MacMillan Bakeathon

I never need an excuse to hone my technical skills so this the MacMillan Coffee Morning was a great opportunity to practice and develop my baking skill. As I was away on the Coffee Morning I decided to bake twice a week leading up the worlds biggest coffee morning.

The first offering was a classic Victoria Sponge, which turned out better than I expected for a first attempt.

I did the all in one method using

225g self raising flour

225g Stork

225g golden caster sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

I was unsure as of my bake mixture  and in my panic and added an extra egg yolk.

It was layered with fresh strawberries and a white chocolate topping.

First Victoria Sponge with a twist
First Victoria Sponge with a twist

However I would say there is no other jam to use than the delicious Tip Tree Raspberry Seedless Jam.

With just jam
Victoria Sponge

So the next Victoria Sponge was baked and this time ensured all the ingredients weighed 225g  using only Tip Tree as a filling.  It still was good but personally I think the extra egg in the first bake really stole the show – others thought not.

wp-1476453386499.jpg

As I had chocolate icing left over I made fairy buns to use this up. I loved these little sponges I just wished I’d put some jam into the centre.

Fairy Cakes
Fairy’s

Next two bakes were my signature bake Banana, chocolate & Pecan Loaf, with my twist of adding Maple Syrup, I usually add 2 tablespoons this time I added 4 of Clark’s Maple Syrup.

Banana loaf with Lindt Chocolate
Victoria Sponge

Over two weeks and four bakes we raised fifty pounds sterling, and probably added a few to our waistlines but I’m sure all who contributed feel good for donated to MacMillian.

This also helped me decided that from now on when baking is taken into the office I will ask for a donation with every slice

Thank you for all your support and if you like my blog or just love looking at food you can follow me on Twitter #EatBakeBlog or Instagram.

Louise

NB : Funds are registered under number  32734220

 

Advertisement

Bèarnaise Sauce; it holds no fear anymore.

I made this delicious herby buttery sauce for the 3rd time last night for my Dad’s birthday meal.  Each time I have made this it has held some mystery to me – from when it has gone wrong and split –  to when it has worked.  The reason being I have not noted doing anything differently at each time which was probably down to rushing as I was trying to cook the sauce at the same time as the main. I have now learnt to take a breath and make the Bèarnaise in advance.

I first made Béarnaise for David as it’s his favourite sauce which had been ruined by a memory of an insipid and cold serving from the extremely expensive and disappointing RARE (which quelle surprise has since closed its restaurant) and we needed to erase this food memory.

I am a fan of James Martin’s, but for love nor money I can’t find in our selection of supermarkets Tarragon Vinegar which he recommends.  But this is not a problem as my second ever cook book, Nigel Slater’s Real Food has a recipe which uses White Wine Vinegar and Aspalls is a store cupboard staple in our house (two words, Rioja grapes).  If you are a foodie or enjoy a good blog I like Henry Chervallier Guild’s who some describe as an uppercrust hippy.  Its amazing what learning journey’s food takes us on.

What I love most about the Aspall brand is that their ciders have been made since 1728  and have remained in their family for 8 generations making them the 10th oldest family business in the UK – I always feel good supporting an independent business.

So what next…

The method is quite easy it just needs some speed and patience.

Do all your prep – get your bain-marie ready by placing the bowl over a good two inches of simmering water, separate your eggs, wash and chop the tarragon, peel and finely dice the shallot.

Ensuring you have everything ready makes this process less stressful.

