Week Ninety Nine – Mary Berry’s Orange Drop Scones & American Chocolate Ripple Cheesecake

Posted on Nov 5, 2014 by kimsideas

Week 99 – wow it’s almost 100 blogs for this Mary Berry challenge and I am still a way to go yet- I take my hat off to Anneliese who completed her “Rising to the Berry” challenge that inspired me in just 18 months! When I begin to flag or get a bit despondent, I read the original article about her and I remember what inspired me to start this path.

Any how, on this week’s dip into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible, I found the orange drop scones and the American chocolate ripple cheesecake. I started at the weekend with the orange drop scones which were a breeze to make. Mary’s recipe for these is easy to follow and mix and I halved the recipe as this was just going to be brunch for hubby and I.

I heated my ceramic frying pan and poured spoons of the mixture in, about three at a time. I gave each one a few minutes and flipped them over. You could smell the orange in them as they were cooking. Soon enough, Hubby and I had 5 or 6 each in the middle of a plate and we enjoyed them with some butter and maple syrup- yum!

The second recipe I chose was the American chocolate ripple cheesecake which is a baked cheesecake. The recipe is a staged recipe in that you begin by putting some dark chocolate digestives in a bag and crush them, melt some butter, add the crushed digestives, mix well and press into the base of a loose bottomed tin. I always think Mary skimps on this part so as usual I topped up the base with some more crushed biscuit and butter mix. I then put this in the fridge to set.

Mary then asks you to beat the cheese mix until soft and melt the chocolate. Put half of the cheesecake mix in blobs on the cheesecake base and add the chocolate to the other half and mix well. Add this to the base in between the white mix and then use a spoon to swirl it around so it has a rippled effect. Bake as per the recipe and don’t worry that the cheese cake cracks when it cools , Mary warns you about this. Keep the cheesecake in the fridge . It is very rich and you will only want a small slice but it is best eaten as fresh as possible.

Week Ninety Eight- Mary Berry’s Carrot & Orange Loaf & Dark Indulgent Chocolate & Walnut Brownies

Posted on Oct 22, 2014 by kimsideas

Week ninety eight here already and I delved with a little more enthusiasm into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and found these two recipes which inspired me. I chose Mary’s carrot & orange loaf and dark indulgent chocolate & walnut brownies. I began with the brownies with a little twist- hubby who doesn’t like walnuts asked if i could either leave out the walnuts or substitute them for pistachios and I chose to substitute the walnuts for pistachios! Mary asks you to melt a huge amount of dark chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of hot water. While that is melting, add the other ingredients to a bowl and mix.

When the chocolate and butter have melted, pour this into the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into a lined tray bake tin and bake for about 45 minutes then test with a skewer. When cooked, allow to cool in the tin and then cut into squares. The brownies smelled mouthwateringly delicious and the substituted pistachios were a lovely addition.

The second recipe was an all in one recipe and easy to do. The only issue I had was that Mary says to add carrots to this mix but doesn’t actually say grate them but I figured how else would they be added?!

I poured the mix into a liner in a loaf tin and into the oven it went for about an hour. After an hour, removed it briefly, decorate the top with thinly sliced oranges and brush liberally with clear honey and return to the oven for the final 15 minutes. Allow to cool then remove from the tin. Mary suggests keeping this loaf in the fridge wrapped in foil and it is lovely with a small amount of butter and a cuppa!

I have been missing the great British Bake Off and have been watching the master classes where I can fit them in . With the nights drawing in and the clocks changing this weekend, my evenings of coming home and taking the hairy hoolies for a run in the park will be restricted to the weekends and my exercise of street walking with them steps up a gear! There are some new series that look quite interesting and I have seen an advert for “I’m a Celebrity, Get me out of here” which is something I love to watch each year- I am hoping that I will know at least some of the celebrities unlike Celebrity Big Brother where I didn’t know anyone! If that’s the case, I guess for the first year in a long time, I won’t be tuning in!

Week Ninety Seven – Mary Berry’s Sultana & Orange Tray Bake

Posted on Oct 16, 2014 by kimsideas

Welcome to week ninety seven- almost at the hundredth blog for our site- that’s quite an achievement and an awful lot of blogs! Thank you to all who stop by to have a look at our blog, our stats show that we have now had over 60,000 visitors – so welcome, feel free to stop and look around for a while!

