Another one from Silver Fox. Nicely executed, very filling, time consuming, but worth it.

For a small loaf I used 225 g of strong white flour, 25 g of rye flour, 10 g of salt, 5 g of yeast, 170ml of water. Kitchen Aid worked it nicely for about 10 minutes, then I added 100 g of chopped walnuts.  Covered with foil, nice and cosy, it proved for nearly 2 hours. Next time I’ll use fresh yeast, will probably take less time.

When more than doubled in size, I divided the mixture in 4, flattened and added about 100 g of blue cheese ( I used St Agur, next time it will be roquefort), crumbled and divided onto 4 bits of the dough. I then tucked the cheese in, rolled the dough out into long, sausage like shape and then formed into snails and places into a lightly greased tin. That proved for nearly an hour again, then a bit of egg wash and into the oven in 200 degrees for about 45 minutes.

When out of the oven it smelled nicely of cheese, the skin was lovely and crunchy. It was enjoyed alongside butternut squash soup with a glass of chardonnay and a lovely fire burning. Good stuff.

The best thing I’ve done today, on a random Wednesday, when everything I touched sucked. When the teething baby finally fell asleep in the afternoon, I googled Paul Hollywood’s recipe I came across before going to Poland and baked.

Super easy recipe, equal amounts of 75 g of plain flour, cold butter and grated gruyere cheese and  grated with my finger too ( bathing the baby was fun, the soap and all). A sprinkle of sea salt and some black pepper, all this chilled in the fridge for 20 minutes, then rolled thinly, cut out and baked in 200 degrees for about 8 minutes.  One of the batches I mixed with a handful of sunflower seeds. Now enjoying the biscuits with a glass of chardonnay. Excellent, will be made again and again.

Since I’ve made the raspberry shortcrust cake from mojewypieki.com last month, I’ve been thinking about making it again, but better. Today I did, so I change the name though all the credit goes to the creator of mojewypieki.com.

Exactly the same recipe, same procedures, vanilla budyn though instead of raspberry, fresh strawberries instead of crappy, sour raspberries. I’m enjoying it still slightly warm. The strawberries on top let out some juice and taste like a good strawberry jam with chunks, the whole thing is light and crunchy on top. I’m not thinking- chocolate budyn and maybe cherries on top. Yeah. 🙂 To be continued.

From “mojewypieki.com” and actually, I must say, the next day it’s even better than the same day it was baked. I left it in the fridge overnight and we’re having a nice surprise this evening. The fire’s burning( 3 degrees outside), baby’s asleep, the cake is going.

I started by preparing the pears, peeling them, but leaving the stalks and cooking for about 12 minutes in water sweetened and flavoured with cinnamon and lemon juice. Kitchen Aid in the meantime was busy whipping 120 g of soft butter with the same amount of sugar, then one by one 4 whole eggs, then 150 g melted, dark chocolate with 50 ml of hazelnut vodka( the original recipe called for Disaronno, I had none and not a massive fan either). Also, 100 g of ground almonds, 20 g of flour, a tbsp of cocoa and 1/2 tsp of baking powder. All this nicely mixed went into the tin, then the pears, that were supposed to be standing, stalks protruding. It baked for about 45 minutes, nicely risen and looking great.

When baked, I made a nice little ganache of 100 g of chocolate, which I threw, broken, into 60 ml of hot double cream plus 40 ml of  the same hazelnut vodka.

Nice cake, rich, but not sickly and the soft pears are a treat. 🙂

Inspiration came from this week’s episode of Great British Bake Off, where the contestants had to make 24 eclairs of 2 kinds, 12 of each. I only made 6, plenty for 2 people who have just had pizza for dinner.

My choux pastry was made of 50 g of butter, 150 ml of water and 2 tbsps of sugar all melted together, 75 g of flour then added, transferred to kitchen aid to nicely work it with 2 eggs added.

They baked in 220 degrees for about 25 minutes.

The filling, a nice, vanilla creme pat; 2 egg yolks whipped with 2 tbsps of sugar, then about 12 g of flour and 100 ml of hot, vanilla infused and sweetened milk poured in and transferred back onto the heat.

The glaze- a random amount of cocoa, icing sugar and water with a touch of butter.

Food porn. 🙂

From the same “mojewypieki.com” website found by Zuzia.  I almost followed the recipe. What I’m eating is lovely and light, might be a touch sweeter, but then English raspberries are not exactly marshmallows. The reviews under the recipe recommend using  any other fruit as well, I’ll be doing it again with strawberries. And soon, cause it’s a lovely cake.

