Bake of the Month - October - Millionaires Shortbread

I absolutely LOVE millionaires shortbread. Problem is it’s the most calorific thing you can eat and has no ‘goodness’ in whatsoever. So, as a breastfeeding mother I have the perfect excuse. I need around an extra 500 calories a day and, as my son is a big old baby (8lb 7oz at birth, weighing in at 10lb at just over three weeks old) I say ‘bring on the tasty treats’.  Oh, and they’re still good for those of you who aren’t breastfeeding, you just might have to substitute a piece for say, an entire meal.

Ingredients:

For the base:

200g butter

200g digestive biscuits

For the caramel:

150g butter

150g light soft brown sugar

1 tin (397g) of condensed milk

For the topping:

Either 2 or 3 100g bars of chocolate (depending on how much chocolate topping you want!) one or two of dark and one of milk

Method:

Line a square tin with baking parchment. It’s a good idea to have the parchment coming up over the sides so you can lift it all out and cut into pieces when it’s done.

Melt the butter and whiz the biscuits in a food processor. Add melted butter and whisk again. Press evenly into your tin and set aside.

To make the caramel melt the butter and add the sugar, stir to combine making sure the sugar has melted into the butter. Add the condensed milk and bring to the boil, then simmer for 6-7 minutes, stirring all the time until thickened. If you get those horrid brown flecks from the bottom of the pan just sieve them out when your pour the caramel over the biscuit base. Chill for an hour.

Melt the chocolate together and pour over your caramel layer and chill again until set (about 4-5 hours). You can decorate how you please. I used gold lustre, dusting it on with a pastry brush. Or you could sprinkle with nuts while the chocolate is still soft, or melt white chocolate separately and pour on after the milk and dark, swirling it around to make a pattern. Or don’t do anything at all. It will still taste incredibly good, and will still be very bad for you!

Bake of the Month September - Lunchbox 'Flapjack'

It’s been a while since my last blog entry. August turned out to be a very busy month, starting with the pop up shop. I also went away to visit family, had a lot of tea parties to cater for and I am also very pregnant so everything takes twice as long as usual! Anyway, this bake, even though it’s a little late may have actually come about at the right time. The kids have been back to school for a couple of weeks now, but I’m already hearing parents complaining that they’re fresh out of ideas when it comes to lunch boxes. This recipe comes for Annabel Karmel’s ‘You Can Cook’, which shows you step by step ways to cook with your kids. I haven’t followed her recipe to the letter (I seem to have an inability to follow any recipe in this way) and adapted it to what the kids like and what was in the cupboard at the time. To be honest, I think this is what any parent does right? These ‘flapjacks’ last long enough in the fridge and they’re more likely to eat them if they’ve helped to make them themselves. I had two helpers with mine, my daughter Molly and her best friend Xavvi. Needless to say, the flapjacks didn’t last the week.

Ingredients:

3oz butter

3 oz brown sugar

3 tablespoons of syrup, maple or golden, it doesn’t matter

½ tsp salt

2 ½ oz dried fruit, we used apricots and blueberries.

4oz oats

1oz rice crispies

1 oz desiccated coconut

1 oz sultanas (we didn’t put these in, we don’t like them, we just added more coconut instead)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170C / Gas Mark 3. Line an 8 inch square tin with baking parchment, and make sure that the paper comes up the sides of the tin so you can lift it out at the end.

Put the butter, sugar, syrup and salt into a saucepan. Heat gently and stir until it’s all melted and mixed in, then leave to cool while you do the other stuff

Chop the dried fruit into little bits and put into a bowl with oat, rice crispies, coconut and sultanas. Then pour over the butter mixture.

Stir well to combine and then spoon into your tin. Press down evenly. We used a potato masher to do this. Bake for about 30 minutes making sure it’s golden around the edges; wait till it’s cooled before slicing up. It has a tendency to fall apart if you don’t!