Monday, 30 April 2012

Muhallebi Recipe / Turkish Milk Pudding

Here is a traditional turkish recipe. On rainy days, or whenever me and my mum are up late at night with no intention of sleeping - she will always pop this one out the bag. It's so simple and delicious. It has this odd taste, one thats slightly similar to that of Baby Born food - but in a really good way. You can either make it with rice or corn flour - I recommend trying it with both because they both give different yet distinctive and delicious tastes! The rice flour version is  much more grainier than its smoother counterpart (cornflour version). 

The Recipe:

1 cup rice flour OR cornflour (rice flour gives a grainy/better taste in my opinion)
1 cup granulated or caster sugar
2/3 cups semi skimmed milk depending on desired consistency

The Method:

Make a paste with the rice flour and sugar using 1/4 cup of the milk.
Put on a medium heat in a saucepan and gradually pour the rest of the milk into the mixture.
Continuously whisk the mixture for about 10 minutes until the mixture thickens.
Take off heat once the mixture has thickened and pour in cups.
Garnish with cinnamon.

Mbakes x

Sunday, 29 April 2012

Miette Carrot Cupcakes

So here's my second Miette post! Miette Carrot Cupcakes! Carrot cupcakes were my second venture because the recipe included coconut, which interested me and I was eager to taste this concoction! The sponge was literally something else. You had the coconut complimenting the cinnamon, all whilst the corn oil was keeping everything incredibly moist. Fireworks. No ginger, no cloves, just cinnamon - trust me it works! These are being sold on Drysdale Street in NSP Cafe (off Old Street) this week, which is why I wasn't unable to dissect the cupcake so I could show you the inside! Hope you enjoy :)


The Recipe:
1 cup all purpose flour/self raising/cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon 
Half tsp salt
Three quarter cup corn oil
2 large eggs 
1 cup carrots
Half cup walnuts
Half cup desiccated coconut 
1 cup currents (optional)
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 pound cream cheese
Half cup unsalted butter 
1 cup icing sugar

The Method:
  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a muffin tray with 12 cupcake cases. 
  • Sift flour, salt, baking powder/soda and cinnamon in a large bowl and set aside. 
  • In another bowl (or a freestanding mixer) whisk together the eggs and sugar for 2 minutes. 
  • Gradually pour in the oil and whisk on high speed for one minute until the mixture emulsifies. 
  • Now add the dry ingredients in one third at a time until smooth. 
  • Add the coconut, carrots, walnuts and currents (if you used them) and fold in till well incorporated. 
  • Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter into the cupcake cases until each one is two thirds full.
  • Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
  • For the frosting, sieve the icing sugar in a large bowl and set aside. 
  • In a freestanding mixer, cream butter and icing sugar smooth. then gradually add cream cheese, till you have a smooth frosting.
  • Ice as you please!


Mbakes x

Thursday, 26 April 2012

First Day at Faircake

On Tuesday I worked as a background assistant at Faircake's Cupcakes, Hands On Class! It was so much fun, a lot of work - but copious amount of unbelievable fun! I made a few awful mistakes (which I wont go into, still shamefully cringing) but hopefully I wont make them again! Still in complete shock that they even considered my application! My next date of work will be 11 May during the Boutique Cupcakes Class, very much looking forward to it! Anyway, enough self indulgent ramblings on about my life, there is nothing worse than boring your little audience with 'I's' and 'Me's' ! Here are some pictures of how the day panned out, as well as some cupcakes that the students made and left with at the end of the day. 




