Sunday, May 17, 2020

MY QUARANTINE BAKES

Who doesn’t love a bit of baking in quarantine, hey? It seems to be the highlight of my week nowadays! It’s a fabulous way to pass the time, get creative and treat your loved ones. I have been baking almost every week we have been in lockdown now, making a note of the recipes I have tried and taking some snaps of my creations. So, if you’re craving something delicious and homemade, take a look at 5 of my favourite quarantine bakes and try them out yourself!  




Clementine & almond cake with pomegranate seeds:
Serves: 10-12
Baking time: 60 minutes
Pulled from Lorraine Pascale’s “Bake”
Whilst flicking through my baking book, this one caught my eye. I often look at the picture of the end product before I glance at the recipe; the photo looked really pretty, and I set myself the challenge of replicating it! Alas, my rendition of this gluten-free cake was not executed very well but tasted great. Here is what you need to make this cake:



Ingredients:
For the cake-
-       5 scrubbed clementines 
-       120g softened butter
-       150g soft light brown sugar 
-       50g honey
-       3 eggs 
-       320g ground almonds 
-       ½ tsp ground cinnamon 
-       1 tsp baking powder 
For the orange syrup- 
-       Zest and juice of 1 orange
-       150g soft light brown sugar 
For the decorations- 
-       Seeds of 1 pomegranate 
-       Some toasted flaked almonds 
-       Icing sugar 
Equipment- 
-       20cm round loose-bottomed cake tin
-       Food processor 
-       Hand-held electric whisk 

-       Baking parchment

Recipe:
-       Preheat your oven to 180C (gas mark 6) and line a cake tin with baking parchment.
-       Boil the clementines in a pan (while they still have their skins on), bring them to the boil, reduce the heat and let them simmer for 45 minutes.
-       Take them out, peal and then put them into the food processor until blended into a smooth paste. Set this to one side to cool.
-       With the electric whisk, mix the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy, then add honey and beat until it is mixed well.
-       Add in the eggs and ground almonds until well combined before adding in the clementine puréecinnamon and baking powder to the mixture. Mix until smooth.
-       Pour this mixture into your lined cake tin, cover it loosely with foil and bake for about 55-60 minutes. 
-       While your cake is baking, make the orange syrup.
-       To do this, put the orange zest and juice with the soft light brown sugar in a pan on a low heat until the sugar dissolves. 
-       Once this has happened, boil this mixture for 5 minutes until it has thickened and slightly reduced. 
-       When your cake has finished baking, carefully remove it from the tin and transfer it to a plate.
-       While the cake is still hot, brush the orange syrup over the top, scatter the pomegranate seeds and flaked almonds on top, dust on some icing sugar as a finishing touch.


Banana loaf with peanut butter frosting:
Serves 8-10
Baking time: 60 minutes
Pulled from Lorraine Pascale’s “Bake”
I’m pretty sure everyone and their gran has had a go at making a banana loaf during quarantine, so I wanted to give it a try! Simply delicious, easy to make and a treat for everyone, I hope you are able to put your baking hat on and give this one a try!



Ingredients:
For the main mixture-
-       150g softened butter
-       150g soft light brown sugar 
-       2 eggs
-       150g self-raising flour
-       1 tsp baking powder 
-       2 very ripe bananas (mashed)
For the frosting-
-       25g softened unsalted butter
-       125g icing sugar 
-       60g cream cheese 
-       50g crunchy peanut butter 
-       Some salted peanuts (for decoration)
Equipment-
-       1.2 litre loaf tin
-       Hand-held electric whisk 
-       Baking parchment

Recipe:
-       Preheat your oven to 180C (gas mark 6) and line the loaf tin with baking parchment.
-       Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy in a large bowl using an electric whisk 
-       Add in the eggsflour and baking powder. Beat well. Fold in the mashed bananas.
-       Pop this mixture into the loaf tin and bake for 60 minutes. 
-       Once baked, take out and leave to cool down.
-       While the cake is cooling, mix together the butter and icing sugar with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy.
-       Beat in the cream cheese and then stir in the peanut butter.
-       Use a palette knife to spread this mixture on the loaf and finish it off with some salted peanuts on top. 


Victoria sponge with vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam:
Serves: 6-8
Baking time: 30 minutes 
Pulled from Lorraine Pascale’s “Bake”
A classic. One of the best flavoured cakes, and one that you can experiment with a bit. The original recipe I followed to make this cake had lemon curd instead of strawberry jam, but you can swap in whatever flavour you like. Perfect for a summer’s evening in the garden!  



Ingredients:
For the main mixture-
-       220g softened butter 
-       200g caster sugar
-       4 eggs
-       220g self-raising flour 
-       1 tsp vanilla extract 
-       ¼ tsp baking powder 
-       7 tbsp strawberry jam
For the buttercream-
-       90g softened butter 
-       180g icing sugar
-       1 tsp vanilla extract 
-       Icing sugar (for decoration)
Equipment-
-       2 x 20cm round loose-bottomed cake tins
-       Hand-held electric whisk
-       Baking parchment 

Recipe:
-       Preheat your oven to 180C (gas mark 6) and line the cake tins with baking parchment. 
-       In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
-       Add the eggsflourvanilla and baking powder. Beat these together vigorously to get a lot of air into the mixture.
-       Divide the mixture into 2 and put them into the cake tins and bake for 30 minutes.
-       After the cakes have baked, make the buttercream. 
-       To do this, cream together the buttericing sugar and vanilla in a bowl until light and fluffy. 
-       When the cake layers have baked and cooled down, place a layer of buttercream mixture and a layer of strawberry jam on one of the cake layers and pop the second one top.
-       Dust with icing sugar to serve. 


