Cakes & Bread
Pancakes
Makes 8 pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups of flour, full to an inch below the brim
- 2 cups of milk full to the brim
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon of salt
Method
- Add salt and flour to a blender or mixer.
- Add the eggs and start mixing.
- Add the milk slowly, ensuring the mix is lump-free.
- Melt a knob of butter on a heavy-based frying pan over a medium-high heat, ensuring the base of the pan is coated.
- Pour about half a cup of batter into the centre and swirl to cover the pan. Fry until the top side has dried, flip and fry again.
- If doing batches, place the pancakes on a plate over a pot of simmering water, covered with a large pan lid to keep warm.
The possibilities are endless with pancakes. Personally, I keep it simple with a sprinkle of sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Fruit can be added during cooking or as a topping or filling afterwards. Golden syrup is another firm favourite in our house. Put a Mars bar in a cup and place the cup in a couple of inches of water simmering in a pan to make a gorgeous choco-caramel drizzle.
Garlic & Cheese Naan
A perfect accompaniment to Andie’s Lamb Bhuna with turmeric rice!
Makes 8 small or 4 large
Ingredients
- 225g of self-raising flour
- 5g of fast-action bread yeast
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 tablespoons of natural or Greek yoghurt
- 1 tablespoon of melted butter plus extra for brushing
- 4 tablespoons of lukewarm milk
- 70g of grated cheese
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
Method
- Half-fill a large mixing bowl with boiling water and place a glass or cup containing the butter into it along with a cup containing the milk. This will do three things: melt the butter, warm the milk to lukewarm and heat the bowl.
- Meanwhile, lightly whisk the yoghurt. In a separate bowl, add the yeast and salt to the flour.
- Once the butter has melted and the milk is lukewarm, ditch the water and, while the bowl is still warm, combine all of the ingredients in it and mix to form a lump-free dough. Cover with oiled (or buttered) cling film and leave to prove for 25 minutes in a dark, warm place. Being a flatbread dough, it won’t rise in the same way as normal white bread dough.
- Mix the crushed garlic and cheese together.
- Turn the dough out on to a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until smooth. Divide into 4 or 8 balls.
- With a rolling pin, roll each ball thinly, sprinkle half of each flattened dough ball with garlic and cheese, fold over and compress to encapsulate the filling.
- Glaze one side of the naan with melted (or softened) butter and heat under a hot, pre-heated grill until golden brown. Repeat for the other side.
You can vary the fillings and perhaps introduce some almonds or dried fruit.
Scones
Whip the cream to a smooth but stiff consistency and serve with your favourite jam
Makes 6
Ingredients
- 1½ cups of self raising flour
- A pinch of salt
- ¼ cup of sugar
- 1 heaped tablespoon of margarine
- ½ cup of milk or buttermilk
- Whipped cream and jam, to serve
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 220C (Fan 200C, Gas 8).
- Combine flour, salt and sugar in a bowl.
- Rub in the margarine until the mixture has a fine breadcrumb-like consistency.
- Add milk and blend to form a soft dough.
- Knead gently on a floured surface.
- Flatten the dough to about an inch thick and cut out scones with a pastry cutter.
- Place evenly spread on a floured baking tray and lightly glaze the tops of the scones with milk.
- Bake on a low shelf for 12 minutes (or until scones are golden brown) and serve with whipped cream and strawberry jam.
Like my popular banana bread recipe, I use a highball glass to measure and turned upside down, it makes a perfect cutter! (Just make sure it’s dry before you try cutting and if you find it’s sticking, dust the inside rim with flour.)
Brownie in a Mug
Quick, easy and really tasty – especially with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.
Large coffee-house-type mugs are ideal for this indulgent treat.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp cocoa
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp water
- A pinch of salt
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
Method
- Place all of the ingredients in a large mug and whisk with a fork until smooth.
- Microwave on full power until the mixture has risen fully (usually around 2 minutes).
- Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
This recipe requires a really large mug (see picture). If you haven’t got a mug large enough, you can reduce the ingredient quantities and the cooking time, or mix in a bowl and transfer to two normal sized mugs!
Gran’s Chocolate Cake
This is my take on Grannie Foley’s legendary chocolate cake. I like to think she would have approved…
Ingredients
I always think cakes that are over-decorated are trying to hide something!
- 260g self-raising flour
- 40g cocoa powder
- 250g caster sugar
- 250g soft margarine
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 4 eggs
- 1 tbsp milk
For the icing
- 100g butter
- 200g icing sugar (sifted)
- 1 heaped tablespoon of cocoa
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C
- Mix the margarine and the sugar together until fluffy yet creamy
- In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder
- Whisk the eggs and milk together
- Gradually combine the three mixtures above together, mixing constantly (a food mixer is ideal)
- Line a cake tin with buttered greaseproof paper and pour the mixture in
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean
- Meanwhile, melt the butter for the icing in a bowl (20 seconds in the microwave usually does it)
- Add the cocoa and mix until smooth
- Add the cocoa/butter mix to the icing sugar and mix thoroughly with an electric whisk – it will eventually become quite dry and lumpy. It is at this point that you need to add water, but VERY little and very sparingly and mix until the icing has a smooth, thick, but spreadable consistency.
