Cakes

Nutter Butter Brownies

- Michael Leave a comment

Well guys, it’s been a while. America was absolutely incredible, and I’ll be inundating you with photos soon enough. But for now, it’s time for what people seem to come here for, recipes. While I was away I was under strict instructions to bring back things to bake with. In particular Nutter Butters. My girlfriend originally bought some back when she went hoping I’d bake them in to something, but we kinda got drunk and ate them. Can you blame us? I mean, Nutter Butters are so damn tasty. I’d much rather have them in the UK than Oreos. But hey, I’ve got a bit of a peanut butter problem. The next decision to make was what to do with them. I mean, I’ve baked Reeses and Oreos in to pretty much everything imaginable; cakes, cookies, truffles, cupcakes. You name it, I’ve probably done it. So I had to do something different. Brownies. That’s right, Nutter Butter Brownies. Bake them in to something ridiculously rich and gooey. I decided no ordinary brownie would do. No, it had to be something decadent. Why not do something with even more peanut butter?

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I also decided that something this good needed layers. Three of them to be precise. Each slightly different to the last. Or at least, in how they were put together anyway.

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These will be made again, as long as I can get hold of Nutter Butters in England that is. Hook a brother up?

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Nutter Butter Brownies
 
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Ingredients
  • 225g crunchy peanut butter
  • 200g bar dark chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 280g soft light brown sugar
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 100g self-raising flour
  • 15-20 Nutter Butters
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C and line a 20cm tin with greaseproof paper.
  2. Set aside 50g of the peanut butter and 50g of the chocolate.
  3. Melt together the rest of the peanut butter and chocolate, along with the sugar. Stirring with a wooden spoon. Once the sugar has just about finished melting, turn off the heat. Mix in the eggs, one by one before finally, mixing in the flour.
  4. Spread a thin layer along the bottom of the line tin. Spread out several whole nutter butters over the layer and then cover with the remaining mixture. Break up several nutter butters and decorate this next layer with them.
  5. Melt the remaining peanut butter and chocolate, pouring them over the top of the current brownie. In addition I added a few splodges of peanut butter and topped with one final nutter butter.
  6. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the outside layer is crisp but the center is still slightly underdone.
  7. Once removed from the oven allow to cool in the tin and divide in to squares.

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Congratulations!

- Michael 2 Comments

So this weekend my sister and her boyfriend got engaged. I just wanted to wish them both many congratulations. He texted me on Friday night saying he was going to do it, and if I’m being honest, I didn’t 100% believe him. Apparently he very nearly put his foot in it (a number of times) with letting the odd thing slip. On Saturday when I asked him how and when, he even sent his reply to my sister. Whoops.

But anyway, he did it and she said yes. Here’s the happy couple:

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Don’t worry, there is food coming up. I had already planned to see them on the Sunday for a family meal. I was taking along a lemon drizzle loaf, which while it went down well, probably wasn’t as fancy as the occasion deserved. But nevermind. Congratulations again, and it’s an excuse to get a new suit.

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Unfortunately this is only picture I got of the cake, and it’s a bog standard instagram shot. I’ll be getting some more stuff up this week to celebrate National Baking Week though, so keep your eye out!

Hope Cove – Pistachio and Lime Cake

- Michael Leave a comment

Here comes another not entirely baking related post, I’m sorry! Well, at least part of it is baking related. On the weekend I went to Hope Cove in Devon. It’s the 4th time I’ve made the trip with several friends and each time it has been incredible. It’s probably one of my favourite places on Earth (and I’ve seen quite a bit of this planet), at least in part due to the company. The seaside village is incredibly beautiful and the flat that we stay in is delightful.

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This weekend was a bit more special as it was my friend Tom’s Birthday. And here is where the baking comes in. I recently got my hands on the Clandestine Cake book and decided to make one for his Birthday. Unfortunately, I finished the cake fairly late the night before I had to leave and then it got a bit… squashed… on the way there (I had to get a train and then a lift early in the morning. It took us hours longer than it should have because of traffic jams). This all combined to mean that I didn’t have a chance to photograph it properly, so you’ll just have to make do with what I got. The good news is that it tasted pretty awesome.

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On the Saturday we BBQ’d and proceeded to play drinking games. We waited until he was feeling jolly before surprising him with the cake. I deliberately picked this cake as I knew that he enjoyed pistachios.

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Just make sure you have 3 20cm round cake tins for this, and a tall enough tin!

 

