Tag: Baking

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Mains Recipes Snacks

Veg Chilli Sausage Rolls

What to make for a meal when you’ve just returned from holiday and haven’t yet done the weekly shop?

That was this week’s challenge following arrival back from our motorhome trip to Scotland. This vegetarian chilli version of sausage rolls came together using a few pieces of fresh veg we still had in the van, and some store cupboard ingredients. Served up with a choice of tomato ketchup, brown and bbq sauce, they make a great fun and filling meal that you can eat with your fingers.

My photo above shows the rolls having just been taken out of the oven, cooling on a wire rack. The residual heat of the oven gives the house a comforting warmth, now the autumn nights are starting to draw in.

Servings

Makes 14 sausage rolls, so 3 – 4 servings.

Timings

About 40 mins in total to prepare, and 25 mins to bake at 180C.

You Will Need

  • veg oil
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 1 carrot
  • 2 medium red chillis
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 400g tin of kidney beans
  • 1 400g tin of tomatoes
  • 225g plain flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 100g spread for baking
  • a few tsps of cold water
  • nigella seeds to sprinkle
  • 1 egg, beaten

Method

  1. Peel the onion, chop roughly into chunks, and put in a food processor with blade fitted.
  2. Cut the flesh from the peppers, and add to the food processor. Cut the top off the chillis and add the spicy flesh to the processor also. Blitz it all for a few pulses until it is all finely chopped.
  3. Add a little oil to a wide-based frying pan and warm on the hob. Add in the cumin and then the finely chopped veg. Stir and let it all soften in the heat.
  4. Without cleaning the processor bowl, put in the kidney beans and tomatoes, and blitz again. Add to the frying pan and stir in to mix.
  5. Stir every so often, letting the moisture steam away, leaving the mix to gradually thicken over about 10 mins. You are aiming for a thickish consistency that can hold its own as a sausage roll filling.
  6. Switch off and transfer the mix to a cold plate, spreading it out so that it cools. Place the plate in a cool place.
  7. Having washed and dried the food processor bowl and blade, you can now use it to make the pastry. Sieve in the flour and salt. Add in the spread cut into chunks, and pulse a few times till it resembles breadcrumbs. Pour in a few drops of water and pulse again. Repeat until the pastry comes together and is whirling round the bowl in one large ball, with the blade.
  8. Remove to a floured surface and finalise shaping it into a roundish ball. Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for 10 mins. Turn on the oven to warm to 180C.
  9. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface into a long rectangular strip. Take the cooled filling mix and spoon it in a line down the centre. Try to make it a consistent width all along, so that the rolls will be evenly filled.
  10. Brush one long edge with the beaten egg. Lift up the other long edge, so that the pastry folds over the filling and tucks in under its other side. Roll the whole length over so that it sits on top of the egg-brushed edge. Gravity will then help the rolls seal, and no one will be able to see the join!
  11. Cut into individual rolls and place on a metal tray lined with baking paper. Prick with a fork, brush the tops and sides with the beaten egg, and sprinkle over the nigella seeds. Place in the oven for up to 25 mins. Keep an eye on them and remove earlier if they are looking browned to your taste.
  12. Serve up with your favourite ketchups and table sauces for dipping, and absolutely no cutlery. Your guests have full permission to eat and dip with their fingers.

Customise It!

This dish is about using up what you have, so switch up the veg to include a brown onion, garlic, celery, mushrooms etc. Herbs and coriander would go well. Stick with the kidney beans and tomatoes, though, as these give the texture the filling needs to hold its shape. You could add a line of grated cheese alongside the filling, before you roll it up, and the cheese will then melt as they cook. Be daring – if it seems a good idea for you to include it, go for it!

For the ADK playlist, here’s a track from another Scottish band we played a lot when we were away, but I didn’t quite get to feature on any of my travel-related posts. They have also just announced a tour next year, which I am hoping I can get tickets for – I saw them live the last time they toured and enjoyed them very much. This is Texas with In Our Lifetime.

Categories
Bakes Blog Desserts

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

At this point on our motorhome tour of Scotland we are at Brora, a small Highlands village on the north-east coast. Our camp site is a golf ball’s throw from a massive, deserted golden beach. I say a golf ball’s throw because, to reach the beach, you must first of all carefully traverse one of the many links courses that can be found along the Scottish coast.

