help those who have life-limiting illnesses and to thank and help them run the place I have decide to raffle off a Unicorn cake and all the proceeds to donate to the Hospice.

Shootings Star Chase Hospice.

By downloading Avid Merrion’s Proper Crimbo song for 99p that plays near the end of movie you also support Shooting Star Chase Hospice.

Thank you everyone!

Win a Unicorn cake!

The idea is simple. Each donation of a £5 will get you one raffle ticket and you can get as many tickets as you like. 

{HERE you can donate in exchange for your raffle TICKET(S)}

Unicorn cake, Edible By Aggy

The money is donated straight to St Richards Hospice. All you need to do after donating is email us on deadpool@ediblebyaggy.co.uk with your name, address or just a postcode so we know the area where to deliver the cake. Please don’t forget to add the ideal date you would like me to deliver the cake to you! 

You can pick any date in 2019 and within a reason if I have the space I will make the cake for that date. Otherwise we will agree another suitable day. This raffle is for a Unicorn cake but I’m happy to make a Pegasus (unicorn with wings) similar to the photo below.

The raffle will close on the 6th of January 2019. There is no cash price or money exchange in any circumstances. 

Details of the cake to be agreed between winner and myself.

Cookie cupcakes recipe that we make in Deadpool Christmas special.

If you fancy trying Gin Cookie Cupcakes we are making with DP  in our Christmas special you can find the recipe and how to prepare it HERE!

So while I am having fun baking with Deadpool don’t forget to check our short movie HERE if you haven’t seen it yet and buy some tickets!!!

And lastly I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Be good, remember Santa is always watching. 

 

Happy baking,

Aggy x

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18Apr

Coffee meringues

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Our recipes
2 Comments
Easy Coffee meringues recipe Edible By Aggy

This week is National Coffee Week so whats better to celebrate it with than a Coffee meringues.

Fresh, moist, crunchy and chewy and full of whipped cream.

Coffee meringues recipe

Coffee Meringues, a trip down memory lane…

My childhood memories give me a lot of inspiration for my cooking and baking today. Watching Celebrity Bake Off a few weeks ago reminded me about one of my favourite Coffee Meringues. A special simple desert from the best bakery in town where I was born.

Every time I went there the choice was pretty difficult. No only the well known classics to choose from but now and again a special new treat was popping in. In almost all cases my first choice were Coffee Meringues. 

Pretty. Flawless. Always fresh and full of whipped cream.

Easy Coffee meringues recipe Edible By Aggy

We were allowed to eat Coffee Meringues because it was made with Inka. We have this special wheat coffee in Poland. It is extremely tasty and contains absolutely no caffeine.  When I was younger Inka was served with breakfast or with supper. It was very popular and probably even more consumed than hot chocolate at that time. Usually made with only milk or half and half with water.

Therefore it was totally safe for us or any kids to have Coffee Meringues. 

Today I am recreating my childhood taste with some Inka that I have left over from my latest trip to Poland. When making Coffee Meringues you can use ordinary instant coffee or any other alternative as it only contains tiny amount.

Tasty clouds of happiness.

Coffee Meringues are very easy to make. They don’t require any special skills or equipment. You can eat them straight away or leave to soften for a few days.

Giant, delicate, light, crunchy and gooey Coffee Meringues  are sandwiched with delicious whipped cream. When fresh the crunchy shell brakes as you bite it and it’s soft centre amazingly complimented by the cream.

Easy Coffee meringues recipe Edible By Aggy

Method.

Turn the oven to 145C.

To make 8 giant halves you will need:

Start by whisking on fast speed for a few minutes until the mixture become stiff.

While the mixer is still on add slowly to the mixture, spoon after spoon:

  • 300g sugar

Prepare coffee.

  • 3 tbsp instant coffee
  • 2 tsp spoons of boiling water

Gently stir in the coffee into the mix.

Easy Coffee meringues recipe Edible By Aggy Dadan

Spoon it on to a baking sheet. The recipe makes 8 large Coffee meringues. That’s about 2 spoons of mixture each.

Bake at 145C preheated oven for approximately 1 hour.

In  the meantime you can whip

  • small pot of double cream
  • 1 – 2 tbs icing sugar

Keep it in the refrigerator until the Coffee meringues are ready.

