Coffee Cake

Today is the start of UK Coffee Week and what better way to mark the start of this brilliant week than baking this delicious gluten free coffee cake with dark chocolate.

Gluten Free cakes are now becoming more popular as people start to realise how fantastic the gluten free alternatives are, and this gluten free coffee cake is no different. This cake is very easy to bake and requires just 6 ingredients. The tastes of the espresso and dark chocolate complement each other perfectly, and the almonds add a nice crunch to it. So why not celebrate UK Coffee Week 2015 by making this delicious gluten free coffee cake with dark chocolate!

Photo by Apostoloff (view original here)

 

Ingredients:

For the Cake

  • 20ml of espresso
  • 70g of caster sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 175g of unsalted butter
  • 200g of dark chocolate
  • 200g of almonds

Instructions:

Step 1-Preheat your oven to 170 degrees and grease/line a 20cm loose base cake tin with baking paper.

Step 2-Add the 200g of almonds to a food processor and blend until they are finely ground. Be sure not to overdo them as they will become sticky.

Step 3-Add the 200g of dark chocolate and 175g of unsalted butter to a bowl and melt over a pan of hot water. Ensure the bowl doesn’t come in to contact with the water.

Step 4-Separate the eggs and whisk the 4 egg yolks and 70g of caster sugar until it forms a thick paste, this should take no more than 5 minutes with an electric whisk.

Step 5-Fold the chocolate mixture along with the ground almonds in to the sugar and egg mixture.

Step 6-In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are stiff and add these to the cake mixture as well.

Step 7-Pour the mixture in to your 20cm loose base cake tin and bake for 25 to 30 minutes to cook well. You can adjust this depending how well you like your cake cooked. Allow the cake to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tin.

Step 8-All there is left to do is enjoy a slice of this Gluten Free Coffee Cake with Dark Chocolate to celebrate UK Coffee Week!

Source: Jamie Oliver 

Products You May Find Helpful

Loose Base Cake Tin
£8.64 inc V.A.T.
Non-Stick Cake Tin
£10.28 inc V.A.T.

Happy St Georges Day everyone! To celebrate, have a go at this traditional Eton mess recipe at home!.

If you are looking for a traditional English desert, it doesn’t get any more classic than an Eton mess! This fantastic recipe from great British chefs will leave your mouth watering! The brilliant combination of crispy meringue with the sweetness of the strawberry is hard to say no to! This is a very simple desert, but it’s incredibly hard to beat for flavour!

 

Ingredients:

For the Meringue

  • 175g of caster sugar
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1 vanilla pod, remove the seeds
  • A pinch of salt

For the Eton Mess

  • 500g of fresh strawberries, sliced
  • 500ml of double cream
  • 1 tbsp of icing sugar

Instructions:

Step 1-Pre heat your oven to 110 degrees celcius and line to meringue trays or baking trays with baking paper. Add the egg whites and a pinch of salt to a mixing bowl and whip with a wire whisk. Ensure to use a light whisk rather than a heavy one as it will keep the air in the meringue mixture.

Step 2-As you are whisking the mixture, add the caster sugar in to the mixture slowly. This should make your egg whites become stiff and looking ready to bake.

Step 3- Use a spatula to add the mixture to the baking trays bit by bit. Add to the oven and allow the meringues to completely dry up and crisp. This may take a few hours, so after the first hour, check the meringues regularly to see how they look. You will know the meringues are ready when you tap them and they sound hollow.

Step 4-Place the double cream in to a food mixer and whisk it gently. You could add the leftover vanilla seeds here as well as icing sugar, but this is not compulsory. Add half the strawberries to the cream mixture as well as most of the cooked meringue (but not all of it). Ensure you break the meringue in to one inch sized pieces when adding it.

Step 5- To assemble the meringue start layering the cream mixture in to whatever you plan to serve them in (glasses) followed by a layer or meringue and strawberries. Keep alternating until full.

Step 6- Finish off by sprinkling some more strawberries and a dusting of meringue! That’s it, this traditional eton mess is ready to enjoy!