I delved with less enthusiasm than usual into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible this week, I don’t know why, perhaps it was because The Great British Bake Off has finished? I must say before I continue with my blog that I was pleased that Nancy won and thought the standard generally of the baking skills this year was exceptional and enjoyed watching every episode- I have now downloaded the Masterclass episodes to ease the pang of no more Bake Off for another year…..

Any how, back to my bake, I only chose one recipe this week, as was my woe and I chose Mary’s sultana and orange tray bake. The recipe was simply one of Mary’s throw all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Pour into a tray bake tin ( Thank you Lakeland for my trusty foil tins!) I set my timer and into the oven it went. About 40 minutes later it was ready to come out and sit on my cooling rack. Mary suggests either putting some demerara sugar on the top about 10 minutes before the end of the bake so it caramelises or to use some fresh orange juice and icing sugar to make an orange icing for the topping. I opted for the orange icing. I then cut it into squares and sent some in a tin to my chief tasters and put mine on my stand.

I would like to dedicate this week’s post to my friend Caron, a former colleague and a friend who sadly passed away today , taken too soon. Rest in peace my friend, your smile and energy will be sorely missed. I know you read my blog when you could and am proud to dedicate this week in your memory xx

Week Ninety Six – Mary Berry’s Doughnuts & Austrian Apricot & Almond Tart

Posted on Oct 5, 2014 by kimsideas

Week 96 and only a little late in being published! I delved with relish into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible having been inspired by The Great British Bake Off‘s doughnut episode. In the children’s section of the bible, there is a recipe for Mary’s basic doughnuts which I was happy to begin with and found the Austrian tart recipe as my second bake.

I set off by making the dough for the doughnuts, as it contains yeast, I had to then leave it to prove for quite a long while. Luckily my kitchen was warm and it rose as it should. Mary then asks you to knock it back and knead it again. Then divide the dough into approximately 16 balls and – this was the weird part- add a spoon of strawberry jam to the centre of each ball and fold in and then leave to prove again. Finally after the last prove, you are asked to deep fry them- this had posed a question, I do not own a deep fat fryer and didn’t want to buy one just to complete this challenge so I bought a basket and used one of my saucepans. this worked well but you can’t control the temperature of the fat as accurately as a fryer. I fried my doughnuts two at a time and then rolled them in the sugar/cinnamon mix and left them to cool. I then sent a food parcel to my chief tasters and we delved into the rest!

For my first foray into doughnuts, I didn’t think they were too bad!

The second recipe, the Austrian apricot and almond tart involved making Mary’s pastry first and then rolling it out to fit in my flan tin. I grated the marzipan and put this in the pastry case first followed by halved apricots. Mary doesn’t really tell you how to lay these in but I made circles of them. Finally you have to roll out a circle of pastry for the top and press it down and it creates a landscape of rolling hills with the apricots. the last step was to put it in the oven.

I had to bake the tart for a little longer than Mary suggested but it was definitely worth it, I had a tart that was very tasty – the apricots and melted marzipan flavours definitely complimented each other and there wasn’t a soggy bottom in sight!

The Bake Off has nearly reached it’s conclusion now- the final is this week- I would now like Richard to win but am looking forward to the episode with bated breath!

Week Ninety Five – Mary Berry’s Crown Loaf and Griddle Scones

Posted on Sep 21, 2014 by kimsideas

Week ninety five here already and after the excitement of last week, I browsed through Mary Berry’s Baking Bible looking for some more savoury recipes after the richness of last week’s recipes and I was wiped out by a migraine which set all my usual housework jobs back by a day. I settle on Mary’s crown loaf and griddle scones.

I began the dough this morning , mixing all the ingredients together for the crown loaf and then spending five minutes kneading it before setting it into an oiled bowl to prove for 1 1/2 hours. After this time, the dough was nicely risen and I had to then knock it back and knead again, divide into 12 balls and set these inside a springfold tin and cover with clingfilm and leave to prove for another half an hour.

Finally , once the last prove is done, bake in a hot over for 25 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack. The crown loaf looked lovely and the smell of freshly baked bread is a winner in our house.

The second recipe was Mary’s griddle scones, these are thicker than drop scones and I followed Mary’s recipe carefully to make the dough, I then rolled it into a circle and cut into segments. I heated a heavy based pan and cooked the segments for about five minutes each side and left them to cool on a rack.

Mary suggests eating them fresh with butter but we ate some of the crown loaf first for lunch and look forward to these for supper. Sorry chief tasters, no sharing with you guys this week- but I am guessing that you are still wading through your dobaz torte from Thursday.

