5 minute simple easy banoffee pie

Divergence from whoopie pies for once! Thought I'd share my incredibly fast, easy banoffee pie recipe.

I created this one the other night - yoghurt had featured highly on the boy's pudding menu for a few days, and we didn't have much in the way of other puddings (ice cream had run out, not much fruit around....) so I looked in the fridge and got creative. We had a bit of single cream, and half a banana. A rootle in the cupboards revealed honey, and a couple of malted milk biscuits (digestives or something would work equally well). And that's all you need! No boiling up condensed milk, whipping up cream, or leaving biscuit bases to set.

5 Minute Banoffee Pie (2 portions)

Ingredients
4 malted milk biscuits (cheap and easily available in supermarkets)
4 tsp butter
1/2 banana
2 tsp honey
approx 2 tbsp single cream

Equipment
2 bowls (cereal/dessert size)
the end of a rolling pin (or something similar to bash the biscuits)
fork to mash the banana
spoons for the honey and butter
microwave and heatproof bowl to melt the butter

Method
Melt the butter in a heatproof bowl in the microwave.
Put 2 biscuits in each bowl.
Bash the biscuits with the end of the rolling pin (gently so you don't break your bowls!) till they're nice and crummy.
Mix 2 tsps of melted butter into each bowl with the biscuit crumbs.
Dribble 1 tsp of honey into each bowl.
Mash the banana with a fork and divide equally between the two bowls.
Pour 1 tbsp cream on top of each.

Yum :)

(and I know this was branching off from whoopies, but I couldn't resist a mention.... if you enjoyed this recipe, you might enjoy some of my whoopie ones...Baking Whoopies)

Whoopie pie recipe book - Baking Whoopies: the Seasonal...

...Guide to Whoopie Pies, has nearly landed!

It's been a long hard summer - in between baking lots of whoopie pies I have been meticulously documenting my whoopie pie recipes as I go, spending far too many late nights baking and dressing the little darlings for photoshoots,  and finally (nearly) have something to show for it - Baking Whoopies: the Seasonal Guide to Whoopie Pies is available to pre-order from Amazon and other online bookshops now!

Published by Indepenpress, and officially released on 10th November, I can't wait to see the finished product. It's taken a lot of work, but we got there (I was going to go for the cliche blood, sweat and tears, but that doesn't really sound all that hygenic when used in the same sentence as a recipe book).

In a month by month format, the recipes lead you through the seasons with a combination of both sweet and savoury whoopie pie recipes. A personal favourite is honey and lavender, and from the savoury I'd go for cheese and Marmite.

I've also included all three measurement systems within the recipes, so no matter what your preference you don't need to keep flicking backwards and forwards to convert. I personally favour imperial - a bit of an oddity I know, as it was all metric by the time I started cooking. Don't know why, imperial just feels somehow naturally elegant to me.

The baking-a-book-process has been amazing. Full of ups and downs (mostly ups I'm glad to say). It's all been so horrendously exciting, I'm quite surprised I haven't exploded already. And can't guarantee I won't at some point soon if the book doesn't arrive! I've been really, really lucky to have an editor who's been as enthusiastic as me, and as keen to make sure the look and feel of the book works. And put in a scary amount of hours... At least the whoopie weekenders are finally out of the way now!

Free Cider and Bacon Whoopie Pie Recipe

As promised, here is a free recipe for cider and bacon whoopie pies to whet your appetite... this recipe is not included in Baking Whoopies: the Seasonal Guide to Whoopie Pies. It's an extra, exclusive free whoopie pie recipe.

"Cider and bacon?!" many people say... to which I reply yes, and why not? They're delicious. Pork and apple are a firm favourite in Britain, and to me cider and bacon is the logical next step. The sweet cider syrup whoopie combines with salty bacon cream cheese beautifully - it tastes like something familiar, but I'm still trying to work out what. Weirdly, it reminds me a little of popcorn. The sweet and salt combination is also reminiscent of salted caramel - another delicious and slightly addictive treat.