Equipment essential to this dish:  ballon whisk, glass bowl (that sits comfortable on a pan to make a bain-marie), small non-stick milk pan, chopping board and a sharp knife.

pixlr_20160829110804735.jpg

Ingredients

  • banana shallot – sliced and diced finely
  • 6 whole black peppercorns
  • 3 tablespoons of Aspall white wine vinegar
  • teaspoon of dried tarragon
  • 2 tablespoons of water
  • 2 egg yolks
  • teaspoon of Maille Dijon mustard
  • 150g almost melted butter (I personally use melted)
  • Handful chopped tarragon (use more or less to your taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Maldon Sea Salt.

wp-1472465367349.jpg

Fresh tarragon before getting the chop

  1. Place the shallot, whole peppercorns, dried tarragon,  white wine vinegar and water into the small pan
  2. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer to reduce this by half (it only takes about 2 minutes)
  3. Take the reduction off the heat.
  4. Put your two egg yolks into the glass bowl  and whisk quickly together then add the Dijon mustard and mix in.
  5. Next strain the reduction into the eggs leaving the solids behind.
  6. Mix and keep whisking then start adding the melted butter, quickly whisking, adding small amounts, regularly, whisking each addition of butter well.

    The sauce should start to thicken, looking smooth at all times and eventually looking like a rich custard

  7. Keep whisking thorough each addition of butter , until you have added it all; but leaving the milky residue behind (don’t panic if the butter does not separate clearly,  as I have never felt this has impacted on the Bèarnaise)
  8. Remove from the heat and take a spoon and fold in your fresh tarragon adding a good pinch of salt – taste and add more seasoning if required
  9. Add to a warmed bowl and serve20160828_185117.jpg

I recommend you make this in advance of your meal as it will stand nicely at room temperature.

We love this with any cut of steak and I made this on Sunday night to use up the tarragon. We had this with a delicious Ribeye steak from Farmer Copleys or why not do as Nigel Slater suggests and simply enjoy with chips as a dip.

If you like my blog you can follow me by clicking on the links below or via twitter and instagram

Louise xx

EatBakeBlogGB


 

Lemon Drizzle Traybake – #zestybaker

Never baked Lemon Drizzle before yesterday  but a dear colleague is moving on to new challenges and this cake is her favorite.  It’s taken me a while to find the elusive 30 x 23 cms tray that Mary Berry uses  (if you follow me on twitter you may have caught my grumblings).   I was tempted to pimp this but i’m playing safe today.

So what next…

Grease and line your  30 x 23 cms tin with baking parchment/paper (remember, if you use larger tin you wont get the same rise).  Line your tin I and heat your oven to 140°c (fan) or Gas mark 3 then weigh out and prepare your ingredients but hold on for the crunchy topping.

You will need

  • 225g Softened Butter
  • 225g caster sugar
  • 275g Self-raising flour
  • 2 level teaspoons baking powder
  • 4 large eggs
  • 4 tablespoons of milk
  • finely grated rind/zest of 2 lemons

For the crunchy topping you will need

  • 175g granulated sugar (beware not to use a finer grade or you will not get the crunch)
  • Juice of 2 lemons (beware to to use large lemons – read on to see why)
  1. Measure the butter, caster sugar, SR flour, baking powder,eggs, milk and lemon zest/rind into your bowl and beat until well blended.  Remember your butter must be soft to touch before your start this process.
    20160808_203137.jpg
  2. Turn your mixture into the greased/lined tray and gently level
  3. Place the tray in the oven on a middle shelf for 35-40 minutes – or until the cake has pulled back from the sides of the tin and if you gently press the middle if fingertips you see it spring back
  4. Leave the bake in the tin to cool for five minutes.
  5. When times up, turn it out on a cooling rack and carefully peel the parchment/paper from the base and leave to cool further
  6. Make your crunchy topping by mixing the granulated sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl to give a runny mixture
  7. Spoon this over the cake while it is still warm
  8. Cut into squares once cold.
wp-1470739188580.jpg
Lemon Drizzle Tray Bake by EatBakeBlogBG

Lessons learnt

My oven was slightly too hot – school girl error – always check your temperature or expect that doming.

20160808_220229-1.jpg

The lemons, despite being fabulously juicy, produced a lot of juice which is never a bad thing.   However  I think the amount of juice they produced took the crunch from the topping – too much juice to sugar.  It could also have been that the bake was too warm and melting the sugar .  What I do know is that baking is a learning curve and next time I will measure juice to try and find that perfect mix and use a more averaged size lemon.  In the meantime a cheats sprinkle of granulated the morning after gave these the crunch they deserved.

