Chewiest of Brownies

Brownies are very much an American treat and for me they have to be chewy and soft; I’m not interested in cake-like brownies at all. These are easy to throw together, very forgiving, and I often make them by hand because they’re that simple to make. 

One of the best things about brownies is the universal appeal because you can make them as refined as you'd like by just adding extras to them. Want to impress the kids? Add in some marshmallows or popping candy. Want to impress the adults? Drizzle salted caramel over the top with chopped truffles. Practically anything can be added to make them into your very own creation.

For the brownies that P asked me to make for his colleagues, I’ve added in fresh raspberries and white chocolate. Just make sure the chocolate that you use is one that you’d be happy to eat on its own.

Ingredients

200g dark or unsweetened chocolate broken into pieces

100g white chocolate broken into pieces

250g butter

100g white sugar

75g brown sugar

4 large eggs

140g plain flour

50g cocoa powder, sifted

200g fresh raspberries

100g chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 180C
2. Break up the pieces of chocolate, cube the butter and place in a large microwave safe bowl. 
   
3. Heat together in 30 second bursts until melted.
   
4. Add the sugar and the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly.
5. Sift the cocoa powder and mix well.
   
6. Add in the flour and mix until just incorporated.
   
7. Stir in the raspberries and chocolate.
   
8. Pour into a prepared 9x12 tin and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Fabulously Vanilla-y Cut-out Cookies

When it comes to cookies or biscuits I’m very much a fan of the scoop and bake method; however, there are sometimes when you just have to make the more labour intensive cut-out type.

P and I became the proud parents and the most adorable fur baby that we named Dougal last November.  Dougal is a Dandie Dinmont, which is a Scottish breed and one that is on the Kennel Club's vulnerable breeds list. We wanted a smallish dog that could cope with life in a London flat and we came upon the breed in our research. When we saw the Dandies at the Discover Dogs Show at Earls Court we were smitten and decided right then it was the breed for us. When our lovely landlady said we could get ourselves a puppy we got in contact with the Dandie Dinmont Club and headed all the way to Sheffield to pick up our sweet little boy.

Dougal aged 4.5 months

Being a lover of all things baking I had a little search online and came across a Dandie Dinmont cookie cutter and I knew I had to have one. I could only find one that was stateside so I had it sent to my mom back in Texas and when she got enough things that I had sent gathered together she sent it to me in a big package. When the package arrived I couldn’t wait to try it on this recipe. You don’t have to have this marvellous cutter to make the cookies but it doesn’t hurt.

This is one of those recipes where it tastes just as good raw as it does fully cooked. I've used Martha Stewart's royal icing recipe to decorate the cookies.

Ingredients

Ingredients

For the cookies

225g softened butter

200g caster sugar

1 egg

56g cream cheese

1/2tsp vanilla extract

420g plain flour

1/2tsp salt

Icing sugar for dusting

For the royal icing

500g icing sugar

2 large egg whites

125ml water

Yields approximately 2-4 dozen cookies depending upon the size of the cutter and the depth of your dough.

Instructions

For the cookies

1. Cream together the sugar and butter with the paddle attachment in a mixer.
2. Add in the cream cheese until combined and then add the egg and mix until thoroughly combined.
3. Add in the vanilla and any other flavours you desire.
4. Add one third of the flour and slowly mix together. Once this is just combined, add in the second third. Continue until you mix in the final third. The dough will be very thick.
5. Turn the dough out onto some cling film and wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least an hour – overnight preferably.
6. Once your dough is well chilled cut a quarter of it off and wrap up the remaining dough and refrigerate.
7. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F
8. Dust the work surface with icing sugar making sure to dust your rolling pin.
9. Roll the dough into a rectangle shape about ¼- ½ centimeter thickness depending on how thick you prefer your cookies.
10. Cut out your cookies and place onto a lined baking sheet.
11. Bake the cookies for 8-15 minutes, depending on the thickness, until just starting to colour.
12. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire wrack to cool completely.
13. Once completely cool you can decorate.