Source: Great British Chefs 

Products You May Find Helpful

Macaroon Tray
£7.76 inc V.A.T.
Square Baking Sheet
£5.54 inc V.A.T.

Treat your mum to something special this Mother’s Day in the form of this delicious Strawberry Cheesecake Tart recipe!

We need to give credit to the fantastic people over at Tesco Real Food for this mouth-watering recipe! This Strawberry Cheesecake Tart is very easy to make and can be prepared on Sunday morning ready for your mum to enjoy with a cup of tea on Sunday afternoon! The ginger biscuit base combined with the zest of a lemon and the sweetness of the strawberries will provide a tantalising combination of flavours when you have your first bite!

 

Ingredients:

  • 200g of ginger biscuits
  • 50g of butter (melted)

For the Filling

  • 300g of light soft cheese
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 150g Greek yoghurt
  • 227g strawberries
  • 3 tbsp of strawberry jam
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 3 tbsp of lemon juice

Instructions:

Step 1-Take the ginger biscuits and place them in a food bag. Crush them until they are in fine pieces. Once you are happy that the biscuits have been crushed in to fine pieces, add them to a mixing bowl along with the 50g of butter which should have been melted. Stir well until the biscuits and butter have combined.

Step 2-Add the biscuit mixture to a fluted flan tin and ensure the biscuit mixture is firmly pressed down against the base of the tin. You can do this by using a palette knife or a spoon. Once this is done, place it in the fridge to chill while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Step 3-In another mixing bowl, add the light soft cheese, the greek yoghurt, caster sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice and whisk until they are well combined and the mixture looks creamy. Add this on to the biscuit base which has been chilling in the fridge and smooth the top. Ensure it rests in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Step 4-Add the strawberry jam to a saucepan and heat until it turns to a liquid consistency. Allow the mixture to cool for a bit.

Step 5-If you are using a loose base fluted flan tin, remove the base of the tin and the strawberry cheesecake tart will easily slide out. If not, carefully remove the tart from the edge of the tin using a palette knife and gradually ease it out of the cake tin. Cut the tops off the strawberrys and slice in to quarters. Place the strawberrys on top of this delicious Strawberry cheesecake tart before coating the top of the tart with the strawberry jam from earlier!

Step 6-That’s all the work done, now you can serve your mum this delicious treat this Mother’s Day, and we’re sure she will love this fantastic Strawberry cheesecake tart recipe!

Source: Tesco Real Food 

Products You May Find Helpful

Loose Bottom Flan Tin
£7.42 inc V.A.T.
Fluted Flan Tin
£4.90 inc V.A.T.
Loose Base Flan Tin
£10.68 inc V.A.T.

Chocolate Pie

We thought this Salted Caramel Pie was the perfect way to finish off British Pie Week, and what a week it has been! We’ve seen some fantastic recipes and photos of delicious pies from all around the country, with people really getting in to the spirit of the week!

This scrumptious Salted Caramel pie recipe comes to us courtesy of the brilliant people over at UK TV Good Food! The caramel in this pie provides you with a delicious sweetness, but the salty edge neutralises that giving a fantastic combination of flavour. The thing that really caught our eye with this recipe was the pretzel crust around the edge of the pastry, which we love! So if you are looking to celebrate the end of British Pie Week today or this weekend, have a good at this delicious UK TV Good Food recipe!

Photograph by BenGrantham (view original version here)

 

Ingredients:

For the Filling

  • 300g of sugar
  • 120ml of honey
  • 120ml of double cream
  • 115g of brown butter (normal butter is also fine)
  • 2 tbsp of mascarpone
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract

For the Topping

  • 120ml of double cream
  • 115g of chopped dark chocolate

For the Pretzel Crust

  • 225g of pretzels
  • 85 to 115g of melted unsalted butter

Instructions:

Step 1-Start by making the pretzel crust. Grind the 225g of pretzels in a food processor or wrap them in a tea towel and hit with a rolling pin until they are well ground. Pour the unsalted butter in to a mixing bowl, add the ground pretzels and use your hands tom mix together. Do this until the texture resembles wet sand. Firmly press the crumbs in to a 24cm large pie tin and chill the crust in the fridge.

