Teacakes always remind me of my primary school days when me and my mum used to go to the breakfast club before school and have a toasted teacake for 30p. Times have changed and the teacakes in the supermarket just don’t compare to freshly baked homemade teacakes, warm from the oven and with lots of…
Tag: GBBO
Giant Linzer Cookie and Linzer Sandwich Cookies
Named after the city of Linz in Austria, Linzertorte is said to be the oldest cake in the world dating back to a Veronese recipe from 1653. Its popularity rose after being taken over to Milwaukee by an Austrian traveller. The linzer cookie is a derivative of the linzertorte made by cutting out shapes of…
Dark Chocolate and Strawberry Mini Rolls
Last night we watched the first episode of The Great British Bake Off on Channel 4 with Sandi Toksvig, Noel Fielding and Prue Leith. Prue set her first Technical Challenge of the series and did she choose a cracker (not literally a cracker, it was Cake Week after all)! She chose the kids party favourite,…
My Review of 2016
2016 was a tragic year for all, with the deaths of legends in the entertainment industry such as Victoria Wood, Carrie Fisher, George Michael, Sir Terry Wogan, David Bowie (and the list goes on and on!) and we also cannot forget about the huge changes in the futures of the UK with Brexit and the…
Salted Caramel White Chocolate and Lemon Savarins
Inspired by the Savarin Technical Challenge in Patisserie Week of Bake Off, I decided to put my own spin on the savarin and I created my Salted Caramel White Chocolate and Lemon Savarins which are a perfect treat to have in front of the fire this winter or Bonfire Night! This sticky enriched dough is…
Halloween Cho-oooooh Buns
Choux pastry seems a bit daunting to make and I myself have often been put off making it after getting choux buns which turned out more like blinis. But after doing extensive reading into how to make choux pastry, I think I’ve finally managed to get the technique right and I get perfectly risen and…
Exploring Chocolate Tarts: Cremamocha Tart
The final chocolate tart in my series ‘Exploring Chocolate Tarts’ is my Cremamocha Tart; a shortcrust pastry base filled with a coffee flavoured smooth chocolate ganache. The coffee flavour comes from the addition of Camp Coffee, a chicory-based coffee flavoured essence which can be used in baking to produce a coffee flavour as well as…
Exploring Chocolate Tarts: ‘Nuts for Chocolate’ Tart
You might have seen my recipe for Dark Chocolate Teacakes using Mr Toms but I chose to reinvent the way in which I used it in a bit of an experiment to make my Nuts for Chocolate Tart. Mr Tom is essentially a peanut praline bar and so I decided to crush it up into…
Mini Lemon and Almond Drizzle Loaf Cakes
I’m currently embarking on the next part of my education as I head off to university! I couldn’t leave without doing a final bake and I chose to make a variation of my Mini Glazed Lemon and Almond Loaves. You can find the original recipe for the Glazed Loaf Cake or the Mini Glazed Loaves…
Exploring Chocolate Tarts: Bitter Chocolate Tart
The second of the chocolate tart recipes in my ‘Exploring Chocolate Tarts’ series is my Bitter Chocolate Tart. The shortcrust pastry base is filled with an intensely flavoured chocolate ganache-style mixture and is baked in the oven to set, giving it a smooth texture. The foundation of the filling is a ganache made with milk…
Exploring Chocolate Tarts: Chocolate Brownie Tarts
I’ve been wanting to do a series of different versions of the same bake and everything seemed to come together all at once. I found another one of my reduced bargains from Marks and Spencer and it was ready rolled shortcrust pastry for 80p and it tied in perfectly with the arrival of my Food Thoughts…
Mini Glazed Lemon and Almond Loaves
My Glazed Lemon Almond Loaf Cake has been one of my family’s favourite cakes of mine and I’m always being nagged to make it. These little loaves use the same recipe except the smaller tins make this cake look incredibly dainty and perfect for when you want a small slice of cake with a cup…
Cornflake Streusel Cake: Revamped
This is a revamped version of the original Cornflake Crumble Cake but this version is much lighter and fluffier. A simple way to elevate any cake is by adding a streusel topping, a mixture of flour, butter and sugar almost like a crumble. My little twist on the classic streusel is to use Demerara sugar…
Making a Gingerbread Oven Showstopper
Inspired by The Great British Bake Off’s Biscuit Week Showstopper in which the bakers made a 3D gingerbread story containing at least 8 characters or objects, I decided to have a go at the challenge myself, by making an oven completely out of gingerbread. My Gingerbread Oven is currently baking 10 gingerbread diamond biscuits and…
Dark Chocolate Teacakes with Marshmallow Meringue and Mr Toms
You may remember that I told you that I bought some silicone hemisphere moulds from my time in Hong Kong when we went to Shanghai Street in Yau Ma Tei, which you can read about here. I just couldn’t resist having a play with them as soon as we got back and I decided to…
Andrew in the Kitchen 