British Slutty Brownies

A fab girl once suggested to me that I have a go at baking these so called 'slutty brownies' ... what are slutty brownies you may ask me?! Google the two words separately and you have a derogatory word and a word that either describes a rich chocolate cake or a girl belonging to the junior branch of the Guide Association. The combination of the first definition and the latter is not a combination that heralds great images. However, the combination of these two words in cake terms heralds a magnificent image and an even better taste! 

                  (magnificent image...)

Clearly the concept of layering three quite adequate bakes together comes from the big U.S.A. I thought that I would adapt the sluttiness slightly to British standards and remove the layer of Oreos, replacing them with a scattering of dessicated coconut and adding in some white chocolate chunks to the brownie mixture & of course basing the recipe on my two previous Perfect Bake recipes of Cookies & Brownies. 

I urge you to bake these ... they are a delight, a treat, easy to bake and quite frankly will impress parents, friends, family members, work colleagues, loved ones, ones you want a favour from, ones you want to give a present to or just anyone who is lucky enough to get their paws on you if you don't eat them all to yourself first of all!

The middle of your brownies will sink when you remove them from the oven but don't fret ... this just means you've done a good job on your brownie mix and it they will be nice and gooey (it is due to your cookie base layer) 

Makes 32

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Bake to perfection for 22 minutes

You will need the following:

Cookie layer

185g Butter

100g Caster Sugar

85g Brown Sugar 

(if you don't have Brown Sugar just use 185g Caster Sugar)

225g Self Raising Flour

1tsp Vanilla Extract

75g of Chocolate Chunks

1pinch of salt

1Tbsp Dessicated Coconut (optional)

Brownie layer

225g Granulated Sugar

100g Dark Chocolate

75g Self-Raising Flour 

½ Tsp Baking Powder 

100g Butter

½Tsp Salt

2 Eggs

1Tbsp Water

Method:

To make the cookie layer melt the butter and mix with the sugar, vanilla extract & flour

Add the chocolate

Push into the base of two greased square tins that are 8x8 inches

Now start on the brownies by melting the butter and mix with the flour, salt & sugar

Add in the eggs

Then melt the dark chocolate and combine

Finally add in  the baking powder and water

If you fancy add the coconut ... I made one tin with coconut and one without, personally I preferred the coconut but its not for everyone so I understand if you want to leave it out

Now add in the white chocolate chips to the brownie mix

Pour the brownie mix over the cookie base

It should look like so ... bake to perfection

Cut each tray into 16 squares 

 Enjoy ...

&

I guess its a huge thanks to Sophs Wilson that I am posting this today

Brandy Snaps

What a phenomenal day at the Olympics yesterday ...  six golds in a day, three in one hour! Just incredible scenes from London. I think there is something incredibly humbling about watching an athlete who has worked extraordinarily hard at their discipline stand there on the podium with tears of joy in their eyes. It is not just that athlete who has been on a very long journey but the coaches, support staff and the families of the athletes who have supported the athletes through thick and thin.

Whether it was watching Chad Le Clos' father bursting with pride in the interview after his son won a gold or seeing Mo Farah's daughter and wife running, and for the latter walking (I thought she may give birth right there and then on the track) to meet their Olympic Champion is something quite remarkable.

So in the spirit of the Olympics I thought I'd adapt my presentation of my brandy snaps into 'Olympic torches'! Seems only fitting, they aren't quite as impressive as the Olympic Flame that burns in the Olympic Stadium but I can guarantee they taste superb & if you are having friends over for dinner to celebrate the Olympics, I'm sure they will award you a gold medal for your pudding!

Makes 15
Pre-heat oven to 180
Bake to perfection for 10-12 minutes

You will need the following:

50g Butter
50g Caster Sugar
2Tbsp Golden Syrup
50g Plain Flour
½Tsp Ground Ginger
1Tbsp Brandy
½Tsp Lemon Juice

A few strawberries & ice cream to decorate

Method:

 Measure out the butter, sugar & golden syrup in a bowl together

Melt in the microwave for 1 minute or gently over a bain marie for a few minutes

Add the lemon juice & stir in

Next add the flour

Then the brandy

Line several trays with baking paper and using a teaspoon dollop four lots of mix onto a tray

Bake to perfection for 10 minutes until golden

Once your time is up you must move quickly... I simply folded either side of the brandy snap over to form a cone shape; placing them folded side down on a board to harden.

If you would prefer to make traditional brandy snaps you simply roll the brandy snap around the handle of a wooden spoon.
Alternatively to make a basket use a ladle & drape your brandy snap over the ladle.


They will be crunchy & light in colour. If you don't move quick enough and some of your brandy snaps have hardened without you shaping them, put them back in the oven for 1-2 minutes & they will soften back up

Add a scoop of ice cream to your brandy snap

 Finally place your strawberries into the ice cream to represent the flames

Enjoy ...

