#BWBO Week 4 - Irish Cream & Chocolate Dessert Cake

Dessert week is upon us and this week I decided to take a trip down memory lane, to about 3 weeks ago. This week I have created a devilishly rich chocolate with a luxurious alcoholic twist. Although it is in cake form, this is definitely not an every day, lunchtime treat, this is a grown up dinner party worth dessert.

Of course, there is not enough alcohol to make you even sightly tipsy, but I would be wary providing this cake to children and other people who need to avoid alcohol.

You could always take the easier route and use a dollop of hand whipped vanilla cream with this, but I think the homemade caramel drizzle will show your culinary prowess off to your friends and family. Or so they think. The additional caramel sauce is really easy and if it doesn't all get used, it can be kept in the fridge for up to two weeks to use on ice cream, in coffee or just on a spoon (I definitely haven't eaten this straight off the spoon. Okay, I have.).

Just on a quick side note, I won star baker last week! Don't forget to check out my prize winning sea salt and rosemary focaccia! I am so happy with the end result and I'm over the moon that the lovely people at Silver Mushroom thought the same.

For the cake:
Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C Fan / Gas 4 and grease 2 8-inch cake tins
2. Add all of the ingredients apart from the buttermilk and coffee. Stir until fully combined
3. Slowly add the buttermilk and stir in
4. Add the hot coffee and stir, the batter will be of liquid consistency
5. Bake for 35 minutes then allow to cool for half an hour in the cake tin

For the frosting:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups unsalted butter
• 4 1/2 cups icing sugar
• 1tsp salt
• 1/2 cup Irish cream

Method:

1. Mix together all of the ingredients until fully combined

For the caramel sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 6 tbsp salted butter
• 1/2 cup double cream

Method:

1. Melt the sugar over a medium heat
2. Once the sugar is melted, stir in the butter immediately
3. Once the butter is combined, add the double cream slowly whilst stirring and allow to boil for one minute
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool

#BWBO Week 3 - Sea Salt & Rosemary Focaccia

This week saw the arrival of bread week, one I've been very excited about! I love baking and eating bread and I, again, decided to make one of my favourites after a lack of inspiration from this week's show (like hell I could make a lion out of bread). I discovered real home made focaccia only a couple of years ago and fell in love. My local monthly markets features lots of artisan bread makers which is my main inspiration for this new recipe.

I'll apologise now for the lack of good photography, it's a bit of a hectic week both in work and at home. Also, my hands were incredibly oily during the recipe! A warning for anyone who wants to recreate these, have lots of oil to hand at all times.

I really enjoyed making this recipe, and it was nice to make something new again. I just want to thank Silver Mushroom for making the competition possible and getting me back into blogging and baking, this was the push I needed!

Ingredients:

• 140ml olive oil
• 500g strong white bread flour
• 10g salt
• 10g instant dried yeast
• 4/5 sprigs of rosemary
• Flaky sea salt to taste

Method:

1. Lightly oil a 2/3 litre square plastic container for proving later on
2. Add the flour to a large mixing bowl along with the rosemary. Also add the salt and yeast on opposite sides to avoid killing the yeast
3. Add around 3/4 of the water and 40ml of the olive oil, mix the dough together with your fingers
4. Continue to add more water a splash at a time until the dough turns into a sticky ball and all the flour has been picked up
5. Coat a large section of your work surface with olive oil and begin to knead the dough. Avoid using flour as this will make the bread too dry
6. Work through the initial wet stage until the dough becomes elastic and smooth, place into the oiled tub and cover with a tea towel. Leave to prove in a warm place for around an hour or until doubled in size
7. When the dough has proved, line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Drizzle the baking paper with olive oil and a small amount of semolina if you have any
8. Drizzle more oil on your work surface and divide the dough in half and place them onto the baking trays then into clean plastic bags to prove for another hour or until doubled
9. While proving, preheat the oven to 220C / 200C fan / Gas 7
10. Using splayed fingers, make dimples in the bread all the way to the bottom of the bread, touching the baking paper
11. Drizzle the bread with more olive oil and flaky sea salt then bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through. The bread will have a soggy bottom, which I failed to realise after a while, this is because of the oil
12. Drizzle with a tiny bit more oil and leave to cool on a wire rack

As you can tell, this isn't a recipe for anyone who isn't fond of olive oil! I enjoy dunking mine in even more oil and balsamic vinegar, or making sandwiches with good quality ham or salami.

