procrastibaking take one: lemon tart

it is a truth universally acknowledged that a student undergoing exam season must be in need of baked goods...

and so it was that during this exam season several hours were set aside for some baking therapy! this included the night before an exam where I really needed to switch off and so whipped up a batch of fairy cakes - a classic bake that involves so little thought and produces a sweet pre exam treat.

however this was only the warm up for a serious procrastibaking season that featured two tarts! this post will track our first attempt, a delicious lemon tart. this is easily one of my favourite desserts, it hits the spot after a good dinner while not being too sickly like chocolate. making one yourself also involves relatively few ingredients so this was a perfect choice for mine and april's first attempt.

we used a mary berry recipe, as she is the queen of home baking, and it included some really useful hints about rolling out the pastry which is the tricky part. we decided to be good (and waste some more time) by making our own pastry - which went surprisingly well! and it makes the tart taste all the better (even if pride is the only addition!)

all the ingredients ready to go

so the first step is to cube the butter and then cut it into the flour. now I didn't know what this meant at first, but a quick google search revealed it's when you use two knives (or a special tool, but who has one of them?!) to break down the butter into the flour. I found this video quite useful for a visual prompt:

the next stage is to add the egg yolk and water to bring the mixture into a pastry dough. there is quite a bit of pastry resting in this recipe, once before being placed into the tin and then again when the tin is ready.

kneading the pastry together

prepping the tin

rolling out the pastry - remember to well flour your rolling pin and surface

getting a bit cheeky with the rolling pin!

once the pastry is in the tin and has been rested it is ready for its first trip to the oven. it is blind baked at first, we used baking beans but you can also use uncooked rice. once it had started to cook we trimmed the excess pastry from the crust, which started to catch so we used tin foil to protect it from burning.

while this is baking we prepared the filling which consisted of a lot of zesting and juicing!



lemons galore!

once the filling is prepared place it into the blink baked pastry case - it is easier to do this while the case is in the oven (with the shelf pulled out) as you don't have to carry it and there is less likely to be any spillages!

the tart then bakes, filling the house with the most delicious smell ever, which meant - as has become expected - we didn't really wait long enough for it to cool before digging in...!

a dusting of icing sugar finishes this off perfectly, and a couple of raspberries would not go amiss

I am pleased to say this tart continued my love for lemon tarts, the pastry was gorgeous and flaky and the filling was the perfect mixture of sharp and sweet. it was delicious both warm and cold, not that it lasted long in our fridge!

I hope the plethora of photographs and the addition of a video makes up for the delay in posting!

love,
nen
x

student sunshine cupcakes.

so the title of this post refers to my latest venture into the world of baking. my lovely housemate anna gave me a book of cupcake recipes for my birthday, which has some recipes and combinations i haven't seen before. one of these was the 'hot and spicy' cupcakes. a quick scan of the ingredients revealed chili, mango and vodka as the primary ingredients. i was immediately intrigued and thought straight away of april, who i thought would also love this combination! as she was returning this weekend and had been away for her 21st birthday i decided to whip up a batch for her return.

the recipe is really easy to follow. it's essentially just a normal cake mixture with one finely chopped chili and 125g of chopped dried mango thrown in. the recipe does call for placing half a chili (sliced length ways) across the top of each cupcake but i thought this might be a bit too much! so i left them out, but next time would but a bit more chili in the mixture to give it a little more heat.

chopping up the chili and mango

stir the mango into the mixture by hand

the mixture was also slightly dense so next time i think i would add a splash of boiling water to break it down a little bit.

so i decided to rename these cupcakes 'student and sunshine' for a few reasons. the mango, chili and lime combination are such great summer flavours which are perfect for when the weather is as glorious as it is at the moment (naturally as it's revision season...). the student part comes from the cakes' topping - vodka!

under-rated cake ingredients!

you first make a vodka syrup by dissolving sugar in water (i think it was 50g of sugar and two tablespoons of water). you bring the mixture gently to the boil for a few minutes before adding four tablespoons of vodka (please be careful at this point as it does splutter a bit, and boiling sugar is hot!). you use a skewer to pierce the cakes and pour this syrup over the top so it soaks into the sponge.

making the syrup

glistening with the vodka!

