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!.

The original recipe for this almond and apricot cake can be found here.

Ingredients

230g fresh apricots, chopped (or a drained 411g tin if they aren’t in season)

200g unsalted butter

200g golden caster sugar

3 large eggs

75g ground almonds

1 tsp almond extract

200g self raising flour

A handful of flaked almonds to decorate

Method

1. Heat the oven to 160 C /140 C fan / Gas 2/3. Line a deep loose bottomed 20cm (8 in) cake tin with baking parchment.

2. Drain the tinned apricots in a colander (see tip) and cut the drained apricots into pieces and keep to one side.

3. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Beat the eggs into the mix one at a time with an electric whisk. Stir in the ground almonds and the almond extract. Then sift the flour onto the mixture and fold in thoroughly. Gently fold in the reserved apricots.

4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, and smooth the top, pushing down any apricot pieces that appear on the surface. Sprinkle the top with the flaked almonds and press slightly to flatten.

5. Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Test with a skewer inserted into the cake to ensure it is cooked. If the skewer comes out clean, the cake is cooked, otherwise give it a further 5 or 10 minutes until done. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool in the tin.

6. Place on a cooling rack and when completely cool remove the parchment.

This cake is delicious served on its own, or with cream or ice cream. Why not try custard on a chilly day?! Yum!

The post Almond and apricot cake appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Ingredients (showing double what appears in the book)

200g (7oz) self-raising wholemeal flour (or plain flour with 2 tsp baking powder)

1 tsp ground mixed spice

100g (4oz) margarine (or unsalted butter if for weaning little people)

150g (5oz) raisins

400g (14oz) mashed banana (3-4 medium-sized ripe bananas)

100g (4oz) walnuts, ground or finely chopped (we have never included these!)

2 eggs, beaten

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (170 Fan)/350F/Gas Mark 4. Lightly grease and line a 450g (1lb) loaf tin (I use these tin liners from Lakeland because they’re super quick!).

2. Sift the flour into a large bowl and add the spices. Cut or break the margarine/butter into small cubes and add it to the flour. Using your hand, rub in until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs (you could do this in a food processor if you prefer).

3. Put the raisins into a separate small bowl, along with 1 heaped tbsp of flour (whichever one you are using). Stir to coat the raisins before adding the raisins to the flour mixture in the large bowl. Mix together and make a well in the centre.

4. In a separate bowl, mash the banana, walnuts (if using) and stir in the eggs. Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and mix well.

5. Pour into the loaf tin and put it in the oven. Turn the oven down to 160C (150 Fan)/325F/Gas mark 3 and bake for 45-60 minutes. I always keep an eye on it from about 40 minutes as it bakes quickly in our oven – a quick test to see if a skewer comes out clean at about this time usually helps.

6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes, before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

This cake will keep for about a week in an air tight container. Enjoy!

The post Sugar free banana cake appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Ingredients

150 millilitres regular olive oil (plus more for greasing)

50 grams good-quality cocoa powder (sifted)

125 millilitres boiling water

2 teaspoons best vanilla extract

150 grams ground almonds (or 125g plain flour / 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour)

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 pinch of salt

200 grams caster sugar

3 large eggs

Method

1 Preheat your oven to 170°C/gas mark 3/325ºF. Grease a 22 or 23 cm/ 9inch springform tin with a little oil and line the base with baking parchment.

2 . Measure and sift the cocoa powder into a bowl or jug and whisk in the boiling water until you have a smooth, chocolatey, still runny (but only just) paste. Whisk in the vanilla extract, then set aside to cool a little.

3. In another smallish bowl, combine the ground almonds (or flour) with the bicarbonate of soda and pinch of salt.

4. Put the sugar, olive oil and eggs into the bowl of a freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment (or other bowl and whisk arrangement of your choice) and beat together vigorously for about 3 minutes until you have a pale-primrose, aerated and thickened cream.

5. Turn the speed down a little and pour in the cocoa mixture, beating as you go, and when all is scraped in you can slowly tip in the ground almond (or flour) mixture.

6. Scrape down, and stir a little with a spatula, then pour this dark, liquid batter into the prepared tin. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the sides are set and the very centre, on top, still looks slightly damp. A cake tester should come up mainly clean but with a few sticky chocolate crumbs clinging to it.

7. Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, still in its tin, and then ease the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula and spring it out of the tin. Leave to cool completely or eat while still warm with some ice cream, as a pudding.

The post Nigella’s chocolate olive oil cake appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

This recipe is originally from the BBC food website. It is part of a recipe for parkin with roast rhubarb, if that’s your thing!

Ingredients

170g/6oz self-raising flour

pinch salt

2 tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp ground mixed spice

120g/5oz oat flakes

250ml/8fl oz golden syrup

75ml/2fl oz black treacle

150g/6oz unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

150g/6oz soft dark brown sugar

2 medium free-range eggs, beaten

25ml/1fl oz milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 140C/275F/Gas 1. Grease a 20 x 30cm/8 x 12in cake tin and line with greaseproof paper.

2. Sieve the flour, salt, ginger, nutmeg and mixed spice into a large bowl. Mix in the oats.

3. Place the golden syrup, treacle, butter and sugar into a small saucepan and heat gently until melted and well combined. Stir this mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients.

4. Add the beaten egg and milk to the bowl and mix to make a soft, almost pouring, consistency. Pour the mixture into the cake tin.

5. Transfer to the oven and bake for 1-1¼ hours, or until firm in the centre. Remove from the oven and leave in the tin for 5-10 minutes before turning out. Enjoy with a cuppa

I bought this beautiful Yorkshire Rose pennant from Amy Panda – it’s such a lovely thing! Do visit her lovely Etsy shop and support UK handmade. Happy Yorkshire Day!

The post Yorkshire Day parkin appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Before I go ahead with sharing this recipe with you, I have a few things to admit. 1 – I didn’t make the ice cream for this (I don’t have an ice cream maker, and it would have been a bit difficult with Little One). 2 – the ice cream we bought instead was essentially strawberry ripple – but it did go well! And finally, 3 – I still don’t own an ice cream scoop! Must get around to getting one…I’ve included the ice cream recipe here though in case you want to give it a go, and I’ll certainly be making it one day! The recipe is originally from Delicious Magazine.

Ingredients

150g light muscovado sugar

200g unsalted butter, softened

350g pecans, whizzed to fine crumbs in a food processor

3 large free-range eggs

100ml maple syrup

150g self-raising flour

For the ice cream

500ml whole milk

250ml double cream

1 vanilla pod, split

6 medium free-range egg yolks

250g caster sugar

300g raspberries (see tip)

Juice 1 lemon

For the toffee sauce

100g caster sugar

50ml maple syrup

25g butter

60ml double cream

You’ll also need a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin

Method

1. To make the ice cream, heat the milk, cream and vanilla pod in a medium pan over a low heat until steaming (don’t boil). In a large heatproof mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together with a balloon whisk. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture over, whisking.

2. Half-fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a simmer. Sit the mixing bowl with the custard in it on top of the pan (it needs to sit snugly without the bottom of the bowl touching the water). Slowly heat the custard over a low heat, stirring, until thick. As soon as the custard starts to bubble, pour it into a clean bowl and leave to cool completely. Lightly crush the raspberries with a fork, making sure they still have texture. Set aside. If you have an ice cream machine, pour the custard into the machine and churn as per the instructions. When the ice cream is almost set, transfer to a container and, using a dessert spoon, swirl through the raspberries and lemon juice to create a ripple effect. Cover and freeze (see Make Ahead). If you don’t have an ice cream machine, pour the custard into a sealed container and freeze for 40 minutes. Whizz the semi-frozen ice cream in a food processor, then return to a container to freeze for another 30 minutes. Repeat once more, swirl through the raspberries and lemon juice, then freeze completely.

3. Meanwhile make the cake. Line a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin with baking paper. Heat the oven to 170°C/ fan 150°C/gas 3½. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the pecans, then beat in the whole eggs one at a time.

4. Add the 100ml maple syrup and sift over the flour. Fold everything together using a large metal spoon, then spoon into the lined cake tin. Bake for 1 hour or until risen, golden and a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

5. For the toffee sauce, melt the sugar in a large, heavy-based pan over a medium heat without stirring (shake now and then). When deep golden, add the 50ml syrup and the butter, then stir until combined. Take off the heat, then stir in the cream until smooth. Set aside to cool.

6. Serve the cake in slices with the sauce and a scoop of ice cream. Enjoy!

The post Pecan cake with raspberry ripple ice cream appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

This recipe is originally from Delicious Magazine.

