Snickers Brownies

A couple of weeks ago I read a thread on a food blog about baking with sweets. The general opinion that one of the easiest recipes to add sweets too was chocolate Brownies or Blondies.
So last week I bought a selection of different sweets and stashed them at the back of the cupboard, so they weren't in view every time I opened the cupboard.

Snickers Brownies

• 150g butter, chopped200g dark chocolate, chopped3/4 cup caster sugar2 eggs, lightly beaten1 cup plain flour, sifted1/4 cup self-raising flour, sifted2 x 60g Snickers chocolate bars, cut into 1cm cubes
  1. Grease a 3cm-deep, 18cm x 28cm (base) slice pan. Line with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang at long ends.
  2. Place butter, dark chocolate and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes or until chocolate has melted. Set aside for 15 minutes to cool. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan assisted.
  3. Whisk eggs and then flours into chocolate mixture. Fold in Snickers. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Smooth top. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out with crumbs clinging. Cool in pan. Serve.
  
  

Jumping Jack Potato & Bread Puddings

Yesterday was my first My Secret Kitchen tasting, I was thrilled to share some of the products with fellow foodies.
To demonstrate the versatility I made three of the Beer Bread mixes up in different guises I made a Jumping Jack Chilli Jam Bread, A Wild Garlic Bread and a sweet Cherry Bakewell cake. There were some leftovers so today I made a batch of these Jumping Jack Potato & Bread Puddings.

Makes 20 bread puddings

Olive oil for brushing

4 thick slices of My Secret Kitchen Original Beer Bread  (day old is better). 
20g butter, softened
4 eggs
125ml milk
25g parmesan, grated
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tbsp My Secret Kitchen Jumping Jack Chili Jam
300g baby potatoes, cooked & cubed
10 sprigs of thyme


Preheat oven to 180ºC. Cut 20cm squares of non-stick baking paper, brush each square with olive oil and press each square into lightly greased muffin tin. 
Spread the slices of Beer Bread with butter and cut into rough pieces.  Whisk the eggs, milk, Parmesan, salt and pepper together. Add 2 tablespoons of the Jumping Jack Chilli Jam, reserving the rest for later.  Mix together the cubes of bread and potatoe and arrange in the paper cases and pour over equal amounts of egg mixture. Top with the reserved Jumping Jack Chilli Jam and thyme sprigs and bake for 40 minutes or until golden.

Fudgy Coconut brownies

When Paul works away from home he takes his Man tin, Abi bought it for him as a joke after watching the Micheal mcintyre Man Drawer Sketch.
So this man Tin carries his home comforts when he is working away from home, including sweets, chocolate and coffee sachets.

Recently I have been baking a lot over the weekends and Paul has now started to take away some baked goods, they don't fit in the man tin but he does make room is his case for an extra box.
One of his extended "hotel family" asked if i'd ever made Coconut brownies, I googled some recipes and gave them a try, this recipe is from the BBC Good Food website, which I always consider to be a reliable source, but I was amazed by the amount of Sugar in this recipe, but If like me your trying to lose the extra lb.'s from Christmas, just make sure when you try this recipe you eat the results in moderation, don't panic as the finished Brownies do freeze well, but don't let the sugar content stop you making the brownies as they are awesome.

Ingredients

• 100g cocoa
• 250g butter
• 500g golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs , beaten
• 100g self-raising flour
• 100g desiccated coconut   { I used 50g desiccated coconut & 50g shredded toasted coconut }
• 1tsp Coconut essence
• Icing sugar , to dust (optional)

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. 
2. Line the base of a 21cm square tin with baking parchment.
3.  Put the cocoa, butter, coconut essence and sugar in your largest saucepan and gently melt, stirring so the mixture doesn't catch. 
4. When the cocoa mixture is melted and combined, cool slightly, then stir in the eggs, little by little, followed by the flour and coconut.
5. Tip into the tin and bake for 45 mins on a middle shelf - check after 30 mins and cover with another piece of baking parchment if the crust is browning too much. I used my top oven { not fan assisted } & the brownies took 55 minutes to cook
6. Cool in the tin, then carefully lift out and cut into squares.
7. Lightly dust with Icing Sugar.

