Pumpkin Bars - - Home Sweet Home Bake Along 46/100 #CookBlogShare

Hello, my name is Beckie and I am a Pumpkin Spice Addict. Blame the recent trip to the USA, or the general lack of Pumpkin Spice in the UK, owing to an absence of Autumn (Fall) celebrations (Holidays.) Indeed, with the exception of a PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte, obvs) in Starbucks, Kings Cross, I haven't seen any commercial versions of Pumpkin Spice since returning from across the pond. However, whilst over there, I almost certainly drove the American School Friend nuts by consuming my bodyweight in pumpkin scones, spiced caramel apple drinks, PSLs, pumpkin scone cookies, pumpkin spice chai lattes, pumpkin macarons and pumpkin spice ice cream (oh yes, that's a thing - they have it in Trader Joe's - the one supermarket I would bring to England if I could.)

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is these bars were extremely well timed in order to reduce withdrawal symptoms (although the sad lack of self-serve Froyo in the South East of England must be remedied posthaste.) They are moist, and light, and beautifully spiced, and went down a treat once my poor, English, Bible Study Group got to grips with a cake containing pumpkin! Apologies for the lack of photographs, I think the brain was still in the USA when I was baking these.

Also - bonus, I'm hosting #CookBlogShare this week, so welcome if you've joined us for the first time, or welcome back if you're a regular! Do scroll down to link up your recipe.

Recipe (makes one 28x23cm baking tray):
Sponge:
4 large eggs
250ml sunflower oil
360g soft light brown sugar
425g pumpkin puree (from a can)
340g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp salt
Topping:
120g full-fat cream cheese
50g unsalted butter, well softened
200g icing sugar
(they also suggest 30g of toasted dessicated coconut, which I omitted, and just lightly dusted with powdered cinnamon)
Pithy instructions:
Preheat oven to 170C, line baking tray with parchment. Mix together wet ingredients, sieve in dry ingredients, stir well. Pour batter into tin, Bake for ~30 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Cream together cream cheese and butter, mix in icing sugar and beat until fluffy.
Remove cake from tin, smother with icing, slice into squares. Devour.

#CookBlogShare Linky:

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Chess Pie - Home Sweet Home Bake Along 45/100 #CookBlogShare

This week I am once again hosting #CookBlogShare, and really looking forward to seeing what everyone makes. I am continuing baking through the Hummingbird Bakery book, Home Sweet Home, and we are finally coming up to halfway through! Please read on for more details, or scroll to the bottom of this post for the linky.

Somehow I managed to only take the one photo of this bake - I think I was overly distracted by the Charlotte Russe. Chess Pie is a Deep South pie - the origins of the name are somewhat disputed.

Essentially it is a tooth-achingly sweet custard (I thought I'd done something wrong until I read a few blurbs online) with a little cornmeal to make a caramelised crust, all stuffed in a pastry case. It contains diabetes inducing amounts of sugar and is the opposite of anything "clean" or "healthy" - and my goodness me, is it good.

Ingredients:
Crust:
110g cold unsalted butter, cubed
225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
80g caster sugar
1 large egg
Filling:
100g unsalted butter, softened
400g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs
60ml double cream
1 tbsp fine cornmeal
1 tbsp white vinegar.
Pithy instructions:
Pastry: Rub butter into flour, stir in sugar, stir in egg. Bring together into a dough, then into a ball, do not overwork. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30mins, then use to line a 23cm diameter pie dish. Chill for another 20 minutes, then bake blind at 170C for 10 minutes, then remove paper and beans and bake for a further 15 minutes. Leave to cool
Filling: Once the pastry is cool - cream together butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Add eggs one at a time and beat in. Stir remaining ingredients together in a jug, then add to butter mixture. Pour filling into pie crust. Bake at 200C for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 150C and bake for a further 40-45 minutes, until the pie is just set, with a very slight wobble. The top will crack as it cools - this is okay. Chill in the fridge overnight before serving.

Next up: Pumpkin Bars

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LINKY:

An InLinkz Link-up

Edited to add: if you tweet me @Beckie_A I will retweet your #cookblogshare link.

#CookBlogShare Round Up 11th to 17th August 2015

My week hosting #CookBlogShare has been such fun - I've read so many lovely recipes, drooled over countless delicious looking photos and bookmarked lots of new ideas.

In the time-honoured tradition of #CookBlogShare,  I will therefore present a round-up of my favourite four recipes. I now understand why previous hosts go on about how difficult it is to decide - it really is! I think it is probably rather telling about me, rather than those who linked up, that all of my favourites were sweet treats, and three out of the four were chocolate based! These are presented in no particular order:

I loved the idea of these delicious and unusual Lemon and Raspberry Meringues with Aquafaba by Only Crumbs Remain. I was utterly intrigued by the use of the Aquafaba (the liquid usually left in the can from canned beans in water) and inspired to use it (successfully) in a batch of egg-free chocolate chip cookies!

I'd Much Rather Be Baking Than... had me positively dribbling over her Nutella Chocolate Milkshake Bundt Cake - who doesn't love a milkshake, and a milkshake in a cake? Well, fabulous, no?!

Jo's Kitchen's Black Forest Ring Cake looked absolutely wonderful - I love Black Forest Gateaux and the idea of having the cherries as an integral part of the cake delights me.

And last, but definitely not least, Sneaky Veg's Black Forest Gateau Raw Brownies with Coconut Cream have firmly made their way onto my "Cook This" list - I love raw bars and brownies made from nuts and dried fruit, and the idea of a Black Forest version thrills me.

I'll be back hosting #CookBlogShare in September, but in the meantime, I'll hand you on to Kerry Cooks

 

​_

#CookBlogShare S'more Brownies (Home Sweet Home Bake Along 39/100)

A warm welcome to you, #CookBlogShare cooks (and regular readers!) I'm really excited to be hosting you this week.

If you're new around here, you might like to know that this post is one of a series of 100 week-by-week bakes - Gill (who blogs at Tales of Pigling Bland) and I are working our way through "Home Sweet Home" by the hummingbird bakery (one bake per week). We realised that we each owned several baking books, but had never baked more than one or two recipes from them, and so it began.

Anyway, this week was s'more brownies - a celebration of all that is good and unhealthy about America, in one sweet treat.

A layer of brownie, topped with buttered digestive biscuits, all finished off with gently toasted marshmallows.

 
These are rather exciting monster brownies, made even more so by using a tin slightly smaller than that recommended. Not that this mattered, they disappeared rather sharpish and with much excitement when presented for elevenses at work.

Ingredients:
Brownie:
115g unsalted butter
120g dark chocolate
190g soft light brown sugar
130g caster sugar
1+1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
4 large eggs
140g plain flour, sifted
Base:
200g digestive biscuits, crushed
125g unsalted butter, melted
Topping:
400g large white marshmallows

Pithy instructions: Crush biscuits, mix with melted butter, set aside. Melt butter and chocolate together, mix with all other brownie ingredients, pour into 20x30cm tin (make sure it is deep, or make it a little tin foil collar). Top brownie with crushed biscuit mix. Bake. Top with marshmallows (make sure collar is higher than marshmallows) - melt in oven for 2-3 minutes, then finish with a grill or blow torch.

Without further ado, here's the linky:

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Next up: Chocolate Fudge

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