Biscoff & White Chocolate Blondies

So I baked quite a bit with the smooth biscoff spread, and found it a really great addition to baked goods. So I decided to try out the crunchy biscoff spread to see if it would make a difference. To be honest, you can't really taste the crunchy bits when you bake with it, but it's still really yummy. These white chocolate & biscoff blondies are really indulgent and tasty for if you are craving a bit of biscoff :D 

Recipe

• 70ml sunflower oil
• 60 grams light muscovado sugar
• 110 grams light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 150 grams smooth or crunch biscoff spread
• 130 grams self raising flour 
• Pinch of salt
• ½ a teaspoon baking powder
• 100 grams white chocolate chunks

Method

Line an 8 x 8 inch baking tin and preheat the oven to 180c/350f. 

Pour the oil into a bowl and whisk in the sugar. Then whisk in the egg and vanilla, and finally the biscoff spread. 

Gently fold in the salt, flour and baking powder. 

Stir in the chocolate.

Press into baking tin and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cut into 12-16 squares and enjoy the biscoffy-goodness!

Liddie xxx

Salted Chocolate Tart

When I saw Nigella make this, I just had to try it out. I've never made a chocolate tart, but the idea of a crumbly oreo base instead of pastry sounded amazing, and it does not disappoint! The hint of salt is not overwhelming but enough to give a nice taste to the richness of the chocolate.The oreo base along with the gooey chocolate centre just go together fantastically. It's a great recipe for if you're having a dinner party or some friends round - quite simple to make but very impressive!

Recipe

for the base

• 28 oreo cookies (2 x 154g packets)
• 50 grams dark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa solids)
• 50 grams soft unsalted butter
• ½ teaspoon  sea salt flakes

for the filling

• 100 grams dark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa solids)
• 25 grams cornflour
• 60 ml full fat milk
• 500 ml double cream
• 50 grams cocoa (sieved)
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder (or strong instant coffee powder)
• 75 grams caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or extract)
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¾ teaspoon  sea salt flakes

Method

I used a 25cm tart tin with a loose base for this recipe. 
 For the base:

Snap the biscuits into pieces and drop them into  a food processor. Break the chocolate up and blitz together with the biscuits until you have crumbs. Add the butter and salt and mix together in the processor until you have crumbs. 

Press into your tart tin and pat down on the bottom and up the sides of the tin with your hands or the back of a spoon, so that the base and sides are evenly lined and smooth. Put into the fridge to chill and harden for at least 1 hour, or 2 hours if your fridge is stacked. I wouldn’t keep it for longer than a day like this as the Oreo crust tends to get too crumbly.

For the filling:

Finely chop the chocolate. Put the cornflour into a cup and whisk in the milk until smooth.

Pour the cream into a heavy-based saucepan. Add the  chocolate, sieved cocoa, espresso or instant coffee powder, sugar, vanilla paste or extract, olive oil and salt. Place over a medium to low heat and whisk gently until the chocolate melts and everything is mixed together.

Take off the heat and whisk in the cornflour and milk mixture until it is smoothly incorporated, and then put the pan back on a low heat. Keep stirring until the mixture thickens, which takes around 10 minutes. Mix off the heat for a while if the cream starts to boil. When ready, it should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, and if you run your finger through it (across the back of the spoon) the line should stay.

Pour into a  measuring jug, crumple a piece of baking paper on top and put in the fridge for 15 minutes. The mixture will still be warm, but will be the right temperature to ooze into the base without melting it.

Pour and scrape the mixture into the biscuit-lined flan tin and put back in the fridge overnight. Don’t leave it longer than 24 hours, as the base will start to soften.

Take out of the fridge for 10 minutes before serving, but unmould straight away. Sit the flan tin on top of a large tin or jar and let the ring part fall away.

 Enjoy!

Liddie xxx

Chocolate & Caramel Muffins

I made these chocolate caramel muffins when I had some carnation caramel to use up, and they were amazing. Really soft and the taste of caramel combined with the chocolate was amazing!

Recipe

250 g self raising flour
100 g Fairtrade light brown soft sugar
40 g cocoa
1 tbsp baking powder
1 medium free-range egg, plus 1 extra yolk
150 ml British semi-skimmed milk
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp Madagascan vanilla extract
100g chocolate chips
1 x 397g tin Carnation caramel

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Put the flour, sugar, cocoa and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, mix together the egg, egg yolk, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, without beating. Add the chocolate chips. 

Drop spoonfuls of the caramel into the mixture and gently swirl through, but don’t mix it in completely – you want to still see dollops of caramel in the finished batter.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases, making sure each case is quite full. Drizzle the last of the caramel on the top of the muffins. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until springy to the touch.

Enjoy!!

Liddie xxx

Caramel and White Chocolate Blondies

I bought a can of carnation caramel and so was searching the internet desperately trying to find some different caramel baking recipes. I then came across this by Jane's Patisserie, who has some absolutely amazing looking recipes. I had to try them, and they did not disappoint! The caramel and white chocolate together were amazing. I had never tried blondies before last year, but I think I like them better than proper brownies now!

Recipe

 125g butter, melted
230g light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla bean extract
140g plain flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
100g white chocolate chips
50g caramel (I use Carnation Caramel)

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 170C/350F and line a 8×8 square tin

2) Mix together the melted butter with the sugar and then add the egg and vanilla extract.

3) Mix in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt until fully combined.

4) Fold in the white chocolate chips, then pour into the baking tin. Drizzle the caramel on top of the Blondies and bake in the oven for 20-22 minutes.

5) Leave to cool fully in the tin then cut into squares.

Liddie xxx

Chocolate Éclairs

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I am now a postgraduate student at university and so I currently don't have a lot of spare time! But I have still been baking whenever I get a chance and need to start adding the recipes to my blog so I don't forget them! A couple of months ago I made some chocolate eclairs that turned out really well. I used a recipe by Mary Berry. Not the best end result pictures due to my camera running out of batteries, but I can promise they were amazing!

Recipe

49g (1¾ oz) butter, cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing

75g (2½ oz) plain flour

2 large eggs, beaten

300ml (10fl oz) double or whipping cream

For the icing

100g (3½ oz) plain dark chocolate, broken/chopped

100ml (3½ fl oz) double cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 220C (fan 200C/425F/Gas 7). Grease a large baking tray. Put the butter in a  pan with 150ml water and heat until the butter melts. 

Bring to the boil, tip in the flour, then remove from the heat. Stir vigorously.

When a smooth paste develops, return the pan to the heat, stirring. The mixture will dry out a little and form a soft ball that comes away from the sides of the pan.

Remove the pan from the heat again, leave the mixture to cool slightly, then gradually add the eggs, beating really well between each addition until the mixture is smooth and glossy.

Spoon the mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle. Pipe the mixture onto the baking sheet into 7.5cm (3in) lengths, leaving room between each éclair for them to spread a bit.

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 190C (fan 170C/375F/Gas 5) and bake for a further 20 minutes. Split each éclair in half lengthways and transfer to a wire rack to cook completely.

Make the icing: Heat the cream in a pan until it just starts to boil. Pour this over the chocolate and let it sit without stirring for 5 minutes (to melt chocolate). Then stir and wait for it to combine with the cream. Let it sit until it is cool and thick enough to coat the éclairs without dripping off them.

Once the éclairs have cooled, whip the cream and spoon or pipe it into the bottom half of the éclairs. Dip the top half of each éclair in the icing, then place on top of the whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Liddie xxx