Ingredients

400g dark chocolate, broken into chunks

25g cocoa powder

250g golden caster sugar

250g butter, plus extra for greasing the tin

1 tbsp ground ginger

140g ground almonds

6 large eggs, separated

For the icing

100g butter, chopped

50g dark chocolate, broken into chunks

200g icing sugar, sifted

2 tbsp ground ginger

A few chunks of crystallised ginger, cut into small chunks

Method

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease a 20 x 30cm cake tin, and line the base and sides with baking parchment. Melt the chocolate, cocoa, sugar and butter together in a saucepan over a very low heat. Once the chocolate and butter have melted and sugar dissolved, remove from the heat and stir in the ginger and almonds, followed by the egg yolks, one at a time

2. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Using a metal spoon, stir a couple of spoonfuls of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to loosen before very gently folding in the rest.

3. Gently scrape into the tin. Bake for 30-35 mins until the top looks set and the centre doesn’t wobble too much. Sit the cake tin on a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

4. Once cool, make the icing. Put the butter, chocolate, cocoa, icing sugar, ground ginger and 4 tbsp water in a pan. Gently heat, stirring, until you have a smooth icing. Pour over the cake (still in its tin), leave for 1-2 mins to cool slightly, then scatter over the ginger. Cool completely (you can also store in the fridge if you bring out to room temperature about 20 mins before serving) before cutting into bars.

The photos don’t do these chocolate gingerbread brownies with fudgy icing much justice! Needless to say, they weren’t around for long.

This post is part of my photos for #ColourMyEveryDay – an Instagram photo challenge with @adventuresandteaparties. Find out more about it in my previous post, where I also shared some lovely autumnal recipes. What new recipes have you been making recently?

Post updated 12th February 2020.

The post Chocolate gingerbread brownies with fudgy icing appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

This recipe is taken from this month’s birthday edition of BBC Good Food magazine.

Ingredients

250g/9oz chunk of pumpkin or squash flesh

50g/2oz black treacle

140g/5oz golden syrup

140g/5oz light soft brown sugar

100ml/3 ½ fl oz semi-skimmed milk

100g/4oz cold butter, diced (plus extra for greasing)

225g/8oz self-raising flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp ground ginger

2 tsp mixed spice

2 medium eggs, beaten

8-10 chunks crystallised ginger, thinly sliced

Method

1. Put the pumpkin or squash in a microwave-proof bowl with a dribble of water. Cover with cling film, pierce with a couple of holes and cook in a microwave on High for 5-10 mins (alternatively, chop into chunks and boil in a pan of water for 10-15 mins), and leave to cool. Mash or blitz in a food processor until smooth.

2. Put the treacle, syrup, sugar and milk in a pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool a little.

3. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4, and line a 900g loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Sift the flour, bicarb, spices and a pinch of salt into a bowl together. Tip in the diced butter and rub it in with your fingertips until no big lumps remain.

4. Whisk the mash and the egg into the lukewarm syrupy mixture, and then stir everything into the dry ingredients. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and then scatter most of the crystallised ginger on top.

5. Bake in the oven for around 45 mins or until a skewer poked in the centre comes out with just moist crumbs attached. Scatter over the remaining sliced ginger to stick and then cool in the tin.

Enjoy with a cuppa – a few days later, if you can wait!

Post updated 7th November 2016.

The post Squidgy pumpkin and ginger loaf appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

This recipe originally comes from Delicious Magazine.

Ingredients

225g peeled and deseeded pumpkin or butternut squash, cubed
4 tbsp full cream milk
1 large egg
175g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
150g caster sugar
11/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
50g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 tbsp poppy seeds
Grated zest of 1 small lemon

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Grease a 900g loaf tin and line with baking paper or greaseproof paper, then grease well once more.

2. Cook the pumpkin in boiling water for 10-15 minutes, until tender. Drain well and leave until the steam dies down and the pumpkin has cooled, then blend to a smooth purée in a food processor. By making sure the pumpkin has cooled you should avoid a dense cake. Scoop it into a mixing bowl and mix in 3 tablespoons milk and the egg.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar, mixed spice, nutmeg and seasoning into the cleaned bowl of the food processor. Add the butter and process until the mix looks like fine breadcrumbs.

4. Add to the purée and stir until just mixed, adding the remaining milk if the mixture seems dry. Stir in the poppy seeds and grated lemon zest. Spoon the mix into the loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes until well risen and golden.

5. Remove the cake from the tin and cool on a wire rack. Remove the paper and serve cut into slices.

Enjoy!

