St Patrick's Day Lemon and Ricotta Ring CakeIt's time to celebrate all things Irish with St Patrick's Day this Friday! We're sure you're pretty excited for all the festivities, but to help you get into the festive spirit even more, our featured recipe this week is a beautiful St Patrick's Day Lemon & Ricotta Ring Cake from the lovely Karyn over at Irish Baking Adventures

This show-stopper of a dessert is sure to capture the attention of all of your guests this March the 17th. Not only is it beautiful to look at with its Irish flag colourings, we're certain it tastes scrumptious too! As it is a traditional Italian style cake and includes tasty ingredients such as lemon and ricotta, how could it not be? Alongside being a tasty treat for friends and family, it is also quick and easy to make, so the children can join in making it along with you!

To find out how to make this wonderful dessert, you can view the full recipe by simply clicking here

Ingredients:

  • Unsalted butter at room temperature
  • Plain Flour
  • Baking Powder
  • Salt
  • Ricotta Cheese
  • Caster Sugar
  • Large Eggs
  • Vanilla Extract
  • Lemons
  • Lemon Juice

For the Chocolate Drizzle

  • Green Colouring
  • Chocolate Green and Orange Colouring
  • White Chocolate

For the full instructions on how to make this delicious cake, just head to Karyn's blog here!

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24cm Bundt Cake Tin
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Earl Grey Shortbread Teabags

Today we bring to you a brilliant Earl Grey Shortbread Teabags recipe from the equally brilliant Ellie's Kitchen. Ellie is very talented baker and her blog is crammed with a whole range of recipes, from hand painted sugar cookies to homemade strawberry jam, you're bound to find a recipe you love on this blog. 

It would come as no surprise to you that here at British Bakeware we're huge lovers of tea, so we're extremely excited to share this recipe with you. These earl grey flavoured shortbread biscuits are really simple to bake and they take no time at all to make! They're the perfect teatime treat for tea lovers!

This fantastic recipe and image is from Ellie's Kitchen and we highly recommend you take a look at her blog if you're looking for some inspiration on your next bake!

Ingredients:

  • 200g Unslated Butter, softened
  • 100g Caster Sugar
  • 300g Self Raising Flour
  • Drop of Vanilla Extract
  • Tea from 3 Earl Grey Teabags
  • 50g Dark or Milk Chocolate

Method:

Step 1 - Preheat your oven to 160ºC

Step 2 - then cream the butter and sugar together - you can either do this by hand or if you have an electric mixer, you can use that. The mixture should look pale and smooth.

Step 3 - Once you're happy with the mixture, add the vanilla and tea.

Step 4 - Start gently working in the flour. To avoid overworking the mix, it's best to do it by hand.

Step 5 - Form the into a ball but don't worry if it doesn't together straight away, you just have to be patient.

Step 6 - Lightly flour a flat surface and roll out the dough. Make sure it's about 5mm thick.

Step 7 - Cut the dough into teabag shapes. You may want to use a template to cut around.

Step 8 - Stamp out a hole at the top of each teabag. 

Step 9 - Leave to chill in the fridge the fride for 15 mins before baking until the biscuits turn golden brown. This will take around 15 minutes.

Step 10 - Leave the biscuits to cool for a few minutes on the baking tray, once the're cooked before you transfer them to a wire rack to cool fully.

Step 11 - Once cooled, dip the bottom half of each biscuit in melted chocolate and leave to set on baking paper. 

Step 12 - To finish, thread string through each biscuit and add labels.

For the full the recipe, visit Ellie's blog here.

 

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Here at British Bakeware we can't think of three things that are better in the summer than strawberries, ice cream and cake! And this recipe combines all three, to make a truly wonderful desert, that's perfect for the summer! This wonderful cake is perfect for birthday parties or as an after meal treat, and you don't have to be a baking expert to make it! Even novice bakers will be able to bake and enjoy this fantastic Ice Cream Cake!

If you're going to have a go at baking this terrific cake we suggest you leave plenty of time to plan ahead because it can be quite time consuming. We also suggest that you leave the ice cream to soften at room temperature, so it's the right consistency for spreading, but don't leave it out too long or else it'll go soupy.

