Ginger & Jam cakes with Roasted Strawberries

Gingy Jammies

I have previously mentioned that baking is my calorific therapy. Observe:

When life gives me lemons, I make Lemon Curd.
When life makes me stressed, I invert it and make desserts.
I turn my frowns upside down by making Apple Turnovers.
I turn my woes into Whoopie (pies)
I transform my jams into Jammies! 


However, at times, my baking expeditions lead to unexpected revelations. In my quest to make Gingy Jammies (as I had envisioned them in my mind's eye) I used 8 hours, 4 punnets of strawberries, 3 batters and 1 amazingly patient friend. Before I go any further it is necessary to give you a brief insight into myself. I am no perfectionist. I thrive in organised chaos and I use the word "rustic" as a trendy band- aid to explain any meal served in foil, unfinished project or unexplained mess. So this is why no one was more surprised than I, that I drove myself to the brink of baking madness (think: covered head to toe in flour, repeatedly muttering "Ginger and berries and jam, oh my! Ginger and berries and jam, oh my!") in order to perfect these little loaves. Somewhere at the 4 hour mark, my dear friend (who had taken up the onus of washing the bowls in between failed attempts) looked at me and with a tone of solemn severity said "I would go to war with you".

It would appear that at some point this baking adventure had moved into the trenches and during the height of baking battle had revealed a steely determination deep within me, that had manifested itself in a slightly deranged fixation. The strawberry jam had become war paint, that was streaked combat style on my cheekbones. My wooden spoon had become a warrior's sword, that I thrust into the air, followed by my Braveheart-esque war cry of: "Never give up, never surrender!" With that, we pushed forwards through the heavy batter spattered front-line. Though the battle was arduous and the baking casualties high (with the sinking lows of cake centers), there was indeed a victory in the form of delicate ginger cakes with hearts of jam, topped with roasted lemon-lime strawberries.

There was another unexpected victory, an unseen bake-through. There it was; a realization that while I may be disorganized, messy and "rustic", when it counts, I can summon a stubbornness that defies logic and sanity. Now the challenge; bottle this mentality and apply generously to the pile of chores, washing and dishes in the sink!     



Roasted strawberries

1 punnet of Strawberries (leaves removed - they ARE poisonous)
2 tablespoons caster sugar
Zest of one lemon
Zest of one lemon

Slice the strawberries and place onto a lined baking tray. Sprinkle with caster sugar and grated zests. Allow them to sit for 5 minutes (or until you see juices starting to form). Then bake for 10 minutes uncovered at 200 degrees Celsius. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Ginger Tea cake 

120g margarine
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
4 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
2 cups self raising flour
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup pulp free orange juice
Strawberry Jam 

Lower the oven to 180 degrees. Line and grease and 8 hole mini loaf tin. After some messy disaster (see the war report above) I found the best way to line the tins for easy removal is to cut a strip of baking paper wide enough to cover the base and long enough to overhang the tray and come out the sides of the tin.

Cream margarine, sugar, eggs and essence for two minutes. Add the combined sifted flour and spices alternating with the mixed maple syrup and orange juice until finished (ending with the flour). Fill each mini loaf 1/3 full with batter. Then using teaspoons dollop two drops of jam on top of the batter (my tip is to avoid putting the jam in the center and rather aim for either end of the mini-loaf. This is because you want the cake to rise in the middle, if there is too much jam in the center, it will remain moist and sink when removed from the oven. This message is brought to you courtesy of two failed batches!) Using the remaining batter, carefully cover the jam and continue filling till the mini-loaf is 3/4 way full.

Bake for 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean (just remember the jam in the cakes and aim to test in the center to avoid a "strawberry jam bleed"!) Remove the cakes from the oven and leave them to rest in the tin for 5 minutes. Use a knife to loosen the two sides which are exposed to the tin and then grab the overhanging baking baking and life the cakes out onto a cooling rack.

Once the cakes are cool, and you are reading the serve them, spoon the roasted strawberries on top.
Enjoy these Gingy Jammies by jamming them in your mouth one forkful at a time! 