Sandwich Coffee meringues with the cream as soon they are fully cooled. Eat straight away or keep it for later.

 

I am sure you will love these!!

Happy baking.

Aggy x

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6Apr

Princess plaits

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Kids corner Our recipes
1 Comment

Crunchy and simple biscuits that look like beautiful pastry Princess plaits.

Princess Plaits biscuits

What are Princess plaits and where did they come from?

Originally this was my grans recipe and she called it Kindling. I guess because Kindling, now Princess plaits were crisp, snappy and very light. They were eaten at the end of carnival season just before lent and Ash Wednesday.

The Polish tradition of Kindling slightly faded in our house. Mainly because we do a lot of baking so keeping up with additional sweets proves too many cakes. Also because Zara loves helping so we make these as an afternoon treat, when she wants to make something different.

Why should you make it?

Princess plaits are the tastiest way of using left over egg yolks after making Coffee meringues (recipe coming up soon) which you also must try!!

Besides Princess plaits are perfect for kids motor skills and believe me the small hands become faster with each plait! Check the video below. Zara is a master at it now.

I’ve slightly improved and speed up the way of doing Princess plaits in my recipe. It use to take so much longer hence Princess plaits have been made only at special occasions. Making this now quite efficient, pain free and speedy process so Princess plaits were just perfect name for it.

Unlike any other biscuit.

The biscuits are quite light and soft but you need to try it yourself to understand the texture. It’s this kind of consistency between crunch and crumble that I cant really find a word to describe.

Freshly cooked they are delicate, puffy and delicious. Left aside to cool they become crunchy and snappy unlike any other pastry I have ever tried.

Princess plaits biscuits when fresh are perfect on its own or lightly sugar dusted.  They can be sprinkled with cinnamon sugar or dipped in a chocolate sauce.

Princess plaits

 

Method.

Put all the ingredients in a mixer bowl:

  • 450g plain flour, sieved
  • 5 large, organic egg yolks
  • 1 or 2 spoons of your strongest alcohol (rum, brandy or vodka type)
  • 200g natural yogurt

You can try making Princess plaits by hand but much quicker and easier will be using a mixer as it requires good beating. Mix using the beater end, the idea behind it is to incorporate as many air pockets as possible.

Start mixing it on a slow speed slowly increasing. Eventually turn it on on maximum and watch the mixer as it might turn a little bit violent. Continue mixing the dough on high speed for at least 15 minutes.

Place aside to relax wrapped in cling film or a sandwich bag for at least half an hour.

Put the Princess plaits dough back in the mixer and continue to beat it on high speed for additional 15 minutes. Wrap again and put in the fridge for another half an hour.

Fun part!

When ready, roll very thinly approximately 1.5 to 2 mm. Use pizza cutter to cut 1.5″ wide strips then make diagonal cuts about 3″ apart to create the individual pieces. Then cut each piece carefully through the middle leaving about 3/4″ uncut space at each end.

 

Gently twist one end through the middle cut to create Princess plaits look alike. Once again please check my video above when Zara is making it very easy.

Warm up in a pan

  • 2 cups of oil suitable for frying (rapeseed or coconut are best)

and fry on medium heat for a few minutes each side until golden. At this stage please keep little people away from the pan. It can get very hot and it might make the process difficult. They cook very quickly and no one would enjoy a burn Princess plaits biscuit.

You can eat it immediately or save (if there are any left) for later.

Princess plaits when still warm go best with a little sprinkle of icing sugar but you can enjoy it with anything you like.

 

 

I hope you will like Princess Plaits biscuits as much as we do!

 

 

Enjoy!

Until next time. Happy baking.

Aggy x

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17Mar

Cheese onion chutney soda bread

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Daily life Kids corner Our recipes Savoury
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Yesterday we had our friend Nick over for lunch. As it was a last minute kind of thing, I quickly made some Cheese onion chutney soda bread to have with our lunch!

Cheese onion chutney soda bread

Cheese onion chutney soda bread

I haven’t made my Cheese onion chutney soda bread recipe for a little while. Mainly because I ran out of my organic home made onion chutney (its been so long, we nearly forgot how to make it!) , and secondly, I had almost forgotten how delicious it is. This time, I had to resort to a shop bought jar which comes in at a close second to my home made version – organic red onion chutney. We actually liked it so much, I have made another one today!

