Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

I have decided to partake in the AlphaBakes challenge hosted by The More Than Occasional Baker and Caroline Makes blogs. Alphabakes is a fun challenge where the baker must submit an entry based on a random letter picked for the relevant month. This month's letter is D. Doughnuts make me think of carnivals and fairs in the 1940's where the whole town flocked to eat candy floss, doughnuts and other sugary delights, watch the glittering show with runaway performers and pay a couple of pence for the dizzing heights of the Ferris wheel... It seems that no one makes them at home any more, which is a real shame. They don't skimp on calories or sugar but they sure are naughty delicious. My favourite is a simple cinnamon and sugar coated ring, although you could ice these doughnuts or pipe them with chocolate ganache, jam or apple sauce. 

Paul Hollywood Recipe


For the doughnuts
500g/1lb 2oz strong white flour

50g/2oz caster sugar

40g/1½oz unsalted butter

2 free-range eggs

2 x 7g sachets instant yeast

10g/¼oz salt

150ml/5fl oz warm milk

130ml/4½fl oz water

For the coating

100g caster sugar 

3 tsp cinnamon

1. Put flour and salt in a bowl and mix in the butter with your fingertips until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. 

2. Then add yeast and stir. Pour in the rest of the ingredients (save 1fl oz of the water) and mix to a floury dough with your fingers. 

3. Add the rest of the water and bring the dough together. It may be sticky. Knead in the bowl for four minutes then take out onto a floured surface and knead for another 10 minutes. 

4. Leave to rise for at least 1 hour in a warm place covered with clingfilm.  

5. After an hour punch the dough back, form into 12 equal sized balls. Flatten slightly, then push a whole in the centre of the ball. Put your index finger through the hole and whirl the dough around your finger until quite a large hole is formed. Bear in mind the next rise will make the hole smaller. 

6. Do this with all 12 balls then leave to rise for another hour covered with clingfilm. 

7. Heat sunflower or veg oil to 180oC in a deep fat fryer or deep saucepan. Have your sugar and cinnamon on a large plate ready. Bake the doughnuts for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden. Toss in sugar straight from the fryer.

Pistachio and Rose Macarons

Ooops there was a minor typo on the initial buttercream recipe regarding the pistachio quantity! Sorry!

Oh dear. I am kind of in love with making macarons right now. Like having macaron related dreams and watching the Da Vinci Code movie just so I can get that little bit closer to the home of macarons, Paris. (BTW Audrey Tatou makes me want to learn French. It is just a pity that this girl crush didn't motivate me when I was actually learning French in school - seriously how cute is she? They should play that Chanel ad she is in to teenagers).

My older sister should have been born into a rich family in the Upper East Side of New York because her taste in almost everything is decidedly fancy. She has an exam this week and a macaron care package seemed a way to A. Salvage my baking reputation after two disasterous batches I made her previously, B. Indulge in my macaron obsession and C. Cheer her up with her favourite treats. The flavour combo was her choice- she choose pistachio and being a messer I decided to add rosewater for an underlying floral scent.

In the interests of learning here are my notes on macaron baking: 
- Like I said in my initial post I used Bavetart's recipe.
- This time around I had a less successful batch with around 4 on each tray cracking on the top. I think that I beat my meringue too much as I kept adding more colour to get the desired colour and beating. Next time I would add the colour a minute sooner. Also the first time I left out her last minute of beating and that batter was more successful.
- Have all your equipment ready.
- I used the bottom of an egg cup to trace the shape I wanted my macs on the baking paper.
- You should bake macs on the lower third part of your oven.
- Some of these browned slightly on the top, even after only 15 minutes of baking even though the last batch didn't at all and I followed the exact same procedure! Very annoying and mysterious. I think next time I will give them 13 minutes and then check to see if they are done.
- If the batter is making, for want of a better analogy (and there is want) 'farting' noises as you pipe it out then you should return the batter and mix it another few strokes because it has too much air and will crack. I make this mistake.
- I sieved the almond and icing sugar on top of the meringue before mixing in as I felt it would doubly ensure no lumps of dry ingredients.
- The colour will get paler as the macs cook so make them slightly darker than you wish the end result to be.
- Pipe the macs down rather than from the side like choux pastry and she will ensure they are all round and not oval.
- If the peaks remain on your macs after you pipe and tap then your batter is undermixed.