The Great British Bake Off is coming up to quarter finals now and the three contestants I initially named are still in it so far- lets see how they do this week and if Mary has any more recipes I have yet to do?

Countdown now reaches 78.

Week Ninety Four – Mary Berry’s Chocolate Swiss Roll & Dobaz Torte

Posted on Sep 21, 2014 by kimsideas

Week ninety four and my bake was done in two parts this week. I delved with glee into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and found the chocolate swiss roll which I made at the weekend and then the Great British Bake Off inspired me to try May’s dobaz torte….

Firstly the chocolate swiss roll, I used my new all singing all dancing stand mixer to take up the strain of the mix and the only effort I had was to melt the chocolate over a bowl of hot water! I lined a swiss roll tin and poured the mix in. Into the oven it went and I set the timer, put the kettle on, made a cup of tea and put out a sheet of grease proof paper sprinkle with caster sugar ready for the baked sponge. Meanwhile, I read the next steps and whipped the cream ready for the next step. The timer pinged and I got the sponge out, tipped it carefully out onto the sugar coated paper and carefully peeled the lining paper off. Finally I rolled the sponge into a roll with the grease proof paper rolled up with it and left this to cool.

Mary Berry's Chocolate Swiss Roll

Finally I was able to warm thejam through- Mary suggests blackcurrant jam but I found a lovely conserve by Bonne Maman – berries and cherries conserve which was so nice with the chocolate sponge and cream. I unrolled the sponge, spread the jam and cream in it, rolled it back up and cut it in half so that the chief tasters would get their part.

The second bake I made midweek on a day off, while having a new carpet laid in the lounge. It all sounded so easy, go to shop, order carpet, ensure room is empty…hold on, where do we put all the furniture-borrow groundsheets from chief taster, move most furniture into the garage and place on groundsheets, take up old carpet and underlay and notice that the paintwork and walls all need wiping. Spend the baking day wiping paintwork down and waiting for the call from the fitters. I read Mary’s recipe which says to mark circles on grease proof paper, make the cake mix and spread onto the circles and bake in batches.

This was not too difficult and I soon had 6 weirdly flat sponge circles done. Carpet fitters arrived. Next step, make butter cream- use stand mixer to soften and mix butter. Meanwhile over a pan of hot water mix the eggs and sugar with an electric hand whisk while the carpet fitters go back to the warehouse to get the right underlay! Keep whisking the mix while walking to the lounge window to ensure the fitters aren’t back yet as the mixers are noisy and I can’t hear the door bell. Finally add this mix to the butter and melt chocolate over the pan of hot water and add to the butter cream. Mix again.

Carpet fitters arrive- ( They make me feel really old!) and I read Mary’s instructions about making the caramel. I add the water and the sugar together in a pan and heat gently then allow to boil. When it changed colour, I poured some over one of the sponge layers and the rest on a sheet of grease proof paper. Carpet fitters seem to lay underlay and carpet super quick and I leave the cake to put together later. Vacuum lounge and begin to put room back together again- fail dismally and end up with the essentials for the night- TV and sofa!

Take a few hours off work the next day, put the cake together- sandwich the 5 sponge layers with butter cream, spread butter cream around the sides and roll in the caramel that you are supposed to crush with a rolling pin from the day before- slight problem, caramel too sticky, won’t crush. Hubby makes a batch, sets well but tastes burnt so plan C- grated chocolate. Sides suitably covered, decorate the top of the cake with the caramel covered sponge cut into slices. finish with a swirl of butter cream and give to the chief tasters for their 49th wedding anniversary! PHEW….

The dobaz torte was a fiddly cake to make and probably not one that I would re-visit but another one ticked off the list…and the countdown now stands at 80 recipes left to bake.

Week Ninety Three- Mary Berry’s Treacle Spice Traybake & Frangipane Tartlets

Posted on Sep 13, 2014 by kimsideas

Week 93 and it’s taken a while to find the time to put this blog on even though it was done last weekend! I delved as usual into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and found these two recipes. It has occurred to me that quite a few of the recipes left for Mary are complicated or rich cakes so i will have to endeavour to find some occasions to bake them! They are not your every day bakes. I started this week with the treacle spice tray bake. I took my new mixer for a “test drive” – and it didn’t dissapoint- it mixed this all in one recipe like a dream. ( Thank you again x) I lined a tray bake tin, poured it in and into the oven it went.

