Tom's Bosina and Herzegovinan Apple & Plum Strudel

Filling (this bit is from BBC Food)

5oz Caster sugar
3floz water
8oz Cooking apple peeled, cored and chopped
8oz Plums, chopped
1tsp cinnamon
couple of drops of vanilla essence

I found that if you have not-very ripe plums (which you tend to get around this time of year) you'll want to put them in a few minutes before the apples. It's a bit of a judgement call though; if they're in for too long it starts turning into jam.

Simmer the water, sugar and flavouring for ~5mins, then add the fruit and cook until the apple is just soft.  Drain it well before using or your strudel pastry will get all stodgy.

Dough

8oz plain flour
1 egg, slightly beaten
~4tblspns lukewarm water
2tblspns oil
Some melted butter

I had quite a bit of trouble making strudel dough; having unsucessfully tried a couple of recipes from the internet I nearly gave up. In the end I found a recipe in the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book, which works perfectly.

Mix the flour with a pinch of salt in a bowl, then make a well in the centre.  Pour oil and egg into the well.  Add the water slowly whilst stirring throughly to make a soft, slightly sticky dough.  Once it's binding together remove from the bowl and knead on a floured surface for about 15 minutes.  You really do have to knead it for a long time - It will go silky smooth - don't stop until it does!  Leave to stand under a bowl in a warm place for about an hour.  Don't skip that step: you have to leave it for a while for all the gluten to bind, otherwise it will rip more easily when you're stretching it.  Which is very upsetting.

I did the actual dough stretching in two batches as the it gets quite large and difficult to handle.  If you have a large surface or table which you can  get all around (and don't mind flouring) then you could do one giant lot.

Roll out the dough out nice and thin into an approximate rectangle.  Now take off any rings, watches, bangles or other adornments and flour your hands.  Lift the dough onto the backs of your hands with your hands together in the centre, and stretch it from the centre outwards in gentle pulling motions, trying to keep it approximately equal thickness throughout (well, except the edges, you can trim those off later...).  It's difficult to describe but it's actually quite intuitive once you get some dough in your hands.  Apparently you should be able to read a newspaper through the dough when it is done, it's not too hard to get it that thin if you're careful.  Once you think the limit of thiness is reached then leave to stand for about 10 minutes.  Then chop off any thick edges (you can try ot make it a bit more of a rectangle), and lightly brush with melted butter.  Dollop the filling along near one of the long edges.  Now roll the whole lot up around the filling, a little like a swiss roll, brushing a bit more melted butter on top after each roll.  Throw in the oven on a lightly greased baking sheet at ~200C for ~25 minutes, until the top is nicely browned.  Best served warm.

Jen's Icelandic Iced Prune Jam Sponge Cake

I got Iceland as my country, and during research, the one cake kept popping up. It was a layered sponge cake sandwiched with prune jam. I wasn't confident about making a cake with so many layers, so I thought I would compromise by making a basic sponge cake with prune jam added to it. Bit of a cop out, but it was my first club meet.... ;)) 


So, this recipe is based on Sticky Orange Marmalade Cake from 'The Great British Bake-off' book, which I love, and a traditional Icelandic Vinaterta Prune Cake.

For the prune jam:

500 g dried ready-to-eat prunes

250 g sugar

juice of one small lemon

1 tsp dried cinnamon

Chop the prunes in to small pieces. I didn't, and found the prunes congealed together in the saucepan as one sticky mass; this made it difficult to spread the finished jam on to the cake, but produced a pretty cool effect with the icing!

Heat the prunes for 15 minutes on a low heat in a saucepan. Add the sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Cook for approximately 1 hour, stirring frequently, and then transfer to sterilised jam jars (these quantities fill 1.5 jars).

For the sponge:

175g unsalted butter, softened

175g of caster sugar

3 large free range eggs, at room temperature and beaten

175g self raising flour, sifted.

¼ tsp baking powder

3 tbsp prune jam

2 tbsp semi skimmed milk

To finish:

3 tbsp dried prune jam

100g icing sugar, sifted (1/2 cup)

2 tbsp warm water

Cream butter and sugar, gradually add the eggs and the prune jam. Fold in the flour and baking powder then add the milk. Spoon mixture in a 20 cm springform cake tin (base lined with baking paper) and bake at 175 degrees for 45 mins - this time is shorter than stated in the original recipe but any longer I find the edges get too brown. I also cover with foil for the last 10 mins of cooking time so that the top stays a nice golden colour and doesn't get too dark.