The original recipe can be found on the Martha Stewart website

Ingredients:

  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and levelled), plus more for the pan 
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
  • 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk 
  • 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and finely chopped 
  • 1 tablespoon seedless raspberry jam
  • 3 pints vanilla ice cream, softened

 

Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan. Then, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Step 2 - With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until incorporated; then mix in the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add flour mixture in three parts and buttermilk in two, beginning and ending with flour mixture, Mix just until smooth (do not overmix).

Step 3 - Pour the batter into a prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean, bake for around 30 - 40 minutes. Then leave to cool for 15 minutes in the pan; turn the cake out onto a rack and leave to cool completely. Using a long serrated knife, halve the cake horizontally. 

Step 4 - While the cake is cooling, combine the strawberries and jam in a medium bowl.

Step 5 - Line sides of a 9-inch springform pan with a strip of waxed paper; wrap outside of pan with plastic wrap, then centre the bottom half of cake in the pan, cut side up. 

Step 6 - Spread 1 1/2 pints of ice cream over the top and down the sides. Spread the strawberry mixture on the ice cream, leaving a 1-inch border. Set top half of cake over it.

Step 7 - Spread the remaining ice cream over the top and down, and around the sides of the cake. Tap the cake on the counter to help the ice cream to settle. Smooth the top and freeze until firm, we suggest you leave it to freeze for at least 6 hours or if you have it covered, for up to 2 weeks. To serve, remove the plastic from pan, unmould the cake, and peel off waxed paper. Let the cake to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes before slicing.

 

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After all the food you would have consumed over Christmas, we wouldn’t blame you if you were struggling for ideas in terms of what to serve your guests if you are having a New Year’s Eve party. Do you go for something heavy that is relatively easy to prepare, or do you try a lot of smaller things which will take longer to prepare. Some of you may be going out to a party at a restaurant, bar or family/friends’ houses, so you won’t have to worry about what to prepare.

However if you are hosting your own party and would like some ideas for nibbles and canapés, we are here to help, as everyone in the British Bakeware office has come together and given their favourite new years eve party food for festive occasions! After an hour (or three) of debating on what should be included, we came up with 3 dishes that we think perfectly define festive party food.

So keep an eye out for the posts on Monday and Tuesday where we will be giving you some inspiration in terms of what to serve your party guests this New Year’s Eve!

Tarte Tatin

Tarte Tatin is an absolute winner of a French dessert that's ideal for ending a dinner party with some serious style! It's a sumptuous celebration of apples and caramel, invented by a pair of French sisters and beloved by foodies everywhere ever since.

Now, a lot of people will tell you that tarte Tartin is tricky to make, and yes, it can be downright fiendish to get the recipe right. However, we're big fans of simplicity here at British Bakeware, and we've come up with an easy way to get the tarte right - you'll be amazed at how effortlessly it all comes together!

So, without further ado, here is our  Cheater's Guide to Tarte Tatin...

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 Packet of Ready-Rolled Puff Pastry
  • 6 Medium Cox Apples (peeled, quartered and cored)
  • 50g Butter
  • 50g Golden Caster Sugar
  • ½ Tsp Cinnamon
  • Juice of ½ Lemon

Instructions:

Step 1 - Melt the butter in a medium grill pan, then stir in the sugar and cinnamon until the mixture caramelises. Add the apples and continue cooking on a medium heat for around 10 minutes, all the while basting the apples in the caramel. Remove the grill pan from the heat.

Step 2 - Unroll the packet of pastry and make a few small air holes in it using a fork. Lay the pastry over the apples, trimming any excess with a sharp knife or scissors, and tucking in the edges neatly around the apples.

Step 3 - Place the grill pan in a pre-heated oven for around 20 to 30 minutes at 200oC, or until the pastry is golden and delicious. To finish your apple masterpiece, run a knife around the edge of the pan, then place a plate over the top and quickly spin the dish over so the tart turns out beautifully onto your plate – voila!

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