The final bake was a lovely glossy brown with the most heavenly aroma and it is keeping really well under my cake glass dome.

The second recipe was Mary’s frangipane tartlets. I followed Mary’s instructions about making the pastry carefully, lined the mini tartlet tins ad put them in the fridge to chill while I made the frangipane filling. I had decided to make four slightly larger tarts rather than the 12 tiny ones that Mary says her recipe will make. Once the frangipane filling was made, I filled the tart cases and put them in the oven to bake one I had sprinkled flaked almonds on the top.

The tartlets, once cooked needed a final touch with a glaze of apricot jam, warmed through and a sprinkle of ground almonds.

The Great British Bake Off is heating up now, and my initial three names that I blogged about are still in it so far. I must say that one of the bakes this week has again inspired me to attempt a bake I had been putting off in Mary’s book. More of that soon, this week’s bakes will be done over several days. one this weekend as we still have some treacle tray bake left and one roughly midweek-watch this space.

Week Ninety Two – Mary Berry’s Banana & Honey Teabread & Chocolate, Brandy & Ginger Cheesecake

Posted on Sep 3, 2014 by kimsideas

Week Ninety Two and this bake was being done away from home. Hubby was being watched over for me and I took the opportunity to bake the last banana recipe and another while I was visiting my mum and taking photos of my great niece. Mary Berry’s Baking Bible had one final banana recipe and I started with this. The recipe was quite an easy mix, but mashing the bananas needed a bit of elbow grease! I lined the tin with baking parchment and put the loaf in the oven for 1 1/4 hours.

The loaf needed to be covered with some foil about an hour into the bake and Mary does warn you of this in her recipe. The resulting loaf needed to cool for a short while before being brushed with warmed honey and sprinkled with sugar.

The second recipe proved to be a bit more of a challenge. The first part of Mary’s chocolate, brandy and ginger cheesecake wasn’t too bad, it involved crushing ginger biscuits and combining this with melted butter and sugar. Put this in the base of the tin and press down and leave to set.

After the banana loaf had baked, I set about making the cheesecake middle layer. This proved to be the challenging part. Mary asks you to melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water- no problem there. Sprinkle the gelatine over the water and leave for 10 minutes to sponge- not so good. Beat together the egg yolks, sugar and cheese in a bowl. Add the soured cream and chocolate. Stir in the gelatine. Whisk the egg whites until frothy and fold in to the mixture and add the brandy and chopped ginger. At this point the mixture was very runny and I wasn’t confident that it was going to set. I poured it into the tin on top of the biscuit base and left it in my mum’s fridge. Many hours later it was still runny, with no sign of setting so I put it in her freezer for several hours. Slightly better but not properly set.

I had to leave it for my mum to whip the cream ad sprinkle chocolate over and send me a photo so I never got to taste this one but mum said when she took it out of the tin, while putting the cream on top , the chocolate cheesecake mix was beginning to sag and move so it had to be eaten quickly. All I can think of was that I didn’t do the gelatine properly but who knows? I will chalk this one up to experience.

I am still enjoying The Great British Bake Off and my three early favourites are still there. I learnt two things from tonight’s show. Trim your tart pastry once cooked , not before, which I had always done , it looks so much better and if making any kind of custard tart, it’s better to pour the custard into the pastry case while it’s on the oven shelf rather than struggling not to spill it while getting it back into the oven!

Week Ninety One – Mary Berry’s Honey Glazed Walnut Bread & Glazed Lemon Tart

Posted on Aug 26, 2014 by kimsideas

Week ninety one and I obviously had a bit of a “glazed” feel to this weeks bakes! I dipped into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and was inspired to try another bread recipe after watching the efforts on The Great British Bake Off for bread week. The honey glazed walnut bread sounded scrummy and Mary assures you in the recipe that it also makes fantastic toast (If it lasts that long- take note please chief tasters!!) I added all the ingredients into a bowl, added the dough hooks to my mixer and set it off. Mary says allow five minutes mixing/kneading for a machine or 10 minutes by hand. This is where it was all going so well….until plumes of smoke were coming off my machine! The dough was too much and the motor had burnt out so the machine went to the electrical scrap heap in the sky and I finished the kneading by hand. I left the dough to prove and set about getting the other recipe bits together.

The proving time was done and I put the bread into the oven to bake, the recipe makes 2 good sized loaves. 25 minutes later, they were done and had that hollow sound when tapped on the bottom!

