Fig Roll Danish

This is part five of our Great British Bake Off Bakealong, and I must say that these bakes are getting more and more difficult. This weeks challenge was danish pastries, and whilst I adore a flaky danish, they aren't easy to make. These danish pastries are based on the flavours of a fig roll, and they are really rather good, and more than a little moreish.

Start by making your dough, mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and add the water, mixing with a fork to a smooth dough. Knead thoroughly and leave to rise until doubled in size.

When the dough has risen knock it back and roll it out to a 20cmX60cm rectangle. Roll out your butter between two sheets of greaseproof paper, place the butter in the centre of the dough and fold each side of the dough over the butter. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out again to a 20X60 rectangle, fold the edges into the middle again and return to the fridge, repeat this step three timed resting in the fridge between steps and finally leave to rest and rise in the fridge for 8 hours.

To make your filling process 8 soft and squidgy figs in a food processor with a splash of water and a teaspoon of soft brown sugar. Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and process again until smooth.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll it out to a 5mm thickness, cut it into rectangles, cut each edge of the rectangle into strips as in the picture below.

Spoon a little of the fig mixture into the middle of the pastry and cross the strips over the top, alternating until all of the mixture is covered. Repeat until all the pastry is used up. Brush liberally with beaten egg and bake in a medium hot oven for around 20 minutes until golden and flaky.

ingredients
for the dough
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting 
10g salt, plus a pinch for the egg wash 80g caster sugar 10g instant yeast 300ml cool water 300g chilled unsalted butter1 medium egg to glaze

for the filling
8 dried figs
1tbsp brown muscovado sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
water

Baked Camembert Tear & Share

Whilst a baked camembert by itself is wonderful, it is nothing without a wonderful loaf of bread to go with it, and considering that my parents live in the middle of nowhere in the french countryside, this means that if I want decent bread without a months notice, then I have to make it myself.

The recipe given here makes something of a centrepiece which looks wonderful, however, this dough will also make a wonderful baguette if you shape it differently, should you not wish to faff around as I have.

Start by making your bread dough, add the dry ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine, add the water and mix with a fork until combined into a smooth dough, scrape out onto a floured work surface and knead for five minutes, return to the bowl and cover with a cloth, leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. When risen knock back on a floured work surface, with your hands form the dough into a long sausage, and join the ends to make a ring big enough for the camembert box to fit into the middle.

Using scissors cut slits in the edge of the ring almost to the centre without splitting the ring, wrap an empty camembert box in aluminium foil and place it in the centre, place the ring onto a baking tray and leave in a warm place to rise until almost doubled in size.

When risen brush the top with beaten egg and bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully extract the camembert box from the centre. Return to the oven for a further five minutes.

Meanwhile, remove the camembert from its box and remove the plastic wrapping, return to the box and place on a baking tray, lightly cut a cross in the rind on the top, and push two peeled cloves of garlic into the cheese, bake on a medium heat for 10 minutes until fully melted.

Put the bread on a board and place the cheese, still in its box, in the middle as in the picture. Add a smearing of chutney and serve, with a glass of red wine.

ingredients

for the bread

150ml water
225g white bread flour
1 tsp salt
2tsp dried yeast

1 round camembert
2 cloves garlic, peeled

chutney, to serve

Swiss Chard and Ricotta Yorkshires

This is the fourth part of my Great British Bake Off Bakealong, and this week I found the signature bake rather fascinating, I have written previously about by adoration for homemade Yorkshire puddings, and indeed I have eaten them alone for lunch with just a little gravy. I also have a loathing of bought frozen Yorkshire puddings, given how simple they are to make, and a firm belief that the puddings should be crisp, rather than pillowy or fluffy.

These puddings are filled with sauteed swiss chard and ricotta and they make a delectable dinner when served with just a light green salad, you could also make them as an hors d'ouevre if you use a smaller pudding tin. I must confess that I actually managed to start a small fire whilst making these, I strongly believe that a good inch of oil is needed in each tin to achieve a crisp rise, unfortunately, I was a little too overzealous in my use of oil and some of it overflowed into the floor of the oven where upon contact with the burner it promptly burst into flame. Although I did nearly burn my house down and probably scarred my cat in the process after tasting these I can confirm that it was definitely worth it.

About an hour before you plan to actually start cooking make the batter, crack four eggs into a bowl and add the milk and whisk, sift in the flour and season with salt and pepper, whisk until free of lumps and pour it into a jug, cover with cling film and place in the fridge.

When you are ready to cook the Yorkshire puddings fill the bottom of a pudding tin with sunflower oil and place in a very hot oven until it starts to smoke, open the oven door and pour the batter into each well until there is a good amount of batter, but it is still covered by oil, close the door and cook for 20 minutes, resist any temptation to open the oven door  until they have finished cooking. I also advise that you don't stare wistfully at them through the oven door, they can be very temperamental and have a tendency to get stage fright.

Wash the swiss chard and chop finely discarding the tough stalks, sautee with a little sunflower oil for five minutes until tender. Empty the ricotta into a large bowl and mash with a fork, add an egg yolk and a grating of fresh nutmeg and mix, fold in the cooked chard.

Fill each Yorkshire pudding with a spoonful of the chard and ricotta mixture and place on a baking tray, return to a medium oven for five minutes for the filling to set and for the Yorkshire puddings to crisp up and serve.

ingredients

     for the puddings
4 eggs
140g plain flour
200ml semi-skimmed milk
sunflower oil

     for the filling
1kg chard
200g ricotta
freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg yolk
sunflower oil

Moroccan Hummus

If you live in the Britain chances are you will probably have a wide range or hummus' available easily, and thus have probably never even considered making your own. Yes I appreciate that for many of you making something so easy to purchase might seem slightly pointless but firstly the hummus that you buy isn't nearly as good as when you make it, and secondly all the ingredients used here are non-perishable and thus you can always have the necessary ingredients in your pantry should you ever desire hummus even at the most inconvenient of times.