These are just things I found out by trial and error, by no means professional instructions.

For the buttercream
85g caster sugar
4 tablespoons of water
150g butter, softened but not runny
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp rosewater
50g pistachios, finely chopped or ideally ground in a pestle and mortar


1. Beat egg yolk briefly with an electrical beaters until light in colour.
2. Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and melt over a gentle heat. Do not boil. When melted bring rapidly to the boil and boil until the syrup reaches 110oC/225oF on a sugar thermometer. If you don't have a thermometer then test the syrup by flicking a string of it into a bowl of cold water. When you attempt to pick it back out it should form a 'ball' between your fingers that is soft- this is aptly named 'soft ball stage'. This will take 2-3 minutes approx.
3. While beating the egg pour in the syrup in a gentle stream. Beat for 4-5 minutes until the mixture becomes very thick and completely cold.
4. Gradually beat in the softened butter cube by cube and beat for another 2-3 minutes until there are no lumps. Add the rosewater and beat for another minute. Stop the beaters and fold in the pistachios. Pipe onto the macarons for a clean finish.

Marble Bundt Cake

I like snow. When I have no where to go and no intention of leaving the house that is. Otherwise it is a complete pain in the derrière.  I won't forget cycling to an exam in a blizzard in final year or spending five hours on a bus to get home from college for Christmas- a journey that usually takes one and a half hours. But when you are aren't inching cautiously around in a car you can enjoy the benefits of snow. Firstly the panoramic snowy scenes and the satisfying crunch of the snow beneath your shoes. Secondly the freezing weather provides an excuse to stay inside, put on the fire and eat plenty of cake, bundt cake to be exact.

This marble bundt is what Nigella would call a 'spruced up' simple Victoria sponge.  The result is a pretty buttery sponge that is easy peasy and would impress the heck out of guests if placed on a table as an after party treat.

But first a few snaps of an Irish winter.

For a 1L Bundt Tin
225g butter or margarine softened
225g caster sugar
4 large eggs
225g self raising flour sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of milk
2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa dissolved in 3 tablespoons of boiling water, allowed to cool

To prepare your bundt tin- brush with melted butter or spray oil then dust lightly with flour. Knock out the extra flour by giving the tin a whack upside down over the sink. Don't forget to brush the inside ring! Place in the fridge for 20 minutes before putting the batter inside.

1. Beat sugar and butter with an electric mixer until soft and light in colour- 5-6 minutes.
2. Add the egg one at a time with a heaped tablespoon of the flour. Beat well after each addition.
3. Fold in the flour gently, or beat on slow with the beater.
4. Divide the batter in half roughly. Into one half mix the cocoa powder gently. To the other add the milk and vanilla and mix in well.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 180oC until a skewer comes out clean. All

My Baking Everest - French Macarons and French Coffee Buttercream

Macarons are in baking vogue right now. The crown jewel of french baking, they colourfully adorn pattisserie windows and counters in expensive department stores like edible rainbows. But you only have to do a quick 'macaron troubleshooting' google search to appreciate the gargantuan number of problems bakers face making macarons. Making macaron batter even has its own word-'macaronage' and macaron anatomy is more troublesome than Grey's.

From seriouseats.com

I've tried to make them numerous times before- three times to be precise. I am not used to being a complete disaster in the kitchen and frankly my pride couldn't take another shambolic attempt. It was time to knuckle down to some macaron homework.

There are a number of great sites that I read and picked up hints and tips. I finally settled for the recipe on Bravetart. Stella has been named one of America's top pastry chefs by Food and Wine Magazine so clearly she has the credits behind her. But what I like about her even more than her training is that she takes a complete no nonsense approach to baking macarons. She rubbishes all the myths and murk behind macaron baking (like 'ageing' egg whites, letting them rest etc.) with her simple, easy to follow instructions. And her recipe 100% worked for me, a serial macaron killer.

I didn't add any colour or flavouring to the macarons this time because I wanted to appreciate the elementary aspects of the process first. This batch isn't perfect; I think it needed a little more mixing but I can't wait to experiment with colours and flavours now that I feel a (little) more confident about the basics.