the final touch is to mix icing sugar and vodka for the drizzle. this is where the student in me took over... the icing was too thick and i was aware there wasn't much vodka left in the bottle so i poured the entire remainder in. turns out there was more than i thought! so these cupcakes had quite a serious kick! although thankfully as the icing set this diminished slightly! so this explains the student aspect. a grating of lime finishes these cakes off nicely.

once you get over the initial hit of the vodka these are really good cakes, the dried mango becomes slightly more moist from being in the mixture and adds a lovely sweet, chewy dimension to the kick. combined with the subtle chili and the heat of the vodka this really is great for a summer afternoon. which is precisely what we did when we moved our little table to the garden and had a mini tea party. complete with the absolutely delicious brownies that april baked. this really was the perfect revision break!

living the revision high life

i would now like to take this opportunity to save a massive thank you to emma white and the girls at her campus exeter for their recommendation of my blog! it means a lot so thank you! and please check out the list of other exeter student blogs as there is such an amazing quality and diversity out there. http://www.hercampus.com/school/exeter/best-exeter-student-blogs

for now i hope you enjoy the sunshine, i'll be returning to my revision grotto!

love,
nen
x

lust after books.

so my twenties have arrived and with them another addition to my collection of baking books. and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it was the new hummingbird book.

their latest offering is home sweet home

so as i cradled my hangover yesterday i had a good look through and there are SO many things i want to make from this book! i really don't know where i am going to get started.

from my initial glance it also seems that they have become more aware of the limitations that the british audience presents - it suggests alternatives for ingredients that might be more readily available in british supermarkets.

what i also really like is that it explains a little bit about the background of the recipes - which is interesting from an english baking perspective as sometimes these american recipes can be a bit bewildering!

but moving on from books i have acquired to those that dominant my wish list...

1. john whaite bakes

i am SO excited for this book! i rooted for john the whole way through GBBO and love keeping up with his baking adventures on twitter (@JohnWhaiteBakes)

it is released on the 25th april - and i'm yet to preorder my copy as i need to work out whether i'll be at uni or home (don't want to risk this getting abandoned at a post office!) but as soon as i know this will be £10 my bank account won't miss!

2. tea with bea

i haven't had a chance to look inside this book, but the cover photograph alone is enough to get me salivating! it's had really good reviews and moves away from cupcakes which would be good to help push the baking trend further.

3. short and sweet

i've heard this is a bit of a classic and can teach you everything you need to know. it's also got 40% off at whsmiths at the moment which makes it highly tempting... goodbye birthday money!

i hope you've enjoyed this small selection of baking books. there are so many out there - have a look in book shops and find the ones that tempt you! and hopefully you can expect a post with my attempts soon

love,
nen
x

farewell to my teenage years...

so here it is - my last post as a teenager as on tuesday i enter a new decade (and quite possibly a quarter life crisis...!) i'm not entirely sure how this has happened so fast, but let's make the most of these last couple of days with some chocolate fudge cupcakes!

my school friends grace and louise came round the other day for a lunch and baking session (including a few cheeky lunch time glasses of rose - see i'm totally sophisticated enough to be in my twenties!!) once the lunch had been consumed (french bread with brie, ham and smoked mackerel pate) and gossip swapped we entered the kitchen to whip up a fresh batch of chocolate cupcakes.

we followed an equal quantities mixture of six ounces. to make the cakes chocolate you substitute two ounces of self raising flour for cocoa powder.

 spooning the mixture out

the tricky part of making chocolate cake is making sure it stays moist - as cocoa powder can dry the mixture out - however these came out sooooo moist and light! you opened your mouth to take a massive bite and your teeth just sank into little more than air, perfection!

 a complicated spooning out process...

also most people know i'm not normally one for raw cake mixture - but chocolate cake is definitely an exception!

waste not, want not!

 fresh out of the oven and smelling good 

the natural topping of choice was butter icing. the butter was nice and soft and i was able to demonstrate the back-of-spoon motion that is needed for creaming. louise asked why we didn't put it in the electric whisk, however (speaking from a lot of experience) putting a motorised whisk into a bowl of icing sugar tends to end in a lot of mess!

