It’s Wednesday evening, which can only mean one thing... The Great British BakeOff! This week signals the return of desserts, more specifically, crème brûlée, spanische windtorte and baked cheesecake. So if you have a sweet tooth, you definitely don’t want to miss this evenings programme!

Out of all the desserts featuring on tonight’s programme, we decided here at British Bakeware that our favourite was crème brûlée, mainly because we hadn’t heard of spanische windtorte! So we have chosen our favourite crème brûlée recipe based on how unique it is! This Jamie Oliver crème brûlée recipe is different to your standard crème brûlée. It doesn’t follow your normal recipe, and that is because it is a lavender crème brûlée! This fantastic recipe from Mr Jamie Oliver is an absolute gem as you get the subtle taste of lavender to complement the crunchy shell and the creamy centre.

 

Ingredients:

  • 200ml of semi-skimmed milk
  • 150ml of double cream
  • 150ml of single cream
  • 2 Vanilla Pods
  • 8 large free-range egg yolks
  • 75g of sugar
  • 4 tbsp of caster sugar
  • 1 bunch of lavender, pick off the flowers

Instructions:

Step 1- Preheat your oven to 140 Degrees Celcius/275 Degrees Fahrenheit/Gas Mark 1. Then take both vanilla pods and score them lengthways to open them up. Remove the vanilla seeds with a teaspoon and place in to a saucepan along with the pods, the 150ml of single cream, the 150ml of double cream and the 200ml of semi-skimmed milk, bring to the boil and remove from the heat.

Step 2- For the next part you will need a bowl that is bigger than the saucepan you are using. Place this bowl over the saucepan and beat together the 8 egg yolks and sugar until they start to become light and fluffy. Take the vanilla pods out of the saucepan below. Bit by bit add the milk and cream to the egg mixture. It is important that you whisk the mixture non-stop as you add the milk and cream.

Step 3- To the saucepan you were just using, add 2.5cm of hot water and bring to the boil. Put the mixing bowl on top of the saucepan and allow the mixture to cook for 5 minutes until it thickens to the extent where it coats the back of a spoon. Stir in a very small amount of lavender flowers as the flavour is very strong, so you don’t want to overpower it.

Step 4-Make sure there are no bubbles in your mixture or froth on top before splitting it between ramekins ready for cooking. The mixture should provide enough to fill 4 ramekins in total. Place the ramekins carefully in to an extra-large roasting tin and fill the tin with water until it reaches about half way up the ramekins.

Step 5-Put the extra-large roasting tin holding the ramekins in to the oven and cook for between 30 to 45 minutes until you can see the mixture has set with a slight wobbly still left in it. Let them cool at room temperature before refrigerating until you are ready to serve them.

Step 6-When you are ready to serve, sprinkle a tbsp of caster sugar over each lavender crème brûlée as well as a few more lavender flowers. Then, using a blow torch or the grill in your cooker, caramelize the top until it forms a delicious crispy shell.

Step 7-Now you can sit down and enjoy one of these lavender crème brûlée. We recommend serving with a few shortbread biscuits to dunk in the creamy filling!

Source: Jamie Oliver 

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Farmhouse Loaf

There aren't many better smells than that of freshly baked bread, so why not try this simple farmhouse loaf recipe at home!

There are now more people than ever baking their own bread at home. One reason being it is a lot cheaper and it goes further in your household. Another reason, and we think this is the best one of all, is that it gives you a sense of satisfaction knowing you have made a delicious farmhouse loaf for yourself at home. This BBC Good Food recipe is very simply as it is made up of just 5 ingredients, so it is definitely one you can try at home! Our 3lb loaf tin is perfect for this recipe, as it allows you to bake a delicious deep farmhouse loaf.

 

Ingredients:

  • 500g of strong white bread flour plus extra for dusting
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 7g packet of dried yeast
  • Sunflower oil
  • 350ml of warm water

Instructions:

Step 1- Start by making the dough. Take the 500g of white flour, 7g of yeast and 1 tsp of salt and pour them in to a large bowl. Make a well in the middle before pouring most of the 350ml of water in and mix it together with a wooden spoon or your hands. The dough should resemble a slightly damp and workable dough.

Step 2- Once you are happy with the dough, dust a work surface in your kitchen with flour and tip the dough on to it. You should now knead the dough until it becomes a lot smoother and develops more of an elastic and stringy consistency. This should take no more than 10 minutes. Then place the dough in an oiled bowl and leave for it to rise and roughly double in size.

Step 3- Heat your oven to around 220 degrees celcius/200 degrees for a fan oven/gas mark 7. Knock the dough out of the bowl back on to the floured kitchen surface. Shape the dough in to an oval shape and place in to a 3lb loaf tin. Cover with a towel or kitchen paper and allow it to prove for around 30 minutes.