The beach then stretches for 2 miles, along which there are several benches where it’s possible to sit to take in the views (like this one in my photo below), and listen to the sounds of the gently rolling waves.

The walk along the beach leads to this picturesque little harbour, where each afternoon we watched the fishing boat come in from the North Sea to unload the day’s catch.

Everywhere is beautifully maintained, with a real sense that the local community take great pride in their surroundings.

As if this is not idyllic enough, the village has an amazing cake shop, Cocoa Skye. On our first day, we shared a slice of hummingbird cake with our americanos. I hadn’t come across this type of cake before, but once the waitress explained how it was made, I just had to try it. It tastes like carrot cake but with pieces of banana and pineapple, with a reassuringly sweet and creamy frosted topping and chopped nuts. I will definitely be trying to recreate this cake when I get home!

On the next day, my choice was this raspberry and almond bakewell, which was also delicious.

Mild weather, beautiful views, a golden beach and delicious cake. A heavenly combination that brings to mind this track from the Eurythmics, featuring the voice of Scotland’s Annie Lennox: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).

Categories
Bakes Blog

Scone With The Wind

We have now reached the north coast on our motorhome tour of Scotland. The scenery here is wild and rugged, with sheer cliff faces where you peer down on powerful spraying waves crashing aggressively on to craggy, inaccessible rocky stacks.

The views are spectacular, looking directly across the foaming sea to the Orkney Isles – a barren and forbidding landscape dotted with abandoned crofters’ cottages. To the west is Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of the British Isles mainland.

And yet, our coastal walk soon brought us to a gentle cove, with a sandy beach where the seabirds fed and the seals lolloped playfully in the shallows. Nature at its wildest and best.

A constant is the steady onshore wind. It is this which gives its name to a little tea shop we came across. Scone With The Wind is no more than a wooden summerhouse in a local garden, where those brave souls hiking the coast can help themselves to homemade scones, tea and jam.

They are baked by the owner who lives in the house nearby. All that is asked in return is that you put a cash donation in an honesty box.

If you wish, you can sit down at one of the tables and enjoy the coastal view while you eat. The table cloths, china and napkins I think are a very civilised touch.

On the day of our visit, the flavours were Plain (Well Fired) and Cheese & Herb. We took ours away (having made our donation) and ate them later, spread with butter alongside a cup of tea, on a picnic between motorhome stopovers.

The owner also makes available any leftover one-day-old scones without any request for a donation. Callers are merely asked to Pay It Forward i.e. carry out a similar act of kindness to someone else in turn.

Now there’s a concept that could potentially reshape the world economy: what if we just decided to replace money with random acts of kindness to others as payment in commercial transactions?

Makes you think – and it all starts with a Scottish homemade scone.

We’ve been playing a lot of Scottish artists and bands over Android Auto as we drive along in the motorhome, especially as DAB radio doesn’t seem to have reached the Highlands yet. Here’s a track that goes well with the rugged landscapes we’ve been travelling through, featuring Stuart Adamson’s unmistakable bagpipe-guitar sound. Big Country with In a Big Country.

Categories
Bakes Recipes

Spiced Apple & Oat Muffins

I still have lots of apples from the garden around for baking with at the moment – you’d almost think they grow on trees…..

Even after making my Dorset Apple Cake, there were still plenty more to combine with oats and spices in these tasty muffins, shown in my main photo above. Great with a cup of tea, for dessert or breakfast, and lovely with a few spoonfuls of Greek yoghurt on the side.

Servings

12 muffins.

Timings

10 mins to prepare, 25 mins to bake at 180C.

You Will Need

  • 190g plain flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • half tsp salt
  • 1 and a half tsp mixed spice
  • 120g caster sugar
  • 170g finely chopped apple
  • 60g sultanas
  • 1 egg
  • 60g oats
  • 150 ml milk
  • 90 ml vegetable oil

Method

  1. Warm the oven to 180C and grease a muffin tin or mould.
  2. Sieve the flour, baking powder, salt and mixed spice into a bowl. Add the sugar, chopped apple and sultanas, and mix so that the fruit is coated in flour.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix the egg, oats, milk and veg oil.
  4. When the oven is up to temperature, combine wet ingredients with dry, and stir to mix. Spoon into the muffin tin or mould and bake for 25 mins. Cool on wire rack before serving.