For the sweet shortcrust pastry I used 1,5 of my tall glasses of plain flour, 125 g of butter, 3 egg yolks, 1,5 tbsps of icing sugar and 1 tsp of baking powder. All this bound with a splash of water went into the freezer for 20 minutes, then 60% of the pastry I grated on the coarse grater and slightly flattened for the bottom of the cake.  That baked for 20 minutes in 190 degrees then left to cool.

Onto it went the cream. In the recipe they asked for budyn waniliowy, I only had malinowy, which I thought is a nice alternative. I whipped those 3 egg whites left,slowly adding about half a glass of sugar, some vanilla paste and  dry budyn. Then, slowly poured in about 1/4 of a glass of sunflower oil. When I tasted it, pink marshmallow came to mind.

The cream went onto the base, raspberries in generous amount on top and the remaining pastry, also grated. My little touch were flaked almonds, for the crunch. Again, 190 degrees, 30 minutes. Icing sugar on top, DONE. 🙂

If I were a good, devoted christian, church goer and was used to doing as I’m told, I’d have made a white cake, with white icing, filled with something white and finished with white ribbon. I’m none of the above and I hate doing as I’m told as a general rule, so I’ve made Izzie a cake that I fancied, she wasn’t having any on this occasion anyway. 🙂

I baked a cocoa sponge, a very nice one, I must modestly say, in a christian manner. Whipped 4 egg whites with roughly 8 tbps of sugar, added the egg yolks one by one, then 2 tbsps of plain flour, 2 of cocoa, 1 of potato flour and a touch of baking powder. That baked for about 30 mins on 180 degrees. When cooled, it got sliced in 3 layers. For the filling I used a bagged Delecta product with Advocaat flavour, bought it a while ago and intended to use for a while. Surprisingly nice product, I must say, although I would not win The Great British Bake Off with it, that’s for sure. Some fresh raspberries went in as well, in order to brake the sweetness a notch and then a dusting of cocoa powder and some Maltesers for the top. The cake was eaten to the last slice. Well done. 🙂

While exploring mojewypieki.com I came across a recipe for a carrot cake, advertised as the best ever, super awesome and totally faultless. I made it, underbaked it, dwelled on it for a few minutes and shoved it in the bin.  I still wanted my carrot cake though, so baked another one, the GF recipe used here on the blog before. That worked a treat once again, I did make the icing this time and that from mojewypieki.com’s recipe.  And that’s a keeper; Philadelphia cream cheese whipped with 4 tbsps of very soft butter, 1,5 tbsps of icing sugar and some vanilla paste. Yum. Finished with toasted pecans and a dusting of cinnamon.

Wednesday, the day of the week when BBC1 airs “The Great British Bake Off”, so there must be something freshly baked to munch on, while watching. I made the cookies, which I had at Ewa’s last Sunday. Had them for the second time and found them surprisingly lovely, but- I thought, with a touch of cinnamon and maybe pecans they would rock.

I took Ewa’s basic recipe, which asked for ” a glass of flour” and “half a glass of sugar”, just as if my mum had dictated it( classic Polish way, I suppose, the glasses!), but I measured everything I was putting into the Kitchen Aid, so that the corrections could be taken into account next time.  So I used 2 egg whites, which got whipped with 60 g of sugar. I then added the yolks, 80 g of plain flour, a tsp of baking powder. Also the oats, I used 2 sachets of posh Aspen porridge with apples and raisins, good call, lots of extra flavours. Also in went half a melted butter. The original recipe called for margarine, which I don’t like using, I’m all for the butter when baking. Then in went the pretty bits; about 50 g of chopped pecans, a good handful of sunflower seeds( such a nice crunch and flavour!), 2 tbsps of desiccated coconut, 1 tsp of cinnamon and 2 tbsps of maple syrup. All those quantities are to my taste and liking.

Ewa’s method said nothing of the oven temperature or timing, so I went for the cookie temperature that works for me- 180 degrees, they baked for about 17 minutes.  The house smells like a tasty, posh porridge on Saturday morning. The cookies- a treat. Sweeter than Ewa’s, who’s a diabetic, so must be careful with lashes of maple syrup and stuff like that.  I think hers were also crunchier. And I bet- healthier. Nevertheless, a tea time treat. 🙂