Stoptober Madness - Twisting Vanilla Biscuits

So I have too many bad habits to list but the worst one in the view of society and for my health is being a smoker!  

When I first heard about Stoptober it seemed like the perfect opportunity to join in a mass attempt to quit once and for all. Now I am not normally one to be a sheep and do what everyone else is doing but the time had come to part company from this evil habit and felt like it would give me the support mechanism needed.  Also, I needed to do this once and for all - the smart part of me knows there is nothing positive about smoking and yet I continue to foolishly allow it to have a part in my life – it takes my money and will slowly strip me of my health, it was time for me to take control and firmly kick it into touch once and for all.

So, 1st October arrived and armed with a bucket load of willpower, a stress ball on my desk, a punch bag in the garden & friends and family pre-warned, I put my social life on hold and the house on lockdown and the challenge began.  

One thing that became clear very quickly was the need to keep myself busy, so weekend mornings started with long countryside runs, I've ticked off a huge list of jobs I've be meaning to get done pre-winter - painting radiators, picking out tiles for the bathroom, sorting out clothes for the charity shop and of course losing myself in the kitchen.  

This month I have baked pies, biscuits, cheesecake, cupcakes &puddings - family and friends happy to receive plates and boxes full of the successful results as I currently seem to think I am cooking for a football team in my pursuit of a successful Stoptober.  However, they are probably secretly cursing me as I inadvertently add to their calorie count pre-Christmas!

This week though the plan was to bake just for us though and fill the cookie jar with biscuits for the week, taking a tried and tested vanilla biscuit recipe and adding some flavours and textures to liven them up a little.  Using whatever was to hand in the cupboard and needed using up - pecans, pistachios along with my faithful friend Greene & Black's dark chocolate.

Both these nuts work so well with the chocolate and give a wonderful added bite to the biscuits and a great aftertaste - quick and easy to make and another afternoon successfully filled, a jar of homemade biscuits in the kitchen & ME 1 - CIGARETTES 0!!!

Recipe

200g unsalted butter (room temperature)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

220g light brown sugar

1 egg

260g plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarb of soda

100g dark chocolate (roughly chopped)

30g pecans (roughly chopped)

30g pecans (roughly chopped)

Start by chopping your nuts and chocolate and put to one side and pre-heat the oven to fan assisted 150C.

Put the butter, egg, brown sugar & vanilla extract into the mixer and beat until light and fluffy.  Fold in the flour and bicarb a couple of tbsp at a time.  Split the dough into two batches and add half the chocolate and one type of nuts to each - stirring in thoroughly.

Roll a table spoon of the dough into balls and place on a baking sheet leaving approximately 3cm between each and bake in the oven to 14 minutes.    When ready removed from oven and leave for a few minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely. Each batch of dough makes about 15 biscuits.

Disclaimer: No-one was hurt in the making of these biscuits - that would have been week 1 of Stoptober and this is the end of week 4....

Autumn Falls - Blueberry & Blackberry Cupcakes

Autumn is upon us - 5 reasons how I know;

1. The BBQ cover is on and the slow cooker is out the cupboard
2. The fire is getting lit in the evening
3. My feet are now encased in slipper boots 
4. I've started a Christmas Pinterest board
5. Muddy hunters are back in the boot of the car as my dog walking essential

Every year it catches me out, was it only a couple of weeks ago I was enjoying a lazy Sunday pub lunch with friends, the heating was off and the windows open?  I'm not really a fall girl but I always try to embrace this time of year, after all it's an excuse to buy lots of new knitwear and get excited about the impractical boots I don't need but will buy anyway.

It's also a great excuse to be in the house baking and with so many great autumnal ingredients around us time to get busy  in the kitchen.  At the moment the fruit coming into season is blackberries - which always bring back great childhood memories of trawling hedgerows with buckets and coming home with full stomachs and crimson finger tips.

Until now my use of fresh berries in baking had been limited to using them to create simple yet eye catching toppings or using them in the sponge only to be disappointed when it all sinks to the bottom and leaves it a bit soggy.  

Always keen for a new challenge I have been pulling together ideas on this for a while now and given the time of year - blackberries seemed a great staring point.  I thought they would create a great colour to work with and wanted to combine them with another fruit though, blueberries seemed the natural fit.

Whilst I love using high quality vanilla extract in cooking, I often find fruit essences synthetic in taste when compared to the real thing.  What if I could incorporate fresh berries by pureeing and sieving - retaining the burst of the fruit taste and create a vibrant colour frosting using only fresh fruit.

This really was trial and error, the recipe was pulled together from reading various books and I just added the fruit until the consistency of the batter looked right.  I opted to puree but not sieve it - this seemed to give the sponge a more dense and moist texture.  It also gave me the excuse to use the blender attachment on my mixer which has been sat in the box until now.

For the sponge;

212g plain flour (sifted)
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
40g blueberries & blackberries (pureed)
2 medium eggs
110g unsalted butter (room temperature)
150g castor sugar
66g light brown sugar
3 fl oz buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cream together the butter and both sugars.  Combine the eggs and vanilla extract in a jug and on a slow speed add slowly to the mixture until fully incorporated.  In a bowl combine the pureed berries & buttermilk, and in another put the flour, salt & baking powder.  Then  alternate adding them in the mixer, small amounts at a time until everything is fully incorporated.

Spoon into cases and bake at 170 degrees (non-fan assisted) for 20-25 minutes, or until sponge bounces back when touched.  Set aside on a wire rack to cool.

For the frosting;

250g icing sugar (sifted)
80g unsalted butter (room temperature)
25ml pureed and sieved blackberries
2 tsp whole milk
few drops vanilla extract

Put the icing sugar and butter into the mixer and combine well.  I sieved the pureed fruit to give a smoother texture as I wanted to pipe the frosting.  With the mixer on a low speed add this a small amount at a time along with the vanilla extract until full incorporated.  This gave a really vibrant colour and a wonderful taste.

Once frosted top with extra fresh berries and a couple of silver dragees.

The smell from these cakes is divine, every time I walk into the kitchen I catch the scent of fresh berries.  I usually can't eat a whole cake and leave that to my chief taster but I happily wolfed this one - it is so moist and retains the fresh taste of the fruit perfectly. I savoured this frosting on my tongue, literally an explosion of berries - so much better in my opinion than a bottled essence.  I am assured they are "the best ones you've baked yet and a little bit of heaven".
Really keen to try this using raspberries and strawberries next, it seems to be a great way to infuse the fruit through the cake and the frosting, keeping it natural and without the disappointment of the dreaded 'soggy bottom'.......