but once you've got a more paste like substance developing it is possible to then use an electric whisk. this is necessary if you want to make really light icing as it's impossible to get that much air in by hand. however we were going for a 'rustic' look and wanted to minimise the making-to-mouth time so did a basic mix by hand, taking turns.

i had a rummage through my baking box and found some fudge pieces from sainsburys that we decided we could put on the top of the cakes (after each sampling!)









the decorating process

so with justin timberlake playing in the background, grace and louise iced the cakes and i sprinkled the fudge pieces on top.

being as impatient as ever the cakes were cool enough to ice but still warm in the middle - which was absolutely perfect!

so while they may not be things of great beauty, they sure did taste fantastic and have kept me going while we've been tidying the house up.

all it remains for me to do is bid you a final farewell from my teenage self - i'll see you on the other side!

love,
nen
x



brilliant bakesoc news!

so i hope you are all having a lovely easter and eating plenty of chocolate and possibly a hot bun or two! this easter monday it's all about filling you in on some exciting bakesoc news!

i am the new president! *insert fanfare and confetti*

i am so excited - especially as i have april as my vice president and amanda as publicity officer so it's going to be so much fun next year! (although possibly less fun than this year as i'll now be in charge, eek!) but i am really looking forward to it - april and amanda have already had some great ideas about how to develop the society next year (including april's fantastic suggestion of a bake-related tour around exeter). and i can't wait to meet the rest of the new committee.

so that's the main piece of news. another development was the other day when we hosted our first 'make and take away to bake' class. we're still having issues getting hold of kitchen space so we thought we would host a basics class in which people would make up the raw mixture and take it away to cook at home. we began with shortbread and vanilla cupcakes - both simple recipes. there were a few hiccups - which can only be expected the first time around - but it's all great experience for next year. so here are a few photos from the class:

and finally to round off this post and to cash in on the easter vibe - here are some nest cakes april and i made to hand out at the bakesoc elections. they are ridiculously easy to make - melt some chocolate down in a bain marie and then mix that into a large bowl of cereal (we used cornflakes but rice crispies are a popular choice too).

then keep adding cereal until all the flakes are coated.

next scoop into cake cases (as it's not a wet mixture you don't need a cake tray, any baking tray or a plate will do - just something so you can place them in the fridge).

decorate with mini eggs (the best thing about easter) and place in the fridge to set.

then you're all ready to go! they are super moreish so don't expect them to hang around for long!

you can also customise the mix anyway you fancy - my mum used to put raisins in them which i really like because it adds a chewy texture amongst all the crunch.

don't forget the best part - scraping out the bowls!

so if you're feeling a bit bored this bank holiday why not whip a quick batch up? i'm sure you've got plenty of chocolate and eggs lying around!

enjoy the rest of your bank holiday everyone!

love,
nen
x

topsham take two.

it is with deep shame that i realise my last post was almost two months ago! i share the blame between my own ineptness and deadline season (which technically i am still in but have lost the will to care!)

so i return to the blog with my tail between my legs and another topsham excursion to share with you...

on wednesday the history girls and i threw down our pens, shut off our laptops and ignored the beckoning call of the library for the call of afternoon tea (not before having attended a 9 am lecture and a dissertation meeting, sad times). unfortunately the exeter bargain with the weather to always be sunny on open days failed dismally and before even getting on the train we were pretty drenched (trust me, some snow much might appreciated here just for a break from the grey skies and continual rain that has been driving us all to despair...)

nevertheless we powered on and had a little wander around the antiques warehouse - which is like a treasure trove ensnaring unsuspecting history students! but eventually the call of our (aka vicky's and my) stomachs beckoned and we headed off for tea.

sarah has become a regular at the georgian tea house in topsham and so this is where we went. it is everything you could hope for - a grand georgian house in which the living and dining rooms are converted into tea rooms. there was much deliberating (mainly on my behalf) over what to have. in the end i settled for a plain scone with butter and strawberry jam (the latter handmade which made it even more delicious). i also managed to nab a bit of clotted cream from sarah so it was a really indulgent scone! this went down really well, helped by the sharp but refreshing glass of homemade lemonade that i had with it. the scone was warm (much to my uneducated surprise) and super crumbly and really just delicious. i will definitely be going back for more!

up next, a catch-up post!
love,
nen
x