When I was little, I used to go through colds and flu more frequently than other kids. I always preferred home remedies, and often I was served onion syrup. One day, having bad cough as an adult and not able to shift it, I decided to try onion treatment from my childhood.

How Cheese onion chutney soda bread was made.

I had a lot of sugary onion left after a recipe I was using one day. As I don’t like wasting food, I thought I’d try making onion chutney. If it went wrong, it wouldn’t be a massive waste, as I had already extracted and used the syrup.

Playing around with the remaining onion, adding various seasoning and vinegar, I came up with a pretty tasty onion chutney (recipe to follow). I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t ever tried onion chutney in my baking – it was so tasty! At the time, we were making a lot of courgette soda bread. It is my favourite savoury bake, especially when these amazing vegetables are in season.

Soda bread, what is that?

I remember the day I tasted soda bread for the first time…

Years ago, when I first arrived in England, I was working in a pub, owned by an Irish chef, as a barmaid. New to the pub (and the country), the chef fed me all sorts of new stuff every day. One reason was to become familiar with the menu, and in case any of the customers asked. Another reason was to prove to me how good his cooking was! I was allowed to pick anything from the menu, and that day I had spotted a new dish, accompanied by soda bread! Being very curious what this type of bread was, I decided to try it immediately.

To my pleasant surprise, I fell in love with this new thing straight away and have never looked back. Now I make all sorts of flavours pretty often, besides it is a great side dish for any meal.

Cheese onion chutney soda bread is so simple to make that quite often Zara can make it herself. She still requires a bit of supervision when she is preparing the ingredients. However, even the least experienced baker will be able to make this, if you follow the instructions carefully. It literally takes five minutes to weigh, mix and put it in the oven.

Absolutely divine.

Cheese onion chutney soda bread tastes divine. If you never had this type of bread the texture will be hard to describe. So, I would wholeheartedly recommend you to make it and try it for yourself. Cheese onion chutney soda bread is a little sweet and savoury at the same time. Is moist inside and crunchy outside, and my favourite way to eat it is just plain covered in salty butter. Oh my I love my butter! Still solid, straight from the fridge so you can slice it like a cheese whilst the Cheese onion chutney soda bread is still hot!

Method.

Turn on the oven to 200C, 180C fan.

You can prepare the whole Cheese onion chutney soda bread recipe in one bowl –  minimising the cleaning afterwards!

Prepare in a bowl:

  • 400g sieved self rising flour
  • 50 – 80g of chunky oats
  • 2 tsp. of bicarbonate soda
  • 3 – 4 tbsp of red onion chutney
  • 150g of grated cheddar or gruyere (or any other strong, hard cheese)
  • 4 rounded tsp of dry dill

Mix well with a wooden spoon (or with your hands). Personally, I prefer to use a spoon when I am making it myself, it’s quicker and less messy. However, when Zara is helping, she likes to use her hands.

Cheese onion chutney soda bread

Add:

  • 200g kefir or buttermilk
  • 100g natural Greek yoghurt

Stir well but not too long. Only a few minutes maximum, or will become stodgy!

To bake Cheese onion chutney soda bread, I use my pizza stone. Firstly covered in baking parchment to avoid the dough from sticking.

Make a ball out of the dough, place on the stone (if you haven’t got stone, an ordinary baking tin will work too) and cut a deep cross on the top. Open it gently and allow to spread so it can rise evenly.

Cheese onion chutney soda bread

Bake for around 40 minutes on the parchment, and for further 20 minutes without to crisp up the bottom of your Cheese onion chutney soda bread.

Remove from the oven and leave on a cooling rack.

Voilà!

Bon appétit. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!

Aggy x

 

Tags:
10Dec

Christmas mincemeat sponge

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Daily life Our recipes
6 Comments

Woke up this morning to an amazing white scene outside and started craving a slice of Christmas mincemeat sponge.

Christmas mincemeat sponge

I love snow, probably as much as I love cake. Especially because it reminds me of cold, snowy, Christmassy mornings when I was a kid. Every time when we had fresh snow, and usually in Poland snow was quite deep, we would go sledging. I was one of those lucky kids living next to a hill. In summer we called it Green Hill but obviously in winter it metamorphose into the best sledging course. Thinking about it now it was actually quite scary and super fast course about 150 metres long. Playing with all the kids racing we would spend there almost a whole day coming back knackered and hungry.

