Tag: sweet

Baked amaretti peaches

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Beautiful golden jewels of a dessert, soft and sweet as a kiss, and ever so simple to make.

  • 4 peaches
  • 30g unsalted butter, softened
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 75g amaretti biscuits, crumbled
  • 2 tbsp amaretto liqueur
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan (180C)
  2. Cut the peaches in half and remove the stones
  3. Place them all, cut side up, in a snug single layer in an ceramic ovenproof dish
  4. Beat together the butter and sugar
  5. Add the egg yolk and beat well, then tip in the crumbled amaretti and mix in to make a fairly stiff mixture
  6. Divide the mixture into 8 pieces, roll into balls and press each one into the centre of each peach half
  7. Sprinkle with amaretto and bake for 25 mins
  8. until the peaches are soft and the topping is golden

Serve warm with a drizzle of cream over the top

Lemon sour cream cookies

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

I don’t know about you, but I never finish off a tub of sour cream. This is the perfect buttery, lemony way to use up the leftovers.

  • 250g plain flour
  • ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • Pinch salt
  • 60g unsalted butter, cold from the fridge
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 170g caster sugar
  • 120g sour cream
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • Zest of 2 lemons
  1. Mix flour, bicarb and salt in large bowl
  2. Grate in the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy (takes about 5 mins)
  4. Beat in the sour cream, lemon juice and zest
  5. Then stir in the flour mixture until just combined
  6. Bring together to a soft dough, then wrap the ball in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 mins
  7. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  8. Pinch and gently roll walnut-sized pieces, spacing them out on a lined lined baking tray
  9. Bake for 12-15 mins until lightly browned round the edges
  10. Cool on a rack and try not to eat all of them at once, but save some for your mum

Biscotti

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

My mum’s recipe and the source of endless debate within the family on the correct additions. I am hazelnuts and almonds all the way. You can use pistachios, dried cherries or raisins, or coconut flakes. My grandmother strongly maintained that, once cooled, the end of each one should be dipped into dark chocolate.

  • 250g flour
  • 250g caster sugar
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • Grated rind of 2 oranges (or lemons, but I prefer oranges)
  • 300g whole blanched almonds and hazelnuts
  • Pinch of salt
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan (180 C)
  2. Mix all the ingredients except the egg
  3. Then add most of the egg and mix. If it’s dry, add a bit more. The dough should be wet and sticky, so flour your hands to bring together with your fingers
  4. Mix well and divide in half. Roll each piece into a long log
  5. Line 2 baking trays with lightly greased baking parchment and lay each log diagonally onto a tray
  6. Bake for 15-20 mins until just firm to the touch, pale brown and substantially spread out
  7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for around 5 mins until firm enough to cut into 1-1½ cm slices. Remove onto a board before slicing and use a very sharp knife
  8. Lower oven to 120C fan (140C)
  9. Place each slice on one of its cut sides, back on the baking tray and bake again for 12 mins
  10. Flip them over and give them a further 10 mins or so to let them finish drying out. They should be golden but not over-baked or they’ll be too hard to bite!
  11. Cool on a rack and eat with a big mug of tea

Chocolate coconut cookies

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A gift of a recipe from baking whizz Amy, these cookies are squidgy, chocolate-y and just sweet enough without being sickly. This is a great recipe for making with children, as long as you’re prepared for the constant demands to lick the bowl/spoon/beaters/chopping board. These cookies are my go-to for bringing as a gift when we visit people.

  • 115g softened butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 200g brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 270g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 100g unsweetened desiccated coconut
  • 180g dark chocolate, cut into small chunks
  1. Pre-heat oven to 170C fan (190C)
  2. In a big bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until lighter and fluffy
  3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time
  4. Stir through the flour, baking powder, coconut and chocolate to make a sticky, soft dough
  5. Roll into golfball-sized balls, flatten slightly with your fingertips and place on, spaced out, on a lined baking tray
  6. Bake for 15 mins until lightly browned and smelling amazing

Hot cross buns

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Or in my house they’re Not Cross Buns because they induce delighted good humour and I can never be bothered to put the crosses on top. Even cross-less, these buns are delicious. Spiced, soft, full of dried fruit, and amazing toasted with a bit of butter.