20160808_203201.jpg
Big juicy lemons – too much juice to sugar for the topping

Every cloud has a silver lining as these lemons gave me an incredibly zest and moist lemon drizzle and I look forward to baking this again but next time with some savory thyme.

Hope you like this and my pictures and if you try this with a twist then please share your thoughts.

If you like my blog why not follow me on Twitter or Instagram.

Louise x

EatBakeBlogGB

 

Return to Ego (@Beverley Arms Ackworth)

We returned to Ego on Thursday as we  needed a pick-me-up and I really fancied a good steak.

Thankfully, Ego were able to accommodate us at short notice which was a surprise as they are incredibly popular mid-week which I attribute to their specialist offers.  Tonight was Kebab night, and before you ask I do not mean Donner, I could have been tempted to falter from my desire for steak.

We were  greeted cheerily by one of the hosts and were offered a choice of table by the window (I much prefer this area, as I am not a fan of some of other areas of the restaurant which have a little too much atmosphere).

We do rate Ego and the main reason is for the great staff, they are warm and friendly and when it counts bold and not afraid to deal with issues where so many hide or mismanage. The customer service skills of this team are a credit to the restaurant and their infrequent weakness in the kitchen are forgiven for deftness of the front of house team.

The food ordered was the chicken Liver and rosemary pate and deep fried brie for starters. Then for our mains I ordered the fillet steak with skin on chips and David ordered the lamb rump with risotto and green and spring onion pesto.

The starters we served, the pate was very chilled as before I wish the kitchen would hold this back and let it reach somewhere near room temperature.  Maybe if they made this in a terrine and served a slices this could achieved.  If you like me believe certain foods taste best at certain temperatures you might like this article .  The pate as it warmed tasted great, although the rosemary as not detectable –  I am assuming this rosemary was only present in the butter used to seal the pate.   The marmalade of chilli tomato as a side was left by me but it was very much enjoyed by David – he preferred this with his creamy brie over the orange and apricot marmalade he was served.

Our mains were served and the steak looked good. It was cooked to order medium-rare with a lovely rocket garnish a garlic dressed plum tomato and a dish of skin on chips.  The fillet had good crunch on the outside with a pink and rare centre. I get so fed up of being served overcooked steaks #Cowshed

20160428_192929.jpg

The only extra not welcome on this plate was the huge chip – which is not on my shoulder!  Shame  the chef let a meal leave his kitchen like this.

David’s dish of Lamb Rump was tender and cooked medium and sat on a rich and creamy risotto finished with zesty pesto (and no chips in sight).

Our bill came to £50 which included 3 drinks and after our Ego discount was applied.

The quality remains to be good at Ego one day I look forward to them having local produce on the menu.  We will continue to support our local restaurant and hope that the kitchen team can raise their game to mirror the A team working front of house.

If you’d like to read more of my food adventures your can follow me on Twitter or Instagram.

Louise

 

 

Finished article. Serve immediately with custard, cream or ice cream

All round winner – Jaffa Self Saucing Pudding

Made this first for my Mum’s birthday meal.  My mum doesn’t have the sweetest tooth in the family that belongs to my Dad.  He truly is a pudding / dessert lover…and if he could, he would eat puddings for starters, mains and afters!

They both raved about this pudding, in fact Dad said its the best pudding he’s ever had. Since then David’s parents have enjoyed this  and they have requested this for the Ord family Easter Sunday dinner.  With this in mind I thought it was time to share this wonderful pudding with you.

I first found on the BBC Good Food website and I have made no tweaks as its perfect.