As soon we came home we either would have dinner or in most cases hot chocolate and slice of cake!

And because is almost Chrimas this was a perfect excuse to bake Christmas mincemeat sponge.

Christmas mincemeat sponge

 

Some might ask what mincemeat is?

I have never heard of mincemeat before coming to England. Apart from that one time when Rachel from Friends wanted to make British Christmas trifle-pie. Everyone remember this episode, right?

In the UK everyone knows what mincemeat is and all the stores sells at least a few different types. Mincemeat despite the name is a sweet mix of dried fruit soaked in alcohol. Mainly used in Christmas bakes like Mince pies but this time I have used it in Christmas mincemeat sponge recipe.

 

This particular recipe is probably more than 30 years old and belonged to Zara’s great grandma… or possibly ever her great great grandma. I found it in her little recipe box and one day decided to give it a go.

We love great grandmas Christmas mincemeat sponge so much we make it during the year as well as for Christmas.

 

Christmas mincemeat sponge is a quick, easy and very tasty treat even for those who have a limited baking repertoire.

What does it taste like?

The Christmas mincemeat sponge is not too sweet, bit tangy with characteristic mincemeat flavour. Light and delicious. With little bursts of juicy fruit surrounded by rich and moist sponge. So unlike the traditional Christmas cake which can be quite heave and stogy with strong aftertaste.

 

You can eat it plain…

Christmas mincemeat sponge

…or filled with Mincemeat cream cheese frosting (recipe to follow) and drizzled with white chocolate sauce to make it more festive.

 

 

Method.

You will need greased and flour small round cake tin 7 – 8″ or a pretty bundt tin. Set your oven to 175C, fan 160C.

Place in a mixer bowl:Christmas mincemeat sponge

  • 170g of butter or vegetable oil spread
  • 2 eggs
  • 110g soft dark sugar

Beat until well combined.

Add:

  • 1 jar of mince meat (around 400-450g)

Mix on slow to medium speed for couple of minutes but be careful not to overmix. Sieve and carefully fold in:

  • 225g self raising flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 tsp mixed spice
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Scoop the mixture into the tin and sprinkle with some extra soft brown sugar if you wish for a nice crusty finish.

 

Place in the oven and bake until brown, approximately 50 minutes to 1 hour.

When ready remove from the tin. You can eat it warm.

If you decide to layer your Christmas mincemeat sponge with cream first let it completely cool down.

Enjoy with freshly sliced fruit as a dessert or Christmas afternoon cup of tea.

Bon appetite,

Aggy x

Tags:
13Sep

Chimney cakes

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Interesting finds Our recipes
1 Comment

Strap yourself in, today we have an interesting one, Chimney cakes.

Chimney cakes

Chimney cakes are like a perfect marriage between churros and a warm fluffy doughnut. Ideally with a little scatter of cinnamon sugar. Filled or empty, with or without nuts and sprinkles, literally you can eat it how you please.

 

We tried making the Chimney cakes for the first time ever a couple of days ago. We really liked the outcome and the idea so decided to share the recipe with you.

How did we come up with Chimney cakes you might ask?

Recently we went for a road trip around Europe. We were lucky to visit some beautiful and interesting places and a few with a nostalgic warmth.

One of the places we visited was Wrocław* in Poland (*read Vrotswav).

When I was younger  I spent several years living and studying there. And as I haven’t been back there for a 10 or so years I decided to stop for a few days.

While walking and admiring old haunts our attention straight away was caught by every single cake shop. In some of them we even had double helpings or bought something to take away to munch later. This time while walking through Old Town and Market Square we could smell an interesting sweet mixture and got intrigued.

A little hidden away shop front with a massive queue outside so decided to have a nose around. This later happen to be a Chimney cakes shop which was one of our favourite treats on this trip. There were so tasty we needed to recreate them as soon as possible. There was no way we could wait any longer to have another bite.

 

Originated from Transylvania.

Chimney cakes originally came from Hungarian-speaking part of Transylvania, Romania. They are also known within the culinary heritages of other European countries like Hungary, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Chimney cakes are made from rolled sweet yeast dough. The dough traditionally is wrapped around a special wooden rolling pins and baked constantly turn over a grill. Chimney cakes are then topped with sugar and all sorts of things.Chimney cakes

The name comes from the effect that Chimney cakes create when taken off the baking pins after baking. When they are very hot they steam from the middle, soft part of the bake that looks like a smoking chimney.

