I’ve been really, really bad with updates lately. So have some pictures from the Easter bank holiday weekend. I will be putting up some new recipe posts soon.
Easter Weekend
Easter Mini Egg Nests
Easter is here. Which means mini eggs, everywhere. All the time. On top of everything. Inside everything (why not in brownies instead of the chocolate chips?). It also means the obligatory mini egg nests. Which is possibly one of the easiest “bakes” around and requires absolutely zero baking. Just some melting. And who doesn’t like melting stuff? (I tried to find a video of Phoebe first meeting her brother and him spending the whole time melting things, but the internet, for once, failed me).
I’m going to keep this one short and sweet just because there isn’t all that much you can say about Easter (especially as a non-religious person) and even less you can say about nests. The one thing I would say is that I prefer shredded wheat to cornflakes. It goes less soggy and gives a much better crispiness/nest look. Let me know what you’re baking for Easter in the comments below!
Easter Mini Egg Nests
Serves: 18
Ingredients
- 300g Milk Chocolate
- Tablespoon Peanut Butter (Optional)
- 3-4 Large Shredded Wheat
- 1 Packet of Cadbury’s Mini Eggs or equivalent non-brand.
Instructions
- Either in a microwave or in a heatproof bowl over simmering water (make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water), melt the chocolate with the peanut butter until it’s smooth.
- Break in the shredded wheat and mix together, coating the shredded wheat well.
- Transfer spoonfuls of the mixture to cupcake cases, allowing to cool slightly before adding the eggs.
- Chill in the fridge to set.
- Eat. All of them.
- Have a good Easter.
First Birthday Giveaway
Well, I’m not quite sure how it’s happened, but the blog has officially turned one. That’s a whole lot of cake (or biscuits, or brownies) and even more peanut butter. The beard has varied in length over the last year or so. But it’s here to stay (despite my ahem, witty, April fools).
Anyway, to celebrate my first Birthday as a blogger I am running a special birthday giveaway to my UK based readers. You can be in with a chance of winning some of my bakes (the ones that’ll travel best by post). The prizes will be a whole batch of my Brownies (possibly in a fancy flavour if you wanted) as well as a portion of cookies (again, these could be some of my stuffed ones, maybe).
To be in with a chance of winning just enter via the Rafflecopter below. The competition is running between April 8th 2014 and Midnight on Tuesday April 15th 2014.
Any questions, drop them in the comments and I’ll be sure to get back to you.
Blue Cheese Scones
I’ve waffled on about my parent’s holiday cottage on Mull several times now. It makes me happy, alright? The very first booking is imminent and my parents went up the other week for one last weekend of making sure everything was in order and the house was ready for guests to stay in. It made me realise I’ve not been up in about 4 months, which I hate, especially as now it’s completely booked up I don’t get to go again until August. Anyway, my Mother bought me back a wedge of Hebridean Blue from the Isle of Mull Cheese Company. It won silver in the world cheese awards a number of years ago and it’s by far the best cheese I’ve ever eaten (blue cheese is the best cheese, end of discussion). I thought this would be a great chance for me to bake something full of the stuff… but er, I kinda ate the whole thing, in a few days… Oh well, my intentions were good, so I bought myself another wedge of blue (less good, but still served its purpose wonderfully).
So then I had to decide what I actually wanted to make, bread? Tartlets? Muffins? I decided on Scones. I realise I’d not made scones since last year when I made my Chorizo and Smoked Cheddar Scones after a trip to York food festival (which I thought I’d written up but apparently never did, whoops!). Savory scones are definitely the best kind of scones, in my opinion at least. Blue cheese works wonderfully well, especially when you add something like caramelised onion. All these need with them is some chutney and perhaps some soup and they are perfect for a snack. Why not wash ‘em down with a bottle of real ale and a pork pie? Now I want a pork pie, someone bring me a pork pie.
