Some Very Fresh Eggs

Now you all know from a few posts ago that i have some lovely hens in my backgarden. I have gained two more chickens! Their names are Margery and Mrs Clucklesworth. They are two gold top hens, which are about half the size of Dave and Nugget, but are adorable.

 
We have had some eggs! We don't quite know who has been laying but almost every day now we will find an egg in their little hutch. We have recieved about 10 eggs so far, next time I bake I will bake with fresh chicken eggs, straight from my backgarden! We are still trying to figure out who is the mysterious egg layer, or they have all been laying. We haven't got a clue!

 Mum and Dad both think it might be the little hens, because they are newer and were ready to lay when we got them. But we will have to wait and see...

Happy Baking, Beth xx

Banana Cake

This is a second attempt at my banana cake, I did one about 6 months ago but it didn't work out - at all. But this one was delishious, hope you enjoy!

Ingrediants:

140g unsalted softened butter ( and a bit more for greasing the tin.)
140g castar sugar
2 large eggs beaten
140g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 very ripe bananas mashed
50g icing sugar

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160 fan. Grease a loaf tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment.

2. Cream the butter and sugar toghether, until lightand fluffy. Slowly start to add in the eggs, mixing with a little flour so the mixture dosen't split. Fold in the rest of the flour, bicarbonate of soda, and the bananas.

3. Pour into a tin and bake until golden brown, which takes 30-40 minutes. Also it's done when a skewer comes out clean.

Into the tin!

This is a gorgeous recipe for parties, and almost everyone loves banana bread.

Lovely Golden brown!

Good Luck, Beth xxx

Chocolate Chip Cookies

My Dad's colleagues wanted to try my baking out, so I made them some chocolate chip cookies, which they loved. So this is my recipe for choc chip cookies! This makes 30 cookies.

Ingredients:

150g salted butter
80g light brown muscavado sugar
80g granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
225g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
300g chocolate chips

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190C or 170 fan or gas 5. Line three trays with baking parchment and set to the side.

2. Cream the butter and the sugars together. Beat in vanilla extract and the egg. Sieve the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt over the wet mix and stir with a wooden spoon. Add in the chocolate chips and mix well, so that they are evenly distributed.

3. Use  teaspoon to place small amounts of mix onto the baking trays an even distance apart - which will be around 3 inches. Bake for about 8-10 minutes. Until slightly soft in the middle and golden brown around the edges.

4. Leave to cool on the trays for a few minutes and transfer onto a cooling rack. Repeat steps three and four, until you run out of mixture.

Happy Baking! Beth x

Easy White Loaf

We had some lovely beef brisket sandwiches, with salad and homemade white bread. Here is the recipe, hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:

500 g strong white flour
2 tsp salt
7 g fast action yeast or 1 sachet
3 tbsp olive oil
300 ml tepid water

Method: 

1. In a large bowl, place the flour. Then add the yeast and the salt, making sure they are at opposite ends to each other. Make a well in the center of the mix, add the oil ,and the water, into the bowl, and mix well. With a wooden spoon, then your hands. If the dough is a little stiff add a little water, if too wet add a little flour. Mix well and tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead until smooth. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, prove for 1 hour in a warm, dry place. Until doubled in size.

2. Line a baking tray with grease proof paper. Knock back the dough and softly mould into a ball. Place on grease proof paper. Prove for another hour, until it has again, doubled in size.

3. Heat the oven to 220 fan, 200 C. Put a dish of water in the bottom of the oven, for a crusty top of the loaf. Dust loaf with flour and slice a cross into the top of the loaf, bake for 20-25 minutes should sound hollow when tapped on the underside, cool on a wire rack.

Happy Baking, Beth x

Bread Rolls

 

Hi, I made some rolls for burgers and hot dogs to have for dinner tonight, here is the recipe they are delicious! I discovered this recipe from the Good Food website.

