Sunday, November 03, 2013

recipes from an afternoon tea:)

Are you ready? Because, after much debating Claudia and I (we are joined by the hip after a month of living together, if it slipped your eye) decided to reveal our super secret (hahaha) recipes of our afternoon tea.
After all, the days are getting chillier and chillier and what's more fun than a baking afternoon?
Grab a cup of tea/coffee-they do wonders when baking- and get started!

Mary Berry's coffee and walnut cake 
(you didn't really believe these were our own recipes, did you?)


Ingredients:
225 g softened butter
225g light muscovado sugar
275g self-raising flour
2 tbsp baking powder
4 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp chicory and coffee essence (we used strong coffee)
chopped walnuts (as many as you fancy)

For the icing:
75g softened butter
225g sifted icing sugar
2 tbsp milk
1/2 cup strong coffee
walnut halves roughly broken

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 30x23cm tin and line the base with baking paper
2. Beat all the cake ingredient in a large bowl until blended. Turn into the prepared tin and level the surface.
3.Bake for 35-40 mins. Leave to cool in the tin.
4. For the icing, beat together the butter, icing sugar, milk and coffee. Spread evenly over the cold cake and decorate with walnuts pieces.

Scoones!

Ingredients:
1 large egg
125ml milk
a squeeze of lemon juice
225g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp caster sugar
50g soft butter in cubes

1.Preheat the oven to 220°C . Lightly beat egg and milk in a jug, then add lemon juice. Sift the flour and baking powder in a bowl and add sugar and a pinch of salt.
2. Scatter the butter over the mixture and cut it into the mixture. Rub the butter in the flour with your fingertips.
3. Mix gradually the dry and wet ingredients with a cutting action.
4. Tip on a lighlty floured surface and pat out to a 2.5cm thick square.Cut out in circles using a stamp or a glass. 
5. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until risen and golden. Cool on a rack and serve with butter and strawberry jam.

Lemon mini cupcakes
Ingredients
125g soft butter
125g self-raising flour
125g caster sugar
2 tbsp milk
2 large eggs
Finely grated zest of 1 small lemon

For the lemon icing:
125g soft unsalted butter
250g sifted icing sugar
Juice of 1 small lemon

1. Put all the cake ingredients into a bowl, and beat with an electric whisk until evenly combined and smooth.
2. Divide the mixture among the muffin cases. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20–25 minutes until well risen and light golden brown. Transfer the cakes to a wire rack, and leave to cool.
3. Make the icing: put the butter and half of the icing sugar into a bowl, and beat with an electric whisk until evenly combined and smooth. Add the lemon juice and the remaining icing sugar, and beat again until light and fluffy.
4. Spread the icing over the cold cup cakes.

Unfortunately, it seems that the blog from where we got the lemon poppyseed scones recipe is not working any more, so i am afraid you will have to go without.

On a more personal note, i would suggest you take baking times with a generous pinch of salt as they are highly dependent on your oven. Ours is a lunatic, hot tempered individual, with the incredible ability of reducing a cake to coal within seconds, and cooking time always tend to be shorter. Hopefully yours will be more well behaved.

Lastly, cake are better after a run/walk/cycle ride in the crispy November air and especially if you share with the people you love.

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