Summer? More like YUMMER.
We’ve got a BUMPER MENU this week, serving up an Argentinian Chocotorta, some summer soiree menu inspo plus 3 SPECIAL recipes from my new book One Bake Two Ways!
Hey Friends!
I don’t want to alarm anyone, but I seem to have lost my baking mojo over the last few weeks. I don’t know why. I don’t know where it has gone. But the urge to wake up early in the morning to spend the whole day baking in the kitchen seems to have disappeared quicker than me necking a tequila shot in my early twenties (which let me tell you, party rubes would have that gone before you could blink, think or move an inch). Is it summer? Do I blame all my anti-workness on the fleeting appearance of the sun? Is it cause I don’t fancy baking the cake and myself in the 30C heat that stifles my kitchen?
As a self-confessed workaholic who would work and bake 7 days a week if others around me didn’t suffer the consequences (I can become real hermitty and my dog and partner do need to be walked twice a day), having an off week or two feels mildly unnerving. That said, I think I am just feeling a smidge uninspired so I TRULY cannot wait to drown in delicious food, meet new people, explore new places and head back to the States in a few weeks.
Am I collating a list of must-hit pizza, bakery and bagel spots in town? Hell yeah. Market research is essential. Appreciating the craft and work of peers is important. Feeding your soul and belly IS IMPERATIVE. My creative juices gotta get flowing somehow people and I can’t imagine a better place than NYC to give me that much needed hit of dopamine. Will I be sweating profusely in the unescapable sauna that is Manhattan in the summer? Obvi. Will I end up with food poisoning again like I had over New Years? I hope not. Will someone shout at me for getting in their way/walking too slow/standing on the wrong side of the street? Absolutely. Its NY baby, its what dreams are made of!
Ps. If you find my mojo, please send via express delivery and any must visit foodie spots for Boston & NY please do let me know.
B O O K - M I N
I promise book-min will be over soon enough (for a short while, we have Christmas lurking around the corner – YES I SAID IT) but for now, we are all systems go ahead of the US publication at the end of the month! I am even more so thrilled to say that I will be heading over to the East Coast for publication day, spending time over in Boston and New York doing some fun events, including baking demo’s and book signings and would LOVE to see some of you there!
Please do check out the event listings and see if any work for you. I’ll be more than happy to spill the tea on all things Bake Off including what happens to all the bakes at the end of the day, why we all wear the same clothes two day in a row and most importantly, whether Paul Hollywood’s tan is au naturale (I think we all know the answer to that).
Currently the book is still at 10% off over in the US on Amazon,
Or available now in the UK at 18% off.
Canada – they cottoned onto the STAGGERING discount they had it listed at and have now removed it, I DID TELL YOU TO GET IT BEFORE THEY REALISED!
Aussie friends, The Nile has it for 25% off. PLEASE DO NOT USE BOOKTOPIA - I have been told they have unfortunately closed so please please please spare your pennies and do not order anything from that site.
South African friends, Amazon are currently offering it at 33% off (again this feels a little suss to me and similarly to the Canada one, I have a feeling mayyyyy be a mistake?? So shh, don’t tell them and get it before they realise).
This week on the newsy, I am SPOILING you with a shedload of recipes. Is that because I feel guilty for being so inconsistent with it of late? Perhaps but ALSO because the sun has made a mild appearance this morning and thawed my icy heart a little, so the generosity is POURING out of me. We don’t have one recipe this week folks. No no no, we have a staggering 6! SIX RECIPES. Which you know means this is going to be one heck of a mammoth email so grab a cup of coffee folks, we are in it for the long haul today.
First up, we have the latest ‘Around the World’ bake which went out on Insta last week. I truly love how this series is showcasing cakes I have never heard of or tasted before, so I hope you are all still enjoying it as much as I am. Can you believe we are on the home straight to the 20’s now?? What is my life going to be without this series?? Last week we went to Argentina (emotionally, not physically, I am afraid), to try my hand at their Chocotorta – an incredibly easy, no bake (if you use shop bought biscuits) cake. A great one to whip up if you’re hosting this Summer or are looking for an easy weekend bake to get stuck into.