But don’t worry I have managed to adapt it for everyone to try it at home without a fancy ovens and wooden pins.

Why should you make it?

I shouldn’t really have to convince you to make Chimney cakes as they are simply amazing. Maybe a little bit time consuming as all yeast dough bakes but otherwise I would eat it warm every day.

Chimney cakes taste divine. Soft, fluffy and not too sweet. You can eat the Chimney cakes creamed inside with almost anything you can come up with. From some soft fudge, chocolate or caramel, jam or marmalade, fresh cream or even topped with ice cream. Often paired with crushed peanuts, pistachios or almonds.

Method.

This recipe will make approximately 12 chimneys.

To make Chimney cakes you will need:

  • 520g plain flour
  • 25g fresh yeast*
  • 90g icing or confectionery sugar
  • 200ml warm milk

If you are using fresh yeast make a starter as directed here fresh yeast starter.

*If you are using dry yeast you can convert it here.

For the next step I use my mixer with paddle attachment. You can also work it by hand but the dough will be slightly wet and quite sticky so I prefer to avoid all the mess.

When your starter is ready place it with the remaining ingredients in a mixer bowl.

Add:

  • 2 large organic eggs
  • 1tsp vanilla
  • pinch of salt
  • 80g melted but cooled unsalted butter

Mix it on a medium to high speed for a few minutes until it becomes stretchy and smooth. Move the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with a cloth.  Let it rest for one to two hours until at least double in size.

Homemade Chimney cakes baking pins.

In the meantime prepare some Chimney cakes pins. As mentioned earlier Chimney cakes are originally baked on wooden rolling pins that are spinning over a grill or fire. We haven’t got the luxury of the special equipment so I came up with those simple cheat baking pins.

You will be able to use them over and over again if you are careful enough. Don’t worry to much if they get damaged as they are cheap and quick enough to make some fresh each time.

What you will need:

  • baking paper
  • tin foil
  • a few empty kitchen paper towels rolls, ideally 6 – 12 tubes

Roll each tube in tin foil and push the ends inside the tube. Follow this step for each tube and then follow the same with baking paper.

Turn on the oven to 200C, 180C fan.

Shaping the dough.

Take the dough for Chimney cakes out and slightly work it again. It will be quite sticky but you can use some plain flower to sprinkle for easie rolling.

Roll the dough quite thin, approximately 1/4″(1cm) and neat rectangular shape around 15″(45cm) long by 12″ (30cm) wide. The tidier the rolling, the easier the next step will be.

Cut it with a pizza cutter to straight, 1″ (2.5cm) wide strips. You should end up with 12 strips. Roll each strip on the mock up baking pins and tuck the ends under the dough.

When you wrap it around the tubes it might have some gaps but that’s ok. Roll it a few times like you would roll a rolling pin. TOP TIP. I push my tubes onto a rolling pin for easier rolling. Make sure there are no gaps in the dough after rolling. Then press and roll it in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Put it in the oven standing up. I remove all the oven shelves and use my lid rack to keep the tubes in place. Bake for around 12 – 15 minutes or until golden brown but do not overbake. They need to be on a lighter spectrum from the inside.

Standing my Chimney cakes was easier and quicker to turn them around so they bake evenly. If you haven’t got anything to hold them securely you can also use a narrow baking tin ad hang them on long skewers.

 

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9Sep

Cinnamon sugar

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Daily life
1 Comment

Simple Cinnamon sugar.

One of my favourite spices is Cinnamon. Cinnamon is very versatile and I have used it many time in sweet and savoury dishes. Today is a quick note on how to make Cinnamon sugar. 

I always keep a box of Cinnamon sugar in the cupboard as it can be used with almost anything. From cheeky coffee in the morning, home made custard or use it in a (Aggy’s) cake recipe.

Cinnamon is a spice which is ground from the inner barks of trees in the Cinnamomum genus. It comes in two forms, as a powder and rolled chunks of bark. It has a characteristic aromatic sweet flavour. Uniquely spicy in a woody type of way, with a strong, warm, pleasant aftertaste slightly similar to ginger.

How to make good Cinnamon sugar?