Mbakes x

Monday, 23 April 2012

Old Fashioned Lemon Drizzle Cake


If you happen to be in Old Street, North London this week then pop into NSP café, where this fluffy drizzle cake will be sold in chunky slices! I used a simple sponge cake recipe and added a little lemon to give it a fragrant taste. Quadrupling the recipe was so stressful! It oozes with lemon curd and has a lovely shortbread crunch. On two more notes, I have created a twitter account for my blog @mbakes_mbakes so be sure to follow me for bloggy updates! ALSO I begin a trial at the wonderful Faircake tomorrow morning (treated myself to a celebratory Macbook), wish me luck and check their website out!!!
The recipe:
x1                                            x4
2 eggs                                      8
1 tsp vanilla extract                  2
175g all purpose flour              700
175g caster sugar                     700
125g margarine                        500
1 lemon rind                             2
65ml milk                                 260
1 tsp baking powder                4
1 packet of all butter shortbread
Half a jar of lemon curd
The method:
  • Blitz the shortbread in a mixer till you're left with a fine crumb. 
  • Set aside. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line your desired baking tray (dependent on size of batter, if your quadrupling the batter then a 14 inch cake tin is perfect).
  • In a large bowl sieve together all of the dry ingredients and set aside. 
  • In a freestanding mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 2 minutes and then gradually add in each egg until you have a runny consistency. 
  • Add the vanilla extract and a third of the milk and mix till incorporated. Take the mixture off of the paddle attachment and using a spatula, fold the milk and flour into the batter, alternating between each. 
  • Pour the batter your prepared tin and set aside. 
  • Prepare a piping bag with a medium round nozzle and scoop in the lemon curd. Gently insert the piping nozzle an inch into the raw batter and squeeze in the lemon curd, repeat this in as many parts of the cake as you want. 
  • Spread the shortbread crumbs around the cake so that you have covered he whole surface. 
  • Place in the oven for up to an hour, keeping a close eye on it. Insert toothpick to see if it's cooked. 
  • Serve! 


Mbakes x

Wednesday, 18 April 2012

Miette Hot Milk Cake

Hot Milk Cake Recipe from Miette Bakery
As Miette reiterates, this cake is a challenge to bake! Not so much so in the techniques used, but in the sheer amount of processes you have to carry out to get that desired, moist and fine crumbed Hot Milk Cake. However, it is well worth going the extra mile for - I know now the difference between a sponge cake and a sponge cake! 

Pictures aren't too great due to bad lighting, so I'll be putting better ones up tomorrow!


The Recipe:
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 whole or semi skimmed milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Buttercream of choice

The Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 C and line (two or three) 6/7 inch cake tins with baking parchment, flour and butter. Miette calls for 6 inch cake tins in particular.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.

In a saucepan over medium heat melt together the butter and milk and then set aside to cool in a separate large bowl, stirring occasionally.

On a double boiler, at low to medium heat, whisk together the sugar, eggs & vanilla. Keep whisking until all of the sugar has dissolved and a food thermometer reads 110 degrees F when inserted. Remove mixture from the heat and pass it through a medium mesh sieve. 

Whisk the mixture on high speed for ten minutes or until the mixture has cooled to 85 degrees F. Add the dry ingredients and mix them in on a low speed until just incorporated. 

Pour in the cooled milk mixture and fold through until you have a glossy mixture.

Divide the batter into three 6 inch (or two 8 inch) greased and floured cake pans, tap twice on worktop to remove air bubbles. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes on clean.

Take out of cake pans and leave to cool for at least 40 minutes or once cool to the touch.




Mbakes x

    Monday, 16 April 2012

    American Goodies! Baking Essentials #3

    Betty Crockers Sprinkles
    I mentioned a few blog posts ago that my boyfriend went on holiday to Florida this week, upon his arrival he showered me in these gifts. I thought I’d share them with you Britons just so you can all see the sheer difference between our baking products and Americas…America wins. Hands down.
    Reeses peanut butter baking chips

    Take a look at this month's Blog Giveaway to win some baking essentials of your own!
    Mbakes x

    Saturday, 14 April 2012

    Cornbread Muffins

    A delicious cornbread muffin recipe that will knock your socks off! There is extra cornmeal in this recipe to give the muffins a slightly grainy texture, which works very well! This is an original recipe; there are no bits of corn or cheese, just plain grainy goodness so that you can capture that real corn taste. Cornbread muffins are a southern American favourite, I hope you enjoy my very own British take on them!
    The Recipe:
    200ml semi skimmed milk
    420ml corn oil 
    420g plain flour
    4 tsp baking powder
    1 tsp salt
    2 eggs
    250g cornmeal/Polenta*
    100g golden caster sugar 
    2 tbsp Greek yoghurt (optional)

    *Cornmeal, and other packaged items that you can find in the oriental aisles in the supermarket are usually very expensive. You can always find them at over half the price in local off licenses.

    The Method:
    • Preheat the oven to 160 degrees and line a muffin tray with cases. 
    • In a mixer, add the sugar and oil and mix for 2 minutes then add the eggs one at a times and then pour in your milk till you get a runny consistency.
    • Add in baking powder & salt and then the cornmeal till you get a thick-ish consistency. 
    • Now add the flour and then some Greek yoghurt to break up the batter. 
    • Plop batter into each muffin case until they are all jjust over two thirds full.
    • Bake for 20 minutes.
    • Eat warm!