- Take about a third of the icing mix and place in a separate bowl .To this, add a little more water but again, very carefully until it has the consistency of thick whipped cream
- Cut the cake horizontally across the middle to make the top and bottom of a sandwich and spread the creamier third of the icing over the bottom half
- Replace the top half and ice the entire cake with the thicker icing mix
Any leftover icing goes surprisingly well as a dip for fresh strawberries!
Strawberry Meringue Cake
The quarter strawberries arranged around the sides give it a more structured appearance
This is an easy recipe which, if it goes wrong, can be passed off as Eaton Mess!
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites
- 2 punnets or 500g of fresh strawberries
- 310g caster sugar separated into portions of 2 x 140g and 1 x 30g
- A pinch of salt
- 300ml whipping cream
- A dash (20ml) of Cointreau (optional)
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 120°C (fan).
- In a bowl, whisk the egg whites with the pinch of salt until firm enough to stay in the bowl upside-down.
- Lightly sprinkle 140g of the sugar evenly over the egg whites while folding the mixture with a large spoon or spatula. Don’t mix as this will remove the air from the meringue.
- Whisk again to return to the original stiffness.
- Fold in the second 140g of sugar and whisk for a final and third time.
- Cover a baking tray with flour-dusted greaseproof paper and using a spatula, scrape the contents of the bowl onto the centre of it.
- Spread the mixture evenly and gently in an oblong or round shape but maintain an even height of roughly 2 inches (from the tip of your finger to the second joint!)
- Bake in the oven for 2 hours keeping a close eye on it for the last 30 minutes to ensure it doesn’t go brown (it should ideally be golden). If it does start to brown, remove it from the oven. Don’t worry if there are cracks as these will be concealed by the cream.
- Mash about 10 strawberries, add a dash of Cointreau and the remaining 30g of caster sugar and set aside.
- Whisk the cream until thick but still pourable, then add the mashed strawberry mix and whisk until stiff enough to stay in an upside-down bowl.
- Spread evenly over the cooled meringue and completely cover with the remaining chopped and/or sliced strawberries.
You can use a variety of fruits with this recipe (see pic) but I think the contrast between the strawberries and the sweetness of the meringue works really well.
Pizza Dough
Knead for at least 5 minutes
This recipe provides a lovely springy, stretchy pizza dough and can also be used for freshly baked loaves or bread rolls. This dough can be tightly wrapped in cling film for refrigeration or freezing. See my recipe for pizza sauce here.
Makes three 12″ or four 9″ pizza bases
Ingredients
- 500g strong flour
- 1 heaped tsp salt
- 1 x 7g sachet dry bread yeast
- 2 tsp caster sugar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 300ml lukewarm water (25°-30°C)
Method
- Dissolve the sugar into the water and then add the yeast. Stir gently and then add the olive oil. Leave to stand for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, sieve flour into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle the salt evenly over the surface
- Make a well in the middle of the flour and gradually swirl in the yeast mixture while turning the flour to form into a dough
- Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5 – 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and pliable
- Form into a ball, place in a large, lightly floured bowl and sprinkle some flour over the top of it
- Dampen a tea towel and cover the bowl with it. Leave the bowl in a warm place until the dough has at least doubled in size (usually about 1-1½ hours – this is called ‘proving’)
- When the dough has doubled in size, remove from the bowl onto a floured surface and knock the air out of it by kneading
If you have pizza left over, it can be kept for a couple of days covered with clingfilm in the fridge. Many people make the mistake of using a microwave or a grill to reheat pizza. For excellent results, fry (yes fry!) slices on a dry pan over a medium heat loosely covered with tinfoil for a few minutes. The tinfoil circulates the heat to gently reheat the cheese and toppings, while the base gets warm and crispy on the pan.
Banana Bread
For this recipe, I don’t weigh anything. I use the American method of cup measurement which means that you only need a cup, a bowl and a fork to mix the ingredients. In actual fact, I use a highball glass (240ml), as it’s easier to see half and quarter quantities.
Ingredients
Some loaf tins need to be lined, some don’t. Mine needs to be lined on the base only.
- 2 overripe medium bananas
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 egg
- ½ cup of caster sugar (granulated sugar will work too)
- ¾ tsp of bicarbonate of soda
- ¼ cup of melted butter
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C
- Mash the bananas thoroughly in a large bowl
- Add the egg and whisk with a fork
- Add the flour and bicarbonate of soda and mix thoroughly
- Add the sugar and melted butter and whisk again with the fork
- Pour the mix evenly into a well buttered 1lb non-stick loaf tin (if your loaf tin isn’t non-stick or is a bit old, line it with buttered greaseproof paper)
- Bake on a bottom oven shelf for 50 minutes or until bread has risen well and is a deep golden colour. Test with a skewer.
The smaller, narrower loaf tin helps this bread to rise better than a larger one.