Customise It!

Cinnamon or nutmeg will go just as well as the mixed spice if you wish. A handful of toasted chopped nuts would be a good addition.

With a number of posts recently featuring spice, it’s amazing that I have thus far managed to avoid adding a track by the Spice Girls to the ADK Playlist. This probably has something to do with the fact that I am not a massive fan. This song, which I do like, comes fairly close, however. Bryan Adams and Mel C (aka the Sporty one) with When You’re Gone.

Categories
Bakes Blog

I am a Bake-Off Winner!

This week I’ve received the exciting news that I have won an award in the Great Bloggers’ Bake-Off 2023!

My Spicy Veg Strudel was joint winner in the Savoury Bake category, along with a magnificent Courgette and Mint Tart. You can check out all the award winners here.

I very much enjoyed entering the Bake-Off for the first time, and winning an award is, shall we say, the icing on the cake.

Well done to Mel and Gary for organising and hosting such a fun event, and Jeanne for judging. Massive praise to all our Bake-Off entrants: you demonstrated the creativity and innovation of the online baking and foodblogging community, with such a consistently high standard of bakes.

So here’s a well done message to all involved in customary ADK style: Fatboy Slim with Praise You.

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Blog

The Great Bloggers’ Bake-Off 2023!

It’s arrived! This weekend of the 26th and 27th August sees The Great Bloggers’ Bake-Off 2023 taking place.

It is being hosted by Mel, Jeanne and Gary over on Caramel. The theme this year is Express Yourself, so expect to see lots of culinary creativity and innovation on display.

Please go take a look at some of the amazing bakes emerging from the ovens of the WordPress baking and foodblogging community. There’s an emphasis on fun and celebration – all participants deserve praise for their efforts, so feel free to leave some likes and appreciative comments, please.

I’m pleased to say that one of my creations from A Different Kitchen is included in the many entries, so do keep a special eye out for this.

Being a food blog with the strapline Good Food, Great Music, I have given some thought to what an appropriate playlist might be for the Bake-Off. Martha & the Muffins, perhaps? Sweet? Bread, Sugababes or the Spice Girls?

And then there is that famous TV show to acknowledge. Maybe The Proclaimers with Sunshine on (Prue) Leith? Frankie Goes to (Paul) Hollywood, anyone?

The Stones have a few contenders – Brown Sugar obvs, but also, perhaps, It’s Only Swiss Roll (But I Like It) (erm, one of their lesser-known hits).

Well done to all our Bake-Off entrants – you are all stars. May your meringues be majestic, and your Battenburgs beautiful. And to all you Victoria Sponge makers, here’s a musical reminder not to forget the baking powder: Gabrielle with Rise.

Enjoy this year’s Bake-Off, everyone.

Categories
Bakes Recipes

Dorset Apple Cake

This time of year finds apples growing on the trees – fresh, crisp and a joy to bite into. Below is a photo of some I picked this week from the trees in our garden.

Having recently returned from a stay in the county of Dorset (see Dorset Calling) I had the idea of incorporating some of our apples in a classic British bake – the Dorset Apple Cake. You can see it in my main photo at the top of this post. It went down well with the family – there were already a few slices cut from it before I could take the photo!

Serve it on its own with a cup of tea, or with a few spoonfuls of Greek Yoghurt.

Servings

Around 16 slices.

Timings

15 mins to prepare, 1h 25 mins to bake.

You Will Need

  • 225g plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of sea salt
  • 1 tsp mixed spice
  • 140g light brown sugar
  • 150g spread or margarine
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 medium sized crisp eating apples
  • demerara sugar to sprinkle over
  • flaked almonds to sprinkle

Method

  1. Switch the oven on to 160C and grease/line a 20 cm diameter baking tin.
  2. Put the flour, baking powder, salt, and mixed spice in a bowl and stir with a spoon. Add the apple, chopped, and stir again so that all the apple pieces are coated in the floury mix. Add in the sugar, spread and eggs, and use an electric mixer to combine.
  3. Tip into the prepared tin and level with a spatula so it reaches the sides. Sprinkle the demerara over.
  4. Place in the oven for 1 hour.
  5. Remove and sprinkle the flaked almonds over. Put back in the oven, still at 160C, for 20 mins.
  6. Remove and leave to cool off in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into slices (see photo below) to serve.