Start by placing your chickpeas in a food processor, I use a small processor that attaches to a stick blender though should you wish to double up or even triple up the recipe you can, of course, use a standalone food processor. Add two cloves of garlic and a large slug of olive oil and process until smooth, you may need to scrape down the sides of the processor with a spatula, season to taste with sea salt flakes and process again, the texture may be too thick for your liking, you can thin it slightly with some of the liquid drained from the can of chick peas. Add a heaped teaspoon of ground turmeric and process again, and serve.

ingredients

1 small can chick peas
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
sea salt flakes
2 tsp turmeric

Zucchini Tomato Risotto

I have published risotto recipes on this site before but never one quite like this, my mother first introduced to me this concept and I rather like it, this dish uses slow roasted tomatoes and tomato passata, added to the rice just before it has finished cooking to add sweetness, and it's truly a revelation, my only stipulation with this recipe is that you must make it in summer, tomatoes grown in a greenhouse in December simply won't provide enough delicate sweetness.

Around an hour or so before you wish to eat drizzle some olive oil into the bottom of a glass ovenproof dish and add the cherry tomatoes, add another drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt flakes to the tomatoes and place them in a medium oven for an hour or until they have shriveled.

Dice a white onion and heat some vegetable oil with a knob of butter in a large heavy-based frying pan. Fry the onion until translucent and soft and add a teaspoon of ground coriander. Make up your stock in a jug. Add the arborio rice and turn in the oil until it is shiny and coated. Brown lightly and add a splash of vermouth. Cook off the alcohol until the pan is relatively dry and no longer smells alcoholic. Add the stock a splash at a time until it has all been absorbed and the rice is still firm, but tender.

Meanwhile, dice the courgette and fry it lightly in butter until it has browned. When the rice is cooked add the passata and stir, allow to reduce slightly then add the grated parmesan and stir until it has melted. Add the courgette and the roasted tomatoes and combine. Serve garnished with chopped coriander leaves.

ingredients

1 medium white onion

300g arborio rice

vegetable oil

small knob unsalted butter

small splash vermouth

500ml vegetable stock

50g grated parmesan

150ml tomato passata

100g cherry tomatoes

2 courgettes

small pinch sea salt flakes

Greek Salad Plait

For the third part of my Bake Off Bakealong I cheated slightly, though I intended to do the signature bake every week, no questions asked, I found myself thoroughly uninspired by the signature bake, and decided instead to do a filled plaited loaf, like the showstopper, and to use a savoury filling instead of a sweet one, given that my vices are usually savoury.

This loaf is inspired by the flavours and ingredients of a greek salad, salty black olives, crumbly feta cheese and squidgy sun-dried tomatoes, with a lick of olive oil to top it all off.

Start by making your bread dough, add the water and olive oil to a bowl and sift the flour over the top, add the sugar and salt and make a well in the top of the flour, add the dried yeast and mix with a fork until you have a smooth dough, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for at least five minutes, return to the bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to prove until doubled in size.

While the dough is rising pit and chop the olives and place them into a bowl, do the same with the sun dried tomatoes, and finally, crumble the feta into another bowl.

When risen knock back the dough onto a floured surface and split into three even pieces. Take the first and stretch it out so that it looks like a small pizza, add the olives and knead until the olive is distributed evenly throughout the dough. Do the same for the other two pieces of dough with each of the other fillings, and then stretch out each piece of dough until it resembles a long fat salami.

Finally press the three pieces of dough together at one end and plait, when done plaiting press the ends together and tuck them under the loaf, transfer to a lined baking sheet and cover with a tea towel, leave to rise for a half hour and then place in a hot oven for 30 minutes until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped, brush with olive oil and serve with a good olive oil for dipping, and a glass of red wine, obviously.

Ingredients

for the dough
210ml water
375g flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsps olive oil
1 1/2 tsp dried yeast

for the fillings
small handful black olives
small handful sun-dried tomatoes in oil
1/3 block of feta
olive oil

Orange Ginger Biscuits

This is part two of my Bake Off Bakealong, and this week was biscuit week, I will admit that biscuits aren't my strong suit, but these were inspired by an orange and ginger tea I used to drink years ago when I was still in school.

cream the unsalted butter and caster sugar together until light and smooth. Crack in the egg and vanilla extract and beat. Add the zest of an orange and mix until combined. Add the flour, salt and ground ginger and fold until it is all mixed in and a dough has formed. Wrap in cling film and chill for an hour until firm.

Remove from the fridge and roll out thinly, cut into rounds with a cookie cutter and bake on high for 15 minutes or until golden and crisp. Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack to cool completely before icing.

Juice the orange and measure 8 tablespoons of icing sugar into a bowl, add the orange food colouring and a tablespoon of juice and mix until smooth, you may need to add more juice if it is too dry, though the icing should be smooth and viscous, Using a spoon cover the tops of the biscuits with orange icing and leave in the fridge for the icing to harden completely before serving.

ingredients

for the biscuits
90g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
1 egg
1/2tsp vanilla extract
200g self-raising flour
pinch salt
zest of 1 orange
1tbsp ground ginger

for the icing
8tbsp icing sugar
juice of 1 orange
1/2tsp orange food colouring