  The Batter

  • 250g self raising flour
  • 140g golden caster sugar
  • 50g cocoa powder
  • 100g soften butter
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Zest and Juice of 1 orange
  • 3 eggs
  • 150ml Milk
  • 100g orange milk chocolate (I use Terry’s Chocolate Orange)

    The Sauce
  • 200g  light muscovado sugar
  • 25g cocoa
  • 300ml boiling water
20160117_173313-1.jpg
Self Saucing Jaffa Pudding

 

  1. Butter a 2-litre baking dish and heat oven to 160°C fan/gas 4 and put your kettle on.
  2. Put the flour, caster sugar, 50g cocoa, baking powder, orange zest and a pinch of salt in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Chop your chocolate into pieces.

    I aim for pieces about the size of a Cadburys’ buttons give or take; this means you find lovely pieces of half melted chocolate in each mouthful.

  4. Squeeze the  orange juice into a pyrex jug and whisk in the 3 eggs, melted butter and milk.
  5. Pour onto the dry ingredients and mix together until smooth  (it takes about 2-3 minutes in  my Kenwood)
  6. Stir in the chocolate chunks and then scrape everything into the buttered dish
  7. Mix 300ml of boiling water from your kettle with the light muscavodo sugar and remaining 25g of cocoa for the sauce.
    Batter Mix
    Batter mix before your pour the sauce over
  8. Slowly pour this all over the pudding batter which will look very wrong at this stage!

    img-20160313-wa0002.jpg
    Batter covered with the bubbling hot sauce mix
  9. The Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 30 mins or until the surface looks firm, risen and crisp.
    Finished article. Serve immediately with custard, cream or ice
    Self Saucing Jaffa Pudding

     

 

I hope you like this pudding as much as we do and if you do try this please let me know if you make any additions as I’m always looking for new ideas.

Louise x

EatBakeBlogGB

Cooked Dauphinoise Potatoes

Meals for Michael – Creamy and Spicy Carb Fest

I was asked today by David to share for our friend some of my favourite meals.   The easiest way to transfer recipes to those that ask for help could be to send them the respective cook books but in this case as the person in question is an avid reader of my blog and twitter I thought to salute their support by blogging instead.

Proper Blokes’ Sausage Fusilli from Jamie Oliver’s Cook

  • 2 heaped teaspoon of Fennel Seeds (don’t leave this out Michael its key to the dish)
  • 1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes (you cannot cheat and use powder!)
  • Olive oil
  • 600g or a pack of Cumberland Sausages (removed / squeezed out of their skins)
  • 1 tablespoon Oregano (use a heaped dessert spoon if you don’t have a tbsp)
  • Glass of dry white wine (not for drinking while making)
  • 500g Fusilli ( you need the spirals to hold the meat)
  • Grated Parmesan (two good handfuls)
  • 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (dried does not cut it)
  • Zest and Juice of a lemon (Jiff will not do, but if you do cheat don’t try and grate  it)
  • Knob of butter (only you can define what a knob is)

You will need a skillet pan or maybe a small wok for this.

  1. Crush/smash up the fennel seeds until broken up and put to one side
  2. Squeeze the meat out of the sausages throwing away the skins
  3. Heat some oil in your pan
  4. Place the meat into a pan and start to break it up with a wooden spoon, keep working the meat for a few minutes until it starts to colour to a brown
  5. Then add the fennel seeds and chilli (watch out the vapours can whack you in the face)

    Your are trying to make the meat look like minced meat

  6. Cook for a further 10 minutes keeping the meat moving until it begins to crisp
  7. Put your kettle onto boil while you are doing this
  8. Add the Oregano (tablespoon) stir once.
  9. Add the white wine (if you’ve not drank it);  lemon juice and zest; turn the light down to low
  10. Cook your pasta
  11. If the meat is looking dry add a spoon or two of the pasta water
  12. Chop the parsley and grate the Parmesan if you have not already
  13. Drain the pasta, toss the meat in to the pasta or vice versa, add the butter stirring to coat
  14. Add the parsley, and Parmesan and serve  into warmed bowls
  15. If you love Parmesan like we do grate a bit more on top.