    Don't forget this months fabulous Blog Giveaway!
    Mbakes x

    Baking Tips by Mbakes

    I may not be an expert baker, or have any practical qualifications that render me a 'chef de parte', all I have is an a level in food technology which I just about scraped a decent grade in! But what I have been doing for 10 ish years is consecutively mixing up the same ingredients for the same ish recipe to produce a sponge of pretty much the same calibre each time. Over the years the sponges have improved but there are obviously still some major flops that creep up from behind every now and (all the time) again.

    Here is a round up of some baking related tips, tricks and general 'you should knows' that I've gathered over the years.
    • For moist and 'flat topped' bakes always use Stork margarine.
    • When pouring cake batter into tins, as an extra precaution - flour your tins as well as grease them!
    • A good branded flour actually does mean what it says on the packet - there's no need to sift! It would have been milled plenty of times.
    • Taste and Smile (Tate & Lyle) is notably less sweeter than Silverspoon.
    • You should always cream the butter and sugar for much longer than when you're mixing the batter with the flour included, if you mix the latter for longer the gluten will toughen.
    • Always fill muffin/cupcake cases two thirds full.
    • Oven thermometers give an accurate measure of when your oven really has reached 180 degrees.
    • All purpose flour is a self raising flour substitute, I find that using foreign brands usually gives scope for a better sponge.
    Do you have any baking tips that you follow every time you bake? Leave a comment below and I'll add them to the list followed by a credit to your blog :)


    Mbakes x

    Thursday, 12 April 2012

    Carrot Cake

    This must be my 4th post in the last week…Easter holidays, or any other holiday for that matter always turns me into a bum. Whilst I should be actively searching for work experience and/or work, I spend my days (and student loan) baking things like this tangy carrot cake and then eating one slice and throwing it in the bin (I have the only sweet tooth in my family, either that or I’m in denial about how inept my baking is). Also my boyfriend is in Florida for 10 days so you can only imagine how many more blog posts will arrive this coming weekend!

    So this cake…I mixed things up a lot with the recipe, I literally used half the Primrose Bakery recipe and half the Hummingbird recipe. For example I used corn oil from Primrose but plain flour from Hummingbird. The original (first half) recipe called for pecans, I used walnuts because pecans have a maple-like soft sugary taste which I felt wouldn’t go well with 420g of sugar, so walnuts it was! I also got rid of a few things like salt and grated ginger. Enjoy!uHhsssssdds

    The Recipe:
    350ml corn oil
    420g golden caster sugar
    1 tsp baking powder
    1 tsp bicarb of soda
    1 tsp vanilla extract
    450g grated carrots
    70g chopped walnuts
    1 tsp cinnamon
    1 tsp ginger
    Half tsp cloves
    500g plain flour
    3 large eggs
    80ml buttermilk
    Cream Cheese Topping:
    100g unsalted butter
    600g icing sugar
    1 tsp orange zest
    250g cream cheese

    The Method:
    • Preheat the oven to 170 degrees and line 3 sandwich tins with oil and baking parchment. 
    • In a large bowl mix together eggs, sugar, carrots, vanilla, buttermilk and oil for about 1 minute till well combined. 
    • In a seperate bowl sift together all of the dry ingredients. 
    • Then, one third at a times gradually add the dry mixture to the wet using a wooden spoon. 
    • Mix till just incorporated then add the walnuts.
    • Divide the batter into the 3 tins and place in the preheated oven for half an hour or until the toothpick comes out clean. 
    • Once the cakes are out, set aside to cool and begin to make the frosting. 
    • Cream the butter with the sieved icing sugar and then gradually add the cream cheese frosting and zest. 
    • Decorate as you please!

    Sugarflair Holly Green Leaf


    Dont forget this months fabulous Blog Giveaway!
    Mbakes x

    Monday, 9 April 2012

    Turkish Cypriot Coconut Cake / HÄ°NDÄ°STAN CEVÄ°ZÄ° TATLISI

    A seriously moist dessert, every bite contains so much sweetness! I baked this with my mum; she doesn’t believe in the metric system and so chucked everything in by the inexact cup. I was hesitant but she told me everything would be okay, and it bloody was! My mum cultivated this recipe from her own mum, who used to bake it to perfection! There’s just one tricky bit in this recipe, so definitely give it a go!
    The Recipe

    1 1/2 cup vegetable oil 
    1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
    1 tsp baking powder
    1 whole bag desiccated coconut (approx 250g)
    1 1/2 cup granulated or caster sugar
    4 eggs 
    1 tsp vanilla extract/powder (optional)
    Extra coconut for decoration 

    For the Syrup:
    2 cup sugar
    4 cup water
    2 sticks cinnamon (optional)

    The Method:

    Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and grease & flour a square Pyrex dish.

