Coconut and Jam Sponge Cake Slices

When I was little, I used to love those little slices of cake, that were covered in jam and sprinkled with coconut. Recently I have tried to find out what they were called, as I remember they used to have a specific name for them, but no one has been able to answer my question! Therefore, for the purpose of this blog, they have now adopted the rather simplistic name of 'Coconut and Jam Sponge Cake Slices' ...catchy ey?!

Anyway, this is a very simple recipe for a traditional classic cake. Hence, I have decided that it will be the prefect sweet treat to take into school for the lovely ladies this week. 

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Ingredients


(I used my roasting tin 23cm square, makes 16 BIG cakey cubes)

8oz Butter
8oz Caster Sugar
10oz Self Raising Flour
2tsp Baking Powder
2tsp Vanilla Extract
4 Eggs
4tbsp Milk
4-6tbsp Jam (I used raspberry)
A good sprinkling of Dessicated Coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 160degreesC and line the base of your cake tin.

2. Place the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl and cream until soft and smooth.

3. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix with a wooden spoon.

4. In a jug, beat the eggs, add the milk and drop in the vanilla extract. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir thoroughly until it resembles a smooth cake mix.

5. Pour into the cake tin and place in the oven. Bake for around 45mins or until firm to the touch and golden brown. 

6. Allow to cool in the tin for around 15mins then remove and place on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely.

7. When the cake is completely cool, evenly spread the jam all over the top of the sponge.

8. Scatter/sprinkle on the dessicated coconut to give a snowy effect. Make sure all of the jam is covered in coconut.

9. Cut into around 25 squares.

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This has to be one of my favourite, simple, child friendly cakes! The sponge is super soft and crumbly, the jam smooth and sweet and the coconut is fab at adding a different texture and a creamy after taste. Simply made, simply yummy! This recipe is so simple, that to not try it would be a travesty.

The important bit is making sure you get the right ratio of sponge : jam : coconut so that when you cut your cubes, you can see the lovely different layers. Maybe that's one thing I would improve if I were to do it again - less sponge, although Andy wolfed it down, so don't think he particularly minded!!

Bon Appetit!!

Bakewell Tart

I have a confession to make... I love nuts! 

I love walnuts, pecans, peanuts, cashews, hazelnuts, brazil nuts... all kinds of nuts! BUT... my favourite has to be the humble almond. Almonds are so shy in taste and flavour, yet have such a sweetly satisfactory after taste. They leave a scrumptious marzipany flavour in your mouth and  their shape just pleases me so - symmetrical and tear drop like. Lovely! (Shocking to think that as a child I hated nuts... at Christmas I used to bite all of the chocolate off of them and place them back in the box they came from... what a delightful child I was!)

Anyway, with such a confession for the humble almond, I thought it was about time that I actually did something with them (instead of gorging on a whole packet of them, on their own!) and what recipe is more perfect to express my love of almonds than the classically traditional Bakewell Tart (please note that I have said, "Bakewell Tart" NOT "Cherry Bakewell" ... no, none of that shop bought Mr Kipling stylee stuff).  

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Ingredients

I used my 22cm loose bottomed flan dish for this recipe.

Pastry:                                                    Filling:

175g Plain Flour                                120g Butter

2 tbsp Caster Sugar                           120g Caster Sugar

115g Butter                                           2 Eggs

1 Egg Yolk                                              60g Self Raising Flour

2 tbsp Cold Water                               1/2 tsp Baking Powder

A pinch of Salt                                     100g Ground Almonds

3 tbsp Raspberry Jam                       3 drops of Almond Essence/Extract

To decorate: 

Icing sugar and water mixture and scattered flaked almonds on the top.

1. Sift the flour, sugar, salt into a large bowl and add the diced butter.

2. Using your finger tips, mix the ingredients until they resemble bread crumbs.

3. Beat the egg yolk with the cold water and pour into the dry ingredients, little by little, mixing as you go. The mixture should soon come together to form a pastry ball. Wrap this in cling film and allow to chill in the fridge for at least 30mins.

4. Meanwhile, begin to make the filling for the tart. Place the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, ground almonds and almond extract into a large mixing bowl. Beat altogether with a wooden spoon. (This mixture will have the consistency of a thicker than normal cake mix, which will be hard to spread.)

5. Preheat the oven to 180degreesC.

6. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out on a floured work surface until it is large enough to fit the size of your flan dish. 

7. Gently pick up your pastry (it's very fragile) by flinging it over your rolling pin and press it to fit your dish. Mould the pastry with your fingers to fix any gaps or breaks in the dough. Prick the base all over with a fork.

8. Dollop and spread the jam all over the base. I like quite a thick layer of jam, but make sure it is spread evenly to prevent burning/under cooking/soggy bottomed pastry!!

9. Now, this is the tricky bit!! What you have to remember about jam is that it has an extremely high sugar content and therefore burns VERY easily. You need to spread the filling mixture all over the jam, without mixing the two together. The easiest way to do this, I found, was by spooning a little bit of the mixture on top of the jam at a time, using a plastic spatula. Take your time with this.

10. Once you are happy with how your Bakewell Tart looks, place it in the oven to bake for about 40mins or until the top is golden, springy but firm to the touch and the pastry is crispy. 

11. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

12. Once the Bakewell Tart is completely cool, remove is from the flan dish and decorate with icing and flaked almonds. 

***

Hands down, this is the BEST thing I have EVER made!! Absolutely gorgeous and to be honest, I was sooo shocked with how well it turned out! The pastry was bang on the correct thickness and crispiness, the jam was the perfect amount and the soft almondy filling was just DEEEEE-LIGHTFUL! With so many tricky elements to this dessert (in particular the testing pastry!) there was no way I was expecting it to turn out that well, but O MY WORD!!! 

Admittedly, the icing doesn't look too great, but I didn't want the tart to be completely covered in icing. Overall, I am very happy with how the tart looked, as I think when sliced and served, it actually looks quite professional (not as rustic and 'home made' looking as most of my creations!) and could easily be sold at a school bake sale or something! 

I took half of the Bakewell Tart in to school for the lovely ladies and it went down a treat! Everyone seemed to enjoy it and there was not a single crumb left. (I did have to explain the difference between a Bakewell Tart and a Cherry Bakewell to some of the 'cherry phobics' among the group though!) 

This was a proper Bakewell Tart. One in which I think I will be baking on a regular basis and hopefully one that will be enjoyed for many more years to come. 

Bon Appetit!!

Jam Roly Poly

I have a confession to make. In all of my 21 years of life, I have never, I repeat, NEVER had a Jam Roly Poly (home made or otherwise). Shocking, I know isn't it? I have no idea what it is supposed to look like, or taste like yet after a polite request from Andy (and another poll on facebook) I thought I would give it a blooming good go! So, here it is...a complete challenge and a bit of an experiment!! 

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Ingredients

225g Self Raising Flour
Pinch of Salt
110g Suet (Beef or Vegetable)
7 tbsp Cold Water
400g Jam (Your choice, but I Picked Strawberry)
1 Egg

1. Preheat the oven to 190degreesC. Place some baking paper on a baking tray, ready to dollop your Roly Poly on to once it's ready.

2. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the suet and mix with your hands so that it is evenly distributed.

3. Spoon in the cold water. Mix using your finger tips. The 'dough' should be of the consistency where it is a little sticky - enough to gather the excess dough off the sides of the bowl, but not too sticky so that you cannot manoeuvre it off you fingers. 

4. Sprinkle a little of the flour onto your work surface and over your rolling pin. Squish the dough into a rough square shape (this makes it easier to roll into an oblong). Roll out the dough until it is about 1cm thick and just short of the size of your baking tray.

5. Meanwhile spoon the jam into a microwaveable bowl and heat for about 30seconds (this makes it easier to spread). 

6. Spread the jam over the dough but leave a 1cm border around the outside.

7. Using your hands, roll the dough into a swiss roll shape. Dollop onto your baking tray. 

8. Beat the egg in a bowl and spread over the top of the Roly Poly to give it a nice golden colour when baked. Place in the oven for 30mins or until firm to the touch and cooked throughout. Serve with custard.

***

This was the weirdest taste experience I've ever had. Basically, from what I can tell, a Jam Roly Poly is not a cake, neither is it a sponge, nor biscuit, nor pastry. It's kind of a mix of them all. But, it doesn't really taste of anything at all...it's just stodge. Public consensus kind of tells me that that's what it's meant to taste like!?

Admittedly, I don't think mine turned out like it should have (the jam exploded and the dough in the middle was a little under cooked) but still, it was a bit bland and well, boring to be honest. The best thing about it was the custard!! Not sure I will make it again...even if I had done it perfectly, I'm not sure it's my kind of pud. What do you think? Are you a fan of the Roly Poly?

Bon Appetit!!

Bread and Jam Pudding

One of my sister's favourite puddings as a child with a very stodgy "Bread and Butter Pudding". I never really liked it as our mum would add raisins and they would burn and go all sour and horrible. Since leaving home, I adapted the recipe to something far sweeter and "Steffie friendly". A very good 'shuv what you have in the cupboard together' recipe.

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Ingredients

2 eggs

2 tbsp sugar

4 slices of bread (I prefer white in my puddings)

400ml milk

Your choice of jam!

1. Spread generous amounts of jam on each slice of bread and cut each slice into 4 triangles (I tried squares, but triangles are better mathematically, for over lapping purposes!) Use an oven proof dish (preferably glass) and line the dish with the triangles (jam facing upwards). Keep putting the triangles one on top of another with the peak at the centre.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until the mixture no longer feels 'grainy'. Slowly add the milk in, bit by bit (like when making a roux).

3. Pour the liquid mixture on top of the bread, using your whisk to push the bread down so it sinks and absorbs all the liquid. (You will think you too much mixture, but bear with it as the bread needs time to drink up all the liquid). Make sure when you put the pudding in the oven that there is no jam on the surface. Jam has a high sugar content and sugar burns quickly - make sure the bread is firmly sunk!!

4. Cook at 190degreesC for about 1hour30mins. If you have used a glass dish - lift it above your head and if you can still see 'sogggy' looking bread, it will need another 20mins. Serve hot with ice cream - the hot and cold create a great combo!

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A very plain recipe with not much too it. It's a great winter warmer, or a late evening supper. Also, children love to help out with this recipe - it's very sticky and leads to alot of licking of the fingers!

As you can see....I didn't bury all of my 'jammed up' bread...whoops!! Still...tasted yummy!

Bon Appetit!!