Talking of hosting, I am sharing a few fave recipes I will always turn to whenever I have people over in the Summer. I don’t know about you but I am someone whose social battery runs out quicker than your newly updated iPhone so I like to keep the food fun and fuss-free. First up, we have my take on a Esquite Salad with homemade ‘nachos’, which is always on a heavy rotation throughout the warmer months.
I shared this recipe sometime last year but I am bringing it back because I am yet to meet anyone who doesn’t want to dive head-first into my Roasted Tomato, Garlic & Whipped Feta Dip. It is perfect to dunk chunks of warm, crusty baguette into or drizzle on top of a basic salad to take her from sad to mad tasty.
Then we move onto some book specials! Sharing two of my faves from the book – my Fruited Focaccia with Cherries, Plums & Lemon Thyme and then my take on a Victoria Sponge with Whipped Clotted Cream, Roasted Strawbs & Mint – baked TWO WAYS. That’s right folks, I am sharing both the dairy and plant based version of this cake because everyone truly deserves a slice of that summery nice.
Time to finally get stuck in with the recipes this week, first sharing the next installment from my delicious never-ending ‘Around the World’ fairytale. Yes, it has been going on for what feels like forever but also yes, I am going to be extremely sad when it is finally over. Do I just move onto another carb?? Long live my unhealthy desire for stress induced baking. The next cake from the world’s most elusive list is another bake from South America but this time, Argentina makes its first appearance with their stupidly easy to make bake – the Chocotorta.
Traditionally made using Chocolina biscuits, this torta is made up of coffee-soaked chocolate biscuits, sandwiching layers of dulce de leche mixed with cream cheese and is finished occasionally with a chocolate ganache and piped decoration to finish.
I opted to make my own choccy biscuits because getting a hold of Chocolina's in the UK is as likely as winning the lottery it seems, but you can opt for ready-made biscuits for a no bake cake - perfect for the summer.
It’s a total family fave and I can see why as it’s something that can be put together with no stress, relatively quickly and is sure to feed and please a crowd. If coffee isn’t your thing, soak the biscuits in milk, malted milk (this would 10000% be my preferred option) or even juice (I was told this by an Argentinian follower, and this feels a little rogue to me but who am I to judge?). Get this on your to-make list and be sure to freeze any leftovers. The scraps make delicious ice cream sandwiches – I would recommend dunking one side in choccy and sprinkling over some chopped nuts for texture. Summer friendly filth.
Recipe Makes: 20 by 30 cm / 8 by 12 inch deep baking tray
Recipe Serves: 20 Slices
Y O U – W I L L – N E E D -
Dulce de Leche
2 x 397 ml Condensed Milk Tin
Biscuit Dough
450 g Unsalted Butter, room temp
220 g Caster Sugar, plus extra for dusting
490 g Plain Flour, sifted plus extra for dusting
100 g Cocoa Powder, sifted
60 g Cornflour, sifted
Pinch of Salt
Dulce de Leche Filling
560 g Full Fat Cream Cheese, softened
550 g Dulce de Leche
½ tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
Biscuit Soak
75 ml Whole Milk
3 tsp Instant Coffee
15 g Caster Sugar
200 ml Boiling Water
Ganache
130 ml Double Cream
80 g Milk Chocolate, chunks/chips
15 g Unsalted Butter
Piped Decoration
215 g Dulce de Leche
160 g Cream Cheese, fridge temp
175 ml Double Cream, fridge temp
M E T H O D
First up, let’s make the dulce de leche as this will take the most time. NOTE: You can make this a few days before as it keeps well in the fridge you want to give this enough time to also cool down before you use it.
Add your tins of condensed milk to a saucepan filled with water. Ensure the tin is fully submerged before covering with the lid and placing over a medium heat. Bring to a boil before reducing the heat to a simmer.