White chocolate chip brownies:
Serves: 32 brownies 
Baking time: 25 minutes
Pulled from bbcgoodfood.com
Everyone’s guilty pleasure; moreish and tasty! Also, probably one of the easiest things to make at home. Here is a quick little recipe to follow if you are carving some brownies!



Ingredients:
-       185g unsalted butter
-       185g dark chocolate
-       85g plain flour 
-       40g cocoa powder
-       50g white chocolate chunks
-       3 eggs
-       275g golden caster sugar
Equipment-
-       20cm square tin 
-       Hand-held electric whisk
-       Baking parchment 

Recipe:
-       Preheat your oven to 180C (gas mark 6) and line a tin with baking parchment.
-       Melt the butter and dark chocolate in a bowl over boiling water in a pan. Leave to cool.
-       Put the plain flour and cocoa powder in a sieve over a bowl to get rid of any lumps in the mixture. Put this bowl to one side.
-       In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs and golden caster sugar with the whisk until the mixture is thick and creamy.
-       Pour in the cooled melted chocolate mixture until it forms a mousse, then add the sieved plain flourand cocoa powder. Gently fold the powder in until all is mixed. 
-       Then stir in the white chocolate chunks until they are evenly spread. 
-       Pour the whole mixture into the lined tin and bake for 25 minutes.
-       After baking, leave to cool. 


Strawberry cheesecake:
Serves: 12-14
Prep time: 30 minutes (plus 6-8 hours left in the fridge to set)
Pulled from bbcgoodfood.com
My favourite bake of all time and there’s actually no baking involved! I do love a good cheesecake and it’s again something you can experiment with by swapping different ingredients and flavours in. 



Ingredients:
For the main mixture-
-       250g digestive biscuits (crushed)
-       100g melted butter 
-       1 tsp vanilla extract 
-       600g full fat soft cheese 
-       100g icing sugar
-       284ml double cream 
For the topping-
-       400g strawberries 
-       25g icing sugar 
Equipment-
-       23cm loose bottomed cake tin
-       Food processor 
-       Hand-held electric whisk 
-       Baking parchment 

Recipe:
-       Line the cake tin with baking parchment. Set to one side.
-       For the base of the bake, crush the biscuits until they form crumbs (this can be done in a food processor). 
-       Melt the butter and mix the crushed biscuits and butter in a bowl until well combined. Press this mixture into the base of the cake tin and put in the fridge for an hour to set. 
-       In a bowl, mix the cream cheeseicing sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. Add in the double cream and mix until completely combined.
-       Pour this mixture on top of the biscuit base in the cake tin and leave to one side.
-       Purée half of the strawberries in a food processor with the icing sugar and 1 teaspoon of water. Blend until smooth and then pour this mixture over the cheesecake. 
-       Cut up the remaining strawberries and place them on top for decoration. Leave the cheesecake to set for 6-8 hours in the fridge before eating. 


A treat and a bit of self-care can go a long way right now with us all in lockdown. With any luck, baking (and eating) these delicious desserts will put a smile on your face!

Happy baking!

B x
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14 comments

  1. Stunning bakes! Obviously my favourite would be the vanilla sponge 🤤

    MB | http://www.megbeth.travel.blog

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    1. Yes, the vanilla sponge was just amazing, would defo bake again! Thanks for checking out my post! x

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  2. Those white choc chip brownies look AMAZING.

    This post is awesome btw, it's literally full of my favourite foods!

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    Replies
    1. They were so good, thanks for reading my post hun! x

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  3. What a great post! You've been really busy!

    I bet they tasted great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have definitely been trying to keep as busy as I can. Baking is a great way to spend time and treat yourself! x

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  4. These all look super yummy! I've managed a victoria sponge and biscoff cheesecake so far but cookies and brownies are definitely next on my list!

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    1. Oooo biscoff cheesecake sounds lush! I tried to do that but I couldn't find any biscoff spread in the shops! Thanks for checking my post out, really appreciate it! 💞x

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  5. All of these look delicious! I wouldn't have thought of peanut butter frosting on banana bread, but I definitely want to give it a try now!

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    1. I followed one of Lorraine Pascale's recipes for that, the peanut butter frosting complemented the banana so well, love experimenting with different flavours! Thanks for stopping by and leaving some love 🥰x

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  6. I've loved seeing everyone's baking in lockdown! I've not made a SINGLE thing! But that really needs to change. All of these look delicious but the banana loaf with peanut butter frosting... YES PLEASE

    Jenny
    http://www.jennyinneverland.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was DELICIOUS! Hope you get to ret some out some baking, it really is such a great way to spend time! I always get so excited, and it does wonders for my mental health! Sometimes it's the highlight of my week! Thank you so much for reading my post and leaving a comment! ❤️x

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  7. This looks great! It's awesome seeing how creative everyone is being in the kitchen during quarantine! I've made cookies, banana bread, muffins, and rice krispies. Adding this to my list!

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    Replies
    1. Aw well done for baking so much. I'm normally quite bad at it but with practice (and a lot of help from the boyfriend!) I have improved! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! 💙x

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