Ingredients:

500g strong white bread flour
7g fast action dried yeast
1 1/2 tsp caster sugar
2 tsp salt
300m lukewarm water
3 tbsp oil
extra flour for dusting.

Method:

1. Combine the flour, yeast, sugar and salt together in a large bowl, using a spoon to mix with. Making sure not to let the yeast and salt touch before mixing.

2. Once thoroughly mixed, make a well in the centre of the flour, and then in a jug measure out the water and then add the oil to the water.

Adding the water to the dry mix

3. Pour the wet mix gradually into the flour, whilst mixing into a dough. Once you have a dough transfer it onto your work surface, with a dusting of flour. (Don't add to much flour at this point as it makes the dough too dense.) Knead for around 15 mins until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Mixing into a dough.

4. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm in a warm dry place, for an hour to prove.

5. When the hour has finished, knock back the dough for a further 10 minutes, and then roll into a long sausage and quarter, roll two of those balls into sausage shapes for the hot dog buns. Then the other two into balls for the burgers. Place the shaped dough onto a covered baking tray whilst pre- heating the oven to 220C/fan. Prove for 1 hour.

6. Cook the rolls for 10-15 minutes then take out of the oven and place on a cooling rack, covering with a clean tea towel when cooling will absorb the moisture from the heat of the rolls. But make sure to uncover about 15 minutes into cooling time.

These are perfect for burgers or hot dogs.

Happy Baking! Beth x

Delicious Summer Fruit Tartlets with Creme Patissiere

Hi guys, this recipe is amazing. The creme patissiere is beautiful. My family loved these tartlets, they went down really well. I hope you like them too!

Ingredients:

For Crème Patissiere:

300ml milk

1 tsp seeded vanilla essence 

3 large egg yolks 

50 g caster sugar

1 heaped tablespoon of plain flour

knob of butter

For Tarts:

300g shortcrust pastry ( I made my own pastry from a recipe)

400g mixed berries

1 kiwi cut into slices 

Method:

1. For the crème patissiere, pour the milk into a saucepan and add the seeded vanilla essence. Then bring the mix slowly to a gentle boil -- reduce the heat and gently simmer for a few minutes.

2. Put the egg yolks and the flour into a large bowl along with the sugar, and whisk for a few minutes until the mixture becomes pale and fluffy. You can tell when it's done as it will leave a small trail when you lift the blades up.

3. Pour about one third of the hot milk into the mixture whilst whisking constantly at a slow speed, until all of the milk has been mixed in. Then add the rest of the milk, doing the same.

4. Return the mix to the pan and bring slowly to the boil, stirring constantly until the custard has thickened, and is smooth and glossy. It may look a bit lumpy to begin with, but don't worry keep stirring, it will become smooth. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes, whilst stirring. 

5. Remove the creme patissiere from the heat, beat in the knob of butter until melted, then scrape into a bowl. Cover the surface of the crème patissiere directly with cling film and leave to cool then put in the fridge until needed.

6. Heat the oven to 190C/170 fan. Divide the pastry in half. Put one half in the freezer for another use. The other half gets split in half again, so you have four pieces. Roll out each one to line the tartlet tins. Line each one with parchment paper and then put baking beans onto the parchment so it weighs down the pastry. Put on a baking tray and bake for ten minutes, then take out the parchment paper and beans. Bake for a further five minutes, until the pastry is crisp and golden.

7. Trim the edges of the pastry after they have cooled slightly, then take out of the tins and leave on a wire rack to cool.

8. Fill the pastry cases with the creme patissiere and the berries, then add a slice of kiwi.

They are delicious, Happy Baking!  

The New Additions To The Family

We have got two gorgeous chickens, Dave and Nugget. The girls will soon be giving us fresh free range eggs, which I'll be using when I bake.

Dave is the blonde one and Nugget is my beautiful ginger chicken. We may get two more at the end of September called Mrs Clucklesworth and Margery. They will be providing us with around 1000 eggs a year, plenty for baking! They are very healthy and happy chickens who love living with us.

Happy baking x