  • 2 tsp dried yeast
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 150ml warm milk
  • 75ml warm water
  • 450g bread flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp ground allspice
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 50g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 100g currants
  • 40g chopped mixed peel
  • Couple of gratings of orange zest
  1. In a small jug, whisk together the milk, water, sugar and yeast. Once well combined, leave to froth for 5 mins or so
  2. Put the flour, salt and spices into a big bowl and mix
  3. Make a well in the middle and add the melted butter, beaten egg, yeast mixture, currants, mixed peel and orange zest
  4. Mix first with a spoon, then with your hands, into a soft dough
  5. Turn out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 mins until it’s smooth and elastic. It will also smell amazing! It may shed currants as you knead, but just stick them back in as you go
  6. Tenderly place the ball of dough into a clean bowl (or just wash up the one you used before), cover with a tea towel and stick in a warm place for an hour. Mine always goes in the airing cupboard with the towels
  7. When it has doubled in size, tip out of the bowl and knead again for a couple of mins
  8. Divide into 12 roughly equal-sized pieces and roll gently with your hands into round buns
  9. Line the baking tray with baking parchment. Pop the buns onto the lined tray and cover with the same tea towel
  10. Pop back in the warm place for around 40 mins, until doubled in size again. This is the ‘cross’ stage if you can be bothered to pipe a flour-water paste over the tops in X shapes
  11. Pre-heat the oven to 170C fan (190C) and bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown
  12. If you want them to be shiny and a little bit sticky (again, I can never be bothered) you can brush over a sugar glaze while they’re still warm. This should set once they’re cool.

Tuck. In.

Apple gingerbread baked pancake

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Autumn in a pancake. Sweet, spiced, puffy. Baked rather than fried, so I guess it’s really a kind of sweet yorkshire pudding aka Dutch baby. No babies were harmed in the making of this pancake. But they will definitely want to put it in their mouth.

  • 3 tart eating apples
  • 4 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 3 eggs
  • 225ml milk
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 150g plain flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • Pinch of salt
  1. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C). Lightly oil a non-stick ovenproof frying pan and place in oven to heat for 10 mins
  2. Peel the apples and cut into little chunks
  3. In a bowl, mix with 2 tbsp brown sugar and the cinnamon
  4. Make the batter before you cook the apple. Whisk together the remaining sugar, the eggs, milk, maple syrup, flour, salt, nutmeg and ginger
  5. Pull the hot pan out of the oven, tip in the sugary apples and shake to spread into single layer
  6. Cook over a low-medium heat for 5 mins
  7. Pour the batter into the hot pan and then get it into the oven immediately
  8. Bake for about 20 mins until puffed and golden
  9. Serve straight away. It wouldn’t be terrible if you popped some vanilla icecream on top

Ferrero rocher chocolate sauce

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Flipping lush poured over vanilla ice cream. No actual ferrero rocher were harmed in the making of this delicious chocolate hazelnut sauce. But serving some real ones alongside is definitely ok!

  • 100g blanched hazelnuts
  • 65g condensed milk
  • 90ml double cream
  • 1 tbsp hazelnut oil
  • 100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 40g milk chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 3 tbsp milk
  • 2 tbsp frangelico
  1. Heat the oven to 120C fan (140C) and spread out the hazelnuts on a baking tray. Roast for 15-20 mins until golden-brown and toasty
  2. Remove the nuts and allow to cool. Transfer half the nuts to a mini food processor and blitz fine. Roughly chop the other half of the nuts
  3. Put the condensed milk and cream in a small pan on a medium heat
  4. Cook, stirring, for 2 mins until it starts to steam. Don’t let it boil! Take off the heat and stir in the oil and chocolate
  5. Once everything is melted, add the ground hazelnuts, half the chopped nuts, the milk and frangelico. Stir together
  6. Return to a low heat for 2 mins and then serve warm over vanilla icecream with the remaining chopped nuts sprinkled over the top

Pear frangipane tart

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Fragrant, delicious, crisp and fruity. Frangipane is such a pretty word, and this tart is so pretty to eat! This is a simple version using a pre-made puff pastry sheet.