If you decide to try this recipe, let me know and share your pictures with me!

#BWBO Week 2 - Pistachio & Dark Chocolate Biscotti

The second week of GBBO saw the bakers start with their speciality biscotti. Not being much of a biscuit baker, I took some inspiration from my favourite flavours and the show itself to create a pistachio & dark chocolate biscotti, and it's safe to say that this has become my new speciality biscuit.

For a first attempt I think these have turned out pretty well. Very crisp with a good snap, Mary & Paul would be proud! Of course, you could adapt the recipe to meet your own tastes. Dipping half of the biscotti in chocolate and swapping the pistachios for hazelnuts would give a Nutella-inspired taste (I may make these in the future, keep a close eye out), or add a small amount of orange zest for a sophisticated take on a Jaffa Cake.

I feel like these biscuits would be great to serve at a dinner party during coffee at the end of the night, and with such an easy recipe, it would be a shame not to treat your guests to some authentic Italian goodies.

Ingredients:

• 175g Plain Flour
• 1tsp Baking Powder
• 175g Caster Sugar
• 100g Roughly Chopped Pistachios
• 2 Medium Eggs (beaten)
• 1tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Bar Good Quality Dark Chocolate

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C Fan / Gas mark 4
2. Sift the flour & baking powder with a pinch of salt before adding the eggs, sugar, nuts and vanilla
3. Stir well to form a soft dough, you may need to use your hands towards the end
4. Divide the dough in half and create 2 8-inch sausages
5. Place the dough sausages on a baking tray lined with grease proof paper
6. Bake for 20 mins until very lightly golden & slightly firm
7. Slice into 2cm thick biscuits either at an angle or straight down before placing back on the lined tray, slice side down
8. Bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until the edges of the biscuits are golden brown
9. Allow the biscuits to cool and harden before melting the dark chocolate and drizzling over the biscuits

I'd suggest serving with freshly pressed coffee. 

Thanks again to Silver Mushroom for creating the competition.

#BWBO Week 1 - Carrot Cake Cupcakes

It has begun! The first amazing week of the Great British Bake Off saw Silver Mushroom's Bake With Bake Off competition begin. Luck for me, week 1 is always cake week, and I've had this recipe in mind for a long time. As a tried and tested favourite, it always goes down well with friends and family, and what a better way to kick off this baking extravaganza?!

I've been wary about sharing this recipe for a while, I planned to keep it as a family's secret recipe for generations ahead, but this seems like the perfect time to share it with all of you and let you try it for yourselves.

This is a relatively easy recipe but provides amazing results every time. The only part I usually struggle with is the piping, so I was pretty impressed with myself that it turned out so well after avoiding the dreaded piping bag for quite a while.

I've come across a lot of carrot cake recipes in my time, but this is the best for those with nut allergies and cake lovers who enjoy a little more moistness, DO NOT squeeze your carrots. I accidentally left them unsqueezed a few years ago and loved how moist and caramelised the carrots went so that step has been lovingly discarded.

Ingredients (for 12 cakes):

• 130g Plain Flour
• 1/2tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
• 1/2tsp Baking Powder
• 1 1/2tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2tsp All Spice
• Pinch Of Salt
• 215g Caster Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 175ml Vegetable Oil
• 165g Grated Carrot

Method:

1. Preheat the over to 160C (fan oven) and arrange cake cases
2. Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, all spice and salt into a bowl and set aside
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until thick, creamy and pale. Slowly add the oil in a thin stream while whisking continuously
4. Fold in the dry ingredients. Once combined, stir in the carrots
5. Divide the batter evenly among the cake cases and bake for 20-25 minutes.
6. Check the largest cake with a skewer, if clean, place on a wire rack to cool, if not, put the cakes back in the oven for a further few minutes

This cream cheese frosting is a perfect accompaniment to these cakes, but if you prefer, you can eat the cakes plain or with your choice of frosting.

Ingredients:

• 170g Cream Cheese
• 1tbsp Soft Butter
• 125g Icing Sugar
• 1/2tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2tsp Cinnamon

Method:

1. Whisk the ingredients together until well combined. Add icing sugar a little at a time until sweet enough for personal preferences.

Don't forget to get involved with #BWBO with Silver Mushroom and use #TeamOffbeat to share your support!