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I had a really productive crafty day today, and if you’ve seen my previous post then you might have guessed that there was a bit of a leafy theme going on! I found this recipe for these biscuits in the November 2013 issue of Country Living magazine, and bought a set of leaf cutters to make them (which will no doubt come in handy again). The biscuits are yummy on their own but the maple buttercream is divine and makes them extra special, so well worth making that too. If you’ve got a sweet tooth like me then you’ll love them!

Ingredients

50g pecan nuts
200g plain flour, plus more to dust
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
60g light muscovado sugar
125g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and softened

For the maple buttercream

100g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and softened
150g icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C (160C for fan oven)/Gas mark 4. Line two baking trays with baking parchment. Tip the nuts onto one of the trays and place in the oven for five minutes, or until lightly roasted. Let them cool slightly, then chop very, very finely (I did this in a food processor just to be sure!)

2. Sift together the flour and cinnamon, add the muscovado sugar and rub in the butter with your fingertips until it resembles crumbs. Add the chopped nuts and continue to work the mixture – it will come together as a dough.

3. On a very lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 3-4mm thick. Cut out the biscuits using 3-5cm long leaf cutters. Remember to make an even number of each design if you are sandwiching them together!

4. Lay the biscuits on baking trays and bake for 15-20 minutes until a pale golden colour. Cool on the trays for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. To make the buttercream, place the butter, icing sugar, vanilla extract and golden syrup in a bowl and mix together – you can do this by hand or with an electric whisk, but the mixture should be pale and creamy. Drizzle in the maple syrup and beat thoroughly.

6. The unfilled biscuits will keep for a few days in an airtight tin, but once filled, the biscuits will need to be served on the day. When ready to serve, sandwich the leaves together with the buttercream. You could dust them with some icing sugar (I forgot this bit – oops!). Enjoy!

The post Maple and Pecan Autumn Leaves appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Ingredients

For the Parkin
110g butter, melted and cooled
250g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
225g black treacle
125ml Guinness
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 eggs, lightly beaten
200g caster sugar

For the frosting (optional)
100g white chocolate (the Green and Black’s white chocolate works really well!)
75ml double cream
60g whole fat cream cheese

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (160C for a fan oven) gas mark 4. Grease a 23 x 10cm loaf tin and line with baking parchment, leaving roughly a 5cm overhang so that you can remove the cake more easily later.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and cloves together in a medium bowl and set aside.

3. Put the treacle and Guinness into a medium pan and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and add the bicarbonate of soda. The mixture will bubble and foam; set aside until it settles down.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until thickened and pale. Drizzle in the butter and whisk to combine. Then whisk the Guinness mixture into the eggs.

5. Sift the flour mixture over the liquid ingredients and gently fold together until combined. Pour into the prepared tin (leave about 1.5cm at the top for the Parkin to rise!) and bake for 1 hour or until a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.

7. For the frosting, break the white chocolate into a bowl. Heat the double cream in a pan, until very hot but not boiling and pour the hot cream over the white chocolate to melt it. Stir until melted and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

8. Then, spoon the cream cheese into a bowl then gradually add the white chocolate mixture and stir until combined. Set aside to cool a little, until thick enough to ice. When ready, spread the icing over the top of the cake – you could add some sprinkles too if you like.

Enjoy!

I originally used this frosting in a recipe for rich chocolate almond cake, which you may also enjoy!

The post Guinness Parkin appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Ingredients

125g slightly salted butter, plus extra for greasing

150g porridge oats

125g plain flour

100g plain wholemeal flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground mixed spice

175g black treacle

175g golden syrup

150ml milk

1 medium egg, beaten

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°c/gas mark 3. Grease and line the base and long sides of a 25 x 11cm loaf tin, or one with a capacity of 1.5 litres.

2. Place the oats in a food processor and lightly blend to form a coarse oatmeal texture. Tip into a large mixing bowl and add the flours, bicarbonate of soda and spices then mix together.

3. Cut the butter into pieces and heat gently in a saucepan with the treacle and syrup until the butter has melted (but not boiled). Remove from the heat and stir in the milk and then the egg.

4.Add to the dry ingredients in the bowl and stir until well mixed. Pour into the tin and spread into the corners.

5. Bake for 35-40 minutes (it did take about 45-50 in my old oven!) until well-risen and just firm to the touch. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out just about clean. Leave to cool in the tin.

6. Enjoy! Store in an airtight container. Parkin tastes just as good (if not better) even after a week or so, so you can always make it in advance.

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