Blackberry Bakewell flapjack

 Adapted from https://donnadundas.co.uk/ recipe for Cherry Bakewell flapjacks

Ingredients

• 200g Oats
• 60g Ground Almonds
• 90g Soft Light Brown Sugar
• 90g Golden Syrup
• 130g Butter or Margarine - Melted
• 1 tsp Almond Extract
• 4tbsp Blackberry Jam

Instructions

1. Grease and line a cake tin and preheat the oven to 180 degrees
2. Mix oats, sugar, and ground almonds together in a large mixing bowl
3. Add the almond extract, golden syrup and melted butter and stir together until the oats are all wet
4. Tip half of this mix into the cake tin and use the back of a spoon or your fingers to press down and out to the edges, so it’s level and covers the tin
5. Spoon on the jam and spread evenly
6. Tip on the remaining oats and flatten and spread out until the jam is covered
7. Sprinkle over flaked almonds.
8. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until the almonds are toasted and the oats have browned.
9. Melt the white chocolate in a small pan and drizzle over the top of the flapjack

Easterdeliciousness

I have written before about Simnel cakes, my mother's special recipe which she loved to give to others, often in tiny cake tins. The recipe used less fat and sugar, more eggs and flour, and mixed spice - it also involved lining the tin with three layers of greaseproof paper.

Today, I made Simnel Cupcakes.  12 of them. Half 'normal', half with gluten-free flour (75g flour mixed with a scant teaspoon of baking powder)

150g each of butter, golden brown sugar (or a  mix of white and browns) and self-raising flour, creamed in the usual manner with 2 eggs and 125g of mixed dried fruit and a handful of extra candied orange and lemon peel to add flavour, with a tablespoon or so of lemon juice to loosen the mixture a little.

I piled half the mixture into muffin cases, (a teaspoon or so each case), added a circle of marzipan (pinched off a ball, flattened it in my hands before, 12 times) then piled the remainder on top acirnd baked them for 20 minutes until golden.

When cool, I removed the paper cases (they peeled off SO easily), topped them with circles of marzipan cut out with a medium cookie cutter and 'stuck' onto the cake with a smear of #supposedtobeapricotbutallIhadwasmarmelade, then a small ball in the centre made from the leftovers.

Roughed the marzipan slightly with a fork, then toasted under a hot grill for half a minute.

A bit of a faff...but worth it.

Almond stars

Ingredients 
Makes: 50 biscuits, depending on size

• 4 egg whites
• 250g icing sugar
• 250g ground almonds
• 1/2 lemon, zest grated and juiced
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves

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Method
Prep:30min  ›  Cook:20min  ›  Extra time:1hr chilling  › Ready in:1hr50min 

1. Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually beat in icing sugar, then fold in lemon juice, lemon zest, cinnamon and cloves.
2. Reserve and chill 8 tablespoons of mixture. Fold almonds into the remaining mixture; chill for 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 150 C / Gas 2.
4. Sprinkle sugar on work surface. Roll batches of dough to 1cm thick and cut out stars. If the dough is too sticky to handle, add a little more ground almonds.
5. Place stars onto a greased baking tray and brush with the reserved egg whites.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven.

Chocolate cakes

Nigella's:

5 eggs
7 oz butter
7 oz sugar
7 oz plain chocolate
7 oz almond meal

Method
Melt the chocolate and butter together, then mix in the almonds. Set aside to cool a little.
Seperate 4 of the eggs. Mix 1 whole egg and 4 yolks with the sugar. Blend this with the chocolatey mixture.
Beat the 4 remaining egg whites until they are stiff. Using a metal spoon, carefully fold the eggwhites into the chocolatey mixture.
Pour into a non-stick spring-form baking tin and bake at 175-180 for 45 mins.

Good Food

100g butter, diced, plus extra for greasing
flour, for dusting
140g best-quality dark chocolate, with 70% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
6 large eggs, separated
140g ground almonds
1 tbsp kirsch or Cointreau (optional)
pinch of salt
85g caster sugar
cocoa powder and crème fraîche, to serve
Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas 3/fan oven 150C. Grease a 23cm/9in springform cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper or baking parchment. Dust the sides with a little flour. Put the chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Heat until melted, then remove the bowl from the pan and stir until smooth. Leave for about 5 minutes to cool slightly.
Stir in the egg yolks, ground almonds, and the liqueur, if using. Put the egg whites into a large bowl, add a pinch of salt and whisk until soft peaks form. Continue whisking, sprinkling in the sugar a little at a time, until stiff peaks form. Stir 2 tablespoons of the whites into the chocolate mixture, then carefully fold in the remainder until no traces of white are left.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until well risen and just firm to the touch. Cool in the tin (don’t worry if the cake sinks and cracks slightly – it will still be fine). You can make the cake up to this stage up to four days ahead and keep it in an airtight container in a cool place. It also freezes well for up to one month.
To serve, remove the cake from the tin and peel away the lining paper. Sift cocoa powder liberally over the top and cut into slices. Serve with crème fraîche.

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Potentially gluten-free chocolate torte

225 g 70% dark chocolate


175 g unsalted butter , chopped, diced

1 tsp orange zest

100 g toasted almonds

3 T plain flour or gluten free flour

1/2 tsp salt

5 eggs

140 g sugar

Heat oven to 325 F/160 C. Oil and line a 8 inch cake pan and set aside.

Melt the chocolate and butter. Stir in the orange zest and let it steep. Meanwhile, grind the almonds as fine as you can without letting it become a paste. Add flour and salt, and transfer to a bowl.

Whisk the eggs until doubled pale and frothy. Slowly add the sugar, whisk for 1 min more. Fold in the cooled chocolate mixture until just combined. Sprinkle over half the flour mixture and fold in, then the other half. The mixture will be rather runny.

Pour into the prepare pan and bake for about 20 mins until a skewer comes out with a few crumbs attached. Cool for a few minutes in tin, then turn out onto a wire rack. Wait until completely cooled before you frost with anything.