Hope Cove - Pistachio and Lime Cake
 
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Serves: 10-12
Ingredients
  • 300g butter, softened
  • 300g caster sugar
  • 5 eggs
  • 300g self-raising flour
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • Grated zest of 3 limes, plus the juice of 2
  • 50g pistachio nuts, finely chopped
  • For the lime syrup:
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 2tbsp caster sugar
  • For the lime curd:
  • 60g butter, diced
  • 2 eggs
  • 170g caster sugar
  • Grated zest and juice of 3 limes
  • For the frosting & decoration:
  • 250g butter, softened
  • 200g full-fat cream cheese,from the fridge
  • Grated zest of 1 lime
  • 250g icing sugar
  • 75g good-quality dark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa solids)
  • 125g pistachio nuts
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC (fan 170ºC). Grease and line the three sandwich tins.
  2. Beat the butter and sugar using a wooden spoon or electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, and adding a tablespoon of the flour with the final egg to help prevent curdling.
  3. Fold in the remaining flour and the baking powder until thoroughly combined. Add the lime zest and juice and the finely chopped pistachio nuts and mix until well combined.
  4. Divide the mixture between the tins, spreading it evenly. Bake for 25–30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave in the tins to cool slightly.
  5. Meanwhile, make the syrup. Put the lime juice and sugar into a pan over a low heat and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved, then bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
  6. While the sponges are still warm turn them out of their tins on to a wire rack, then carefully spoon the lime syrup over the top of each one– you may not need all the syrup. Leave the cakes to cool completely.
  7. Put all the ingredients for the lime curd in a small, heavy-based pan and heat gently, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon – don’t let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble. When it has thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon quite thickly, strain through a sieve into a bowl. Cover and leave to cool
  8. To make the frosting, beat the butter until smooth. Add the cream cheese and mix until combined. Add the lime zest, then sift in the icing sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
  9. For the decoration, melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water does not touch the base of the bowl, then pour it on to a piece of baking parchment and spread it out with a palette knife so it is about 3mm thick. Scatter over some of the chopped pistachios and leave to cool and set.
  10. To assemble the cake, place one of the cooled cakes on a plate, spread with a third of the frosting, then cover with a generous layer of the lime curd. Add a sprinkling of the remaining chopped pistachio nuts. Place a second cake on top of this and repeat the layers (saving some pistachios for the top). Place the final cake on top and cover with the remaining frosting.
  11. Break the pistachio-studded chocolate into rough shards and arrange round the edge of the top of the cake, then scatter the remaining pistachios among them.

I’ll be bringing part 2 to you later in the week, with Maple and Mustard Pulled Pork as the feature.

 

Mini Lime Drizzle Loaves

- Michael 1 Comment

First of all, apologies for the lack of updates the past couple of weeks. I’ve spent a lot of time away the last month or so and had barely any free time. Then the sun came out, and suddenly I found my evenings filled with sitting in the sun with friends and the odd beer. But in amongst this I’ve been doing the odd bit of baking. From  cheese (scotch infused mull cheddar) and onion bread through to more summery pieces. Today’s recipe is one of the latter. I absolutely love lemon drizzle cake, it’s sharp, moist, full of flavour and refreshing. It’s perfect for a summer’s day. I also got my hands on some miniature loaf tins a few months ago and have been itching to put them to use. A drizzle loaf is the perfect thing to just make miniature.

Lime Drizzle Loaves

Unfortunately when I popped into the shop they were 100% out of lemons. It’s pretty lucky that limes work just as well for this isn’t it then? This recipe only makes a few, small loaves, which makes it great for a set of light summer snacks.

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Mini Lime Drizzle Loaves
 
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Ingredients
  • Ingredients:
  • 125g butter
  • 125g golden caster sugar
  • 125g self-raising flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 Dollop Sour Cream
  • 2 Limes
  • 5 tablespoons of golden syrup
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and grease the loaf tins.
  2. Cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.
  3. Beat in the first egg, beating until well combined. Add half the flour, beat again. Repeat, with the second egg and then the last of the flour.
  4. Grate both limes into a bowl (do this before you juice them, or it’ll get a bit tricky). I used some of the rind in the cake mix, but it’s up to you.
  5. Mix in the sour cream, two tablespoons of lime juice and (if using) some of the lime rind.
  6. Divide up evenly between the mini loaf tins. These rise pretty well so make them about ⅔s full.
  7. Bake in the oven for between 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
  8. Remove from the oven and ease out onto a rack.
  9. While they are cooling, prep the drizzle. Take the rest of the juice from the limes and the rind. Reduce over a low heat then stir in the syrup. This will turn runny fairly quickly. Take it off the heat to avoid it catching.
  10. Prick holes into the loaves with a fork (I push the fork about ⅔s of the way into the cakes) and drizzle the syrup over the top.

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Pecan Brownies

- Michael 1 Comment

I am fed up of store bought brownies. They just never seem to be right. They are either too cakelike without enough chew or the top isn’t glazed. I don’t even understand why, brownies couldn’t be much simpler. Couple a good chewy brownie with some nuts and you’ve got heaven. There isn’t even much more I can say about that. I just got a craving, one that could only be satisfied by Pecan Brownies.

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I’m a bit of a cheat with brownies. I got a brownie tin a little while back that allows me to bake them into individual squares, rather than into one big slab.

Pecan Brownies
 
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Ingredients
  • 225 grams light brown muscovado sugar
  • 75 grams self-raising flour
  • 25 grams cocoa powder
  • 3 large eggs (beaten)
  • 400 grams milk chocolate
  • 200 grams butter
  • 100 grams pecan nuts (chopped)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 150°C (130°C fan).
  2. Melt the chocolate with the butter using a water bath, placing a heatproof bowl over hot water and stirring until they have melted together.
  3. Add the sugar to the molten chocolate and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in the nuts.
  4. Combine the flour and cocoa powder then sift into the chocolate mixture, mixing well.
  5. If using a tin similar to mine, divide up the mixture to around half way up each of the holes. You’ll have enough leftover for either a second batch or else a small tin worth and bake for 35-45 minutes.
  6. Otherwise pour into an 8 inch square tin and bake for 60 minutes (1 hour).

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