    In a large bowl, pour in oil and sugar and whisk with an electric whisk for 1 minute until fluffy. Then add the eggs in one at a time and continue to whisk till fluffy. Add in vanilla and baking powder. 

    Sieve the flour and add it in bits at a time, but do not use an electric whisk at this point, just fold the flour in until you get a thick and smooth batter. Lastly, add the coconut until just incorporated. 

    Pour into your dish and do not agitate the batter, just let it run down the cruxes of the dish by itself - this may take a few minutes. Once settled, pop in the oven for half an hour until browned, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. 

    As soon as you put the cake in, begin to make the syrup. The syrup must be cooler in temperature than the cake so that it can absorb the syrup. In a saucepan on a low heat, add all the ingredients and wait till the sugar dissolves. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer syrup into plastic measuring jugs and let cool for ten minutes. 

    Once the syrup is slightly cooled, transfer into the fridge and leave to cool a little more.
    Slowly pour as much syrup into the cake as it could possibly absorb (remember to do this whilst the cake is still warm). 

    Sprinkle coconut all over the top. Lasts for 3 days stored in the fridge.


    Mbakes x

    Sunday, 8 April 2012

    Baking Essentials #2

    The past few days have involved a LOT of retail therapy, you know that kind spurs from absolutely nowhere and has absolutely no cause? Anyway these were just a few of the baking get up bits I bought that were worth sharing with the rest of the world.
    Love Cupcakes Sprinkles £2.49 from Tk Maxx
    The sprinkles came from Tk Maxx, I've searched far and wide for them online and they’re nowhere to be seen! The 100’s & 1000’s really caught my eye; Dr Oetker’s are never this bright! Can’t wait to experiment with all three.

    Lastly the muffin cases - these measure a 5cm base and are over 2mm thick! Perfect for baking cupcakes in. They’re usually sold at hefty prices online at around £5/7 but I nabbed these in Macro for just £2.50! so everyone, go down to Macros!!!  
    StockPort Muffin Cases £2.50
    Do you have any 'must have' baking essentials that you simply couldn't live without? 

    Don't forget this months fabulous Blog Giveaway!

    Mbakes x

    Thursday, 5 April 2012

    Chocolate [Easter ish] Cupcakes

    Caterpillars…chicks…oranges and dusty white red roses - I’m convinced it doesn’t get much more eastery than that! These cupcakes were an experiment of creativity! And this was all I managed to come up with. This recipe uses a double quantity of the Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe, but I used a vanilla pod instead (which, by the way makes all the difference!) and a delicious no solids chocolate buttercream!

    The buttercream uses:
    250g unsalted butter (Lurpack)
    450g icing sugar 
    50g Cocoa Powder (Green & Blacks)

    I fell short of cupcakes at one point and ended up with much more buttercream than I bargained for, that’s what I meant when I said that these cupcakes were an experiment of creativity (it weren’t a reference to my poor fondant creations) because it led me to giving the cupcakes a double rose swirl on top! The turnout wasn’t as ugly as I’d imagined!

    Don’t forget I’m hosting my very first blog give away this month! Check it out here J
    Sugarflair Holly Green Catterpillar 


    Sugarflair Holly Green Coloured Caterpillar 
    Green & Blacks Chocolate Buttercream & Peach Americolor Paste
    Green & Blacks Buttercream
    Mbakes x

    Sunday, 1 April 2012

    Blog Giveaway!

    I have decided to host my very first Blog Giveaway!

    I will be giving away two 60ml bottles of Nielson Massey extract, at the flavour of your choice. Flavours include coffee, lemon and vanilla. The giveaway also includes some cute Strawberry & Vanilla Sugar Strands. 
              
    All you have to do is: 

    1. Simply click 'Follow me' on your right hand side, or if you don't have Blogger then simply subscribe by email :)
    2. Leave a comment below telling me you've entered

    And that's it! I will pick the winner at random on 28th April, entries must be made from the UK only! 
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