Also check out
http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.ie/2010/08/macaron-troubleshooting-new-recipe.html
http://www.eatlivetravelwrite.com/2011/04/how-to-make-macarons-whats-working-for-me-right-now/

Good luck!!

For the Buttercream - From Great British Bake Off book- Enough to sandwich 40 macarons

This french buttercream is less tricky than the illustrious swiss meringue buttercream but just as silky smooth and decadent.

2 egg yolks
85g caster sugar
4 tablespoons of water
150g unsalted butter softened and cubed
2 tablespoons of dark coffee

1. Beat egg yolk briefly with an electrical beaters until light in colour.
2. Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and melt over a gentle heat. Do not boil. When melted bring rapidly to the boil and boil until the syrup reaches 110oC/225oF on a sugar thermometer. If you don't have a thermometer then test the syrup by flicking a string of it into a bowl of cold water. When you attempt to pick it back out it should form a 'ball' between your fingers that is soft- this is aptly named 'soft ball stage'. This will take 2-3 minutes approx.
3. While beating the egg pour in the syrup in a gentle stream. Beat for 4-5 minutes until the mixture becomes very thick and completely cold.
4. Gradually beat in the softened butter cube by cube and beat for another 2-3 minutes until there are no lumps. Add the coffee and beat for another minute.

Challah bread

I have found tastespotting again and my foodie senses are tingling with excitement over a few new blogs I have found through it. Baker's Royale take indulgence cute baking to an extravagant level. I NEED to try Slutty Cheesecake Bars, Zebra Bundt Cake and Double Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes among many others.

The Cake Hunter is another stellar addition to my bloglovin account and it is through Sophie's blog that I found this recipe for Challah bread, originally belonging to the Smitten Kitchen. I've been drooling over her Chocolate Torte with Coffee Whiskey Mascarpone and her version of the GBBO challenge Fraisier Cake.

Challah bread is a Jewish yeast bread, traditionally eaten on the Sabbath and special holidays and is considered to be an important way for followers to connect with God. The bread is braided and each one of the six sections represent a different tribe of Israel. It is enriched with eggs and so rises slowly giving greater flavour. To me it is a meeting between a brioche and a white loaf. It is less sweet than a brioche but with a similar soft and delicate texture. I used it to make a chocolate bread pudding so I didn't sprinkle it with seeds as is commonly done. Do so if you wish or knead in 70g raisins or chocolate chips. Or use it to make French toast or spread with jam and butter for a delicious tea time treat.

This is the first time I plaited a loaf BTW. It is a little bit uneven but I was happy for a first try! I have a crazy desire to plait every loaf I make from now on!

Makes 2 large loaves
1 1/2 package fast action dried yeast (11g approx)
1/2 cup caster sugar
5 eggs
1 tsp salt
8 cups strong white flour (around 1kg)
1/2 cup olive or veg oil

1. Whisk the yeast, 1 3/4 cup lukewarm water and 1 tablespoon of the sugar until the yeast dissolves.
2. Add the oil and whisk then beat in the eggs one at a time. Finally beat in the sugar and salt.
3. Gradually add the flour until you have a smooth, not too-sticky dough. You may need to add up to 1/4 cup of extra flour if the dough is too sticky to handle.
4. Knead for 5-10 minutes by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic. Clean out the bowl and oil with 1 tsp oil. Put the dough back in, cover with clingfilm and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours.
5. Punch the air out of the dough after 1 1/2 hours and allow to rise for another half hour covered. After this you can knead in the raisins or chocolate chips.
6. After the half hour turn out and split in 2. Roll one half into 6 separate balls.
7. Roll each 6 balls into 12 inch long sausages. Place the sausages parallel on a floured counter. Dampen the ends of the sausages on one side with a little bit of water and pinch the ends together. This will be the start of your plait.
8. Now to make your plait! Follow the instructions carefully. The plait may look like a mess but it will come together if you are careful to follow the instructions.

1. Move the outside right strand over 2 strands. 
2. Then take the second strand from the left and move it to the far right. 
3. Take the outside left strand and move it over 2. 
4. Move second strand from the right over to the far left. 