Now this is an odd side dish, but if you like carbs with carbs here you go..

 Potatoes Dauphinose

We love this french classic and it is best eaten on the night it does not reheat well.   You can do 50/50 and use milk as well as cream if the ladies in the house prefer the lighter version.

  • Peel 1kg of potatoes (we only use Lady Balfours)
  • 300ml Double Cream
  • 3 Cloves of Garlic
  • Freshly Grated Nutmeg (1/4 teaspoon) or leave out
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • Generous mill of black pepper
  1.  Peel the potatoes and put into a bowl of cold water
  2. Chop the garlic or crush into fine pieces
  3. Pour cream into a large bowl; add garlic, pinch of salt, black pepper and nutmeg (if you want it
  4. Grease an oval bowl  about this size, well with butter

    20160322_211708-1.jpg
    This size should suffice for this amount of potato
  5. Slice the potatoes as finely as you can

    Mandoline
    Ideally the potatoes need to be this thin to give the best and fastest result.
  6.  Once the potatoes are sliced work fast to layer them in the dish, side by side, making layers upon layers, keeping flat .
  7. When you have run out of potato slices pour over the seasoned cream.

    Cooked Dauphinoise Potatoes
    This is the look you are trying to achieve when your slice into the Dauphinoise
  8. Press down gently with a fork.
  9. Place into the oven on the middle shelf for 50-60 minutes at 160°c

Eat with sighs of ooh and aahh.

Happy cooking Michael and if you need to consult on any of the above my number is only at the rate of £1.00 per minute from a land line.

Love Louise x

EatBlogBakeGB

 

Sunday Chorizo Brunch from Delia Smith

Isn’t it funny how we can forget about dishes in our repitoire and they disappear into fond food memories.  Well today, I decided to revisit this wonderful dish that I disovered via my first food hero Delia.  My bookshelves are full of her books but this new wonder foodie resource DeliaOnline has become a go to for me.

image

Delia recommends a shallow gratin dishe measuring 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter, which will hold one or two eggs I use my Falcon enamel round pie dish or the recatangular version.

You will need the following ingredients:

  • 75g of Chorizo (today I used a cheat)
  • Red pepper (cut in half, quarters then sliced thinley into lengths)
  • Onion (medium sliced in spears)
  • 2 Cloves of Garlic (chopped)
  • 4-5 Really ripe tomatoes *
  • 3-4 free range eggs
  • 50g Cheddar or any good melting cheese
  • Shot of Dry Sherry; this is optional
  • Salt and pepper

 

Method

Step 1 turn your oven on to 180ºc (fan) or gas mark 4.

Step 2 deseed the pepper, remove the white flesh cut in half, then quarters and slice finely into lengths.

Step 3 Peel your onion and cut in half and cut into thin spears.
image

Step 4 Boil your kettle and put the tomatoes into a large (1 litre Pyrex jug) and cover the tomatoes.  Within 1 minute they will be ready to be skinned.  Some of the skins might be difficult to remove, I leave the odd bit on.  (Delia removes the seeds I prefer to leave the seeds in; each to their own).

image
Peeling tomatoes

Step 5  next chop the tomatoes  into pieces and then finely chop the garlic.
image

 
Step 6 heat a pan (I used a small wok for this dish) with about a tablespoon of oil (I used rapeseed) when the oil is hot add the chorizo pieces to brown them off, I added a slug of Oloroso Sherry just to make it that little bit more spanish.  Once cooked off I then place these into the dish I am going to use.

image
Dry sherry

Step 7  Add the onion and pepper to the pan and cook on a high heat, until  they are starting to soft with brown edges – this will take about 5 to 10 minutes depending on the thickeness of the slices.

image
Step 8 add tomatoes

Step 8 add the chopped tomatoes and garlic and cook for 1 minute more and return the browned chorizo to the pan.  Give it a good turn around to meld all the flavours.

Step 9 season well with freshly ground salt and black pepper.