Step 4-Take some of the remaining flour and dust the top of the dough with it. Also score the top of the dough with a knife. Place in the centre of your pre-heated oven and bake for around 15 minutes. Then, reduce the temperature of your oven to 190 degrees celcius/170 degrees for a fan oven, gas mark 5 and bake for a further 30 minutes. You will know the loaf is done when you tap the bottom of the farmhouse loaf and it sounds hollow. Allow the loaf to cool on a wire cooling rack.

Source: BBC Good Food 

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3lb Loaf Tin
£10.99 inc V.A.T.
2 Loaf Tin
£4.99 inc V.A.T.
Large Loaf Tin
£9.49 inc V.A.T.

We are delighted that the Great British Bake Off is back here at British Bakeware, and this week is biscuit week! We’ve chosen this fantastic shortbread biscuits recipe from Paul Hollywood as one of our favourite biscuit recipes, mainly because we love the taste of buttery shortbread and this particular recipe is a nice easy one to try at home! So why not get in the full swing of the Great British Bake Off by baking a batch of these delicious shortbread biscuits at home!

Who loves shortbread biscuits, because we certainly do. This fantastic recipe from Paul Hollywood for shortbread biscuits is one you simply must try at home. The buttery taste, crunchy finish and sweet sugary outside make this a perfect biscuit!

 

Ingredients:

  • 110g of caster sugar
  • 225g of plain flour
  • 110g of cornflour
  • 225g of softened, unsalted butter
  • A pinch of salt

Instructions:

Step 1- Place baking paper on two cookie trays.

Step 2- Start these shortbread biscuits by placing the 225g of butter and 110g of caster sugar in to a mixing bowl and mix together. You could use an electric whisk to speed things up, but a wooden spoon will work just as well, it just may take a bit more elbow grease. You want to mix the sugar and butter together until the mixture is a lot lighter.

Step 3- Add in the 225g of plain flour and the 110g of cornflour in the bowl before adding the salt. Mix together until all ingredients are smoothly combined. Dust some flour on to your kitchen surface before tipping the mixture from the bowl on to it. Knead until the mixture forms a soft dough.

Step 4-Preheat your oven to around 170 degrees celcius.

Step 5- Place the dough between two pieces of baking paper and roll it out until it is around 1cm thick. Prick the dough all over with a fork and cut in to triangular shapes, or whatever shapes you would like your shortbread biscuits to be! Take all the scraps of dough and re-roll it once more to try and get a few more biscuits in to the batch. Once you have done this, start placing them on the cookie trays or baking trays that you have lined with baking paper and place them in the fridge to chill for no more than 30 minutes.

Step 6-Once suitably chilled, place in the centre of your pre heated oven for about 20 minutes until the shortbread biscuits start to turn golden brown around the edge. Leave on the cookie tray for a few minutes more to allow the biscuits to firm up slightly before lifting them on to a small cooling rack, dusting them with any remaining sugar and leaving them to cool for 10 minutes.

Step 7-That’s it, this shortbread biscuits recipe by Paul Hollywood is that simple and equally as delicious!

Source: Paul Hollywood 

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The Great British Bake Off started last night and it included one of our favourite cakes in the British Bakeware office, a madeira cake! If you love summer baking, this is the perfect cake for you!

To celebrate the start of the GBBO last night, we thought we would pick a very simply recipe for a lemon madeira cake for everyone to have a go at making at home! This particular lemon madeira cake recipe comes with the zest and juice of a lemon, adding a burst of flavour to an already incredibly tasty cake! A perfect cake to get you in the mood for summer baking, this madeira cake recipe from the brilliant people at Good To Know can be baked and served in just over an hour, so why not have a go and let us know how you get on!

 

Ingredients:

  • 175g of butter
  • 175g of caster sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 250g of self raising flour
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 2-3 slices of citron peel

Instructions:

Step 1-Start this fantastic lemon madeira cake recipe by adding the butter and sugar to a mixing bowl and cream them together until they start to become lighter in appearance and texture. Add the eggs in one at time, as well as another spoonful of flour for each egg. Then add the lemon juice and zest in to the bowl as well as the rest of self-raising flour.

Step 2-Line a 7 inch round cake tin with baking paper before pouring in the batter mixture. Place in the centre of a pre-heated oven and bake for 25 minutes at 180 degrees celcius/350 degrees Fahrenheit/Gas mark 4.

Step 3-Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and place the citron peel on top. Place bake in the oven and continue baking this delicious lemon madeira cake for another 50 minutes until it is firm in the centre.

Step 4-Allow to cool for 15 minutes or so on a wire cooling rack before you slice this fantastic madeira cake.

Source: Good To Know 

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