9. Start over with the outside right strand. Continue this until all strands are braided. For a straight loaf, tuck ends underneath. For a circular loaf, twist into a circle, pinching ends together. Make a second loaf the same way. Place braided loaves on a greased cookie sheet with at least 2 inches in between.
10. Brush with beaten egg. Either freeze the loaves at this stage or allow to rise for another hour covered.
11. Preheat the oven to 190oC/375oF.
12. Brush the loaves again with egg. Bake for 30 -40 minutes until golden and the bread is hollow when you turn it over.
13. If freezing defrost for 5 hours at room temperature before baking.

Avocado Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Chocolate Frosting

This week I started yoga classes and ate quinoa 'superfood' for the first time and I am feeling rather proud of myself. This wholesome living is, of course, completely isolated from an incident involving a tin of danish butter cookies and my heartfelt late night goodbye to Friday Night Lights, a TV show I become quietly addicted to two months ago. ('Hey Y'all' to all the Tim Riggins fans out there). In my defence the cookies come in this adorable tin with toy solider design and are butter-meets-sugar heaven. My favourites are the squares ones covered in granulated sugar... Anyway like I said this has nothing to do with that. 

Vegetables in our sweet stuff is a new major food trend. I like the thought of healthy-ing up my baking and messing around with flavours at the same time. I tackled beetroot chocolate cake first here and now it is my go-to crowd pleasing chocolate cake. Now I am going all the way and cutting out butter and eggs with these vegan avocado cupcakes. I am not a fan of using oil in baking, I think it leaves an after taste even when using vegetable or sunflower oil, but you only need 2 tablespoons here so there is no impact on taste. The moist avocado acts as a butter substitute giving a moist light crumb. 

You definitely wouldn't know there was avocado in them.  Probably best to only tell the guests after they leave their cupcake cases like this:

From Joy the Baker 

1 1/2 cups plain flour sifted 

1/4 cup cocoa powder 

1/4 tsp salt 

1 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp baking/bread soda 

1 cup caster sugar 

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil 

1/4 cup mashed ripe avocado (around 1/2 medium sized avocado) 

1 cup water 

1 tablespoon of white vinegar 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking and bread soda and salt into a bowl. 

2. In a separate bowl mix sugar, oil, avocado, water, vinegar and vanilla extract. 

3. Add the flour mixture to the avocado mixture and mix well to ensure there are no hidden pockets of flour. 

4. The batter will be very light. Fill the cupcake liners to over 2/3's full. The batter will not rise too much. 

5. Make for 18-20 minutes at 350oF/180oC until a skewer comes out clean. Let cool for ten minutes once out of the oven then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool. 

This cream cheese chocolate frosting is moreish and devine and a big winner with those who find normal buttercream too sweet as it is made with unsweetened cocoa powder. 

For the frosting: Frosts 12-14 cupcakes 

From Joy the Baker cookbook

100g cream cheese 

1/2 cup (100g) unsalted butter 

1/8 cup cocoa powder unsweetened (I use Bourneville) 

pinch of salt 

1 cup icing sugar sifted 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1 tsp milk 

1. Allow the cream cheese and butter to soften at room temperature for 1-2 hours. 

2. Beat the cream cheese allow with an electric beater until soft and pliable. Add the butter and beat until the butter is broken down and mixed with the cream cheese. Add the cocoa powder and beat for 30 seconds until incorporated. 

3. Add the salt, icing sugar, vanilla extract and milk. Beat until well combined- 3-4 minutes. 

Spiced Poached Prunes

I'm obsessed with star anise right now. It is available in good supermarkets and asian food shops sell it cheaply. It's flavour is liquoricy but not with that nasty harsh aftertaste of liquorice candy, it is more subtle and warm. I've been making hot chai lattes these last few days, they are perfect for these chilly nights. Use the link above and make with hot instead of cold milk. The spices are warm and comforting, the milk sends you softly to the land of nod. 

So I am bringing the winning combination to breakfast time with these delicious soft prunes with spicy juices. Amazing with natural yogurt as an anytime snack. I ate it with overnight porridge this morning, recipe to follow!

Adapted From Neven Maguire's Cookery Collection
350g pitted prunes
25g caster sugar
2 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 vanilla pod split

1. Put sugar and 275ml water in a saucepan and melt over a gently heat. Add the spices. Bring to the boil and tip in the prunes. Simmer gently for 5 minutes.
2. Remove from the heat and allow to cool in the juice.
3. These will keep in the fridge in a lunchbox for 3 weeks.