Ingredients

250g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra to grease
250g golden caster sugar
5 medium free-range eggs
175g self-raising flour
75g ground almonds
For the filling
150g unsalted butter, softened
150g icing sugar, plus extra to dust
Zest of 1 large orange
Squeeze of lemon juice
Splash of milk or cream
3 tbsp raspberry jam, at room temperature

Method

1.Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Grease and line 2 x 20cm shallow sandwich tins with baking paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the 250g butter and golden caster sugar with an electric hand whisk until really light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then fold in the flour and ground almonds.

3. Divide the mixture between the 2 tins, then bake on the middle oven shelf for 20-25 minutes until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. Remove the sponges from the oven and leave in the tins for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

4. To make the filling, put the 150g butter, icing sugar, orange zest and lemon juice into a mixing bowl, then beat together to make a light butter icing. Add a splash of milk or cream if you need to loosen it a little.

5. Put one of the sponges on a serving plate. Spread with the buttercream, then top with the jam Place the other sponge on top, flat side facing down, and press down lightly. Dust with icing sugar, then slice and serve with a mug of tea Enjoy!

If you’d like to see my other Victoria sponge recipes, I have the classic recipe here and a delicious lemon version by Mary Berry here. You may also enjoy this Bakewell cake with raspberry curd filling

Happy baking!

The post Orange and almond Victoria sponge cake appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Although I say it was larger than expected, I probably could have worked out that it would be quite a tall cake…but it was for a special occasion, and you’re only 30 once, right? Tom asked me what sort of cake I’d like, and as I’ve been wanting to make a rainbow cake for ages we settled on that. We had invited our parents over to help us eat it and celebrate too, so it wasn’t like we’d be eating it ourselves! I bought some colours from Lakeland which are labelled as icing colours, but work really well in cakes too. After having cake colour disasters in the past it was worth investing in these as they held their colours really well. We have a 6 inch cake tin and used that for each layer – you can buy special cake pans that make a 5 layer cake but I wanted to use 7 colours in my cake. So here are the amounts:

Ingredients (for one layer of cake)

50g/2oz self-raising flour

50g/2oz butter

50g/2oz caster sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 egg, beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Colouring – using a cocktail stick, we dipped the end into the colour 3 times and added it to the mix

Method

We used the all-in-one method for each layer, just to make things a bit quicker! Bake at 190 (170 fan) or gas mark 5 for 18-20 minutes, before cooling on a wire rack. To make things easier when family arrived, we actually made them the weekend before and froze each layer in a plastic freezer bag – this worked so well, and I’d definitely do it again!

On the day, my Mum helped me make the frosting and assemble the cake…it did look like the leaning tower of Pisa at various points, and we had a good giggle doing it! You could use any frosting you like really, but I made two batches of my favourite one from the Hummingbird Bakery book which I have used here (amounts on this post have already been doubled – one batch uses 250g icing sugar). One batch filled between the layers, and the other gave a thin covering over the cake. I did wonder about making more, but that felt a bit extreme even with my super sweet tooth!

Cutting the cake was interesting – you need a very long knife! But amazingly, I managed to cut out complete slices (which was incredibly pleasing!). We had to serve it on dinner plates because it was that tall, and thin slices were also needed! I was really pleased with how the colours turned out overall. I’d probably put an extra cocktail stick of orange in next time, and the red was more pink when we cut into it, but we didn’t want crazy colouring overload anyway. I’d definitely recommend these colours if you’re looking to make your own rainbow birthday cake!

You don’t have to ice the outside!

Since making my original cake, I basically decided that icing the outside was a complete faff I love the look of the layers left like this because you can see the colours really clearly anyway. I also tend to just do five layers as standard now, but I did make a 6-layer one for Little One’s 6th birthday last month – can you believe she’s 6?! When I wrote this original post she was still in my tummy!

The cake topper project is from my book, Colourful Fun Embroidery, which you can find out more about here and find in my shop here.

Post edited 16th May 2022.

The post Rainbow birthday cake appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

The original recipe comes from the Stork website. I also used real butter instead (sorry, Stork!).

