The best thing about 'all in one' recipes is that they are fault - prove. You would really need to try hard to get this type of cake wrong! It's handy that you only need just one bowl for mixing, and there is no need to faff around with mixer or other specialist baking equipment. All you need to do is to gradually add all the ingredients, mix it well as you go, stick it in a tin and bake!
My marmalade fruit cake is precisely this kind of simple recipe. It's also delicious and moist cake with just the right amount of fruit in it.
Although I like winter, I can't wait now for the spring to arrive. The other day, I suddenly realised, that it is colder now, then it was around Christmas! And, that is really not fair! Christmas is the real winter for me, so once we move over to February I'm expecting spring to arrive. It's England after all, not a Czech Republic...
So, I thought that regardless to what the thermometer outside says, I can bring spring to my home.
To continue with the 'Spring theme' I decided to bake some Blueberry & Vanilla Macarons to take to friends house for dinner.
The best thing about making your own marmalade is that you can use it for other baking recipes and the flavour is going to be so much better than a basic supermarket marmalade.
This simple brownie recipe is delicious with very chunky bitter seville orange marmalade, but you can easily use any other type. And you know what? I'm not going to judge you if you use a shop bought one either!
Marmalade Brownie Recipe
200g dark chocolate
175g unsalted butter
325g caster sugar
130g plain flour
3 eggs
3 table spoons of seville orange marmalade
icing sugar to decorate
33x23x5cm baking tray lined with greaseproof paper
Makes about 12 portions
Here is what to do:
1. Preheat your oven to 170C (325F) Gas 3.
2. Break your chocolate into small pieces and place it with butter in a heatproof bowl melt it slowly in microwave, 20 seconds at a time and stiring until completely melted.
3. Add the sugar stirring well until incorporated.
4. Add the flour and stir well.
5. Stir in the eggs and mix until thick and smooth.
6. Add the marmalade and stir the mixture carefully.
7.Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes or until flaky on the top but still soft in the centre.
8. Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack, before dusting with icing sugar to decorate.
This recipe for salted caramel sauce is one of the easiest recipes with sugar I've ever made. And not just that - it's also very versatile - pour it on top of your favourite pudding, ice cream, use it as a filling or just dive in with a spoon!
There are really just four basic ingredients:
200g granulated sugar
90g salted butter
120ml double cream
1 teaspoon salt
And here is what you do to make your salted caramel sauce:
I love that once one festive season finishes another one starts! There is something comforting about spending an afternoon making marmalade, whilst it's cold and rainy (mostly!) outside. I love deciding on my marmalade flavour, experiment with different types of fruit and finally baking my own bread and butter to taste the marmalade when it's finished. A total bliss! Every year I find myself putting in my diary 'marmalade making' dates to make sure I don't miss the short Seville orange season. I always buy more than I need and freeze some oranges for later.
This easy chocolate brownie recipe is perfect for when you have spare 20 minutes or so and want to make a desert really quickly.
The recipe is also great to make with children - you can't over mix it and you don't even need electric whisk to mix everything together. I often bake this recipe to serve at my bread baking workshops and since a lot of people asked me for the recipe, I've decided to share it here.
