Baking Bo

John Whaite Bakes! Written by the winner of the 2012 Bake Off! I was given it for Christmas and I've already made two recipes from it! The first... Salted Peanut and Chocolate Florentines Ingredients 60g unsalted butter 60g light brown muscavado sugar 2 tsp liquid glucose 4 dried apricots, finely chopped 150g salted peanuts, roughly chopped 1 1/2 plain flour 100g dark chocolate Method 1. Place the butter, sugar and glucose in a small pan and stir over a medium heat. Stir until everything has melted together. Remove from the heat and add the apricots, peanuts and flour. Stir well until everything is well mixed and the peanuts are coated in the sweet, buttery syrup. 2. Preheat the oven to 160. Dollop teaspoons of the mixture onto lined baking sheets. Leave large gaps between each as they will spread. 3. Bake for 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Once cool, gently peel the florentines off the baking paper and line them up on a w...

Yes, it's that time again and you know what that means... GINGERBREAD!! I went to visit my dear friend Fay for a spot of shopping in Portsmouth today and I took her a little treat. My recipe is unchanged (if it ain't broke, don't fix it) Original post found here:  http://bakingbo.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/iced-gingerbread-stars.html   Ingredients  350g plain flour 1 tbsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground mixed spice pinch of salt 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 175g unsalted butter 150g dark muscovado sugar 4 tbsp golden syrup Method 1. Sift the flour, ginger, cinnamon, mixed spice, salt and bicarb into a mixing bowl.  2. Put the butter, sugar and syrup into a saucepan. Melt until smooth then add to the flour mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon to form a dough. 3. Tip out onto a floured surface and knock into a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill for 20 minutes in the fridge.  4. Roll out and cut out star shapes. Re-roll and re-cut until you have used all ...

After paying an extortionate amount for a slice of butterscotch cake in a cafe earlier this week and a lovely chat with my dear friend Kitty, I decided to make my own! The original recipe I used can be found here:  http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/baking/cakes/butterscotch-sponge-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting-recipe  However, I have tweaked it slightly!  Ingredients for the cake 225g softened unsalted butter  125g light muscavado sugar 100g caster sugar 4 eggs 225g self raising flour 2 tsp vanilla extract 2 tbsp milk For the sauce and frosting 25g unsalted butter 37g light muscavado sugar 25g granulated sugar 75g runny honey 60ml double cream 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 200g cream cheese Method 1. Firstly, make the sauce. Put the butter, both sugars and honey in a small pan and melt over a low heat until smooth. Stir in the cream and vanilla. Leave to cool, ideally in the fridge, for a few hours or over night. 2. Add 8 spoonfuls of the sauce ...

After watching the GBBO final and masterclass, I decided I wanted to attempt making pretzels. Of course, I did the appropriate research and tasted one bought from the Co-Op, then decided to make my own. I used Paul Hollywood's recipe, found here on the BBC:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pretzels_71296 Ingredients for the dough 500g strong white bread flour 10g salt 7g yeast 40g softened butter 1 tbsp malt extract 280ml milk 21g bicarbonate of soda 7 litres boiling water For the topping s rock salt sesame seeds Method 1. Add the flour, salt, yeast and butter to a bowl. In a jug, mix the malt extract with the milk and stir to dissolve. Add the milk mixture gradually and mix until a dough forms. 2. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and silky, although it is a very stiff dough.  Place the dough in a bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to prove for 1 hour minimum, the longer the better.  3. Preheat the oven to 180. 4. Once proved, turn the dough out ...

My friend Cathy hosted a girly evening the other night so I offered to make pudding for everyone. One of our lovely friends is allergic to gluten and yeast so we had a bit of a mission on our hands. However, it proved to be a lot easier than I thought. I followed this recipe... http://bakingbo.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/chocolate-cake-and-strawberry-coulis.html BUT made one change. I used Gluten Free plain flour which you can get in the 'Free From' aisle, we went to Sainsburys!  It was great and was very well received by the girls! X Bo

After checking up on a few bits of blog admin, I realised my blog has had over 4000 views which is incredible, humbling and mind blowing so thank you so much for reading and caring!  More exciting Autumnal and Christmassy goodies coming up in the next few months X Bo

Another day off, another bake! Today's recipe is from the March 2013 edition of the Sainsbury's magazine! And it's amazing. It's only 266 calories a slice when the cake is cut into 10 slices. Ingredients for the cake 175ml whole milk 2 tbsp ground ginger 1 tbsp ground nutmeg 1 tsp ground cinnamon 75g muscovado sugar 75g soft unsalted butter 75g black treacle 100g golden syrup 200g self raising flour 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 medium egg For the icing 25g very soft unsalted butter 40g muscovado sugar 25g icing sugar 1 tbsp double cream 1/2 tsp vanilla extract Method 1. Preheat the oven to 180. Line a 7cm deep, 20cmx9cm loaf tin with greaseproof paper. 2. Put the milk, spices, sugar, butter, treacle and syrup in a large saucepan and melt together over a low heat. Put the flour and bicarb in a large mixing bowl. Pour the wet mixture in the bowl and stir well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. 3. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 35 ...