Customise It!

If you wish to cut down on the sugar content, feel free to omit the demerara topping. I left the peel on the apple so that the cake included a little more fibre, but you can remove it with a peeler if you prefer.

Many countries and cultures have their own recipes for apple bakes, including this one for Austrian Apple Cake posted previously on ADK.

Time to add another track to the ADK Playlist. I saw this band a few weeks back when they were supporting the Arctic Monkeys, and they were great. I did say I would feature them, so here they are: this is The Hives with Hate to Say I Told You So.

Categories
Bakes Recipes

Cranberry & Pistachio Cookies

What to do on a summer’s day by the beach when the sun doesn’t shine? Why, bake cookies, of course!

Regular readers will know that I do like being by the beach (searching ‘beach’ via my site search bar throws up no less than 10 different posts).

This week I am staying by the beach on the English south coast, and have already been for a dip in the sea. However, today it’s rather overcast and a little drizzly – hey, it is the British summer after all! Sun is forecast for the rest of the week so, for this one grey day, I decided to pursue other activities.

Which naturally involves some baking. Not wanting to stock up unnecessarily on ingredients, I had the brainwave of shopping at the local refillery – Almond & Co in Westbourne. They have a terrific range of staple foods and will sell as much or as little of each as needed, to take away in your own refillable container.

I decided to make a batch of cookie dough, using their organic dried cranberries and organic shelled pistachios. Here is the haul from my visit, all items individually weighed, priced and bar-coded.

I bought just the right amount of organic plain flour, and to make things a little different, added organic buckwheat flour at a ratio of 1:3 to the plain. My dough also contains the zest of one of their organic, unwaxed lemons.

Notice any trend here? Yes, everything sold is organic. As a refillery, they are also free of plastic packaging. I think it’s good to support a shop that is trying to help us all live and eat more sustainably.

I’m pleased with the results – see my main photo at the top of the post. It just shows that being away from home does not have to mean missing out on home baking, as long as there is a good refillery nearby.

Servings

Makes about 18 cookies.

Timings

15 mins to prepare, 15 – 20 mins to bake (shorter if you like your cookies soft and chewy, longer for crisper and more biscuity).

You Will Need

  • 175g spread or margarine
  • 85g caster sugar
  • 170g plain flour
  • 55g buckwheat flour
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 75g dried cranberries
  • 75g shelled pistachio nuts

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180C.
  2. Put the spread and sugar in a bowl and beat together, using a wooden spoon or electric mixer if you have one.
  3. Sieve in the flours, add the lemon zest and mix again.
  4. Chop the pistachios in 2 and add to the bowl with the cranberries.
  5. At this point you need to get your hands in there and squidge all the ingredients together into a ball of dough. Remove the dough from the bowl, wrap in cling film, and leave in the fridge till the oven is up to temperature.
  6. Line a baking tray with some kitchen parchment. Tear chunks off the dough and shape into a ball between the palms of your hands. Flatten to a disc the width of about 1cm and place on the tray. Place in the oven for 15 – 20 mins until done.
  7. It isn’t necessary to cook all the dough at once. I used half and made 9 cookies, leaving the other half in the fridge to make up another batch later.

Customise It!

This baking idea involves using the resources available while away from your usual kitchen. It is easily adaptable to include other kinds of dried fruit or chopped nuts that you may be able to get your hands on. I swapped in buckwheat flour for a quarter of the plain flour, because the refillery I was shopping in had an excellent range of flours that I wanted to take advantage of. However, you can stick with all plain flour if you wish. I found the buckwheat gives the cookie a slightly darker colour and makes it crisper.

All being well, by this weekend’s post I will be able to report the return of the sun. Maybe I’ll take some cookies to enjoy at the beach. The next track added to the ADK Playlist needs no explanation – Kate Bush with Cloudbusting!

Categories
Bakes Recipes

Blackberry & Coconut Crumble Squares

If you venture down to our local woods at the moment, you may get something of a surprise. No, not those pesky bears picnicking again – the hedgerows are laden with blackberries, and most of them are ripe for picking.

Why is that a surprise? Well, around here, picking blackberries is usually an end of August/early September activity. However, many of these plump beauties have been ripe and ready since mid-July, with plenty more yet to ripen – see my photo below. I should be harvesting these for a few weeks to come.