Step 10 take the pan off the heat heat and place the mixture  in the dish.  Break your eggs into the dish (as I am using a one pot I space these out equally) .  If you use indiviudal dishes then sit you eggs side by side on top of the mixture.

Step 11 now you should have the mixture with eggs sat on top so season and sprinkle each one with your grated cheese.

image
Ready to bake

Step 12  place the dish or dishes on the baking sheet on the top shelf of the oven to cook for 12-15 minutes (or a little longer, depending on how you like your eggs).

image

Thanks for reading my blog and I would love to read your comments. If you like my blog then you can follow me on Twitter @EatBakeBlogGB or read my restaurant reviews on TripAdvisor.

Happy blogging.

Louise x

© EatBakeBlogGB / Louise Winder Food & Travel all rights reserved.

The Shrove Tuesday Files

Who doesn’t love Pancakes. It’s one of my first positive food memories that repeats through my life. My mum made great Pancakes and always served with a sprinkle of sugar and a squeeze of Jif Lemon (not sure why we never had fresh lemons). I have carried on that tradition on, until recently as I’ve started having pancakes as a treat breakfast.

This morning I was feeling a bit flat after a great weekend in Brighton with my nephew and as an emotional eater I didn’t want my usual Bran Flakes.  So inspired by the great American series The X Files the truth was out there…

The Pancake recipe I used was this recipe :

● 135g Plain Flour
○1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
● Teaspoon of Salt
○ 2  Tablespoons of  golden caster sugar
● 1 Large Egg (free range)
○ 4.5 fld Oz Milk

Then I decided to mix it up with
● 1 Teaspoon of ground cinnamon
○ Handful of Sultanas

The method is simple
Put flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon into a bowl (I prefer to use my Pyrex Jug it makes it easier to decant.)

image

Crack the egg into the middle and start to mix in.

Then add the Milk  mixing as you go until you have a thick batter.

Next melt a nob of butter in your pancake pan and add this to your mix and stir in.

Finally add your Sultanas and leave the batter to rest. An hour if you can and if you have no patience like me, then five minutes; this let’s the ingredients meld together and the starch molecules in the flour are absorbing the liquid in the batter making the batter thicker. This causes them to swell and gives the batter a thicker, more viscous consistency.

Then I use peanut oil to oil the pan and put it on a low light.

image

I use a tablespoon as measure for each pancake (most recipes suggest a ladle)

I cook until I see air bubbles then turn (this should take about 1 to 2 minutes)

image

Then serve with or without  Maple Syrup (other brands are available but this was on offer).

image
American Cinnamon Pancakes

I loved these and as a huge fan of Cinnamon they will be a new Sunday treat . 

Tonight we will be having traditional pancakes unless I’m out voted!

Hope you enjoy your Shrove Tuesday.

If you like my blog please follow me on here or Twitter @LouiseWinder

Love Louise X
Louise Winder Food & Travel

#EatBakeBlog

Posted from WordPress for Android

The Shrove Tuesday Files

Who doesn’t love Pancakes. It’s one of my first positive food memories that repeats through my life. My mum made great Pancakes and always served with a sprinkle of sugar and a squeeze of Jif Lemon (how seventies). I have carried on that tradition on until recently.

This morning I was feeling a bit flat after a great weekend with my nephew and as an emotional eater I didn’t want my usual Bran Flakes.  So inspired by the great American series The X Files the truth was out there…

The Pancakes  recipe I using this recipe :

● 135g Plain Flour
○1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
● Teaspoon of Salt
○ 2  Tablespoons of  golden caster sugar
● 1 Large Egg (free range)
○ 4.5 fld Oz Milk

Then I decided to mix it up with
● 1 Teaspoon of ground cinnamon
○ Handful of Sultanas

The method is simple
Put flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon into a bowl (I prefer to use my Pyrex Jug it makes it easier to decant.)

image

Crack the egg into the middle and start to mix in.

Then add the Milk  mixing as you go until you have a thick batter.