Allow the tin to boil for 2.45 hours but make sure the tin is fully submerged at all times – top up the water when needed.
Once done, allow the tin to sit in the water to cool. Once the water has cooled, drain and allow the tin to come to room temperature. When cool enough to touch, transfer contents to a bowl, cover and leave to one side.
If you are making the biscuits from scratch, add in the room temp butter and sugar into a stand mixer bowl and cream together using the paddle attachment. Mix for about 5 minutes until the butter is lighter in colour and in texture.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Add the flour, cornflour, cocoa powder and salt to the bowl and mix together on a low speed until JUST combined and there are no visible streaks of flour remaining.
Lightly dust your worktop with flour, tip the bowl out and gently bring the dough together – breaking it up into 4 to make it manageable.
Onto a silicon mat or sheet of greaseproof paper, lightly dust and place a dough ball on top. Press down to flatten, flour again before placing another sheet of greaseproof on top. Roll the dough to a thickness of approx. 3mm.
Use your chosen biscuit cutter or knife to cut (fyi I used a 2.5 inch square cutter), remove the surplus dough from the sheet (keep this to reroll) and place the sheet onto a baking tray and pop into the freezer for at least 1 hour to freeze. This is a golden rule for basically anything when you want to prevent shrinkage or butter leaking – same applies for any prepared biscuit or pastry.
Repeat for the remaining 3 dough balls. Alternatively skip this step and use store bought but make sure you separate any sandwiched biscuits and scrape off the filling (e.g. bourbon biscuits).
When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 160°C Fan/180°C/360F/Gas mark 4.
Pop the frozen biscuits into the oven for 15 minutes. They will still feel soft to the touch when they come out for the oven but trust me, okay?
Leave the biscuits to sit on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to completely cool.
When your dulce de leche and biscuits have cooled, make the filling by adding the dulce, cream cheese and vanilla to a mixer bowl. Mix until smooth. Pop in the fridge whilst you make your biscuit soak.
Into a bowl or dish, add the instant coffee, sugar and milk. Give this a mixy mix until the granules are mostly dissolved before adding the hot water. Stir and leave to cool. NOTE: If coffee isn’t your flex you can substitute for hot chocolate or opt just for milk. If you want to use the latter, sub the hot water for milk.
When you are ready to construct, double line a 20 by 30 cm / 8 by 12 inch. Trust me on the double lining, I single lined and paid the price as the paper ripped when I was *trying* to remove it from the tin. Don’t put yourself through that stress okay.
Dunk a biscuit in the coffee soak before placing onto the tray base. Line the entire base before adding ¼ of the dulce de leche filling on top. Use an offset palette knife or back of a spoon to level out for a nice even top.
Repeat the layers until you are out of biscuits.
Once you have added your final layer of the filling, pop into the fridge to set for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight to allow the biscuits to soften and the flavours to develop. It will also MASSIVELY help you to remove the cake from the tin when completely set.
When set, make the chocolate ganache by adding the double cream to a pan. Place over a medium heat and bring to a near boil. Remove and add the chocolate. Allow the chocolate to sit for a minute or two before adding the butter and mixing well until smooth.
Allow the ganache to cool to room temperature. In the meantime, grab your serving plate and *carefully* remove the set chocotorta from the tin. Alternatively, you can serve this in the tray for less stress.
Once the ganache is cooled, pour on top and use a palette knife or back of a spoon to spread. You can decorate this as you wish but I went for a smooth top and sides.
Pop into the fridge to set whilst you whisk together all the ingredients for the piped decoration until you reach a medium to stiff peak. Pop the cream into a piping bag and pipe a border along the top edge and base. I then scattered chocolate shavings into the middle because I am extra but this is totally optional.
Place back into the fridge until serving and use a hot knife to slice.
NOTE: Store any surplus in the freezer – these make great ice cream cookie sandwiches, perfect for the summer.
