Stacey's Honey and Apricot Scones

I entered my Champagne Victoria Sponge recipe into a competition run by Natural Selection Foods and I won a whole bunch of their dried fruits, so I wanted to use some in my baking for fruit and veg month. I chose the apricots as they were lovely and sweet, and substituted the sugar for honey in this recipe.

225g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

50g butter or margarine

50g chopped apricots

2tbsp clear “runny” honey

100ml buttermilk

Beaten egg, to glaze

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Makes 12 small scones

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Tip the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and mix together by hand. Add the butter and rub this into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add the chopped apricot, honey and buttermilk to the mixture and stir with a spoon until the mixture comes together to form a dough. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly for a few minutes, until the dough is soft and smooth.
4. Roll the dough out to around an inch thick, cut out small scones using a round cutter, then place these on the prepared baking tray, leaving a space between each. Brush with the beaten egg to glaze, then bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top.
5. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool – although scones are always best eaten slightly warm!
6. Eat as they are, or serve with jam and cream.

Sally's spinach, mozzarella and tomato wholegrain loaf

I used Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Wholegrain seeded flour, which is described as a "Rich malted bread flour with wholegrain wheat, sunflower, pumpkin and linseeds".

I used the directions on the side as a guide and added/adjusted/switched a few ingredients. My baking tends to use recipes made up in my head. This is probably how it went.

Probable ingredients:
500g of wholegrain seeded flour.
125g of mozzarella
Sachet of fast action yeast.
25g of olive oil (instead of butter).
Lukewarm water, much less than written on side of flour packet. I think I used about 250ml, but use up to 350ml as necessary.
Salt, approx 1.5tsps.
2 small blocks of frozen spinach. 50-60g ish.
Some semi dried tomatoes. I think about 50-60g again at a guess.

Method:
1. Microwave the spinach to defrost. Put in a sieve to allow any excess water to drip out. 
2. Use directions on side of bread packet to make bread. I think it went a bit like...
3. Flour in bowl. Mix in yeast and salt.
4. Put olive oil in and mix with fingertips until resembles breadcrumbs.
5. Add and mix in the lukewarm water until the dough comes together but is not sticky. Leave it slightly on the dry side as later added ingredients are wet.
6. Knead for about 10 mins.
7. Chop mozzarella, spinach and semi dried tomatoes to your preference. Add to mix and stir through.
8. Put in a bowl and cover with cling film or a plastic bag.
9. Put in a warm place for at least an hour.
10. Take dough out, knock down and put in a loaf tin.
11. Cover again and put back in the warm place for at least 30 mins to rise again.
12. Pre-heat oven to gas mark 7 (220c, 200c for fan assisted or 425f for you retro kids).
13. Cook for about half an hour in the middle of the oven until golden brown.

To enjoy:
It is a little heavy, so I would recommend slicing and toasting it, with lashings of butter. Yum!

Tom's Tropical Crumblish

This bake started out as a version of the Tassajara fresh fruit cake, and then veered wildly off course into a crumble.  Beware: these measurements are extremely approximate, and produce a large quantity of crumble.  This is one of those recipes which is will provide a nice surprise from what you have to hand, rather than rewarding careful planning and measurement. So substitute away to form your own version.

For the topping I zimmed about half a large pineapple, a few big handfuls of grapes, and a medium orange in a smoothy maker until they were reasonably pulped but not completely smooshed.  Then throw that in a bowl and add about a cup of oil, a cup of chopped nuts (I just used some mixed chopped nuts I had to hand), a cup of desiccated coconut, two cups of rolled oats, a few drops of vanilla essence, and enough flour to bring the mixture together into a slightly crumbly dough.  (If I was doing it again I would probably substitute at least some of the oil with warm butter).

I then baked this mixture at about 180C for about 30 minutes, and kept it for two days before doing the next part, but the wait is probably optional!

To construct the crumble I chopped up the remaining half of a pineapple, and a couple of large pears into reasonably small pieces, and spread them over the base of a large baking dish.  Sprinkle with a decent handful of brown sugar (and add a little water if the fruit isn't very juicy), and then cover with the baked crumble topping mixture.  Now bake it again for about 30 minutes at 180C.  Hopefully it will turn out as something interesting!

Stacey's Raspberry Meringues

This is one of my favourite EVER recipes. They take a long time to cook, but it is SO worth the wait. You can use either fresh or frozen raspberries.

4 large egg-whites (room temperature)

1tsp cream of tartar

115g caster sugar

115g icing sugar

50g raspberries

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Cook time: 1hour 45 minutes

Makes 18 meringues

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 1 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Chop the raspberries into small pieces.
2. Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar together until the egg whites are thick, opaque, and stand in stiff peaks.
3. Whisk the caster sugar into the egg whites one tbsp at a time, being sure to whisk well between each addition. If your sugar doesn’t dissolve into the egg whites properly at this stage you will end up with weepy meringues later! When all of the caster sugar has been added you should be left with a mixture that is stiff, smooth and glossy.
4. Gently fold half of the icing sugar into the meringue mixture until combined, but be careful not to beat out too much of the air you’ve whipped in! Add the remaining icing sugar and the raspberries to the meringue bowl, and fold these in gently.
5. Scoop the meringue mixture onto the baking tray using two tablespoons to shape into rough ovals, then bake for around 1 hour 45 minutes until golden brown and crispy on top.  Turn off the oven, but allow the meringues to cool inside the oven – this will create meringues which have a really crispy outer-layer, and a really gooey inside! Once completely cool, store in an airtight container until ready to serve.