The second recipe was the glazed lemon tart. Firstly Mary asks you to make the pate sucree pastry- its a sweet shortcrust pastry. Then line a flan tin with it and chill while making the topping. Add the other ingredients together and beat well. ( with no mixer, I developed muscles I didn’t know I had!) Pour the mix into the pastry case and bake until brown and set.

While this is cooling- and Mary says you can eat it like this if you like, thinly slice a lemon, remove any pips, boils some water and sugar, add the lemon slices to this, boil again and leave in a bowl to cool for 2 hours. Then drain the lemons, arrange them on the tart, and glaze with some apricot jam that has been warmed through.

This looks and smells lovely and we will be eating some after dinner later!

There have been some strange goings on in my garden lately. It has all become a little overgrown with the bamboo I had planted some years ago, pretty much taking over the garden and with the recent rain, you could barely see up my garden through it all. I looked from my kitchen up the garden recently and found that the local wildlife had diversified somewhat from the native species! I know who to thank for this and will ensure that your garden enjoys a similar experience!

I was also sad to say goodbye to my trusty mixer- it was the best of both worlds, I could detach the mixer and use it as a hand mixer or attach it to the stand and use with the bowl which could rotate if I needed it to.

I threw it in the chief taster’s trailer to go to the tip ( yes- it went in dirty- it’s going to the tip!) and waved it goodbye.

Eek – I think my fairy god mother is looking after me…..I was telling the sorrowful tale of my mixer and with BIG thanks to one of my chief taster’s. I have a new mixer on the way- YAY!! xxx

Week Ninety – Mary Berry’s Pecan Pie & Walnut & Apricot Sandwich Bars

Posted on Aug 26, 2014 by kimsideas

Week ninety and things had settled a little at home so I settled to this week’s bake with a little less stress than last week. The first bake I chose from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible was Mary’s Pecan Pie. This recipe involved making a shortcrust pastry, allow it to chill in the fridge for a while, roll it out and line a flan tin with it and line the pastry with foil, add beans and blind bake for about 20 minutes, then remove the foil and beans and then bake for another 15 minutes.

To prepare the topping, lay the pecan nuts in the pastry case and add the other topping ingredients into a saucepan and heat through until mixed, then pour into the pastry case and allow to cool and set. I thought this was a rather yummy pudding but hubby wouldn’t try it as he doesn’t like pecans…..or walnuts…..or most other nuts!

The second recipe was Mary’s walnut and apricot sandwich bars, firstly you need to cut up the apricots and boil them in some water and sugar until soft and squishy (technical baking term!) and then mix together the other ingredients, mainly, butter flour , oats and syrup. Add half the mixture to the square tin and flatten down, add the apricots and again, flatten down and finally the remainder of the mixture and flatten for the last time.

Bake in the oven and when ready, cut into bar shapes while cooling. I have eaten various breakfast bars in my life and found these to be quite stodgy, I think it was adding the flour to the mix that did this. They weren’t overly popular in our house and the remainder ended up in the food recycling bin.

I have been watching the Great British Bake Off with interest and now am showing interest in two or three of the contestants- I like Martha, the young girl who seems to have no fear or nerves, Like Luis the star baker of the week and I Like Nancy….lets see if one of these wins, I liked Frances from the beginning last year-and she won!

Lewis & Kim

Lewis & Kim Brown's blog of Baking, Photography, Dogs, Canada and whatever takes our fancy…

Author Archives: kimsideas

Week Ninety Nine – Mary Berry’s Orange Drop Scones & American Chocolate Ripple Cheesecake

Week Ninety Eight- Mary Berry’s Carrot & Orange Loaf & Dark Indulgent Chocolate & Walnut Brownies

Week Ninety Seven – Mary Berry’s Sultana & Orange Tray Bake

Week Ninety Six – Mary Berry’s Doughnuts & Austrian Apricot & Almond Tart

Week Ninety Five – Mary Berry’s Crown Loaf and Griddle Scones

Week Ninety Four – Mary Berry’s Chocolate Swiss Roll & Dobaz Torte

Week Ninety Three- Mary Berry’s Treacle Spice Traybake & Frangipane Tartlets

Week Ninety Two – Mary Berry’s Banana & Honey Teabread & Chocolate, Brandy & Ginger Cheesecake

Week Ninety One – Mary Berry’s Honey Glazed Walnut Bread & Glazed Lemon Tart

Week Ninety – Mary Berry’s Pecan Pie & Walnut & Apricot Sandwich Bars

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