Big up your baking, Oundle Festival, Sat 17 July 2010

***PLEASE NOTE – this article refers to events in 2010 – Dan plans to return to the Oundle Festival on Saturday 16th July 2011 and further details will be posted once they have been agreed***

Several times a year I hold very intensive hands-on baking classes at Cookery School in London – details are usually posted at www.danlepard.com/forum under the heading Baking Classes. They may seem a little pricey, as you’re in a small group and it’s almost like a personal baking day with me – but perfect if you want to fast-track your baking skills.

However, this year I also wanted to do something more inclusive, affordable and easy, for anyone who has even the slightest yearning to bake without going overboard on techniques and complexity. So when the Oundle International Festival organisers wanted to make bread baking a big part of their summer event it looked like the right opportunity.

Tickets for each workshop are £12.50, children under 12 free. Book for both events and receive a £5.00 discount.

On Saturday 17th July 2010 I am doing two demonstrations:

10.30am: The easiest fastest bread making class in the world:

If you’ve never even made bread then this demonstration class will get you riding on a bread roll. We’ll use a very easy recipe, made with affordable ingredients, and produce a light textured, moist and well-flavoured bread with barely any kneading or shaping. You’ll leave thinking “that’s a bread I can make at home”. Demonstration lasts 90 minutes.

2.00pm: Sourdough: how to bake a better loaf:

Learn the three-stage sourdough method that will transform your bread and make it light, full of aeration, and produce a rounded loaf no matter what recipe you use. Whether you’re a sourdough novice or an experienced baker, the demonstration will give you the important techniques that will improve your baking quickly. Demonstration lasts 120 minutes.

The classes will take place in the Victoria Hall, West Street with tickets available from the Oundle International Festival Box Office, 4 New Street, Oundle PE8 4ED 01832 274734 or online at www.oundlefoodfestival.co.uk

Whoopie pies in Sainsbury’s Magazine June issue

chocolate whoopieThere are very few recipe that push my addiction buttons, but I can – hand on heart – admit to eating most of the whoopie pies I made and tested for Sainsbury’s Magazine’s June issue, alongside a mountain of meringues, pavlova, blueberry cream pies and floating islands.

A whoopie pie is made of two soft tender “biscuits” made by spooning a simple cake mixture onto a baking tray so that it spreads very slightly. Then these are sandwiched together with a marshmallow butter cream. I wanted to make them without resorting to food colourings and give them just a little simplicity and natural vigour. So I’ve chucked out the food dye and used bold fresh flavours: raspberry preserve, vanilla beans, fresh lemon and orange zest, dried apricots, sour cherries, passionfruit, toasted almonds. And chocolate, a very rich chocolate. There are recipes for making vanilla and chocolate whoopies, raspberry ruffle, lemon or orange cream, apricot and almond (my favourite), hazelnut and black cherry, and passionfruit.

The meringue feature is good too, I don’t think I’ve ever baked so many meringues over a week. There’s a simple meringue recipe, with flavours like double chocolate, lemon sherbert and pistachio sundae. Miniature rose meringues with strawberries, an almond maple pavlova filled with fresh cherries, poached lemon meringues with roasted nectarines, and a blueberry cocoa meringue pie with a dark chocolate shortcrust.

Almost all of the recipes written went into the issue, except for one that was a little bit trickier and took too much space. In the magazine I used melted marshmallows to make the buttercream, but it is possible to get creative and make your own with sheets of gelatine and a few other ingredients.

Marshmallow buttercream

This will keep quite well in the refrigerator for week or so, and cake be returned to a creamy state by warming it very gently until it begins to soften. If you melt it too much just let it cool slightly then, just when it’s half-set, whisk it again until creamy.

2 small sheets gelatine (or one large sheet)
1 egg white
50g caster sugar
1 tbsp golden syrup
75g unsalted butter, very soft
25g icing sugar

1. Cut the gelatine into squares and leave to soften in 50ml warm water.

2. Place the egg white and caster sugar in a saucepan and heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is very hot. Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl and add the gelatine and golden syrup then stir until smooth.

3. Chill until it’s just set at the edges. Beat with an electric whisk for 4 – 5 minutes until thick, white and creamy. Leave covered at room temperature till you need it.