To make my Cinnamon sugar I use very fine sugar but you can use a coarser type.

The amounts are approximate and you can adjust to your personal taste.

You will need:

  • 200g fine sugar, preferably caster
  • 4 – 6 hipped tea spoons of powder cinnamon

Simply mix together. Store in a air tight box or a container. Use within a few months.

 

Perfect for rolling the Chimney cakes in.

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20Feb

Nutty Sunshine Torte

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Kids corner Our recipes
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Nutty Sunshine Torte

Nutty Sunshine Torte

I am quite fussy when it comes to food and I don’t like walnuts in brownies but fancied creating the texture they give. One day I really wanted a sweet, nutty treat and I have decided to replace the walnuts with sunflower seeds.

When sitting and testing for the first time I had another genius moment and just spotted peanut and almond brownie laying around. Put the two together with a little bit of cream and that is how Nutty sunshine torte was made.

Nutty Sunshine Torte

Nutty sunshine torte is very easy bake and you can make it in only one bowl with a couple of utensils.

It taste a little bit like cake version of Snickers bar. Chocolatey yet crunchy, full of chewy peanuts, slightly salty, topped with delicious fluffy cream.

Nutty sunshine torte a perfect afternoon tea treat or birthday cake all depending on your creativity and imagination when decorating.

Nutty sunshine torte is an easy, simple perfect brownie Snickers cake.

Nutty Sunshine Torte

The recipe

For the first layer you will need:

  • 210g white sugar
  • 160g soft brown sugar
  • 85g cocoa powder
  • 150g plain flower
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp rock salt
  • 180g sunflower seeds
  • 4 organic eggs*
  • 225g melted unsalted butter
  • dash vanilla

*TOP TIP. If you are baking with your kids let them crack the eggs. The easiest way is to open them over a sieve in case any shells breaking in. Then simply whisk it through.

Heat the oven to 175C or 155C fan.

Sieve all the dry ingredients in to a large bowl. Add the rest and mix it with a whisk or a wooden spoon until well combined.

Line 9″ spring form with baking paper and put the mixture in the tin.

Place it in the oven and bake the first layer for 30 minutes. In the meantime prepare the peanut layer.

For peanut layer

use the same bowl and utensils and mix through after adding each ingredient:

  • 120g crunchy peanut butter
  • 40g of peeled and roughly chopped monkey nuts
  • 70g melted unsalted butter
  • 130g white sugar
  • 100g soft brown sugar
  • 2 organic eggs
  • dash of vanilla
  • 110g ground almonds
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp of rock salt

After baking the first layer for 30 min take it out the oven carefully. Try to complete the next step quickly.

Very gently top the the peanut butter mix on to brownie layer. Bake for additional 30-40 minutes at the same temperature until golden brown. Leave to cool.

The cream

  • 90g unsalted butter
  • 45g cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp golden syrup
  • dash vanilla
  • 250g icing sugar
  • 2 to 4 tbsp milk

Put all in a mixer and slowly work to a paste then beat on high speed for a few minutes to light and fluffy.

Spread on the cake and decorate as you wish.

Nutty Sunshine Torte

I decorated mine with some toasted in sugar sunflower seeds, mascarpone and some dark chocolate sauce.

Nutty Sunshine Torte

Nutty Sunshine Torte

Enjoy!

Aggy x

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12Feb

Very berry cookie dough cake

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Kids corner Our recipes
No comments

Very berry cookie dough cake

Very berry cookie dough cake

Last summer we spend an amazing few weeks in Poland. The weather was outstanding, almost every day over 30C and the gorgeous weather meant there was plenty of juicy and delicious fruits to be picked.

Originally Very berry cookie dough cake was my mums recipe that she made over and over again for us when we visited. She made it with apples and cherries but we adapted it slightly and came up with this Very berry cookie dough cake version.

Very berry cookie dough cake

The Very berry cookie dough cake is a fresh, quick and easy reminder of those long hot summery days. It taste perfect when eaten warm with ice cream or cold even on its own!

The base.

For the Very berry cookie dough cake base you will need:

  • 400g plain flour
  • 4 organic egg yolks
  • 200g sugar
  • 250g cold, unsalted butter
  • dash of vanilla
  • 2 tsp baking powder

Sieve the flour. Chop the butter in to small cubes and place all the of the ingredients in a food processor. If you haven’t got a food processor you can ‘rub’ it with your fingers. It suppose to make a loose crumble like texture. Put a side.