  • 1 puff pastry sheet (320g)
  • 100g unsalted butter, softened
  • 100g caster sugar, plus ½ tbsp for sprinkling over at the end
  • 100g ground almonds (ideally ground yourself with skin on)
  • ½ tsp almond extract
  • Zest of ½ an orange
  • 1 tbsp plain flour
  • Pinch salt
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3 conference pears, peeled, cored and cut into lengthways slices
  • 2 tbsp flaked almonds 
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan (200C)
  2. Keep the pastry on the baking parchment it comes rolled in – just unroll it and lay it out on a large baking tray
  3. Use a sharp knife to score a border 2 cm around the edge of the pastry and then prick the base all over with a fork
  4. Bake for 10-12 mins, then remove from the oven and press the base down to flatten it
  5. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
  6. Beat in the ground almonds, almond extract, orange zest, flour and salt until combined
  7. Brush a touch of beaten egg around the border of the pastry, then beat the rest into the frangipane
  8. Spread the frangipane over the pastry base and arrange the pear slices on top
  9. Scatter with flaked almonds and sprinkle with the final ½ tbsp sugar
  10. Bake for 30 mins until golden and set, covering loosely with a sheet of foil if it browns too quickly

Chocolate mousse

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

The fluffiest of desserts, this 80s dinner party classic is surely ready for a revival. Scrunchies are back, so this definitely deserves another chance. This was the first recipe I ever made on my own and I was so proud of it! Serve with cream and fresh raspberries. Makes 6

  • 6 eggs
  • 180g dark chocolate
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  1. Melt the chocolate and cool slightly
  2. Separate the eggs
  3. In a scrupulously clean bowl, whisk the whites into soft peaks. Then add the sugar a tsp at a time, whisking all the while, until stiff and glossy
  4. Beat the yolks into the melted chocolate until smooth
  5. Whisk in a third of the egg white to the chocolate mixture to loosen it up, then carefully fold in the rest
  6. For full retro points, spoon gently into individual glasses and chill to set

Pineapple upside down cake

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A retro classic, unashamedly sweet and my favourite pudding as a child. My mum always slightly underbaked it (no idea if that was on purpose, I should ask her) so the middle was still gooey. That was my favourite bit.

  • 160g unsalted butter
  • 50g soft dark brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp golden syrup
  • 1 small tin pineapple rings in juice (drained)
  • 110g unsalted butter
  • 110g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 170g self-raising flour
  • 2 – 3 tbsp pineapple juice from the tin
  1. Grease and line a round 20cm cake tin and pre-heat oven to 160C fan (180C)
  2. Cream together the brown sugar and 50g of the butter and then stir in the golden syrup
  3. Spread this sticky conconction over the bottom of the tin and arrange the rings of pineapple on top. If you’re feeling especially kitsch, you can add a glace cherry to the middle of each ring – or just fill the gaps with bits of pineapple
  4. That’s the pineapple upside down bit complete. Now for the cake.
  5. Cream together the caster sugar and remaining butter
  6. Add the egg a little at a time, whisking as you go. Then whisk in the pineapple juice,
  7. Tip in the flour and fold into the mixture,
  8. Scrape into the cake tin over the pineapple rings and smooth out the top
  9. Bake for about an hour, checking from 45 mins. The top should be golden and it should (sorry mum!) be cooked through, so a skewer stuck in the middle comes out clean
  10. Turn the cake out onto a serving plate and serve warm. Try to resist the temptation to just stick your face in it