Step 2-Now you can move on to the filling. Start by adding the 300g of sugar and 120ml of honey to a saucepan along with 120ml of water. Combine until the sugar is dissolved and it turns to a caramel (dark amber colour). Ideally you want the mixture to reach about 170 degrees celcius.

Step 3-Take the caramel off the heat and add in the 120ml of double cream, being very careful not to spill any of the caramel as it will start to bubble when the cream mixes with it. Ensure you whisk it as the cream is being poured in. After this add the 115g of butter, the vanilla extract and a pinch of salt and whisk again.

Step 4-Pour the filling in to your pie tin that you prepared earlier and leave it to set in the fridge for at least 5 hours.

Step 5-Nearly finished, all there is left to do is the topping. Add the double cream to a pan and heat until it starts to gently bubble, then pop in the dark chocolate and allow it to melt. Once melted, whisk until the mixture is glossy. Spread over the filling and allow it to set. That’s it, this delicious salted caramel pie is now ready to enjoy as part of your British Pie Week celebrations!

Source: Good Food UK TV 

Products You May Find Helpful

Large Pie Tin
£4.56 inc V.A.T.
Loose Base Flan Tin
£10.68 inc V.A.T.
Loose Bottom Flan Tin
£7.42 inc V.A.T.

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone, and what better way to celebrate than this delicious Steak and Guinness pie!

We all know that the classic combination of steak and ale goes well together when it comes to making a pie, but the combination of steak and Guinness is mouth wateringly good! This recipe includes a rather small amount of ingredients but it certainly won’t lack in flavour. This steak and Guinness pie is something you can prepare and leave in the oven to cook while you carry on with something else, and a perfect way to celebrate St Patrick's Day 2016!

 

Ingredients:

  • 675g of diced braising steak
  • 4 sticks of celery
  • 2 heaped teaspoons of plain flour
  • 1 bottle of 500ml Guinness
  • 1 small handful of herbs (rosemary, thyme and bay leaf)
  • 1 carrot
  • 2 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
  • 500 of pre packed puff pastry
  • 1 egg
  • Olive Oil

Instructions:

Step 1-Start by taking the your beef and seasoning to taste with the salt and pepper. Sprinkle the beef with flour and ensure it is well covered.

Step 2-Pour 2 to 3 large glugs of olive oil in to heated casserole dish or frying pan and fry the beef until it is browned.

Step 3- Add in the onion and fry for a minute or so, then add the carrots, celery and the herbs in to the pan. Cook all of this for a further 5 minutes before adding in the bottle of Guinness.

Step 4-Add the chopped tomatoes and bring to the boil. Give it a good stir and allow it to slow cook for a further 2 hours until the meat is tender.

Step 5-After 2 hours check how it is doing. The sauce should have thickened and all of the ingredients should have provided a delicious flavour. Add further seasoning if you think it needs it.

Step 6-Now it is time to pre heat your oven. Set it to 190 degrees Celsius or gas mark 5. Place the meat filling and sauce in to a large pie tin.

Step 7-Roll out your puff pastry and place it over the pie tin. Please make sure it is slightly bigger than the tin itself.

Step 8-Beat the egg and then brush the edge of your tin with it. Place the pastry on top of the large pie tin and use the extra pastry around the outside of the dish to secure it. Use a knife to score the pastry on top and brush with more of the egg.

Step 9-Place the pie on a baking tray or in a roasting tin and place in the middle of your pre heated oven for around 45 minutes. You will know it is done when it turns a golden colour and starts to bubble around the edge of the pastry.

Step 10-Allow the pie to cool for a few minutes before serving, and that’s it! This delicious steak and Guinness pie is ready to be served. We recommend serving with some delicious new potatoes and some green beans!

Source: All Recipes 

Products You May Find Helpful

Large Pie Tin
£4.56 inc V.A.T.
Enamel Roasting Pan
£3.02 inc V.A.T.