4. Warm it very slightly then beat it well until creamy again, adding a few teaspoons boiling water to help soften it.

5. Finally, beat in the butter and icing sugar until creamy then use immediately. If it firms just warm it slightly and beat again.

For vanilla marshmallow: whisk in the seeds from a vanilla pod at the end with the butter.

For chocolate marshmallow: add 25g cocoa and an extra tablespoon of caster sugar in with the golden syrup.

Muscovado peanut cookies

from The Guardian

Unrefined sugar gives this cookie recipe a rich dark flavour, but it can taste slightly bitter with a strong mineral kick. That’s where the lemon and cocoa come in, as lemon brightens the flavour on the first bite, while the cocoa help to push the aftertaste towards chocolate. Adding a high c and a low b to this peanut cookie number.

75g unsalted butter, softened
50g crunchy peanut butter
225g Muscovado or dark molasses sugar
1 good tbsp black treacle or molasses
finely grated zest of one lemon
1 large egg
175g salted peanuts
200g plain flour
1 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar, treacle and lemon until smooth. Add the egg and beat it in really well. Add the flour, cocoa and soda and mix until the soft dough is smooth then stir in the peanuts. Heat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/gas 4 and line a baking tray with foil or non-stick paper. Round teaspoon sized balls of the dough onto the tray, spaced 5cm apart, and bake for about 12 – 14 minutes until puffed. Remove the tray from the oven and leave for 5 minutes to set slightly then use a spatula to move the cookies to a wire rack or cold plate to cool.

If you have any questions about the recipe just ask over on our forum

Tamarind coffee cupcakes with fudge frosting

Tamarind paste gives a flavour a gentle lemon-like flavour to these coffee cupcakes. The simple chocolate and espresso frosting has a slight sugar grain to it, just like good fudge, but much quicker to make.

Makes 9

125g unsalted butter, softened
125g light soft brown sugar
1 tbsp ground coffee
1 tbsp tamarind paste
2 large eggs
200g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp cream of tartar

for the frosting
75g dark chocolate
25g unsalted butter
250g icing sugar
espresso-strength coffee
shavings of dark chocolate

Line a muffin tray with about 9 muffin papers and heat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/375°F/gas 5. Beat the butter and brown sugar until light and whipped. If you have an electric mixer, use it as you’ll get a much lighter cupcake. Add the coffee and tamarind, beat well then beat in the eggs one at a time until light and smooth. In a small bowl stir the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar together then sift this into the butter mixture and fold in gently but evenly. Fill the muffin papers to three quarters with the mixture then bake for 20 – 25 minutes.

Leave to cool then make the frosting. Melt the butter and chocolate together then pour into a bowl and leave until barely warm and almost setting. Add the icing sugar and just enough coffee (start with 2 – 3 tbsp) until it forms a thick creamy icing beat well until smooth. Spoon a blob onto each cupcake and swirl it to finish, then sprinkle with some of the chocolate shavings.

Apple, blackcurrant and clotted cream cupcakes

Apple, blackcurrant and clotted cream cupcakes

New tricks with old apples: a little fruit conserve brightens last season’s fruit. Here the rich blackcurrant icing adds a little sharpness to the flavour and a beautiful twist of colour to the top of each cupcake. Make the cupcakes the day before, store in an airtight container. The un-iced cupcakes can also be frozen.

Makes 20 cupcakes

3 dessert apples, peeled and cored
2 tsp mixed spice
50g unsalted butter, softened
1 x 113g tub clotted cream
150g caster sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 large eggs
75g ground almonds
225g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
100g good blackcurrant conserve

For the icing
150g icing sugar, sifted
75g good blackcurrant conserve

plus:
2 cupcake trays lined with 20 cupcake cases

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5. Chop the apples into rough small dice. Toss the mixed spice through.

2. In a bowl beat the butter, clotted cream, sugar and almond extract until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until smooth, then fold in the ground almonds. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and fold this through, too. Scrape the apples from the plate into the bowl and fold very gently until just combined.

3. Half fill the cupcake cases with the mixture. Dilute the jam with 25ml of boiling water, beat well, then spoon a little into each cupcake. Then top each one with a teaspoonful of cake mixture.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden; leave for 5 minutes then loosen each cake with a knife and move to a wire rack to cool.

5. Beat the icing sugar with the conserve and a little water, until creamy. Spiral the icing onto each cupcake and leave to set.

First published in Sainsbury’s Magazine

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