Dense Chocolate Loaf

This recipe is truly a revelation, this is one of the densest, fudgiest chocolate cakes I have ever tasted let alone made, think of it as a combination of a dense, moist brownie and an ordinary chocolate cake.

This cake is great with coffee and will also make a perfectly luxurious desert, perhaps topped with ice cream or whipped cream. Start melting your chocolate in a double boiler. Meanwhile cream together the butter and the sugar with a mixer until it resembles damp sand. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined and smooth.

Add the melted chocolate to the mixture and fold it in with a metal spoon until combined and the colour is even, Fold in the flour, baking powder and boiling water a tablespoon at a time until combined and pour the mixture into a lined loaf tin, don't worry if the mixture looks fairly liquid, this is intentional. Bake for about 40 minutes at 190C until the cake has risen slightly and is firm on top. Leave to cool completely before removing from the tin and eating.

ingredients

225g soft butter
375g brown sugar
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
100g dark chocolate
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
250ml boiling water

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

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

Peanut Butter Tollhouse Cookies

I have a sick obsession with peanut butter which I almost certainly inherited from my mother. My mother was known for eating it from a teaspoon when pottering around the kitchen, and when asked what she was eating she would promptly try to swallow the entire spoonful whole, and end up looking like the snake from The Jungle Book in the process.

These manage to quench my desire for peanut butter quite nicely, though I suspect that my father would abhor them, he has a loathing of peanuts, perhaps understandable given how many different varieties of urine bar nuts allegedly contain.

These cookies are flourless, and thus this recipe has the bonus of being gluten free. Start by measuring your smooth peanut butter into a large bowl, add the sugar, salt, and baking powder and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth. Add an egg and a teaspoon of vanilla extract and gently stir them into the batter. Fold in the chocolate chips. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and place heaped teaspoons of the mixture onto the paper spread well apart. Bake at 180C for 12 minutes until they have spread and crisped slightly. Leave them on the tray for 10 minutes until they have cooled and then gently transfer them to a wire rack to cool fully.

ingredients:

225g smooth peanut butter

100g molasses sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch sea salt flakes

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

75g chocolate chips

Rosemary Slab Cake

Now this might sound bizarre but bear with me, whilst I appreciate that the idea of using rosemary in baking might sound bizarre, in this instance it really works, and though the cake doesn’t exactly taste of rosemary, the herb adds a peppery piquancy that is entirely welcome.

Pay attention to the quantity of rosemary used here, I find that when used over zealously and when chopped too finely or even, heaven forbid, when ground finely can taste soapy. So although the quantity of rosemary used may seem scant, it is just enough to add a herbal zing without a carbolic tang.

Though the inspiration for this dish came in the form of a loaf cake, I prefer to make this as a slab cake, for a few reasons, firstly it is easier to cook through, and you’ll have no issues of doughy, raw centres, especially useful when your oven is being temperamental, as mine often is. Secondly it keeps better, and you can even freeze it, as this cake defrosts well. My mother recently introduced me to the slab cake, and I have become rather taken by the concept, so expect to see more on here in the future.

Preheat the oven to 170C and line a square slab tin. Cream the butter and the sugar, and then beat in the eggs each with a spoonful of flour. After this has combined add the rest of the flour and fold it in, adding the chopped rosemary. Scrape into the lined slab tin, sprinkle over the sugar and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool before removing from the tin.

ingredients

250g butter

200g brown sugar

3 eggs

210g self-raising flour

90g plain flour

2 tablespoons chopped rosemary leaves

4 tbsps milk approx

extra caster sugar

Irish Soda Bread

My love of bread is very well documented, and I am always on the lookout for new types of bread to buy or make. There is something so therapeutic about kneading dough, the feeling of squashing it onto the bench beneath your fingers, the satisfying sound of the air seeping out of the risen dough as you knock it back. The only thing I don't like about kneading dough, is having to clean flour from the worksurface afterwards, thankfully with this recipe, that stage is omitted.

Soda bread has the same crumb, aspect and texture as any other bread, the way that it differs is that instead of using yeast as a raising agent, it uses sodium bicarbonate, more commonly known as baking powder, hence the name, soda bread. This gives the bread a slightly different flavour, and means that you don't need to rise the bread in cycles and knock it back, and that you can have a loaf on the table in under 45 minutes, this is a massive boon if you live in the middle of the country, and are unable to simply pop out to the bakery.

Start by making your buttermilk, you can buy buttermilk in the supermarket, but being able to make a simple imitation means that you can always be prepared to make this bread whenever you fancy. Measure 4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into a measuring jug, and then top up to 400 ml with milk, stir until the milk curdles, and then takes on a vaguely yellow tinge. If it looks thoroughly unappetising, then you've got it right.

Next weigh 500 g of multigrain flour, and place it in a bowl along with 1tsp of baking powder and a large pinch of salt. Working quickly pour over the buttermilk mixture and stir with a fork to combine. Turn the mixture out onto a floured baking tray, and knead it together on the tray, working it into a ball, flatten the ball slightly and then use a sharp knife to cut a large cross into the loaf, cutting almost through, bake at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

ingredients

500 g multigrain flour
1 tsp baking powder
large pinch salt
400 ml milk
4 tsp apple cider vinegar