Ingredients

For the cake

175g (6 oz) butter

175g (6 oz) caster sugar

175g (6 oz) self raising flour

½ level teaspoon baking powder

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon elderflower cordial

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

For the syrup

Juice of 1 lemon, strained

1 tablespoon elderflower cordial

55g (2 oz) caster sugar

For the filling

115g (4 oz) icing sugar

40g (1 ½ oz) butter

1-2 teaspoons elderflower cordial

3-4 tablespoons lemon curd (click here for my recipe – homemade is amazing!)

55g (2 oz) icing sugar for glace icing OR just some for dusting

Method

1. Cream the sugar and butter together until smooth – either in a mixer or by hand. Mix the eggs and the cordial together and then add a little bit at a time until combined. Stir through the lemon zest and then add the flower and baking powder, mixing until combined.

2. Spoon the mixture into 2 greased and base lined 20cm cake tins. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C, 160°C fan oven, Gas 4 for around 30 minutes or until cooked, and then turn out on to a wire tray.

3.  Then put the lemon juice, elderflower and sugar in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Whilst cake is still warm, make a few deep holes with a skewer and pour the syrupy mixture over the cake so that it soaks into the cake.

4. Place the icing sugar, butter and elderflower in a bowl and beat well until smooth. Spread the base cake half with 1/3 of the icing and 1/3 lemon curd, and then top with the second cake. You can decorate with a thin glace icing made with the icing sugar and a little lemon juice and drizzled over the top of the cake, or you could just dust it with icing sugar instead.

Enjoy!

The post Lemon and elderflower drizzle cake appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Martha very kindly wrote out the recipe for me – thanks to Mum for passing it on!

Ingredients

175g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

150g butter

150g caster sugar

2 large eggs

150g plain natural yoghurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 apple (peeled, cored and chopped)

50g oats

250g cherries (washed and stones removed – you could use frozen but fresh are better)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (160 fan) gas mark 4. Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl and set aside.

2. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in 2 tbsp of the flour mixture and then add the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat well.

3. Gradually add in the flour mix and the yoghurt until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chopped apple, oats and cherries and then pour into a lined tin – I used my brownie pan which was the perfect size. Level the mixture with a palette knife.

4. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, cover and then bake for a further 25-30 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin.

Enjoy! It is delicious on its own or with custard!

The post Martha’s apple and cherry traybake appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Ingredients (serves 8)

175g butter, softened

100g light muscovado sugar

200g canned caramel

1 x 9g sachet vanilla paste (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

2 large eggs

175g plain flour

100g ground almonds

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch of ground cloves

Pinch of ground ginger

Chocolate decorations (optional)

For the caramel buttercream

45g butter, softened

100g canned caramel

300g icing sugar

Pinch of cinnamon

1-2 tbsp milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C (180 fan)/gas mark 6. Grease and line two 18cm round sandwich tine.

2. Beat the butter, sugar and caramel using a wooden spoon or electric mixer until light and fluffy, then add the vanilla paste or extract. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, and adding a tablespoon of flour with the final egg to prevent curdling.

3. Add the rest of the flour, almonds, baking powder and spices and continue beating until thoroughly combined. Divide the mixture between the tins, spreading it evenly.

4. Bake the sponges for 25-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into each centre comes out clean and the tops are springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Meanwhile, make the buttercream. Beat the butter and caramel until creamy, then sift in the icing sugar and cinnamon and beat until smooth. Add the milk a little at a time, until the mixture has a spreading consistency.

6. To assemble the cake, spread a layer of buttercream over one of the cooled sponges, then top with the other spine and cover the top of the cake with the remaining buttercream. Decorate with sprinkles and then cut a big slice – enjoy!

The post Caramel cake appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

This recipe comes from the BBC Good Food Magazine website, and originally appeared in the magazine in January 2002.

Ingredients

For the cake

225g softened butter, plus extra for greasing

225g golden caster sugar

4 medium eggs

2 limes, grated zest and juice

250g self-raising flour, sifted with a pinch of salt, plus extra flour

25g ground almonds

100g each blueberries and raspberries

For the syrup

8 tbsp lime juice (about 4 limes)

1 lime, grated zest

140g golden caster sugar

Method

1. Line the base and sides of a 20cm/8in square cake tin (not loose-based) with greaseproof paper and butter the paper. Set oven to 180C/Gas 4/fan oven 160C.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little flour towards the end to prevent curdling. Beat in the lime zest, then fold in the flour and almonds. Fold in enough lime juice – about 3 tablespoons – to give you a good dropping consistency (the mixture should drop easily from the spoon when tapped).