Baileys Cupcakes

Baileys Baked Shots

 

Despite the fact that I am not the worlds biggest drinker (alcohol or water for that matter) I do enjoy using the odd splash of liquor in my baking expeditions. Before I go any further, I have to confess: I have an unstoppable urge to provide a disclaimer with this post. I am unsure whether this urge is driven by having a lawyer as a husband, or by virtue of the fact that I am a teacher, but nevertheless here it is:

BAKEWRITE DISCLAIMER:  As per the Duty of Care Code (that all teachers live by) it is necessary to mention that this weeks baking daliance is rated R (Ridiculously good!) and should only be cupcake-slammed by people over the age of 18. Further, while these mini cupcakes last for days, as time wears on the alcoholic flavour tends to strengthen exponentially. So please, on day number four do not eat and drive, nor operate heavy Kenwood machinery.

Now we can safely (and legally) move on. Something I often forget to mention is that along with being an English teacher, I also like to travel to the past (and Bake To the Future) teaching children History. A common symptom of Historyitis Teachersorous (that is the Latin name of course) is that the person becomes fixated on discovering the origins of baked goods and ingredients. When designing my Baileys infused cupcakes, I began to ponder; why is it called "Baileys"? I began to imagine that perhaps, once upon a time, someone had drunk a lot of this Irish cream, landed themself in jail after some racous behaviour and had to be bailed out by a friend. Upon stumbling out of the lockup this person declared "Thanks for the bail-eeessss!" Thus, the name was born. 

Okay, so that sounded better in my head and with a loose theory in the bag I did what all good historians do, I began my exhaustive and comprehensive hunt into the dusty, mothball scented History archives (which started and ended in the same place: Wikipedia). The truth behind the name is far less fascinating than my dodgy imagination. In fact, like my tolerance to alcohol, the name "Baileys" is fictional and named after a less than reputable hotel.  

Really? 

Cue mass disappointment. 

One solution only: Time to drown my sorrows in another delectably naughty shot of baileys cupcake.  

Cupcakes:

250g butter, chopped
1 cup caster sugar
4 eggs

3/4 cup self-raising flour

3/4 cup plain flour

1/2 cup Baileys Irish Cream

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Line two mini cupcake trays with liners (the recipe makes about 40 mini cupcakes, that is a lot of shots of Baileys and should be consumed responsibly...one after another in fast succession of course!). Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at time, making sure that you beat well after each addition. Sift flours together and using the mixer fold into the batter alternating with the Baileys Irish Cream (I find it is always best to end with the flour). Fill each cupcake case 3/4 way to the top (I just used teaspoons, but if you wanted to be accurate you could use a melon baller or small ice-cream scooper). Put the trays into the oven for 14-16 minutes until they turn light brown and bounce back when pressed gently in the center. Remove from the tin and put them onto cooling racks.

It is also possible to use this batter in cake from. To do this pour the batter into a 20cm round spring form tin and bake for 45 minutes.

Icing:

250g butter softened

3 cups sifted icing sugar

4 tablespoons Baileys

2 tablespoons cocoa powder 

Packet of malt balls (I used Maltesers)

In a mixer, beat the butter and icing sugar until the mixer is smooth. Note: if the butter is too cold it will form tiny bumps. If needs be, put the butter into the microwave for 5 seconds just to soften it, but be careful, you do not want it melted as this will change the consistency of the icing. Once the butter and icing sugar are smooth and creamy, add the Baileys and cocoa powder until fully combined. Once the cupcakes are cool, pipe* (or spread) a generous amount of icing onto each cake and top with a Malteser. 

Knock back these Baileys shots one delicious bite at a time!

*Side note: I have always been against piping. This is due to the fact that I have had some shocking experiences over the years (think exploding piping bags and icing on the floor, ceilings, myself and NOT the goods that was actually supposed to iced!) Recently my grandmother (aka: 91 year old baking Matriarch) gave me a cheap piping set from the supermarket...and it changed my life! While my icing is not perfect, I was pretty pleased for a first attempt and will now ice baked goods without hesitation and fear. My pipeline dream has become a pipeswirl reality!