These are a really heavy indulgent brownie that i think is more like a pudding brownie than a cake and would be lovely served Warm with Cream or Ice cream

Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies

In my mind Brownies had to be Chocolate, well I guess until recently I have never really given the brownie much thought, just that I liked them. A few weeks ago I heard someone talking about Peanut Butter Brownies, umm I thought and why not give them a try, after all I like Brownies & I love peanut butter.

I googled the recipe and came across this one on all recipes.com

The measurements for the recipe are in cups, I just love the simplicity of baking from an american recipe.

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter { I used crunchy, but the choice is yours }

1/3 Cup Soft Margarine

2/3 Cup White Sugar

1/2 Cup light Brown Sugar or Light Muscavado

2 Eggs

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Plain Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C ). Grease a 9x9 inch square baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together peanut butter and margarine. 
3. Gradually blend in the brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix until fluffy. 
4. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture until well blended.
5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in preheated oven, or until the top springs back when touched. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes until the sides shrink from the edge of the pan and turn onto a wire cooling rack until, and cut into 16 squares.

These brownies are beautiful, but I felt something was missing, don't mis-understand me they tasted great, but they could taste better & the needed something on the top to decorate them slightly.

2nd Batch

Whilst I was in the kitchen this morning Paul made a 2nd batch and added 50g chopped salted peanuts & 2 tbsp of MSK Maple Caramel Sauce.

Peanut Butter Fudge

Having seen one of my fellow foodies make some beautiful Peanut Butter Fudge I just had to search out a recipe and give it a try, I just adore Peanut Butter.

Ingredients

• 110g butter
• 475g brown soft sugar
• 125ml milk
• 200g peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 425g icing sugar

Prep: 15 mins | Cook: 5 mins | Extra time: 1 hour

1.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Bring to the boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Pour over icing sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth; pour into a 20cm square baking dish. Chill until firm and cut into squares.

I also found an article about making fudge on the Sainsburys website which makes the whole process very easy to understand..

Secrets to success The primary tip for good fudge is to follow the directions exactly: confectionery is the most precise of the pastry arts. Use an accurate sugar thermometer and allow the mixture to reach the temperatures called for in the recipe before proceeding to the next step. Add each ingredient in the order listed by the recipe.

Think before you stir

Don't attempt to achieve smooth fudge with vigourous stirring after it has reached the soft-ball stage, or 115 degrees C: stirring at the wrong time can actually promote crystallisation of sugar into large grains. Small sugar crystals equal smooth fudge that melts on the tongue.

Method Once the fudge reaches soft-ball stage (115 degrees C), do not stir it or even shake the pan until it has cooled to about 43 degrees C. When pouring the fudge from the saucepan to the tin, don't scrape the sides or bottom of saucepan or you may introduce unwanted sugar crystals into your finished fudge.

For beginners...

Look for recipes that call for cream or evaporated milk – these are less likely to curdle than regular milk.

Equipment For best results, use a heavy, high-sided saucepan that holds about twice the volume of your fudge recipe. A heavy pan is less likely to cause scorching, and the extra room will help prevent boil-overs. You can also save yourself a lot of frustration by having an accurate sugar thermometer before you attempt your first batch of fudge. Making sweets and confectionery is a very precise activity. External factors – the temperature of your hob, the type of pan, the temperature of your kitchen and the weather – affect cooking times, but the temperature of the fudge is always the best measurement to gauge doneness.

Be prepared Do all your preparation and gather all your equipment before beginning; once you start making fudge, you can't stop in the middle without the risk of ruining the batch. So before you turn on the hob, you should butter the tins, measure the ingredients and test the sugar thermometer. Test the thermometer by boiling a pan of water, inserting the thermometer, and ensuring that it reads 100 degrees C. Follow the directions faithfully and use good equipment: your fudge should be a sweet success every time.

Spice speculaas

This is a lovely recipe I came across recently, sadly after the festive season but certainly one that I will be using for next year.
Spice speculates evoke very fond memories for me as when I was little my Dad had two jobs by day he was a postman and in the evening he worked for a lovely lady he ran a food importers and she always sent home home for Christmas with some lovely food goodies, including packets of spice speculaa biscuits, so these little treats were always muchly anticipated.