Meringue.

In the meantime prepare:

  • 4 egg whites
  • pinch of salt
  • 100g brown sugar

Whisk the egg whites with salt until stiff. Slowly add sugar and set aside.

Fruit mix.

Very berry cookie dough cake

You will need :

  • 1200g – 1500g fresh or frozen mix berries*
  • 4-5 tbls of corn flour depending on type of fruit you use
  • couple of spoons of sugar to your taste*

*I have used frozen mix of summer berries (red currants, black currants, strawberries and raspberries) with some extra frozen strawberries which allowed me to skip the sugar. We prefer our fruit to be slightly sour in taste especially when the cake and meringue are quite sweet. I have also added two crunchy apples, chopped to small pieces for the texture but again you can leave it out.

Mix the fruit with corn flour (and sugar) so it is coated evenly.

Very berry cookie dough cake

Warm the oven to 180C or 160C fan.

TOP TIP. First line a 10″ baking tin with tin foil making sure it overhangs the tin (this is to help to remove the cake later). Then using one, large piece of baking paper place it on top and press it into the corners again making sure it overhangs slightly.

Assembling the layers for Very berry cookie dough cake.

Depending if you are using fresh or frozen fruit please follow step 1 or step 2!

  1. Fresh fruit baking.

Sprinkle evenly 3/4 of the crumble mix in the baking tin. Gently cover with the fruit and then spread the meringue. Crumble the remaining mix on the top.

Bake for 45-50 minutes till golden brown.

  1. Frozen fruit baking.

Sprinkle evenly 3/4 of the crumble mix in the baking tin. Gently cover with the fruit and place it in the oven. Bake it for 25 minutes. Take it out and quickly top it up with the meringue and crumble the remaining mix on the top.

Bake it for 50-60 minutes till golden brown.

Very berry cookie dough cake

 

You can enjoy a slice or two straight from the oven but cool completely before removing from the tin.

I hope you like it as much as we do!!

Aggy, Andy & Zara

xxx

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28Jan

Aggy’s chocolate orange… gateau

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Kids corner Our recipes
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Aggy’s chocolate orange gateau

Aggy’s chocolate orange gateau

Slow almost lazy you would say Saturday at home. I felt like baking something light and naughty. Usually we are ending up with our favourite chocolate brownie cake but this time it didn’t feel quite right… so I came up with this amazing “Aggy’s chocolate orange gateau”.

It can be as easy as you like or you can decorate it with elaborate sugar work.

Aggy’s chocolate orange gateau is a slightly chocolaty, light and moist sponge with delicate creamy orange after taste. Almost like a cake version of the famous orange chocolates.

Aggy’s chocolate orange gateau

For the Aggy’s chocolate orange gateau cake prepare:

  • 280g caster sugar
  • 8 organic eggs (room temperature)
  • 200ml water
  • 200g dark chocolate (I have used 60% cocoa but you can use higher if you wish)
  • 280g plain flour
  • dash of vanilla
  • 1tsp of baking powder

Whisk sugar and eggs on high speed until almost white.

In the meantime boil the water and let it cool down slightly. Smash the chocolate into small pieces. Use a plastic bowl preferably and slowly mix the water into the chocolate until combined and smooth.

Sieve and mix the flour and baking powder. Fold it in slowly simultaneously with melted chocolate in to the egg mixture in few portions.

Prepare two 8” tins. Do not grease the tins! Instead only use paper circles for the base.

Split the mixture evenly and bake it at 160C fan for around 55 minutes. If unsure check with a skewer.

When ready take out the oven and cool in the tin for 15 minutes. Then cut around the sides, turn up side down and remove the paper. Turn the right way up on a rack and leave to completely cool.

Cut both cakes in half.

TOP TIP. The easiest way to cut neatly and accurate that works every time! Mark around your cake lightly with a sharp knife. Take about two foot long piece of dental floss and wrap around the cake. Cross the floss at the front and gently pull through until it comes out the cake.

Aggy’s chocolate orange gateau

Filling.

  • 750g mascarpone cheese
  • high quality organic orange marmalade (I have made my own, if you’re brave enough give it a go keep an eye out for the recipe in one of the upcoming posts)

Add to taste, mix it trough.