Go Team GB

Meringues

Part two of my rambles about graduation...

So whilst at this fabulous graduation ball I ran into an old friend who I hadn't seen in a while, his name is Mr Churchill; keen surfer, purchaser of ridiculous objects whilst at university (anyone else know anyone who has purchased a table tennis table and a hot tub?!) 

Prior to heading down to Exeter I had being batting off my aunt who was taking the micky on our annual family holiday; she was being stereotypical about what type of boys I  might encounter in halls. Her description was as follows: surfers & well educated boys. I vividly remember the day I moved into halls, getting out of the car and there is this blonde wavy-haired guy in board shorts moving his stuff into halls with his family in tow; two surf boards, a hamper & luggage being marched inside! (My aunt would have been laughing at me if she could have seen the sight) It turns out Henry's family are involved in a certain Shore Surf Shop ... Obviously. Its a good job the cheeky sod managed to get a double occupation bedroom sized room to himself to store all of his boards, and the table tennis table that was to follow after deciding he had too much space in his room! To come back round to the graduation ball, when I bumped into this surfer & we were catching up on old times, my blog was one of the topics of conversation that cropped up & I promised a mention to this old friend. So Henry, this is for you, if you haven't twigged by now!

The next thought was how the bloody hell could I link a surfing boy from uni to the latest perfect bake. My tenuous link lies in the form of a meringue recipe (slightly wavy looking ...)

Makes 12-15

Pre-heat the oven to 150°C

Bake to perfection for 40 minutes 

Cool in the oven for 1 hour

You will need the following:

3 Egg Whites

175g Golden Caster Sugar

An electric whisk

Method:

Separate your eggs & place the whites in a bowl ... whisk!

Start on a low setting for the first 2 minutes then whack up to the highest speed setting for a good 3 or 4 more minutes

You want to whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks, stick with it, be brave, it will take a while. When it looks like this spoon in the sugar, one spoon at a time, whilst continuing to whisk the meringue mix

Continue on for another couple of minutes until all of the sugar has been mixed in and the mix forms stiff peaks. 

You should be able to tip your beaters & the mixture stay still on the beaters

Spoon the mix onto butter greased baking parchment on a tray. 

Use two desert spoons to plop the mixture into artful blobs! 

They will need to be quite spaced out. On a normal sized baking tray you want to have 5 meringues 

Artfully create whispy wavey meringues using a wooden skewer to peak to tops of the meringues

Before putting your meringues into the oven turn it down to 140°C

Bake to perfection in the oven for 40 minutes. 

When you reach this time turn your oven off and leave your meringues inside to cool down 

Serve with either strawberries, raspberries, cream, ice cream or whatever you fancy ... 

Enjoy 

Lemon Drizzle Cake

 

I have been on a mini break from work for the last two weeks; this is not to say life has not been quiet! With a couple of university sporting End of Season Dinners attended; one of which I had to organise, combined with the sunshine breaking out in Devon, life has been pretty sweet! So I thought it about time to add another bake to the mix. Today I fancied a lemon drizzle cake as the sunshine is out and it would be rude not to!

Quite frankly an amazing bake. This is a show stopper afternoon tea cake, alternatively a delicious pudding served with a few raspberries and a dollop of yoghurt. It is incredibly simple and is much like the process for a Victoria Sponge Recipe but with a few added extras & a bit more volume...

Serves 10-12

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Bake to perfection for 50minutes

You will need the following:

Cake

225g Butter

225g Caster Sugar

225g Self Raising Flour
4 Eggs

2 Lemons ... juice & zest

30g Poppy Seeds

Drizzle

Juice of 1 lemon

100g Caster Sugar

Icing

225g Icing Sugar

Zest of 1 lemon ... the juice of half of it

 

Method:

Cream together the butter and sugar

 

Add in the eggs one at a time

 

Next stir in the flour

 

Until it forms a smooth texture


Grate the zest of two lemons 

Add the zest of the two Lemons & squeeze in the juice of the lemons

stir until combined well

 

Finally, stir in the poppy seeds

As this is a deep cake as well as greasing the deep cake tin with butter cut a piece of baking paper to the shape of the tin to lay in the bottom; this will just help out when removing from the tin

Bake to perfection for 50 minutes; may need an extra 5 minutes depending on your oven

 

Once baked make the drizzle in a bowl by combining the sugar and lemon juice

Pour over cake and leave to stand for at least half an hour so it can soak all of the juice up

Make the icing sugar by combining the icing sugar with the lemon zest and juice 

 

Pour the icing over the cake and leave to stand till icing hardens

Serve as afternoon tea or a deliciously extravagant pudding, hopefully it will last longer than a day as it is rather more-ish ... 

Enjoy ...