For the icing

1. In a large mixing bowl add the icing sugar and the egg whites and slowly mix with the whisk attachment.
2. Once this starts to pull together add in a few tablespoons of the water.
3. For the outline piping keep the icing thicker and for the flooding icing loosen with a bit more water.
4. Colour with gel food colouring to ensure you keep the desired consistency.
5. Add in a small amount of flavouring if you so desire.

You’ll notice that I’ve specified plain flour and I haven’t included any bicarbonate soda or powder in the recipe. This is because I wanted to keep the shape as true to form as possible and leaving them out helps tremendously.

A Cake Worthy of a King

The first time I ever tasted King Cake was when I was a student at Centenary College of Louisiana, roughly a month before Mardi Gras. I was already familiar with Mardi Gras, but I had never experienced the delights of the King Cake until then. What a happy day that was.

A King Cake, named for the three kings who visited the infant Jesus, is only available between Epiphany and Mardi Gras. During Mardi Gras season, folks in Louisiana host King Cake parties and the person who finds the baby inside hosts the next King Cake party.  This goes on and on throughout the season and the parties get livelier and more raucous as Mardi Gras approaches. Unfortunately I often start thinking about devouring a piece of King Cake around September which makes the agony of waiting so much worse.

Don’t let the name fool you; a King Cake isn’t what you might normally think of as a proper cake. It’s an enriched bread dough that is traditionally filled with cinnamon and sugar, topped with fondant icing and sprinkled with gold, purple and green sugar. 

You can make this either by hand or with a mixer and it will turn out great.

Ingredients:

For the dough

60g butter

500g plain yogurt or buttermilk

80g sugar

1tsp salt

2 packets of dry yeast (14g)

1tbs sugar

125ml warm water 43C/110F

2 eggs

985g bread flour, divided

1 plastic baby (can be omitted)

For the filling

125g sugar

½tsp ground cinnamon

80g softened butter

For the fondant

480g icing sugar

3tbs melted butter

3tbs full fat milk

½tsp vanilla

For the sugar

Yellow

Green

Purple

Instructions:

To make the cake

1. Put the first four ingredients into a medium pan over a medium heat until the butter melts. Set aside and let cool to 43C/110F.
   
2. Dissolve yeast and 1tbs of sugar with ½ cup of warm water in a large bowl and let stand five minutes until frothy. 
   
3. Add yeast and butter mixture to a large bowl and whisk in the eggs. Once combined, add in 280g of the flour and beat for two minutes until smooth. If using yeast that can be added directly to the flour skip this step but add the water and the sugar to the yogurt/buttermilk mixture and the yeast to the flour.
4. Gradually add the remaining flour to make a soft dough (not sticky)
   
5. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for ten minutes until it’s smooth and elastic. You can do this in a mixer with the dough hook as well.
   
6. Place the dough into a well greased bowl, cover and place in a warm place for one hour until the dough has doubled in size. 
   
7. Knock out the air and divide the dough in half and set one half to the side.
8. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a large rectangle that is about ½inch/1cm in height. Spread half of the butter over all of the dough and then sprinkle with the cinnamon mixture.  Roll the dough into a tube and then bring the two ends together to firm a circle. If you want to add in the baby you will need to do so before you roll it up.
   
9. Place on a baking sheet, cover and set aside for 30 minutes for a second rise. Repeat with remaining half.
10. Once the dough has risen put into a preheat oven at 190C/375F and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
11. Remove from the oven and set on a wire rack and let cool completely.

To decorate the cake

1. Add the sugar, butter, milk and vanilla to a bowl and whisk until smooth.
2. Drizzle half the mixture over a completely cooled cake.
3. Sprinkle the coloured sugars over the fondant in the order of purple, green, and then gold.

As long as the final cake is pulled into a circle you could do pretty much any decorative braiding or twisting to make your King Cake even more impressive.