Blue Cheese Scones
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Serves: 8
Ingredients
- 115g (plus 2 tablespoons for the onions) cold butter, divided
- 2 medium onions, finely diced
- Salt and black pepper to season
- 255g all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ Teaspoon baking soda
- 90g Blue Cheese (crumbled)
- 180ml Buttermilk (they sell it in M&S, only place I’ve found in Leeds center that does)
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C(200°C fan assisted) and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
- Melt the two tablespoons of butter in a pan and fry the onions over a medium to high heat until the start to brown at the edges. Reduce to a low heat and cook for a further 25-30 minutes, stirring frequently so they don’t cash. They’ll be soft and caramelised by the time it’s done. Set aside and allow to cool.
- While the onions are cooking whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda. Incorporate the butter in to the flour mixture, do this using your fingers, a fork or an electric mixer. Combine until it resembles coarse bread crumbs/meal.
- Once the onions are done and cooled slightly, add them, along with the blue cheese and buttermilk to the flour mixture and fold to form a dough. If it’s too sticky add a little more flour.
- Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and roll out into a square that’s roughly 20cm x 20cm. Divide in to 8 matching portions and transfer them to prepared baking tray. Brush the top of each one with the beaten egg, this will help them glaze.
- Place in the middle of the oven and cook until they are golden brown. This should be around 15 minutes. Remove and transfer to a rack. Best served fresh but they’ll last a couple of days after in a sealed container.
Triple Chocolate Brownies
First of all, sorry for the lack of updates. As I am still laptopless in the evenings it’s kinda getting in the way. I am also no longer with a copy of lightroom, so apologies if the photos aren’t quite so good. My fingers have got so itchy that I’ve actually stayed in work late to get this posted, and likely will be doing so a few times this week (I’ve got Guinness cake and Blue Cheese Scones to write up as well)… Anyway, BROWNIES. My greatest foe (not really, but I had a couple of disasters the other week when I tried making some using various different recipes I found on the old interwebs. I knew I should have stuck to the usual one). I also got myself a new giant brownie pan. So wanted the excuse to make them. I thought I’d keep it simple with some triple chocolate brownies.
I’m fairly sure I’ve ranted before about shop bought brownies being too cakey and how, to me, that’s just not what a brownie is. It should be a gooey, chocolatey mass of awesome.
For a smaller 20cm tin halve the ingredients.
Update (September 2016): This recipe requires some serious whisking, I’d recommend you did this with an electric whisk or at the very least a hand-whisk.
Triple Chocolate Brownies
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: The Bearded Baker
Serves: 30
Ingredients
- 250g unsalted butter
- 250g best dark chocolate
- 115g plain flour
- 53g cocoa powder
- 100g white chocolate
- 100g milk chocolate
- 4 large eggs
- 370g golden caster sugar
Instructions
- Melt together the butter and dark chocolate, by placing a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of hot water. Making sure that the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir the mixture together as it starts to melt, over a low heat. (You can do this stage in the microwave, but I don’t own one). Set the mixture aside to cool to room temperature.
- While it is cooling, preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan assisted) and grease/line your tin.
- Over a medium sized bowl, sieve the flour and cocoa powder in together.
- Roughly chop the white and milk chocolate into chips and set aside.
- Break the eggs and caster sugar into the bowl of your electric mixer and whisk on high speed until it looks thick and creamy. This can take anywhere between 3 and 8 minutes. When you take out the paddle, as it dribbles onto the surface and leaves a trail for a second or two then it’s perfect.
- Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Slowly folding it until it’s completely incorporated. You want them mixed without knocking out all the air you just added in to the mixture with the whisking.
- Sift the flour mix into the egg/chocolate mix and mix until it’s completely combined. Again, being careful not to knock the air out. Followed by the chocolate chips.
- Pour this into the prepared pan. Ensuring that it is spread evenly, by pushing it around gently with the spatula.
- Place in the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 25 minutes (20 if using the smaller pan). You’ll be able to see if it is done by wobbling the tray slightly. If the middle wobbles it needs a little longer, so put it back in for another 5 minutes.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and place on a wire rack, still in the tin and leave to cool completely before removing and dividing in to squares.
