Wholewheat fudge brownies {Baking with my babies}

Sophie and I have been getting up to lots of baking mischief in the kitchen recently. She's now at an age where measuring, tipping, and stirring are really fun activities, and she also really enjoys eating the cakes afterwards! We've tried a few recipes. I keep things simple because we have to fit in the entire process (except the actual baking) within 45 minutes, as that's how long Matthew tends to sleep in the afternoon.

We made wholewheat brownies which were really delicious, more like a slightly fudgy cake than a brownie really but I'll still call them brownies because of their shape.

Wholewheat fudge brownies
Makes 16 squares

175g caster sugar
60g wholewheat flour
30g cocoa powder (I use Green and Black's)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
125g butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g plain chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Butter a brownie dish (I used a 9x9 inch tin).
2. Gently melt the butter.
3. Mix together the dry ingredients. Tip in the eggs and vanilla, give it a quick stir, then gently pour in the butter and mix thoroughly.
4. Add in the chocolate chips and fold in.
5. Tip it into the dish and flatten the top. Bake for about 30 minutes until a wafer-like crust forms on the top. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

V is for Vacation {Recipe: Christmas pudding}

We're off on our vacation today, so this and the rest of the advent posts have been pre-written and will appear as if by magic while I am far away from a computer!

We will be having a French Christmas this year, with family in north Brittany. Oui! I have packed all the essentials: Christmas pudding, brussels sprouts, mince pies, pigs in blankets. How do the French survive without these annual delicacies? (To be fair, they do feast on fruits de mer, foie gras, and a strange ice-cream concoction which they go ga-ga over for dessert, so they've got their own flavours to gloat over.)

I made my Christmas pudding, as is traditional, on stir-up Sunday, the last Sunday before advent. I can't wait to try it!

My Christmas pudding
Serves 8-10

90g self-raising flour
125g chilled butter
30g flaked almonds
125g carrot, grated
250g raisins
125g currants
125g sultanas
125g breadcrumbs
60g Italian mixed peel
90g light muscovado sugar
Zest and juice of a lemon
A whole nutmeg (you'll use half)
2 eggs, beaten
75ml brandy

Grate the butter into the flour and rub together to a breadcrumb texture. Add the almonds, carrot, raisins, currants, sultanas, breadcrumbs, mixed peel, sugar, and lemon zest. Grate in half of the nutmeg. Mix these ingredients together. Add the lemon juice and eggs, and mix well until fully combined.

Butter a 1.25-litre (2-pint) ceramic pudding bowl, or several smaller bowls (this year I used a 1-litre bowl and two mini pudding moulds). If using a large bowl, cut out a circle of baking parchment to fit in the top of the bowl, butter it well, and place it in the bowl. (This helps the pudding to stay together when you are releasing it from the bowl.) Spoon in the pudding mixture almost to the top. Flatten the surface, pressing down well.


Cut out a circle of baking paper and a circle of foil, each two inches bigger than the diameter of the bowl. Butter the baking paper. Make a pleat in the middle of both the baking paper and the foil. Lay the baking paper buttered side down over the bowl, and the foil on top. Tie them tightly with string under the rim of the bowl.

Put the bowl in a steamer or in a pan of simmering water which comes halfway up the side of the bowl. You now have two options:

1. Steam the pudding fully, for 8-9 hours. Afterwards, remove the foil and baking paper. Pierce several holes in the pudding with a skewer and pour over the brandy. Cover the bowl. with clingfilm. Store in a dark place. On the day of eating, replace the clingfilm and pierce it several times. Microwave on full power for 5 minutes, stand for 3 minutes, microwave on low/defrost for 7 minutes, and stand for 5 minutes before unmoulding.

2. Steam the pudding for 6 hours. Afterwards, remove the foil and baking paper. Pierce several holes in the pudding with a skewer and pour over the brandy. Then put on fresh baking paper and foil, buttered and pleated as before. Store in a dark place. On the day of eating, steam the pudding for 2-3 hours, then rest for 3-4 minutes before unmoulding.

Whichever method you use, you must make sure that you keep topping up the steamer/pan with boiling water.

Serve the pudding with traditional brandy butter, custard, or (my favourite) extra thick cream.

Great British Bake Off 2013

Well, everyone, the Bake Off is over, for this year at least. What fun! It's been a source of escapism, frustration and inspiration for me and, judging by the online furore, for lots of others as well.

The final, alas, was sadly disappointing. I felt that none of the three bakers really shone as the clear winner. Frances's wedding cake was beautiful, but her pretzels were disastrous. Ruby's pie was a clear favourite, but her wedding cake wasn't finished. Kimberley's pretzels were good, but her wedding cake looked a mess. Not that I can really judge - I certainly wouldn't be able to produce a three-tier wedding cake in only six hours!

What I love about the Bake Off is that it takes something so simple that so many people do and makes it into a form of light-hearted yet competitive entertainment for the masses. I don't think many TV shows achieve that. Everyone knows it's a bit of fun, but everyone takes it so seriously! Is it a British thing to do that? Oh and I love Mel and Sue. Whoever got them on board as the hosts was a genius.

The bakers had to tackle so many different types of baking, some of which I've never even contemplated. Bread and cakes were only the beginning - there were biscuits, meringues, pies, and patisseries too. It's inspired me, though. I may well be getting my bake on in the coming weeks. Although now I'm not running any more (too cold and dark now that the clocks have gone back, boo), I can't exactly excuse myself for eating all the pies. Ahem.

A bientot!

Laura x