Ingredients:

For the whoopie batter

4.5 oz/130g/½ cup (1 stick) butter

7oz/200g/1 cup castor sugar

1 medium egg, beaten

14 oz/395g/3 cups plain flour

1 ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

¼ pt cider syrup (see below for how to make)

For the cider syrup:

½ pt sweet cider (English if you can get it! Merrydown is a good, local to Sussex – where I live - brand)

4oz castor sugar (or light brown sugar)

For the filling

7oz/200g/1 cup cream cheese

3oz (ish – go by eye/taste) bacon bits (I don’t know if they have these in US – little crunchy soya pieces flavoured like bacon, used on salads and things. Vegetarian/Vegan – not actually bacon at all…you could grill up real bacon till totally crisp – streaky would probably work best – and crush it into little crunchy bits)

Method

To make the cider syrup:

Place the cider and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, then boil rapidly for at least 5 minutes to reduce. Set ¼ pint of the syrup to one side, to cool and use in the whoopie batter.

To make the whoopie pies

Preheat your oven to 160°c/325°f/GM 3 (fan assisted – slightly higher if your oven is non-fan) and grease a large baking sheet.

Cream together the butter and sugar.

Add the egg, a bit at a time, stirring well to make a smooth, curdle-free mix.

Put the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a sieve.

Get the cider syrup to hand.

Sieve ½ of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Fold in gently.

Add ½ of the syrup and mix well.

Continue until all flour and syrup is folded in, and you have a smooth, thick batter.

Pipe (or dollop) the Whoopie Pie batter into 2” diameter rounds.

Smooth off with the back of a spoon.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes (until they spring back when lightly touched).

When cooked, take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tray for 5 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack.

To make the bacon and cream cheese filling

Mix the bacon bits with the cream cheese.

Bringing it all together

Spread a generous dollop of cream cheese on one whoopie half, then put the other whoopie half on top.

Appley Whoopie Pies at Middle Farm

Well it's been a while... in which I have been manically baking whoopies for my soon-to-be-published book, Baking Whoopies: the Seasonal Guide to Whoopie Pies

And in between managing to appear at Middle Farm Apple Festival with Ruth who does cupcakes - great weekend. Lovely people, lovely cider, lovely apples.

I themed the whoopie pies to tie-in with the Apple Festival, so had Apple and Cinnamon (cinnamon whoopie pie with apple and mascarpone filling - buy my book for the recipe!) and Cider and Bacon (see this blog post - a freebie to whet your appetite for all things whoopie - it's an extra, exclusive for the Apple Festival, not included in the book).

I made all of the whoopie pies gluten free - gluten and wheat free flour from Doves Farm is a winner. It didn't affect the flavour in the slightest. They were a little more biscuity than my usual whoopies, but other than that... And went down really well with lots of gluten/wheat allergy sufferers.

So this post is a mini photo-story covering the weekend...

Backstage, cinnamon whoopie pies just baked and awaiting their apple mascarpone filling:

Filled and clothed, waiting to be glammed up with a bit of jewellery:

Now jewelled up and waiting coyly in the wings...

Whoopie pie kebabs!

A five minute breather to take in the sunshine... beautiful day.

The wonderful Boudoir Bliss who kept us in hot water bottles when the chilly North wind blew:

And Tiny Tulips who made us feel so welcome, and designs breathtakingly beautiful baby boots, cushions and clothing:

And finally.... lots of customers!

Some overheard comments that made us chuckle...

(mother to child) "No they're not cakes darling, they're candles"
(other child) "Are they real cakes? They're not, are they mummy?"

No-stir blackberry ice cream

Not strictly a cake, but tastes absolutely unreal and so easy to make I thought I'd share it here.

The thing that has always put me off making ice cream is either the need to have an ice cream maker (don't have) or the patience to stir it every 20 mins or whatever it is to stop ice crystals forming (don't have either). The great thing about this recipe is that once it's mixed, you just put the ice cream in the freezer and forget about it till you want to eat it. This was my first go at making ice-cream, and I was stunned by both taste and simplicity. It got chosen over custard to go with blackberry and apple pie - which is totally unheard of, custard is usually king!