Aggy’s chocolate orange gateau

Assembling Aggy’s chocolate orange gateau.

Additionally you will need

  • juice from 2 organic oranges

Drizzle each cake with some orange juice and sandwich with the cream. Decorate as you wish.

Aggy’s chocolate orange gateau

 

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18Nov

Teal and rose and Jimmy Choo’s.

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Our cake art
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Teal and rose and Jimmy Choo’s.

As the madness around our TV cake for ITV2’s Celebrity Juice continues, we thought to show you our recent cakes.

We had two totally different designs to finish and deliver on the same day.

It proved a good test of time keeping and being able to switch from one to the other. One second we are covering a four tier wedding cake. The next we are piping royal icing onto an edible shoe!

We had a beautiful four tier wedding cake to be done. The guide we had was to match the colour of the wedding and include some frills. So we sat down and got drawing changing the design probably 7- 8 times before we finally decided on a final look.dscf5157The hardest part was to match the theme colour. It was a deep shade of teal.

dscf5126

A last minute stroke of genius saw Aggy draw an entwined painting of the couples initials and even incorporated a heart into it to really finish off the second tier.

 

 

 

The heart on top to be the last piece of the puzzle and we think it all fits together perfectly, to create a beautiful elegant wedding cake that fits into the decoration of the venue.

dscf5133e

The second cake was an amazing challenge. We needed to make a copy of the birthday lady’s favorite pair of shoes by Jimmy Choo. The set included a cake shoe box, beautiful red rose and of course an edible copy of the shoe itself. Jimmy Choo cake box

The board was made to look like cobble street which really set the whole cake off perfectly!

The shoe box was our gorgeous dark chocolate brownie cake and chocolate ganache. Stunning blend for the most indulgent of chocolate lovers!

Both cakes were delivered on the same day and really tested our smooth driving skills around the Cotswolds!Sugar red rose

TOP TIP. To really make your rose come to life you can airbrush the center of it. Simply spray with a slightly darker shade of red or dust it with edible powder.

 

Happy baking,

 

Aggy, Andy and Zara

xxx

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3Oct

Western Lowland Gorilla cake for WWF

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Our cake art
2 Comments

Finally the time has come that we can share with you our Western Lowland Gorilla cake for WWF exhibit.

dscf5228

We were asked to join a sugar artist collaboration with over 20 other cake artists from around the world. Of course we have agreed with a great pleasure to support WWF.

We have chosen to make The Western Lowland Gorilla mother with her baby for our piece as they are massively endangered.

img_3066

“Populations can be found in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea as well as in large areas in Gabon and the Republic of Congo. The gorilla’s numbers have declined by more than 60% over the last 20 to 25 years. Even if all of the threats to western lowland gorillas were removed, scientists calculate that the population would require some 75 years to recover.”

We shaped and sculpted some dummy for inside of Western Lowland Gorilla cake for WWF.

The reason we didn’t use cake for this piece is because it will be on display at NEC in Birmingham and needed it to last longer than a just normal sponge would do. The dummy cake will be placed along other pieces at the exhibit.

When we had the basic shape it was covered in white modelling chocolate. and started to add more detail to the mother gorilla. After the hands and face were done we started to texture the fur using one of our home made tools. After the fur was finished it was time to hand paint which consisted of plenty of layers to cover the white chocolate.

dscf5211

The last thing was to sculpt the baby and give their faces a realistic look.

Western Lowland Gorilla cake for WWF

Lucky the day we finished the weather was so nice it was perfect for an outside photo shoot so we could try and make it look more natural in the garden. Find out more and see all the other amazing pieces of the other artists in the video below.

I hope you like our contribution and hope to see you at Cake International in few weeks’ time.

 

Aggy, Andy & Zara,

 

xxx

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30Sep

80’s TV 7th birthday cake for Celebrity Juice Keith Lemon ITV2 Part 1

Posted by: Aggy Categories: Our cake art
1 Comment

80’s TV set for Celebrity Juice, ITV2 and Keith Lemon.

Last week we were rather busy. We had a great pleasure to make an 80’s TV set cake for ‘Celebrity Juice’. The well-known TV comedy show from ITV2 presented by Leigh Francis aka Keith Lemon. (more…)

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