Next up, we move onto my take on Esquites (also known as elote en vaso), served up with homemade ‘nachos’. Esquites is a Mexican corn-based street food which is typically served up in cup. Different from Elotes (which is corn served on the cob), Esquites is a great side dish to serve up when hosting over the summer and makes for an easy BBQ accompaniment. Pair with some grilled chipotle chicken or in amongst a trio of dips (I am a real BIG dipper – sounds weird, intention is far from) and I am sure this will soon become a fave of yours too. I have used tinned corn in this to save on time but by all means, please be a purist and use the corn straight from the cob.
I like to also make this in batch as it is a great salad to meal prep and you can top with the protein of your choice (chicken and lamb works well, as does halloumi), so say bye, bye to sad salads as this version is creamy, sour, salty and comes with a little pep in its step. You can use shop bought nachos or make my cheats version at home using tortilla wraps baked in the oven – I like toasting mine until they are super crunchy and sprinkled with a tonne of sea salt. Incredibly moreish and a great dipping vessel for scooping up the Esquites, guacamole and any dip I can get my hands on (although not hummous, I’m surprisingly not a huge fan).
I won’t bare faced lie to you and say this salad is healthy but what I will say is this salad WILL make you happy and that, my friends, is emotionally healthy. Soooo....
p.s don’t hate me but I cannot for the life of me find the set of pictures I took after making this last week! SORRY.
Recipe Serves: 6
Y O U – W I L L – N E E D –
Homemade Nachos
5 Large Tortilla Wraps
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
Sea Salt & Cracked Black Pepper
Salad
25 g Unsalted Butter
½ Garlic Clove, grated
2 x 340 g Tinned Sweetcorn, drained
½ Red Bell Pepper, finely chopped
½ Red Onion, finely diced
Good Handful Coriander, chopped (stems included!)
8 Spring Onion, finely chopped
1 Jalapeno, finely diced
1 Avocado, diced
2 Limes, juice and zest
½ tsp Ground Cumin
½ tsp Smoked Paprika
¼ tsp Red Chilli Flakes
Sea Salt & Black Pepper
25 g Sour Cream, can substitute for Greek Yoghurt
25 g Mayonnaise (just go full fat, okay?)
80 g Feta, crumbled (or use Cotija if you can get your hands on it)
M E T H O D -
For the nachos, stack the tortilla wraps on top of each other. Slice into 12 like you are cutting a pizza. Scatter them on top of a large baking tray before adding a good drizzle of olive oil, a generous sprinkling of sea salt, cracked black pepper and smoked paprika.
Use your hands to mix ensuring all chips are coated. NOTE: you may want to bake these in two batches if there are too many on one tray.
Place under the grill for 3-4 minutes before using tongs to turn over and bake again for another 2-3 minutes until the edges are crisp and golden brown. Transfer to some kitchen roll. NOTE: they will continue to crisp and harden once they cool.
For the salad, add the butter to a large pan and place over a medium to high heat. Once the butter has melted, add the grated garlic and let it cook for 2 minutes before adding in the drained sweetcorn.
Cook the sweetcorn for about 5 minutes, until the sweetcorn begins to take on colour and char slightly. Remove the corn from the pan and transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool.
Into the same bowl, go in with all the remaining ingredients and mix everything well to combine.
Taste and adjust the seasoning to preference (eg more salt, more chilli flakes, more lime juice).
Finishing with a sprinkling of fresh chopped coriander and serving alongside the nachos.
Next on the menu is my Roasted Tomato, Garlic & Whipped Feta Dip. I made this dip a few weeks back as a last-minute accompaniment to the plethora of crispy, crunchy goods which preceeded a tonne of buttery, barbecued goods. If you are ever invited round to dinner at mine, please know that I have 3 key requirements which you must satisfy before you can pass through the door.
Be in comfy clothes. None of this stuffy business. I want you in your cosies, preferably wearing something with an elasticated waistband and something you feel at home in. Come in a onesie for all I care. As long as your attire allows you to eat freely, with zero restriction, then we are good.