September - 5-a-day

We had been talking about using “fruit and veg” as a theme for a while, and September seemed like a seasonally appropriate month to do so, so that’s what we went with! The “rule” was that anything our bakers baked should have at least one item of fruit or veg on the ingredients list – what they did with it was up to them!

Interestingly, we ended up with a lot more sweet bakes than savoury, but all were delicious! This was also the first time a member has brought in their own small kitchen appliance to one of our meetings – but I must say the toaster worked VERY well! So, without further adieu, the roll call:

Catherine bought some more of her delicious Blackberry Bakewell Tarts, along with an equally delicious Blackberry Egg Custard Tart; Charlie baked some ultra-gooey Beetroot Brownies; Katrina baked some very interesting Carrot and Cheese Flapjacks, along with some not-too-bad-for-you Blueberry Oat Muffins; Sally baked an absolutely amazing (and even better when toasted) Spinach, Sun-dried Tomato and Mozzarella Loaf; Tom baked a very tasty, still-warm-from-the-oven Tropical Fruit Crumble; and I baked some Honey and Apricot Scones and some crunchy on the outside, gooey in the middle Raspberry Meringues – it may not be a dietitians dream, but nobody could deny that we each got our 5-a-day!

Happy Baking

x

Stacey's Peanut Butter Fudge

Time taken: 15-20 minutes for preparation plus 2 hours to cool

Makes 15-20 pieces

Ingredients
65g butter
250g brown sugar
65ml milk
150g crunchy peanut butter
1tsp vanilla extract
150g icing sugar

Process

1. Line a small tray with cling film, so that the cling film hangs over the sides. I used one of those plastic tubs that you often get take-away food in as they are the perfect size!
2. Cut the butter into cubes, then melt in a saucepan over a medium heat.
3. Once the butter has melted, stir in the sugar and the milk until all of the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to the boil without stirring. Once the mixture is bubbling leave it on the heat for a further 3 minutes and then remove from heat.
4. Add the peanut butter and the vanilla extract to the mixture and stir until all of the peanut butter has melted. Leave to cool for a few minutes, then tip the icing sugar into the pan. Stir until the ingredients have combined to form a smooth paste.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared tray and leave to cool to room temperature before placing the fudge in the fridge to set (this usually takes at least two hours).
6. Once the fudge has set, use the cling film to help remove the fudge from the tray and cut into squares. Store the fudge in an airtight container.

Stacey's Ploughman's Picnic Rolls

These picnic rolls are great for a picnic as the filling is baked inside them. The recipe below is for my ploughman's picnic rolls, but you could do almost any filling, sweet or savoury! There also really good for packed-lunches. Just bake a batch at the weekend, leave them to cool, wrap them well and store them in the freezer. When ready to use, remove from the freezer and place in the oven at gas mark 4 for around 10 minutes to re-fresh - delish!

Prep-time: 1hour 45 minutes
Cook time: 25 - 30 minutes
Makes 8 picnic rolls

Ingredients:

For the dough:
300ml warm water
1tbsp brown sugar
2tbsp olive oil
7g sachet of dried yeast
500g strong white bread flour
Pinch of salt

For the filling:
2-3tbsp Branston Pickle (I used the small chunk variety)
4 slices of good quality ham
150g mature cheddar

1 small egg, beaten, to glaze
A little extra grated cheese, to decorate (optional)

1. Place the water, sugar, olive oil and yeast into a jug a stir well. Leave this to one side for a few minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and create a well in the centre. Tip the yeast mixture into the centre of the well, then work the flour into it using a fork.
2. Once the ingredients have combined to form a rough dough, tip the contents of the bowl onto a clean dry work surface. Knead by hand for 5-7 minutes, until all of the flour is incorporated and you have a soft, springy dough. Place the dough into a large oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for one hour, until doubled in size.
3. Whilst the dough is proving, prepare your filling. Slice the ham into strips and grate the cheese. Leave these to one side until ready to use.
4. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knock back, then split into 8 equally sized balls. 
5. Making one at a time, roll each ball out until around 5mm thick then spread a thin layer of pickle over the top, making sure to leave a space around the edges. Sprinkle on your other filling ingredients, then begin to roll the dough up Swiss roll style. Tuck the ends of the roll underneath to create and oval bun shape. Please the rolls on a floured baking tray and leave to prove for a further 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6.
6. Once doubled in size, glaze the rolls with a little beaten egg, and sprinkle a little grated cheese on top of each one. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown all over, then remove and leave to cool.