The Cakeyboi Alphabet - T - And Competition Winners!

Firstly, I would like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who entered the birthday giveaways on Cakeyboi during May. The winners have been selected and contacted (Congrats to Stephanie from London and Olivia from Oakham). Sorry if you didn't win this time, but stick around for more giveaways in the future. You, my visitors, are important to me and I appreciate all of your comments and feedback!

...T in the Cakeyboi alphabet is for Temper.

Temper in the kitchen, aside from cranky cooks, often refers to a process of heating and cooling chocolate to form stable crystals to prevent bloom and make it firm at room temperature.

Rhubarb and Ginger Linzer Cookies

When I was given a jar of delicious Mackay’s Rhubarb and Ginger Preserve to try out the other week, I thought this would be great used as a filling for Linzer Cookies which I was desperate to make after seeing Anna Olsen make them on her TV show.

The rhubarb and ginger preserve is a tasty mix of sweetness and warmth. I thought this would compliment the tender dough used in Linzer Cookies. The cookies usually incorporate ground almonds into the mix giving a more delicate crunch. They are a bit like a posh ‘Jammie Dodger’ I always think as they have a jam filling with a little window cut out of the top biscuit

This recipe make around a dozen cookies, and can be cut into any shape, but remember to have a smaller cutter to remove the ‘window’ from the top cookie.

Yield: A dozen sandwich cookies

Ingredients:

115 grams unsalted butter, softened

100 grams icing sugar

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

45 grams ground almonds

150 grams plain flour (minus 3 tablespoons)

3 tablespoons cornflour

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

12 teaspoons of Mackays Rhubarb and Ginger Preserve

adapted from Anna Olsen, Food Network

Method:

Line 2 cookie sheets with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 180oC. Sieve together the flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg yolks , lemon zest and vanilla and mix until slightly thickened. Add the ground almonds and stir in by hand. Add the flour mix and stir through until a dough forms. Split into two and place each bit of dough onto some clingfilm and wrap tightly before placing them in the fridge for 15 minutes to chill slightly.

When chilled, knead slightly, then roll the dough to about ¼” thick. Cut out an even number of shapes and with the smaller cutter, cut out a ‘window’ from half the shapes. Place the shaped and shapes with windows on separate trays and bake in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes. The cookies with the cut out window will take slightly less time, so keep an eye on them. When the cookies just turn slightly brown they are ready. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.

Sift icing sugar over the cookies with windows. Mix the preserve with a spoon to loosen it a little. Take the bottom part of the cookie, and spread on a teaspoon of the rhubarb and ginger preserve. Place the top part on and press together lightly. Repeat with all the cookies and allow to set a little before eating.

As said, these are delicate little biscuits. The almonds don’t provide much almond flavour, but do lend to the light texture of the biscuits. The preserve acts as a nice compliment. All in all, a lovely little cookie, for special occasions.

Disclosure Statement: I have not been paid for this post. I received the preserve free to bake with. Any views expressed are my own.

Spicy Cartoon Time

I was rootling around my spice drawer the other day...

Birthday Cake Rice Krispie Treats

It’s still birthday month here on Cakeyboi, so I though I would use up the leftover vanilla cake mix I used for my Birthday Cake BatterBark. I have made many versions of Rice Krispie Treats over the past year, so naturally I thought a Birthday Cake version of these was called for.

I actually read in my Food Network magazine recently that the hottest new flavour in snack-world is Birthday Cake. Loads of ice-creams and sweets are coming out with this new flavour variety in the US. Not sure it will catch on here in the UK however. And no one seems to know exactly what Birthday Cake flavour is(?) Well, to me it’s vanilla cake with coloured sprinkles!

These rice krispie treats are simple, as always, to make.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

200 grams white mini marshmallows

80 grams boxed vanilla cake mix

125 grams rice krispies

3 tablespoons coloured sprinkles

adapted from Seeded at the Table

Method:

Prepare a 9”x13” baking pan by lightly greasing. Melt the butter in a really large saucepan, then add the marshmallows, stirring until they are melted. Remove from the heat and add the cake mix, stirring through the mallows. Add the rice krispies and mix through with a wooden spoon. Lastly add the sprinkles and mix through.

Transfer to the baking pan and smooth over until they are level. Allow to set, at least 2 hours. When set, remove from the pan and cut into squares.

