Baked Pretzels

Image Leave a comment 19/07/2020 the wee caledonian cook

OMG! Delicious! This was a recipe from BakedIn https://bakedin.co.uk/pages/pretzels . First time I’ve tried the Pretzel shape too, fairly easy.

Sunday for me is a chillout day and normally a baking day, so today I decided to give these a go for our Sunday Brunch picnic at home. Sugar & Spice & all things nice……so yummy!

Makes 4

150g Strong White Bread Flour

1 packet 7g Dried Yeast

15g Caster Sugar (plus 40g for Topping)

1/2 tsp Salt

2 tbsp Bicarbonate Soda

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

100ml Milk

40g Butter (plus 30g melted for coating)

50g Chocolate (if using a dip)

Melt butter and milk in pan on low heat, do not boil, needs to be lukewarm about 40 deg.
Place strong white flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a bowl and mix. Make a well and pour in the melted butter and milk mixture.
Mix everything together until a soft dough forms and knead either using a stand mixer with dough hook or on a work surface with your hands for about 8-10 minutes. Grease a bowl and place the dough in, leave to rise for about 90 minutes or until doubled in size.
Knock back the dough and cut into 4 equal sections. Roll each section into a long rope approx 50cm long.
To make the Pretzel shape, curve the rope into an upside down U Shape, then twist the ends together twice, each time left over right. Bring the ends of the rope up to the top of the curve (loop) and press down to secure.
Preheat your oven to 200 deg and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Bring a pan of water to the boil. Place 1/2 tsp of Bicarbonate Soda into the pan of water for each Pretzel, 1 at a time using a slotted spoon, slowly lower the pretzel into the water on the slotted spoon, leave for about 10 secs, lift out the spoon & drain the water then place onto the baking tray. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Meanwhile mix the caster sugar & cinnamon together in a bowl.
As soon as the Pretzels come out of the oven, brush with the melted butter and leave to cool for a few minutes. Once cooled toss in the sugar mix and serve straight away.
Melt chocolate with a little milk to serve. (if desired)

Chocolate & Hazelnut Bundt Cake

Image Leave a comment 06/01/2020 the wee caledonian cook

Decided to bake a chocolate cake for our New Years Day dessert, we had the whole family this year so had to do something that fed 11 adults and 1 child. This was perfect and delicious but so rich, so a little bit is all you need.

Serves about 12-14

For the Cake:-

200g unsalted butter

200g Dark Chocolate

300g Light Muscovado Sugar

4 large eggs

175g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

For the Glaze:-

300ml double cream

160g dark chocolate

Choice of nuts – I used Hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 180 deg
Melt butter and chocolate together, either in a bowl over a pan of boiling water or in a microwave for about 1 minute. Allow to cool slightly.
Beat Sugar & Eggs together then pour in butter & chocolate mix.
Fold in flour & baking powder until combined.
Pour mixture into a cocoa floured bake tin and bake for about 40 minutes.
Meanwhile make the glaze by heating the cream gently and add the chocolate in, stir to melt. Whisk and pour over cake once cooled from oven. Sprinkle over nuts.

Orange strip meringues

Image Leave a comment 04/08/2019 the wee caledonian cook

I had some egg white left over from a recipe that only required an egg yolk, so I decided to try patterns on meringues, turned out o.k. I thought. I’m know dying to try more patterns and colours……watch this space.

All I done was draw lines inside a piping bag with orange food colouring and then filled the bag and piped, quite simple actually but creates a great visual pleasure.

MERINGUES – makes about 18.

4 Large Egg Whites

115g Caster Sugar

115g Icing Sugar

Sugar Work

1 Comment 10/01/2017 the wee caledonian cook

I have been dying to try this for ages now and decided 2017 is going to be the year of experimenting. I have to say it looks easy but it wasn’t, a few more practises I think before I master it….lol! But I have to say not bad for a first time.