3. Fold in three quarters of the blueberries and raspberries and turn into the prepared tin. Smooth the surface, then scatter the remaining fruit on top – it will sink as the cake rises.

4. Bake for about 1 hour (cover with foil if beginning to brown too much), or until firm to a gentle prod in the centre. A skewer pushed into the centre should be clean when removed.

5. Meanwhile make the syrup: put the lime juice, zest and sugar in a small saucepan. Put over a gentle heat and stir, without allowing to bubble. The sugar should dissolve a little. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick all over with a skewer then spoon the syrup over it. To store, cool before wrapping in paper and/or foil.

6. Carefully remove the cake from the tin, discard the lining paper and cut into 12 pieces to serve. Enjoy!

The post Raspberry and blueberry lime drizzle cake appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

This recipe originally comes from the Delicious Magazine website.

Ingredients

425g strong plain white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

½ tsp salt

50g butter, softened

7g sachet easy-blend fast-action yeast

1 tsp ground cinnamon

25g light muscovado sugar

1 eating apple, cored and finely diced (I used a Pink Lady apple)

150g dried cranberries

125ml milk, plus extra for brushing

400g natural colour marzipan

Method

1. Place the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub it in until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the yeast, then add all the remaining ingredients except the milk and marzipan.

2. Pour the milk into a jug and add 125ml boiling water. Stir into the dough and mix well until it gathers into a soft ball.

3. Turn the mixture out onto a floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cut off about 75g marzipan and reserve to make the crosses. Cut the remaining marzipan into twenty four 1cm cubes. Form the dough into a fat sausage and cut into 12 slices, cut each slice in half and place a piece of marzipan in the centre of each and pinch the dough around it. Roll into a ball and place on a baking tray.

4. Roll out the reserved marzipan into tiny thin sausages and use to make crosses on the buns. Cover loosely with cling film. Leave in a warm place, for about an hour, until doubled in size and the dough feels very light and airy.

5. Preheat the oven to 200C/fan180c/gas 6. When ready to bake, brush the top of the risen buns with milk. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy – Happy Easter!

The post Cinnamon and apple hot cross buns with marzipan appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Ingredients

150g/5oz light brown sugar

50g/2oz butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 tbsp water

3 very ripe bananas, mashed

200g/7oz plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Line a loaf tin with baking parchment.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, water and bananas until well blended. Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and baking powder, and mix well until everything is combined.

3. Pour into the loaf tin – it will rise well so leave a couple of centimetres from the top to allow for this (you can make muffins if there’s any mixture left).

4. Bake for about an hour until the top is firm and golden brown. When removed from the oven, allow to cool on its side in the tin for 10 minutes, before removing and allowing to cool completely on a wire rack.

This banana bread will keep in an air-tight tin for a few days – if it lasts that long!

Post updated 2nd July 2016.

The post Banana bread appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

I had a look on the internet and came across this recipe on This Cotswold Girl‘s blog (which is fab – lots of lovely recipes and things!). Let’s face it, anything with Nutella in it has to be good. And a little bit dangerous. My mission is to not eat what’s left out of the jar with a spoon…but I did test it out beforehand, just to check it was ok… I did also overfill the loaf tin slightly, on account of the fact that we had already packed the muffin tin and cases, so it isn’t the prettiest cake I’ve ever made – BUT it would look better if I hadn’t done that, so I’m sure yours will look amazing! It tastes SO good though, and you just have to give it a go – we only eat bananas in cake and we love this one.

Ingredients

4 large / 5 small black / old bananas (don’t use ripe ones – it doesn’t taste as good)

100g butter

140g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 eggs

140g light brown sugar

4 heaped tbsp Nutella

2 tbsp milk

Method

1. Mash up the bananas with a fork in a mixing bowl

2. Add in all other ingredients – bar the milk and Nutella – and stir until it forms a smooth mixture. (You could soften the butter in the bowl first and mix in a bit of sugar to get it going – I’m going to do this next time.)

3. Heat the milk and Nutella in a pan over a low heat to form a smooth, chocolatey liquid

4. Pour the Nutella into the mixing bowl and roughly fold in. Don’t mix in completely as you’ll want it to form a marbled mixture.