The recipe is in two parts: the basic ice-cream, which you can flavour any way you desire; and then the blackberry syrup. You could swap the blackberry syrup for chocolate, strawberry, raspberry, or pretty much anything within reason (it probably wouldn't taste so great with caterpillars, but you never know...).

Blackberry no-stir Ice Cream Recipe (serves 4ish)

Ingredients

For the blackberry syrup:
9oz (250g) blackberries
1oz (25g) castor sugar
1.5 tbsp (20ml ish) water

For the basic no-stir ice-cream:
10 fl oz (300ml) double cream (single would probably work ok too)
2.5oz (70g) castor sugar
2 egg yolks
2 drops vanilla flavouring

Method

Part 1: Blackberry Syrup
Make this first to give it time to cool before adding it to the basic no-stir ice-cream.
Put all the syrup ingredients into a saucepan, and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat, and simmer for 8-10 minutes (until the blackberries have broken down).
Strain through a fine mesh sieve.
Return to the pan, and simmer gently for 5-10 minutes until you have a thick syrup (the exact timing for simmering here is a bit guessed as I had a bumped knee to attend to in the middle of this stage).
Leave to cool completely (speed up by putting in a china or metal dish, and if you feel like being daring - or have no patience - risk killing your fridge by putting it inside)

Part 2: Basic No-Stir Ice-Cream
Put the cream in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Stay with it and watch like a hawk - it may do a milk on you and boil over fast.
Reduce the heat and add the sugar.
Stir well to dissolve the sugar, then remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly (otherwise you may scramble the egg yolk - but don't worry, it was quite hot when I added it and no scramblage occurred).
Whisk the egg yolks in a mixing bowl with a fork.
Pour the cream and sugar onto the egg yolks, stirring constantly.
Add the vanilla flavouring.
Pour the mixture into a freezer proof container of some sort.

Part 3: Joining it all Together
Pour the blackberry syrup into the cream mixture, and give it a bit of a stir, so it goes nice and rippley.
The blackberry syrup will sink to the bottom, leaving a lovely cream colour on top with a few pinky purple splots, then when you dish it up there's a solid layer of blackberry loveliness at the bottom.

Yum, oh yum.

Seal the container nice and tight, and put in the freezer to set - about 5-6 hours.

Notes and tips:

• Usually when making ice-cream you have to keep stirring it - because the milk causes it to crystallise. This recipe doesn't use milk, hence no need for stirring.
• If you can get vanilla pods then by all means use them instead of vanilla flavouring - I find pods a tad pricey, so used flavouring instead - having said that, this ice-cream is so creamy you could probably get away with no vanilla at all.
• I've said serves 4-ish - we got 2 adult portions one night (3 good dessert spoonfuls); 2 side portions to go with blackberry and apple pie the next night; plus 1 small portion for "pudding after lunch mummy" and 1 small portion for mummy. So probably 4ish servings altogether.
  

Where the recipe came from

I used 2 recipes as bases for this recipe - because neither did what I wanted on their own. I also changed around the quantities - the original vanilla ice cream recipe called for 500ml cream and 3 eggs - I only had a 300ml pot of cream (the largest I could get in Sainsburys) and 2 eggs. It worked fine.

Original Recipes:
vanilla ice cream by Lee Cox on the BBC food website
blackberry syrup was loosely based on the ripple sauce recipe by Valentine Warner, also BBC Food website

Hope you enjoy it!

How to Make Bunting

Having broken myself gently into sewing - with a machine, and straight lines only - over the last five years, I found myself gaily offering to 'knock up' some bunting for a good friend's wedding. How do I always volunteer myself for things?! Then when Ruth (Ruth's of Cooksbridge Cupcakes)mentioned wanting some to decorate the stall I thought great, two birds with one stone. I had ages to do it so I filed it in the back of my mind - with a lot of other junk - and tried not to think about it. Then suddenly it was two weeks till our appearance at the Uckfield Festival, and I hadn't even looked at how to make it, let alone got any fabric.

A quick Google scour and charity shop scavenge later, and I was nearly ready. I ordered some bias binding tape (from this lovely site), and once that arrived it was all systems go.