 

Earl Grey and Lemon Drop Thumbprints

Lemon-Licious Biscuits

For the most part I am cookie loving, Shakespeare wielding English teacher. However, there has always been a tiny part of me that would like to become an adrenaline loving, notebook wielding detective who fights crime by day and makes souffle by night. I think this desire is driven by the misguided belief that I have a special gift in solving crimes. This fact is drawn from my experiences in the field (on couches and in cinemas) where I have an uncanny ability to pick the culprit and solve the crime 5-10 minutes into the film (please note that this "gift" has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that all films follow a generic story arc and often the director will let you sneak a peek at a beige, unsuspecting character who is later unveiled to be the mastermind. No. Rather I am an unskilled, unqualified detective extraordinaire!) Apologies, I digress. At university, while stoking the fires of my "gift" I took one lonesome unit in criminology, it was here I was introduced to the term racial profiling. As the name suggests, people's behaviour and criminality is assessed based on their external appearances, leading to prejudice in the criminal system.

Well get ready Inspector Gadget, I have a coined a new term: frucial profiling. Like racial profiling, certain fruits are judged harshly based on their appearances and classified accordingly. This form of discrimination extends, but is not limited to, lemons. Lemons get a bad rap in the fruit world, both in taste and colour. When a dish goes bad and the suspect ingredients are placed in a line up, the finger is always pointed at the lemon who is blamed and shamed for being sour and abusing it's fragrant power. In a best case scenario, the lowly lemon is used as a wing-man to make others look good and then denied any form of recognition ("What makes this basil, lemon chicken so delicious?" you ask. "Oh, it's the basil of course"). The lemon, is not petite like the blueberry or voluptuously sensual like the mango. It is not exotic like the lychee, nor is it plain enough to blend in, like the humble apple. The lemon, with its bumps, nobly bits and a skin colour that clashes with everything, has had to come to terms with playing second fiddle in the culinary world.
Until now.
These lemon-licious biscuits have changed the status of lemons worldwide. No longer does it hide in shame in the fruit and veggie aisle, avoiding the judgmental glares of frucial profilers. No. Now stands proud and triumphant as this baked creation brings out its inner beauty. With a heart of lemon gold, the creamy cheesecake filling is embraced by the delicate aroma of the Early Grey butter biscuits. As a new dawn hails for this forgotten fruit, so too does the official debunking of frucial profiling. Then again, perhaps not, as these innocent lemon drops are criminally delicious!

Earl Grey Biscuits

80g unsalted butter
1/3 cup castor sugar
2 TBS milk
1/2 tspoon vanilla essence
1 cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup custard powder
8 Earl Grey Teabags(optional; I prefer them with the Earl Grey infusion, but it is also yum if left out!)

Preheat the oven 180 degrees and line two baking trays. Beat the butter and sugar in a mixer, until the mixture turns pale in colour and creamy in texture. Add the milk and essence and continue to beat until combined. In a separate bowl sift the flour and custard powder. Break open the tea bags and pour the contents into the flour and powder until it is speckled evenly with the tea leaves. A note on the tea bags: in my humble opinion it is best to use cheap tea because the leaves have been ground to a fine powder as opposed to the more "authentic" expensive tea blends which have chucks of leaves that do not spread into the batter evenly. Once the flour is speckled by tea leaves, gradually add all the dry ingredients into the mixer, continuing to mix until it forms a soft dough.  Roll two teaspoonsful of mixture into balls and place on tray. Use your thumb or the end of a wooden spoon the cause an indent in each biscuits (while you don't need to be super gentle here, just make sure that the hole doesn't pierce the bottom of the biscuit. You will want to create a wide indent in the biscuit rather than a deep one. Though maths and general baking precision is not my strong point, you are aiming for an indent that is approximately 1cm deep and 2-3cm wide). Set the biscuits aside and make the lemon-licious cheesecake filling.

Lemon Cheesecake

250g light cream cheese
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
Rind of one lemon

In a mixer, cream the cheese and sugar until it becomes light and fluffy. Add the lemon juice along with the rind of one lemon (grated finally). In order to create a make shift piping bag, fill a zip lock bag with the cheesecake mixture pushing it down into the corner of the bag. Carefully snip the corner of the bag off (about 1/2 wide) and then gently pipe the mixture into the center of the biscuits, filling up the indentations. You can be quite generous in filling as the cheesecake tends to hold it's form.

Bake for 15 minutes and then move onto a cooling rack.