I mentioned in my recent Plum & Almond Slices post that our plums are also ready much earlier than usual. We hear a lot these days about how our climate is changing, so I guess this is just one more example.

Ever the opportunist, I sprang down to the woods with my bowl and came back with a good 300g, see below.

Within a matter of hours they had been incorporated in a traybake with desiccated coconut, the berries bursting as they bake to release all that lovely jammy juice into the cake. It is topped with a crumble mix and sprinkled with nuts and seeds (see my main photo at the top of this post).

I based this substantially on a recipe I found in BBC Good Food, although it’s been adapted to my tastes in the usual ADK way.

Servings

This makes 20 squares.

Timings

25 mins to pick the berries, 15 mins to prepare and 30 mins to bake at 180C.

You Will Need

  • 300g fresh blackberries
  • 250g self-raising flour
  • 25g oats
  • 140g soft brown sugar
  • 200g baking spread or margarine
  • 75g desiccated coconut
  • 2 eggs
  • a few handfuls of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and chopped nuts

Method

  1. Wash the blackberries in a sieve under running water, and drain.
  2. Turn the oven on to 180C. Grease and line a baking tray. Mine is 22cm square.
  3. Sieve the flour into a bowl and add the oats, sugar and spread. Mix it all up with the fingers of both hands till it forms little clumps of crumble mixture. Remove about enough to fill a mug or small cup, and set aside.
  4. Add the coconut to the bowl and stir in to mix, then add in the eggs. Stir to combine.
  5. Scrape the mixture into the tray and spread out with a spatula so it meets all four sides. Spread the berries in a layer on top.
  6. Next pick up the pieces of crumble that you set aside and dot them over the berries. Finally, sprinkle over a few handfuls of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and chopped nuts. Aim for an even and consistent spread of crumble and sprinkles across the whole of the traybake.
  7. Bake for 30 mins or until done i.e. when a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean with no wet mixture attached. Remove and allow to cool substantially in the warm tray, before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
  8. When cool, cut into squares. Eat while fresh – they will all be gone within a day or two!

Customise It!

A large part of the fun of this dish is picking the blackberries, and then baking and eating them while they are so fresh. If you don’t have blackberry bushes to hand, however, you could still use other soft fruit, like raspberries or blueberries.

You can also vary the sprinkled topping to incorporate any particular faves. Next time I make this (and there will be more blackberries to come) I am tempted to add some broken up squares of white chocolate.

What music has been playing in the ADK Kitchen this week? Fear of Music, the great album by Talking Heads has been having a few plays, as I hadn’t heard it for a while. It really is a classic and I could choose many tracks to add to the Playlist. I’ll settle on this one, which I especially like for Tina Weymouth’s bassline – Cities by Talking Heads.

Categories
Bakes Desserts

Summer Berry Burst Muffins

This post sees seasonal summer berries, such as strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, generously packed into a cake muffin. The berries burst with joy as they bake, giving each muffin a unique, jammy appearance (as shown in my photo above) and a delicious, juicy, fruity taste.

It truly is food to put a smile on your face!

Servings

12 muffins.

Timings

15 mins to prepare, 25 mins to bake at 180C.

You Will Need

  • 220g plain flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • half tsp salt
  • 110g caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 240ml milk
  • 90ml vegetable oil
  • 60g oats
  • 150g fresh berries (such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries or blackberries)

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180C. Prepare a muffin tin or mould for baking.
  2. Sieve the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a bowl. Stir in the berries and ensure all are covered in the floury mix.
  3. Break the egg into a second bowl and add the milk, veg oil and oats. Give it a good stir.
  4. Combine wet and dry ingredients and stir till combined, with no dry ingredients showing. Spoon the batter into your mould or tin, and bake for 25 mins at 180C.
  5. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Customise it!

Other berries or soft fruit can be substituted – but please keep it fresh and local, going with what is in season in your area.

I did say this was food to put a smile on your face, so let’s keep that theme going with our latest musical choice. A Rush of Blood to the Head is still my favourite album by Coldplay. They have done some terrific stuff since, but in my view they have never bettered it. Here’s one of the many great tracks from the album – God Put A Smile Upon Your Face.