How to make bunting
Decide on the size of your flags, then cut out a card template (cornflake packets are perfect).
Lay your fabric out flat (if it's creased it really is worth I.R.O.N.I.N.G. it...) draw round the template using chalk, and cut out.
Pin the fabric triangles to the bias binding tape.
Sew them on with a sewing machine.

Tip
It is far easier and quicker to sew in one continuous length along the bias binding tape rather than stopping and starting for each individual flag - like I did for the first 5 metres......

Photos will follow...

Making chocolate cake collars

Ok, when I was writing my last blog post I soon came to realise that it had been so long since I last posted that I had an awful lot of stuff to tell people about. And that it would be better to split it over a few posts rather than cram it into one!

So here is one of them: making chocolate collars for cakes. I was given the task of creating a cake for a rather large joint birthday celebration, with minimal instructions beyond "make it a big chocolate sponge". So I hired a 12" round cake tin, and got thinking... I saw a picture of a similar cake in a decorating book I was given a few years ago (The Essential Guide to Cake Decorating), and really really liked it. So I thought I would have a play. For anyone who fancies a go, here is what I did, along with tips I picked up on the way.

How to make a chocolate collar for a cake

Equipment/Ingredients
A cake
Dark chocolate - preferably with at least 70% cocoa solids
White chocolate, or 1 pack of white chocolate buttons
Buttercream
String (how long?!)
Ruler
Pencil
Greaseproof paper (or shiny contact, or clear plastic)
Optional: if it's a hot day, a fan and hair dryer

Preparation

1. Either sandwich two sponge cakes with filling of your choice, or cut one large cake in half horizontally, fill, then stick back together.
2. Cover your filled cake all over - sides and top - with a thin layer of buttercream icing (flavour is up to you) Try and use the layer of buttercream to create a nice flat and even surface for the chocolate to go on.
3. If it's a hot day, put the buttercream-covered-cake into the fridge to harden slightly.
   

Chocolate Collar

1. Use a piece of string to measure all the way round the cake (the circumference). Mark the string where the ends meet before you take it away from the cake.
2. Measure the piece of string (and if you are a sieve brain like me, write down the measurement)
3. Now measure the height of the cake (and again, write it down)
4. Get either some 'clear plastic', 'shiny contact' (and no, I had never heard of either of these and couldn't get hold of any easily) or just use some handy old greaseproof/baking paper.
5. Use a pencil and ruler to draw out a rectangle on the greaseproof that will fit the height and circumference of the cake - PLUS add about 5mm to the height, and about 15mm (1.5cm) to the length - the extra to the length is so that you don't end up with a gap when you put the collar on the cake. See digression below. Also allow a cm or so on top of that each end so that you can tape the greaseproof down and stop it moving. Cut out the rectangle, and secure to a flat surface with sellotape.
   
6. Get the white chocolate buttons, and moisten the flat side very slightly with water. Press down onto the greaseproof at artistic intervals. Don't press too hard, they will both squash and slip. Alternatively, melt some white chocolate and use a piping bag to make little round spots. This is probably the better way to do it, as the spots will stick really well to the greaseproof. Leave to set.
   
7. Melt the dark chocolate gently - either in the microwave on low power, or in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of water. Do not let any water touch the chocolate - curdleage *will* occur.
8. Spread the dark chocolate all over the greaseproof paper - carefully. If you aren't nice and gentle, the white spots will move or even come off, to much general cursing.
9. Leave to set. If it is a hot day, spend a long time holding a fan over it. Then spend a long time with a fan in one hand and a hair dryer in the other when you realise that one end is setting faster than the other.
10. Once the chocolate is still a little shiny - ie it won't crack when you bend it, but it won't drip all over the side either - untape the greaseproof and pick it up, and very very carefully wrap it around the cake.
11. If it's a very hot day, put it in the fridge to set.
12. Once set, *carefully* unpeel the greaseproof..... et voila! (or, curses)

Tips

• Practice first
• Make sure it's not going to be the hottest day of the year
• Try and take pictures in the shade - melting time is pretty quick
• It really is worth getting high cocoa content chocolate
• White chocolate seems to melt quicker and not set as easily as dark chocolate...
  