This recipe was found on the baking mad website.

160 grams	Plain White Flour (Allinson Nature Friendly)
1 tsp	Ground cinnamon
1 tsp	Ground ginger
1 tsp	Mixed Spice
1 tsp	Baking Powder
1 pinch	Salt
100 grams	Unsalted Butter
70 grams	Molasses Sugar (Billington's)
4 tsp	JUST MILK

1. Pre heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/Gas 4.
2. In a large mixing bowl rub in the flour and butter using the tips of your fingers until you create a very fine crumble.
3. Add all the other ingredients to the bowl and mix until it comes together as a dough.
4. Once combined turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll the dough out to a thickness of about 2/3cm.
5. Using an 8cm cookie cutter, cut discs from the dough and place onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
6. Place in the oven and bake the biscuits for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Try baking these cinnamon and ginger spiced biscuits. Traditionally these are eaten at the Dutch festival "Sinterklaas" on 5th December.

My Secret Kitchen Predicts 2013 Food Trends

On Saturday I travelled to the wonderful Coombe Abbey in Warwickshire to the annual consultants awards for My Secret Kitchen, everything about the day was impressive from the location to the 4 course meal and everything inbetween.

We had an inspiring talk by Holly Bell who was runner up in the 2011 Great British Bake off, she is so funny and charming and a natural speaker, her story is an inspiration.

As the day progressed towards the new product launch, everybody was getting very excited, but after lunch we had a very thought provoking presentation by Phil Moran who is co-founder of My Secret Kitchen. At the beginning of the year Phil made 10 food trend predictions for 2013, they make very interesting reading.

The New Year is upon us and here at My Secret Kitchen we love to have a stab at the next food and drink trends for the coming year and beyond. So without further ado:-

1.Not just Chilli – increased heat has been happening over the last few years in the UK but increasing curiosity on the differences between types of chilli will mean more named varieties coming into fashion. It’s already happening with chipotle but look out for more dishes naming the chillies such as Pasilla, Poblano, Guajillo and Ancho.

2. Popcorn to explode – More companies are experimenting with some wonderfulvariationofflavours to move popcorn into a real gourmet treat. Blue c
heese and Walnut, Strawberry cheesecake 
and Madras are already out there and will be more mainstream through the year. And they’re good! How about getting that popcorn maker out from the back of the cupboard and do some seasoning sprinkling yourself?

3.Free (from) – Awareness of allergies has been ever increasing but the quality of the foods now being offered as “free from” is right up there. We expect to see these foods moving to the mainstream aisles rather than the specialist niche area they currently hold and improving even further.

4.Creative cocktails – The big new trends in bars across the pond are incredibly creative cocktails using some quite bizarre ingredients such as smoked ice cubes, cardamom syrups and yuzu bitters. We don’t think these will be coming into the UK home too soon yet but the idea of blending certain alcohols with new and varied syrups is not in the too distant future. 

5.Fair game- We predicted an increase in foraged ingredients for 2012 and we were right on this. The next step is an increase in popularity in local meats; so you rabbits, pheasants and deer reading this – start running….

6.Be Brazilliant – We will be awash with all things Brazil as we gear up for the world cup and the 

Olympics over the next few years, and why not? Brazil has a wealth of wonderful dishes such as Feijoada and Moqueca and is the home of the Caipirinha cocktail. Watch these influences infiltrate our plates this year.

7.Naturally Novel – Here in the UK we’re still looking for the more unusual ingredients we can get from nature and we’re looking for something good for you as well. We’re going to stick our necks 
out and go for two that may well be hitting our stores this year - purple tea is high in anthocyanin and an excellent source of antioxidant whilst bee pollen is known as “the fountain of youth” and is high in protein. 

8.Pickling – many of you I’m sure were watching Masterchef the professionals before Christmas and the amount of pickling going on was very interesting to see. Will this see a rise in another way of getting a new flavour from some common ingredients? (As long as Sauerkraut is bypassed we’re happy.)

9.Sweet n Savoury – So common to see in the USA and becoming more popular here too,; unusual combinations challenging your taste buds – we’re still not sure about chocolate and bacon but brie and fig, salted caramel, pretzels and chocolate – bring it on!