To make the candy:-

1. Put about 3 cups of sugar with 1 tbsp of water in a flat based pan (depending on how much you want to make)

2. Gently heat the sugar until it starts to bubble

3. It will start to go brown in colour and may lump, please do not be worried at this point this is normal. Using a wooden spoon move it around a little just to combine. You do not want to stir constantly and this will ruin it, try to leave it as much as you can.

4. If you want you can at this stage add food colouring, I added red to mine.

5. Keep moving it around until it goes quick thick but not too thick, you want to be able to lift it up and for it to drop slowly back to the pan but still thin not thick, almost just coating the back of the spoon.

6. Using anything you have in your kitchen drawers that are metal like a ladle, pizza cutter, spoon etc, it is best if you chill the metal in the fridge first. Do not use wood, I tried my wooden spoon and it stuck, it has to be metal and cold. You can then drape, twist or simply squiggle onto greaseproof paper to make your designs. ( This is the fun bit but also the frustrating bit..lol) It should harden within seconds.

Here are some of my best and worst ones……lol!

Then imply decorate your cakes. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Swirls

Image 4 Comments 20/11/2016 the wee caledonian cook

Oh it’s that time of the year where cinnamon is a staple ingredient in your household and no better way to use it than to make cinnamon glazed swirls……oh so yummy!

For the swirls:-

1 puff pastry sheet

spoonful of butter melted

3 tbsp caster sugar

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

For the Glaze:-

1/2 cup icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

10ml milk

Pre-heat oven to 190deg
Roll out pastry sheet, brush with butter then sprinkle sugars and cinnamon evenly over pastry sheet
Carefully start to roll the pastry up not too tight but not too loose
Using a sharp knife, slice the roll into 6 or 7 sections evenly.
Grease a baking tin or tray and place the swirls upright leaving a little space between each to allow for expansion of pastry.
Bake for approx 20-25 mins until golden brown
Meanwhile to make the glaze, mix the milk and vanilla essence with the icing sugar until you have a thick but not too thick consistencey, if too runny just keep adding more icing sugar. Using a spoon drizzle over swirls once removed from oven, allow to harden and serve……oh so yummy!

Churros with Chocolate dipping sauce

Image 4 Comments 04/09/2016 the wee caledonian cook

I have seen various different versions of this recipe and always wanted to try, so today was the day that I would have a go at these delicious little Churros. A Churro is a fried-dough pastry snack. Churros are popular in Spain, Portugal, France, the Philippines, Ibero-America and the Southwestern United States. In Spain, churros can either be thin or long and thick, basically you can have them anyway you choose.

As you can see I didn’t have the iconic star shape nozzle for my piping bag, so mine are smooth unlike most images you see online, such as below. Yes I know…..they do look better…..I will definitely be going to get one.

This recipe makes approx 8

150g Plain Flour

1 tbsp Baking powder

1 tbsp olive oil

pinch salt

1 cup of boiling water

Oil for frying I love crisp n dry.

100g chocolate chips

120ml double cream

1/2 cup of caster sugar

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

In a large bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt then add in the olive oil and water, mix together until combined, it should be like a very thick batter, it should not be runny and thin as this won’t work (trust me..my first batch was to watery and didn’t turn out at all) see my wrong batch below. wrong batch very thick batter
Heat in a wok some frying oil to 170 deg. If you don’t have a thermometer , drop a piece of bread in about 1cm and if it goes golden brown you know its ready.
Empty the batter into a piping bag. Slowly squeeze out the mixture into the oil making a long shape about 15cm long. You may find it easier to cut with a pair of sissors.
Cook for about 2-3 minutes or until a golden brown colour. Remove with a slotted spoon and place onto some kitchen towel to absorb the fat.
Place caster sugar and cinnamon in a bowl then roll each churro in until covered in sugar.
Place chocolate chips and cream into a microwavable bowl, micro for 30 secs then stir, then another 30 secs and mix together well. (800w should be o.k.)
Pour sauce into a serving dish and dip…Yummy!