Come hungry. None of this I just ate not long ago business. If I hear you are on a diet, I will try to respect that but I make no promises I won’t give you that look the minute you decide to break it. That look being a look full of glee and smugness, obvi.
You better have no plans after. None of this, I can’t stay for long business. When you are coming round, we are feasting. And then probably having a carb induced group nap straight after on the sofa, before waking up and picking at leftovers.
Food is one of the ultimate privileges in life and one that I don’t for a second take for granted. It’s a celebration, it’s an experience, it’s a memory and hopefully it is bloody delicious.
This dip is perfect when you want something to dunk a freshly baked baguette, some toasted pita or hot, buttery naan into – the salty hit from the feta works so well with the natural sweetness from the roasted toms and who in their right mind is ever going to complain about roasted garlic? A trio of scrummy flavours, made with minimal effort but with max returns.
Y O U – W I L L – N E E D –
325 g Cherry Tomatoes
½ Garlic Bulb
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt & Black Pepper
Pinch of Dried Oregano
Pinch of Caster Sugar
200 g Feta
100 g Natural Yoghurt
½ Lemon, juice only
Small Handful of Fresh Mint, leaves only
M E T H O D –
Preheat your oven to 160C Fan/320F/Gas Mark 4.
Place your tommy t’s in an oven proof dish, alongside the half bulb of garlic. When I say half bulb, I mean a whole bulb of garlic sliced in half horizontally.
Sprinkle over some sea salt (don’t be shy), a good crack of black pepper, a pinch of caster sugar and oregano and then finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
Pop your dish into the oven and cook for 35 to 40 minutes, until the tomatoes have slightly burst open and the skin has gone a little wrinkly. Remove and leave to cool.
In a food processor, add in your feta cheese, a good squeeze of lemon and two cloves of roasted garlic from your tommy t dish.
Blitz until smooth (or leave slightly chunky if you want a bit of texture).
Transfer the feta to your serving bowl and add the natural yoghurt. Give it a good stir to combine before piling on top your cooled roasted tomatoes, a spoonful of tomato juice from the dish and nestle in a few roasted garlic cloves.
Sprinkle over some fresh mint leaves to finish and serve up alongside some crusty bread, toasted pita or buttery, hot naan to mop up the yum.
And finally, as I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN A MAMMOTH NEWSY, I am going to quit yapping and move onto the main bakes of the day with my Victoria Sponge Loaf with Roasted Strawberries, Whipped Clotted Cream and Mint, BAKED TWO WAYS. That’s right folks, you are getting two recipes for one to give you a little insight as to what the book is about and how each recipe is done twice to offer up the same deliciousness, whichever side of the dietary fence you are sitting on.
We are taking the fuss out of a stacked bonanza and keeping it chill because I BLOODY LOVE A LOAF CAKE. I don’t know what’s up with these or why it seems to taste different to a normal cake but that first slice, the sound of it slapping the plate is just heavenly. It’s almost like the flavour and intensity of yum is doubled, despite it being half the size of a standard cake. So, there you have it folks, good things really do come in small packages after all.
Roasting strawberries amps up their sweet, fruity flavour (I am already a BIG strawb lover) and giving them a little time to sweat in the oven is one of my fave ways to eat them. You can use any leftovers for breakfast and top your granola with them, drizzle the juice and smushy goodness over some brioche French toast or use it in your overnight oats or chia puddings. Similarly, the loaf we are making can be made your own – add lemon zest and some juice for a bright and zingy number and top with a lemon curd rippled whipped cream or add a touch of cardamom to the batter to bring a bit of warmth to the sponge.
If you have any allergies to nuts, leave out the ground almonds – these are included for added moisture – and sub for equal weight of flour. The key is wrapping the sponge once baked to lock in any moisture and don’t stress if you overmix your sponge and the loaf sinks in the middle. Turn the loaf upside down before decorating and NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW.
Below is the DAIRY recipe, with the Plant-Based version following.
Recipe Serves: 6 good slices
Recipe Makes: 1 X 2 lb deep loaf tin
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