10.Hot but not – Heat comes from chilis right? But there’s more out there that will give you a tasty burn – Varieties of pepper like Telecherry, an increase in the use of Szechuan (a delightful numbing sensation!) will become more prevalent in 2013

Well what do you think? Which of these predicted food trends do you think we will see come to fruition in 2013

I certainly think Sweet n Savoury, Pickling, Popcorn to explode & free from will all be seen throughout 2012.
Maybe I was a trend setter when I blogged last Pancake day about my Pancakes with Bacon & Maple syrup.

MSK Chicken Schnitzel with Bacon & White Wine

Cooked By Paul Tonight

Yesterday we went to Coombe Abbey in Warwickshire to the My Secret Kitchen annual convention, it was a very inspiring day with Holly Bell from GBBO, who was a lovely guest speaker.

Tonight's dinner was inspired from a recipe from the Nigella Express cook book but with a MSK twist.

Chicken

2 teaspoons MSK Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil

1 teaspoon MSK Wild Garlic Secret Spice

4 Chicken escalopes approx 125g each.

If you only have chicken breasts then slice them 3/4 through the middle and open up, mine looked heart shaped. Place the Chicken breast between two pieces cling film on flatten with a rolling pin.

4 rashers Streaky Bacon - finely chopped

100ml White Wine

Pasta accompaniment 

50g dried pasta per person

3 dessert spoons MSK Tapenade with Smoked Garlic 

• Add the wild garlic and oak smoked rapeseed oil to the frying pan and add the finely chopped bacon, fry until the bacon is crisp and remove the bacon. Drain on kitchen roll and set aside.
• Bring a pan of water to the boil Dont salt the water and cook the pasta until tender.
• Fry the Chicken escalopes for about 4 minutes on each side, check that the juices run clear, also like to make a cut into the middle to make sure that the chicken pieces are cooked through with no pinkness.
• Drain the pasta and stir in the tapenade with smoked Garlic making sure the pasta is well coated.
• Serve pasta into the bowls and place a Chicken piece onto each serving.
• Return the bacon to the frying pan and pour in the white wine, simmer gently for 3-4 minutes and pour over the chicken pieces.

Don't be tempted to add additional seasoning as the bacon can be salty.

Lorraine Pascale Dream Like Shortbread

Has anyone watched the Great British Bake Off for Comic relief this week. I have always loved cooking, especially baking & it is great to see the nation so enthused with the baking bug. 

The show is addictive and I can't quite put my finger on why? for me one of the reasons is the great presenting duo of Mary Berry & Paul Hollywood, don't you just love Paul Hollywoods eyes, how lovely is to the competitors & he can bake he ticks all the boxes.

On Monday the first challenge was Shortbread which is one of my favourites, so this afternoon after baking cookies for Abi I decided to make some using the Lorraine Pascale Dreamlike Shortbread.

Ingredients

• 130g/4½oz butter, softened
• 60g/2½oz caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 130g/4½oz plain flour ( substitute up to 30g flour for custard powder for a creamier taste )
• 60g/2½oz rice flour
• pinch salt

Preparation method

1. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Add the plain flour, rice flour and salt, and stir well until the mixture is smooth and uniform. (I find it easiest to keep pressing the mixture against the side of the bowl to mix it.)
2. Bring the mixture together and press into a 20cm/8in loose-bottomed cake tin, smoothing it with the back of a spoon. Crimp the edges by pressing with the tips of two fingers, then score into eight pieces with a knife and prick each triangle three times with a fork. Put in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.
3. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.
4. Remove the shortbread from the fridge and bake in the oven for 30–35 minutes, or until pale golden-brown.
5. Remove the shortbread from the oven and sprinkle over some caster sugar. Leave to 
   cool in the tin for a few minutes before removing it from the tin and cooling on a wire rack.
   
   
   When I bake this recipe I usually make individual biscuits, to do this I layout a sheet of cling film & roll the dough into a sausage & wrap loosely in the cling film and roll out the sausage and chill for 20 minutes.
   
   
   After listening to some of Mary Berrys comments she was talking about adding some cornflour, so today when I was making the shortbread I substituted 30g of the flour for 30g Custard Powder. This gave a creamier vanilla taste with the same light texture.