5. Pour into a loaf tin and bake for 30-40 minutes at 180C (it took about 55 in our oven, so just keep an eye on it!). Leave to cool before removing from the tin and eating. Best enjoyed with a cuppa

The post Banana and Nutella cake appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Ingredients

225g self-raising flour
¼ tsp salt
50g slightly salted butter, chilled, cut in small pieces
25g golden caster sugar
100g glacé cherries, chopped (optional)
125ml buttermilk
4 tbsp full-fat milk
a little extra flour for dusting
strawberry jam and clotted cream, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7/fan 200C and lightly butter a baking sheet (unless you’re using a non-stick sheet). Tip the flour into a mixing bowl with the salt. Add the butter, then rub together with your fingers to make a reasonably fine crumbed mixture, lifting to aerate the mixture as you go. Try not to overrub, as the mixture will be lighter if it’s a little bit flaky. Now stir in the sugar before adding the cherries. Mix well.

2. Measure the buttermilk, then mix in the milk to slacken it. Make a bit of a well in the middle of the flour mixture with a round-bladed knife, then pour in most of this buttermilk mixture, holding a little bit back in case it’s not needed. Using the knife, gently work the mixture together until it forms a soft, almost sticky, dough. Work in any loose dry bits of mixture with the rest of the buttermilk. Don’t overwork at this point or you will toughen the dough.

3. Lift the ball of soft dough out of the bowl and put it on to a very lightly floured surface. Knead the mixture just 3-4 times to get rid of the cracks.

4. Pat the dough gently with your hands to a thickness of no less than 2cm and no more than 2.5cm. Dip a 5.5cm round fluted cutter into a bowl of flour – this helps to stop the dough sticking to it, then cut out the scones by pushing down quickly and firmly on the cutter with the palm of your hand – don’t twist it.You will hear the dough give a big sigh as the cutter goes in. Gather the trimmings lightly then pat and cut out a couple more scones.

5. Place on the baking sheet and sift over a light dusting of flour or glaze if you wish. Bake for 10-12 minutes until risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack, uncovered if you prefer crisp tops, or covered loosely with a cloth for soft ones.

6. Serve with jam and a generous mound of clotted cream (Cornish people put cream first, then jam, Devonians the other way round). Eat them as fresh as you can – or pop them in the freezer once cooled.

The post The ultimate scones appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Our building work is in full swing now so there isn’t really much cooking or baking going on at the moment. The work only started on Wednesday, and I’m missing it already! So it’s a good job that I have been saving up a few foodie posts to use whilst it’s all happening. I made this delicious buttermilk cake a long time ago now – it’s really easy to make and is great for any occasion. I had never used buttermilk before making this, but it makes the cake really moist. Yum! 

This recipe comes from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.

Ingredients (for a 23 x 13cm loaf tin)

120g unsalted butter, at room temperature

330g caster sugar

3 eggs

200g plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

120ml buttermilk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3.

2. Put the butter and sugar in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment and cream until light and fluffy (you can always use a handheld electric mixer or good old elbow grease and a wooden spoon to do this if you prefer!). Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a spatula after each addition.

3. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a separate bowl. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, followed by half the buttermilk. Mix well and then repeat the process, finishing with the flour.

4. Stir in the vanilla extract and then mix well until everything is combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and smooth over with a palette knife.

5. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and the sponge bunches back when touched. Leave to cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Enjoy with a cuppa!

Post updated 17th February 2020.

The post Buttermilk cake appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Ingredients

300g butter (you could use margarine if you prefer)
200g soft brown sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup
700g oats
2 pinches salt
100g crystallised ginger, chopped into fairly small pieces
75g dark chocolate, roughly chopped (I used 70% cocoa solids)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas mark 4. Grease and line a 10 x 15 inch baking tray. Melt the butter (or margarine), sugar and syrup in a pan over a low heat until melted and combined.

2. Mix in the oats, salt, ginger and chocolate and then press into the tray. It’s worth spending a few minutes pressing the mixture in with the back of a spoon, just to make sure that the mixture sticks really well.

3. Bake for 15-20 minutes and then leave to cool in the tray on a wire cooling rack. I usually let it cool for a little while and then cut it into pieces before it has completely cooled.

Enjoy!

Post updated 14th August 2016.

The post Ginger and dark chocolate flapjack appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.