Next melt a nob of butter in your pancake pan and add this to your mix and stir in.

Finally add your Sultanas and leave the batter to rest. An hour if you can and if you have no patience like me, then five minutes; this let’s the ingredients meld together and the starch molecules in the flour are absorbing the liquid in the batter making the batter thicker. This causes them to swell and gives the batter a thicker, more viscous consistency.

Then I use peanut oil to oil the pan and put it on a low light.

image

I use a tablespoon as measure for each pancake (most recipes suggest a ladle)

I cook until I see air bubbles then turn (this should take about 1 to 2 minutes)

image

Then serve with or without  Maple Syrup (other brands are available but this was on offer).

image
American Cinnamon Pancakes

I loved these but i am a huge fan of Cinnamon Tonight we will be having  with the traditional pancakes unless I’m out voted.

Hope you enjoy your Shrove Tuesday.

Louise x

#EatBakeBlog

Love Louise X
Louise Winder Food & Travel

#EatBakeBlog

Posted from WordPress for Android

#EatBakeBlog Seeking Brownie perfection

Ever since I dined at the Saddleroom in beautiful Coverdale over a year ago I have been trying to recreate this brownie which was a little piece of heaven.

20160120 Perfect Brownie

Ingredients used:

  • Pack of unsalted butter (250g)
  • 250g golden Caster Sugar
  • 225g dark muscovado sugar
  • 100g cocoa powder
  • 4 large eggs (whisked)
  • 100g Self Raising Flour
  • 85g Blanched Chopped Hazelnuts
  • 4 Tablespoons of dark rum (or leave out)

Equipment you will need : scales, large glass bowl (about 20cms in diameter), pan to sit the bowl on, good heatproof spatula or wooden spoon, fork or whisk, baking parchment (greaseproof paper) and a square bake tin (21cms or 22cms).

The method. I  writing this bullet pointed as I think it makes it easier to follow, but first heat your oven to 180C or if a fan 160C (equivalent Gas mark 4) and lightly grease a square non-stick baking tin and line it with baking parchment /greaseproof paper.

  1. Weigh out your ingredients first and beat the eggs – this makes the process easier, leaving you to focus on baking rather than weighing (I lay them out in order of use it helps me when I am doing new recipes it keeps me focused on where I am)
  2. Put a pan of water (about a 1/4 full) on to simmer and place the glass bowl that sits neatly on top making sure the water is not too high that it is touching the bottom of the glass bowl.
  3. Cut the butter into 8 pieces and place in the bowl
  4. Add both sugars and the cocoa and stir regularly so it doesn’t stick until the sugar is dissolved and you have a rich chocolate mix.
    EatBakeBlog Butter Sugar and Cocoa mix
  5.  Take the bowl off the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes
  6. Add the beaten eggs bit-by-bit into the mix until you have a smooth and glossy mix.
  7. Stir in the self raising flour and chopped hazelnuts and the rum and mix until you cannot see any flour (really scrap down into the bottom of that glass bowl).
    Eatbakeblog Chopped Hazelnuts
  8. Pour the mixture into your lined tin.
    EatBakeBlog Ready to bake
  9. Place in the oven on a middle shelf and bake for 35 minute or longer if needed (check by putting a skewer (or a sharp knife) into the mix our looking for a slightly clean blade.
  10. Remove and leave to cool in the tin – this is really important; your brownie is still cooking and developing its flavour.

Turn out only once it is cool. I turn it out onto a board so I have the base upwards it makes cutting it easier as the top should be crunchy and it will crumble.

Your Brownies should keep in an airtight (I use an old biscuit tin lined with greaseproof paper) for about 3 days and we are sure it tastes better on day 2. This is still the best  brownie I have made but I am still seeking the chewy perfection.

 

Eatbakeblog Hazelnut Brownie
Hazelnut Brownie by EatBakeBlog

Thanks for reading my blog and if you like this then please show your support and comment below or share on social media.

 

Louise x

#EatBakeBlog