Fat Rascals

My sister’s just moved back down south after living in York for 8 years and it’s quite blatantly obvious that my mum and I are more upset about this than her. Basically, we don’t have a valid excuse to go have a Yorkshire jolly anymore. To try and overcome our parting blues we decided to give Fat Rascals a go. You can only get real Rascals at Bettys Tea Rooms but ‘The Great British Book of Baking’ has a lovely recipe. For those who don’t know, Fat Rascals are meant to look like rats, with cherries for eyes and almonds for a mouth…the cherries on ours sort of slid to the side when they were cooking however, so they look more like slightly toothless frogs. No worries though because they tasted delicious, especially still warm from the oven with a little pat of melted butter.

Ingredients

(makes 6 although we doubled the recipe because what’s the point of making just 6?!)

250g self-raising flour

½ tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch grated nutmeg

75g caster sugar

100g unsalted butter, chilled and diced

125g mixed dried fruit

1 medium egg

125ml of double cream

½ tsp lemon juice

To decorate

1 egg, beaten

12 glacé cherries

6 blanched almonds (or we used 3 for each for a smile)

Preheat the oven to 200⁰C/Gas Mark 6. Sift the flour, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl then stir in the sugar.

Add the diced butter and rub it into the flour until the mixture becomes crumble-like.

Stir in the dried fruit using a wooden spoon.

Add the egg.

In a small jug combine the double cream and lemon juice then add to the mixing bowl. Combine everything with a wooden spoon until it forms a firm dough. I found it’s better to add one spoonful of cream mixture at a time, combining in between, to gauge how dry/sticky the mixture is.

Prepare your baking tray with baking parchment. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and using lightly floured hands roll the mixture into 6 even balls. Brush the tops with the beaten egg then add 2 cherries for the eyes and almonds to make the mouths.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the cakes are a lovely golden brown on top. Cool on a wire rack and then eat as soon as the kettle’s boiled!

Apricot and Walnut Muffins

Hello lovelies, it’s been a while! I’ve had an amazing month gallivanting all over Eastern Europe and even managed to tan my stubborn Irish skin. I also ate some darn good cakes. The Hungarian Dobos Torta with layers of fluffy cake and chocolate icing can only really be described as banging. In Vienna we saw the café where the original Sacher Torte was created. I’m determined to make one of those very soon, but don’t shout at me if I don’t.

Anywho, I’m back at my parent’s perpetually dieting household so I’m only allowed to bake things that are ‘healthy’. This recipe hardly has any fat or sugar in because the sweetness comes from the fruit so it’s marginally better for you than a buttery cupcake. I’ll warn you though that the muffin itself is really not sweet at all so the icing on top is a necessity.

Ingredients (makes 8 muffins)

75g white plain flour

75g wholemeal plain flour

½ tbsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

40g caster sugar

110ml milk

50g butter, melted and cooled

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp ground cinnamon

110g fresh apricots, finely chopped

35g walnuts, finely chopped

For the Cinnamon Icing

75g icing sugar, sifted

2 tsps ground cinnamon

3 tsps water

8 walnut halves

Preheat the oven to 180⁰C/Gas Mark 5. Sift the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl.

In a different bowl mix together the beaten egg, sugar, milk, vanilla and melted butter. I melted the butter by quickly whizzing it in the microwave for 20 seconds because I couldn’t be bothered to use a saucepan- this works just as well but make it doesn’t burn.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients using a spatula to gently fold the mixture together. Then fold in the apricots and walnuts.

Spoon the mixture into 8 muffin cases. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

When the muffins are cooled mix the icing ingredients together to make a smooth brown paste. Spoon a small blob on each muffin and top with a walnut half.

Hummingbird Cake for Father's Day

I presented my dad will our small library of baking books and said ‘pick one’ for me to make for Father’s Day. He chose this recipe from a beautiful book ‘The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook’ full of delicious recipes from the popular Hummingbird Bakery down Portobello road. This cake is really moist from the fruit and just all around lovely. Dad certainly liked it anyway.

Ingredients

300g caster sugar

3 eggs

300ml sunflower oil

270g bananas, mashed

1 tsp ground cinnamon

300g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp vanilla extract

100g tinned pineapple, finely chopped

100g pecan nuts (although I used walnuts because I like them better)

Cream Cheese Frosting

600g icing sugar

100g unsalted butter, at room temp

250g cream cheese, cold

Preheat the oven to 170⁰C/gas mark 3. Line 3 20-cm cake tins with baking parchment. In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar, eggs, oil, banana and cinnamon using an electric whisk.

Add the bicarbonate of soda, salt and vanilla extract and combine. Add the flour in small batches, beating until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

Finely chop the walnuts and pineapple. Add them to the mixture and stir in using a spatula.

Split the mixture between the three tins, using the spatula to even out the surface. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and springy in the middle. Cool cakes on a wire rack.

While the cakes are cooling make the cream cheese frosting. In a large bowl beat the icing sugar and butter together until mixed. Add all the cream cheese and beat for at least 5 minutes until fluffy.

When the cakes are cooled place the bottom layer on a cake stand and spread a quarter of the icing on top. Repeat this with the second layer. Place the final layer on top and cover the cake completely with the remaining icing. Decorate the top with some walnuts halves and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Warning: Consuming one slice of Hummingbird Cake may lead to a second slice…

P.S. I’m off on a jolly around Eastern Europe tomorrow for 3 weeks so this will be the last recipe for a while! I’m hoping I’ll get to eat lots of goodies though, especially in Vienna, so look forward to some travelling inspired recipes : )

Chocolate Orange Spiced Cookies

We wanted something to take up to my sister’s, and probably eat on the four hour journey up there, so bite-sized cookies were ideal. I am mildly in love with chocolate oranges so any baked goods with that flavour combo are right up my alley.

Ingredients (makes around 50 small cookies)

100g icing sugar

120g butter

2 egg yolks

40g dark unsweetened cocoa powder

120g plain flour

2 tsps vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1 pinch nutmeg

Pinch salt

Zest of orange

For drizzle

Juice of the orange

Icing sugar

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter then sift the icing sugar, spices and cocoa and mix until fluffy.

Add the egg yolks, vanilla, salt and orange zest and combine everything together.

Sift the flour and stir the mixture together until the flour is well incorporated.

Spoon the dough into two large pieces of cling film and roll into logs. Place in the fridge to chill. The recipes I looked at suggested at least 2 hours but my mixture was still very soft after that long so I would suggest leaving them to chill overnight.

Preheat the oven to 180⁰C. Remove the logs from the fridge and use a sharp knife to cut slices around 5mm. Alternatively, roll the dough out and use a cookie cutter. Place the cookies onto baking trays lined with baking parchment. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until firm, then cool on a wire rack.

While the cookies are cooling mix the juice of the orange with some sifted icing sugar until it forms a glue like consistency. Drizzle over the cookies then eat!

Note: My mixture was really runny, almost cake mixture like, so I worked in extra plain flour until the dough became manageable. This made the cookies quite dry, although fine with a cup of tea. I originally thought my mixture was so sloppy because I didn’t chill the dough for long enough BUT I only realised as I was writing this that the recipe requires ‘two egg yolks’…I definitely just shoved two whole eggs in without noticing the egg yolk part so I think this might be to blame. Lesson of the day, as always with me, READ THE FLIPPING RECIPE.