Lorraine Pascale's "Big yummy double Choc Chip Cookies"

Lorraine Pascale's "Big yummy double Choc Chip Cookies"

My daughter  is studying hard for her 'A' levels as well as doing extra shifts at her part time job these past few weeks, on her way out to work this afternoon she asked if I would bake her some cookies to dunk in milk  and so I thought I'd bake her one of her favorites Lorraine Pascale's "Big yummy double Choc Chip Cookies"


This recipe comes from Lorraine's "Baking Made Easy" book that was released to coincide with her TV series.  I came across Lorraine's programme completely by chance as a repeat on one of the food channels last year and instantly fell in love with her cooking style and the relaxed way in which she presents her show. So purchasing her books was a must.

I love cookery books with lots of pictures, Lorraine's books always achieve an excellent balance, but also in the instructions for these cookies she tells you that ' the tops will crack' I love these  thoughtfully little notes.

The recipe states this makes eight large American-style cookies, but as you can see I got over a dozen large cookies from the recipe.

Big yummy double choc chip cookies
By Lorraine Pascale

110g butter
200g soft light brown sugar
1 egg
seeds of 1 vanilla pod or 2 drops of vanilla extract
165g plain
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
30g cocoa powder
100g milk chocolate chips
100g dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 5/190°C and line your baking trays.

Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and cream together until combined. Add in the egg and vanilla and
mix well. It might look like the mixture has curdled but just give it a good mix and it will come good.

Add the flour, salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder and mix until the dough comes together. (It will be quite stiff)

Add the chocolate chips and mash everything together with a wooden spoon.

Divide the mixture into balls and space evenly on your trays. Bake in the oven for between 10-12 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray, they will be very soft but will harden up.

Welsh Cakes

Over the last couple of weeks I have heard a couple of people talking about Welsh Cakes, Until then I had never heard of these little regional treats. Well with the wonders of google I found a recipe and have just made my first batch of welsh cakes.
I did a little research into the history of Welsh Cakes.

A Brief History of Welsh Cakes

“A griddle-bread, circular with deckle edges about 50-70mm diameter, 10-15mm deep. Flavour and texture: Close soft, texture, rich flavour.

Pice ar y maen (Welsh for ‘cakes on the stone’, where they are also known as cacennau cri) have become so well known outside their native area that they are simply termed Welsh cakes. They are a Welsh variant on the theme of flat griddle-breads and scones found throughout western and northern Britain.  The recipe now used, leavened with baking powder, cannot date much before the mid-nineteenth century when this ingredient was first introduced. They were known in Glamorgan at the end of that century and they were baked either on a griddle or in a Dutch oven, a three-sided tin over that was placed directly before the flames of the kitchen fire (Tibbott, 1976). They are still very popular and widely made.” Quoted from the Taste of Britain by Laura Mason and Catherine Brown

Ingredients

• 225g/8oz Self-raising Flour, sieved
  1/4 tsp Mixed Spice
• 110g/4oz  Salted butter
• 1 Egg
• 50g Sultanas
• Splash of Milk
• 85g/3oz Caster sugar
• extra butter, for greasing

Preparation method

1. Rub the fat into the sieved flour to make breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, dried fruit and then the egg. Mix to combine, then form a ball of dough, using a splash of milk if needed.
2. Roll out the pastry until it is a 5mm/¼in thick and cut into rounds with a 7.5-10cm/3-4in fluted 
   cutter.
3. You now need a bakestone or a heavy iron griddle. Rub it with butter and wipe the excess away. Put it on to a direct heat and wait until it heats up, place the Welsh cakes on the griddle, turning once. They need about 2-3 minutes each side. Each side needs to be caramel brown before turning although some people I know like them almost burnt.
4. Remove from the pan and dust with caster sugar while still warm. Some people leave out the dried fruit, and split them when cool and sandwich them together with jam.
   
   
   

   
   

   This is the recipe that I used and it was very easy to make up, but I don't have a griddle so I made my Welsh Cakes in my Paella pan, and I found there is a very fine timing between Caramel brown and burnt when using the Paella pan and frying in butter, but they tasted fabulous served warm with Homemade Strawberry jam.