When just out of the oven, cover the top of the cake with the prune jam and leave to cool completely. Then make the icing and pour over the cake randomly. I found dripping from a height works pretty well!

The finished cake!

Lorna's Lithuanian Napolean Torte

So i was given Lithuania as my country for May's Cake 'n' Bake meet so after some internet scouring i found this torte, which i edited slightly from the original although would edit more in the future... The cream recipe for the filling wasn't really a custard or pastry cream because it didn't have enough egg yolks, which may have been a typo on the site i got it from or just a bizarre cream filling... Either way, i'd advise making a buttercream or proper pasty cream (probably the latter) for the filling.

Ingredients;

200ml cup yogurt

60g. soft butter
100g caster sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 medium eggs, beaten

250g plain flour

Method:

Cream the butter with the sugar, and beat in the yogurt. Don't worry if it splits a bit - add a dash of flour to get it back together.Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the flour, baking power and baking soda. You should add enough flour to make a soft dough, that's kneadable. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for  minutes. Wrap in clingfilm and fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight. 

Take out of the fridge, roll out thinly (~1mm thick if possible; you will have to be able to transfer them to a baking tray!). Cut into rounds of whatever size you like. I did mini ones, you could do one 7" cake. Aim for each cake to have 6 layers. Once you've cut out your rounds... get them back in the fridge for at least an hour. Then cook in a preheated oven (170C) for about 10 minutes until lightly golden on top. Cool on a cooling rack.

Make a filling (your favourite pastry cream recipe) and sandwich the layers into towers of 6 layers each. Fridge (if using pastry cream rather than buttercream) to firm up for a few more hours.

Best of luck!

May - Around the World in 80 Bakes

This month our bakers decided to escape the wet and windy Spring we're seeing to take a round the world trip from the comfort of their kitchens. Each baker was randomly assigned a country on which to theme their baked treat, and we all had a lot of fun finding, baking and eating something different!

Angel baked some delicious Mamon from the Philippines, Catherine baked an Andorran Croques, new member Jennie baked an Icelandic Iced Prune Jam Sponge Cake, Joy baked some Jamaican inspired Mango and Coconut Tartlets, Lorna baked a Lithuanian Napolean Torte, Sally baked a Venezuelan Christmas Bread - Pan de Jamón,  Stacey baked some Singapore Red Bean Spiral Mooncakes, and Tom baked a delicious Apple and Plum Strudel for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We all had a lot of fun with our different countries, and there are quite a few countries left so this could be a theme we revisit in the future!

Stacey's Lamb and Apple Pie

I wanted to have a bash at something savoury for the Easter bake, and I'm a bit rubbish at pastry, so thought I'd take the opportunity to get in some practise with a yummy pie. The recipe is based on The Hairy Bikers' Gloucester Squab Pie

Ingredients:

For the filling:

450g diced lamb
2tbsp plain flour
1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion
650ml hot lamb stock
1/2 tsp mixed spice
salt and pepper to taste
2 sprigs of fresh mint
2 bramley apples

For the pastry:

300g plain flour (plus extra for dusting)
pinch of salt
75g vegetable shortening, cut into cubes
75g butter, cut into cubes
1 medium sized egg
1 tbsp cold water

Prep Time: 45-60 minutes
Cook time: 120-150 minutes
Makes 8-10 slices

1. The filling is cooked for at least an hour and a half before the pastry lid is added, so best to start with that. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5. 
2. Coat the diced lamb with the plain flour. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and stir fry the lamb until just golden, then place the lamb to one side in a casserole dish.
3. Peel and chop the onion, then return the pan to the heat and fry the onions until they start to turn translucent. Add the onions, lamb stock, mixed spice, salt and pepper to the lamb in the casserole dish, then roughly tear the mint leaves and add these. Stir well, cover, then place in the oven for 1.5-2 hours, stirring occasionally,  until the meat has cooked and the sauce has thickened. (Don't add the apples at this stage - we will come back to them!)
4. Whilst the casserole is cooking, prepare your pastry. Tip the flour and salt into a large bowl, then rub in the shortening and butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre.
5. Lightly whisk the egg and water, then pour most of this into the well made in the flour and fat mixture - you'll want to reserve a little bit of this to use as a glaze. Stir the mixture until it comes together to form a dough, then knead the dough for a few minutes on a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough into a round, wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge until ready to use (make sure this is at least 30 minutes so the pastry is nicely chilled!)
6. Once the casserole is cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool whilst you peel, core and slice the apples. Carefully pour half of the casserole into a large pie dish, then layer the slice apples on top of this. Pour the remaining casserole on top of the apple layer and set to one side whilst you roll out you pastry. Increase the heat of the oven to gas mark 6.
7. Unwrap the pastry and roll out to around 3 inches large than the dish you are using. Cut a 1 inch circle from the edge of this, and place the around the rim of your pie dish to use as a support. Cover this in egg wash, then place the pastry over the whole dish. Trim and flute the edges, then glaze the top of the pie with the remaining egg mixture. Cut a small cross in the middle of the pastry to allow the steam to escape, then bake in the centre of the oven for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown all over.

