Strawberry and Vanilla Yoghurt Cake

This cake is extremely moist and surprisingly light. You can play around with the flavours, I have done toffee in the past, fruits of the forest and pineapple and mango. As long as you keep the quantities the same, don't be restricted by the flavours listed here.

Ingredients:

275g Self Raising Flour

170g Caster Sugar

Optional (Strawberry Chunks or White Chocolate Chips)

125g Vanilla Yoghurt

125g Strawberry Yoghurt

120g Melted Butter (cooled)

3 Eggs

1 TSP Vanilla Extract

1 TBSP Milk

Method:

1. Mix the flour and Sugar together in a bowl.

2. In a separate bowl mix the yoghurt, melted butter, milk and vanilla extract together, then add one egg at the time beating the mixture thoroughly between each addition.

3. Then fold the dry ingredients  into the wet. Do not stir, you want the cake to remain light and airy. Add optional ingredients at this point.

4. Spoon the mixture into a cake tin or muffin cases - based on your own preference/requirements. 

4. Back for 40mins at 170C.

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. 

Oat and cranberry cups with White chocolate fudge filling

This was an experiment after trying to work out how to make the White Chocolate Raspberry and Yoghurt Clusters from Marks and Spencer but actually ended up being the biggest hit with my co-workers.

Oat Cups:

1cup butter
1/3cup light brown sugar
3 cups oats
1 cup flour
1tbsp honey
2/3 cranberries or other dried fruit

Filling:

1can condensed milk
200g White chocolate

Method:

Heat the oven to 180C

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in oats, flour and honey. Once Fully incorporated stir through the cranberries.

Now take a muffin tin and drop a spoonful into each well. Then take a teaspoon and press the mixture in to make little cups , like an oat cupcake case.

Bake these for 15 mins.

Meanwhile make the filling. Do this by melting the White chocolate and condensed milk together.

Once the cases are starting to brown, take them out and fill each with the White chocolate mixture.

Now put back in the oven and cook until the filling is set!

Vegetarian Morrocan Spiced Pie

This recipe is ideal for a dinner party. It can be made a day in advance (which I would recommend as it deepens the flavours) and is enjoyed by both vegetarians and meat eaters.

You can play around with this recipe substituting some of the flavours and spices for different ones, as long as you keep the core ingredients.

Below I have used puff pastry but in the past I have used filo pastry which I prefer, especially at a dinner party as as it is slightly lighter and easy to combine with a three course meal.

You can make your own pastry but shop brought pastry tends to be of a high quality and I would recommend for convenience.

Ingredients:

Butternut squash ( 1 large or 2 small)
Cumin and coriander seeds for roasting
Ground cumin, paprika, coriander ( if you don't like coriander use parsley and likewise if you like spice add chili flakes)
Pepper
2 garlic gloves
I lemon juice and rind
2 red onions
Tin of chickpeas
Fresh coriander/ parsley
Ginger
Bag of spinach
2tbsp honey
Handful of pistachios, flamed almonds and cranberries (can use other seeds/nuts like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins etc)
Filo or puff pastry (I prefer filo)

Optional: natural yogurt, Harissa paste and fresh coriander

Method:


1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and once heated place the butternut squash in coated in some oil. Take it out after 20 mins. The skin should now be soft enough to peel away with a small knife. Remove the skin and chop into cubes and coat in cumin, coriander and paprika. Pop back in the oven until soft (about 30mins)

2. Whilst the squash is roasting, toast the cumin and coriander seeds on a hot dry frying pan. When you start to smell the spices, add some oil, a chopped garlic clove, a cube of chopped ginger and the chopped onions. Fry the onions for ten minutes until browned and the add paprika, spinach, pistachios, almonds and honey. Cook until the spinach wilts and then take off heat and add the cranberries.

3. Now make the houmous. To do this my add chickpeas, chopped garlic, fresh coriander,lemon rind, cumin and paprika to a pan and heat in oil and lemon juice. Cook until the chickpeas are soft and then take off the heat and use a food processor to blend to a paste. At this point I add some natural yogurt to make the paste smoother and less stodgy.

4. Once the squash is cooked, you can assemble the pie. You do this by laying out the pastry sheets in a square or round baking tray. Then place the butter squash in the middle, this will form the bottom layer. Next add a layer of the chickpea Paste, followed by a layer of the spinach mix, then add another layer of the chickpea paste and finish with a layer of the spinach mix. Then fold the pastry sides over so the top is open but the sides are covered and the edge of the top.

5. Now leave in the fridge until you are ready to cook it. When ready cook at 180 degrees for 20 mins or until brown.
Serve with a yogurt sauce ( simply yogurt, Harissa and fresh coriander).

Then enjoy!