They taste of cake and sprinkles. Perfect rice krispie treats for a party celebration!

The Cakeyboi Alphabet - S

We have reached S in the alphabet...

Syrup is a thick sugary liquid in cooking terms. The more common varieties are maple syrup, golden syrup and corn syrup (not good at breakfast time!). But whilst looking syrup up, other thick sweet liquids such as honey, treacle and molasses are also classed as syrups.

Medicated syrups are also common and make some medicines a bit more palatable. Syrup of Figs incidentally is rhyming slang for wig (just in case you were wondering about the 'toon above!).

Dundee Marmalade Sticky Buns

These sticky buns were great fun to make. I just love getting to grips with yeast dough now. Must be Mr Hollywood's influence. These buns were a great way to showcase the fantastic Dundee Marmalade I received from Mackays whom I visited a few weeks back for a factory tour.

Dundee, where I was born, is famous for it’s Marmalade, first produced in the 18^th Century, by the Keiller family. Story has it, Keiller, a local grocer bought a cargo-load of Seville oranges which were too bitter to sell. So his wife used them to make marmalade, rather than the, then normal, quince. It was a success story and now Mackays are the only remaining producers who still make Dundee Marmalade locally, in copper pans, of course with its signature chunks of Seville orange rind.

These buns are a twist on a cinnamon roll type bun, with the filling comprising of the marmalade, brown sugar and pistachio nuts. I then slathered a delicious icing all over the top. I found a recipe for sweet-roll dough in my Food Network magazine and tweaked the filling from The Pioneer Woman website.

Dough Ingredients:

125 ml whole milk

2 ¼ teaspoon dry active yeast

60 grams granulated sugar

60 grams unsalted butter, melted

1 egg yolk

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

275 grams plain flour

¾ teaspoon salt

adapted from Food Network magazine, May 2013 issue

Filling Ingredients:

8 tablespoons Mackays Dundee Marmalade

40 grams unsalted butter, softened

40 grams pistachios, chopped

75 grams dark brown sugar

adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Icing Ingredients:

30 grams unsalted butter, melted, cooled

250 grams icing sugar

Juice of 1 large orange

Zest of the orange

Dough method:

Warm the milk in a saucepan to no more than 40oC. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the yeast on top, and a pinch of the granulated sugar. Leave it to do it’s thing for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the cooled, melted butter, egg yolk, vanilla. Add this to the yeast and mix together. In another bowl, whisk together the flour and salt, making a well in the centre. Add the wet ingredients and stir until a dough forms. Tip this onto a floured work surface and knead for about 6 minutes. Place in a lightly buttered bowl and cover with clingfilm. Place in a warm spot and let this rise for 1 ½ hours. After this time, knead again for a couple of minutes and return to the bowl, but covering directly with a piece of greased clingfilm. Cover the bowl as well. Chill this in the fridge for at least 4 hours, but I left mine overnight and it was fine.

Filling:

Take your dough and roll out on a floured work surface to an oblong, 10”x18”. Spread the softened butter all over this, except for 2cm at one of the long ends. Then spread on the marmalade, top with the pistachios and brown sugar. Begin rolling the dough from the long end with the filling and roll tightly until you get to the end with no filling. Wet this with water and pinch to seal the ‘log’. Taking a sharp knife, cut the log into 12 equal pieces and place each piece with the swirl upwards,  into a buttered 9”x13” baking pan. Cover with clingfilm and let rise for an hour. Preheat your oven to 180oC. The rolls will begin to touch one another this is fine. Pop into the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until they turn golden brown. Cool them in the pan for 10 minutes before moving.

Icing:

In a bowl whisk together the melted butter, icing sugar and orange juice. Start with less OJ than you think you will need and add drops until you get a thick but pourable consistency. Pour this over all of the buns and sprinkle with the orange zest. Allow the icing to set before you tear away at them.

These actually get better the next day as the flavours all meld together. The pistachios compliment the punchy marmalade, and the dark brown sugar almost has a caramel like note. These will disappear in a flash, so make sure the baker gets one!! Enjoy…

Disclosure Statement: I have not been paid for this post. I received the marmalade free to bake with. Any views expressed are my own.

Cartoon Time - French Fancy

Love me a French Fancy!