Happy baking!

Tom's (Mum's) Simnel Cake

This Simnel cake recipe is from my Mum's recipe book, looked like it was cut out of a magazine decades ago.

6oz softened butter
6oz soft brown sugar
5oz white self-raising flour
5oz wholemeal self-raising flour
3 medium eggs
A little milk
8oz dried fruit
2oz candied peel
2oz chopped glace cherries
Zest of half a lemon or orange and 2 tblspns of the juice
½ tsp mixed spice
½ tsp Cinnamon
1lb - 1½lb marzipan (depending on how elaborate your planned decorations are)

Beat together butter & sugar.  Sift flour and spices, beat eggs.  Mix both into the beaten butter a little at a time.  Add the dried fruit, peel, glace cherries, zest and juice, and enough milk to make a dropping consistency.

Grease and line an 8" round tin.  Put in half the mixture and level off.  Roll out about 8oz of the marzipan to cover, then add the rest of the mixture - so you end up with a layer of marzipan sandwiched in the middle of the cake.  Make the top of the cake slightly concave so that it rises flat.

Bake at ~170°C for ~2½ hours.  If your oven is vicious try tying some greaseproof paper over the top of the cake to stop it drying out too much.  Leave to cool for a while in the tin before turning out or the marzipan will still be liquidy and ooze out of the edge of the cake.

Once cooled roll out another ~8oz of marzipan to cover the top of the cake.  Glue it in place with a little jam spread on the cake first (apricot jam is traditional).  Roll out some more marzipan and cut into birds or other eastery shapes and stick around the side of the cake with more jam.  Now you can go crazy with whatever decoration you want on the top of the cake; 12 eggs (representing the disciples) is traditional.

Enjoy!

Charlie's Iced Lemon Curd Layer Cake

I used Delia's recipe as a basis for this cake but modified a few things here and there!

Ingredients:

For the cake:

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1 tbsp lemon juice

175g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

175g butter

175g caster sugar

3 large eggs

2 x sandwich tins greased and lined

For the lemon curd:

Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

75g caster sugar

2 large eggs

50g butter

For the icing:

Zest 1 lemon

2-3 tsp lemon juice

50g sifted icing sugar

Cake Method:

Now this is where I deviate from the recipe (already I know!). Delia says to just weigh all the ingredients and use an electric whisk to combine. I am a bit old school I'm afraid and did it the old fashioned way by combining the sugar with the eggs and beating until creamy. I then added the lemon zest, juice and the eggs a little a time. When the mixture looked like it would curdle I added a little bit of flour. After all the eggs had been combined I added the rest of the flour and the baking powder.

Bake in preheated oven (170 degrees celsius) for 35 minutes.

I left the cakes overnight to thoroughly cool and made the lemon curd and icing on the Wednesday night so it was nice and fresh - you can of course make it all at once and while the cakes are cooling make the curd.

Curd Method:

Put sugar and grated lemon zest in a bowl, whisk the lemon juice with the eggs and then pour this over the sugar.

Add the butter (cubed) and place the bowl over a simmering pan of water.

Stir frequently until thickened - I did leave the curd for quite a while before I gave it some attention and it was fine! It took about 20-25 minutes to thicken.

When the cakes are completely cool sandwich together with the lemon curd. (With the leftover curd I suggest dipping some biscuits in to it....it was very yummy!)

Icing:

(I didn't zest the lemon as I don't have a zester that gives long strips - hence the little lemon slices!)

Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and slowly add lemon juice until smooth and runny.

Leave to stand for 5 minutes and then spread over the cake with a knife. I have to say I added more icing sugar than the recipe suggested because it just looked way too runny to my

un-trained eyes and it still ran all over the blooming cake!

As I didn't have nice long strips of lemon zest I used the little lemon pieces for decoration.