Strawberry Shortcake Squares Recipe

These have a light and fluffy sponge with the occasional shortbread crunch. You can indulge yourself further my topping them with a white chocolate layer.

Sponge:

3 Eggs separated
2 1/2 Self Raising Flour
1 cup of strawberry (you can use frozen strawberries which you have defrosted)
1 cup butter
1 3/4  Cup Sugar
1 Cup Milk

Shortbread:

115g butter, at room temperature
55g caster sugar (I like to use golden for flavour)
Good pinch of salt
130g plain flour
40g ground rice (if you don't have just use plain flour - makes them crunchier) 
Demerara sugar, to finish

Topping:

250g White Chocolate and 5 TBSP natural yogurt (or vanilla)

Start by making the Shortbread:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150C. Put the butter into a large mixing bowl, and beat  until soft. Beat in the sugar and salt.

2. Sift over the flour and ground rice and mix, then knead to a smooth dough; if it doesn't come together, add a little more butter.

3. Then take the mixture and pat into a greased or lined baking tin. The mixture should be around 1cm thick. Now chill in the fridge for 15mins. 

4. Bake for around an hour  until cooked through, but not browned. Take out and leave to cool. (Turn the oven up to 180C for the sponge)

Then the Sponge:

Oven: 180C

1. Heat the strawberries to soften them and the juices start to release.

2. Then beat the egg white in a clean bowl until stiff firm peaks form. Set aside.

3. In another bowl beat together the butter, sugar and soften strawberries with an electric mixer. The Strawberries should break up until there is a only few lump remaining. Keep beating for 5 mins and then add the yolks and beat in well.

4. In separate bowl, mix a third of the flour with a third of the milk, then add another third and mix again and finally add the final third. Now all the milk and flour should be incorporated. 

5. Add the flour mixture to the Butter mixture and beat with an electric mixture for a few minutes until everything is combined. Finally fold in the egg whites.

6. Then break up the shortbread and fold the pieces through the sponge mixture.

7. Pour mixture into a square tin which has been greased or lined. Bake for 20-25mins. 

8. Remove from oven when the sponge is springy and you can a knife comes out clean when inserted in the centre.

Topping:

When cooled, add the topping.

Melt the chocolate and then stir in the yogurt. Spread over the top of the sponge and leave in the fridge to set.

Ultimate Chewy Moist Brownies

 I spent ages trying to find the perfect brownie recipe. I tried many and found the key to moist chewy brownies was melted chocolate and placing the brownies in a cold bath at the end of the cooking process.

Ingredients:

250g chocolate (If you want rich and luxurious brownies with a denser flavour go for dark chocolate) 
250g unsalted butter
250g golden caster sugar
3 large eggs
60g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
60g cocoa powder
1 TBSP Milk 

Optional: Fillings like strawberries, nuts, raisins etc

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C, and line a 23cm x 23cm baking tin with baking parchment.

2. Melt 200g chocolate over medium heat and then remove from heat once melted.

3. Meanwhile, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (I would recommend using an electric whisk and beating for around 5mins on full speed), and break the rest of the chocolate into chips.

4. With the mixer still running,  add one egg at a time, beating for a minute between each addition and lastly the TBSP of milk. Leave mixing on a high speed for five minutes until the batter is silky and has increased in volume.

5. Stop mixing and fold in the melted chocolate and chocolate chips with a metal spoon, followed by the sifted flour and cocoa powder. You can also fold in your extra fillings if you like at this point.

6. Pour the mixture into the tin, and bake for 30 minutes. Test with a skewer; it should come out sticky, but not coated with raw mixture. If it does, put it back into the oven for another 3 minutes, then test again. Prepare a tub of freezing water which you can drop the roasting tin in when it comes out the oven (obviously not getting the brownies wet, just the outside of then tin).

7. When the brownies are ready, remove the tin from the oven and place in the cold water bath. Leave to cool for an hour before cutting into squares.