Digression from step 5.... when I got to this bit I just made the length on the greaseproof exactly the same as the piece of string. My husband came in as I was about to place the collar on the cake. And said - most helpfully - "you did allow extra length for the width of the chocolate didnt you?". To which I replied with a blank face.

He works at PMF - working with metal at incredibly high levels of precision. He did explain the reasoning to me, but my brain is so full of other stuff (Whoopie Pies mainly) at the moment it didn't really want to take it in. Officially, to get the chocolate collar exactly the right length for the cake you need to work out the 'mean circumference'. Something to do with the circumference, the thickness, and Pi. All you really need to know is add a decent extra bit so you don't have to a) start from scratch or b) melt an extra bit of chocolate and stick it over the gap.

Whoopie Pies all the way...

Well it's been a while... and so many things have happened I don't quite know where to start!

First, I was featured in the Sussex Express, then the Evening Argus picked it up, then the Leader. I think I am now officially a W-List celeb...

In between I strayed away from the Whoopie Pies and created a couple of pretty stunning birthday cakes with spotty chocolate collars - the 12" version can be seen here (currently middle bottom photo). Once you've got the hang of it, chocolate cake collars come out pretty well - see my chocolate cake collar post here for what I did (and things to avoid....like doing it on the hottest day of the year)

Then last week was spent manically making tons of Whoopie Pies in preparation for my appearance at the Uckfield Festival Big Day Out, alongside Ruth's of Cooksbridge (fantastic, amazing cupcakes. Comments included "mummy, are those cakes real? they aren't are they?")

I took a break now and then from the kitchen to make some bunting - much easier than I thought. Hopefully see another post about making bunting....

I managed to find a great site for having banners made: Print A Banner - very reasonable price, easy website and very fast. 6ft x 1ft was only £16 - for my own design. And it fitted the stall perfectly.

The day was amazing. I was up at 5.45am picking flowers from the garden to go in vases, along with some borage for on top of the new double chocolate whoopie pies (hopefully see my post on borage for more info). We arrived just after 8am and began setting up the stall, putting out the bunting and the banner and flowers. It looked pretty darn fine once all the Whoopie Pies and Cupcakes were in place...

The sun shone down, we got a mention on Uckfield FM, and shifted a fair few cakes! Then as the man was fishing and the boy was being auntied, I got some Pimms with the proceeds and then dragged myself down to The Ark for a few glasses of wine. A pretty good day all in all!

Lemon Whoopies have Landed

I have spent the morning experimenting... and now have a new Lemon Whoopie Pie. Delicious! The citrussy tang really goes with slightly-strawberry buttercream, and gives a really refreshing flavour. Success! Reviews from tast testers (watch out neighbours!) and pictures will follow shortly...

Next on the agenda are fiddling around to get Mocha Whoopie Pie right, and planning next trip out for icing and other decorating supplies... Such a magpie sucker for the stuff, but it's oh so glittery!

The Wonders of Whoopie Pies in Brighton

And we're off! Preparations are underway for a Whoopie Pie invasion in Brighton this weekend... suppliers have been raided and new recipes are being tested - Polly's Patisserie is all set to spread the Whoopies!

We're going for 4 varieties to start with: original (slightly chocolate); Strawberry and Vanilla Whoopie Pie; Lemon and Blueberry Whoopie Pie; and Mocha Whoopie Pie.

Spent another lovely morning at Chatawak sourcing edible glitter, heart punches, various colour dusts and other treats...

And then returned home and made myself a nifty little spreadsheet to calculate ingredient costs and other bits and pieces. On the nerdy side, but I do so love a spreadsheet!

I was a bit disappointed when I emerged from nerddom to discover the sun and warmth has been eclipsed by a monster of a sea mist, but hey, it cleared up in time for a lovely (nearly) summer evening.

And so... let the baking begin!

Whoopie Pie day

Having finally got round to creating a blog, it's taken me two days to get time to actually write on it... and now that I'm here, what do I write?! Over the last few days I've had loads of times I've thought 'ooh, that would be a good thing to blog' and naturally, now, I've either forgotten or it's not relevant.

Anyway, my day today.... has mostly been spent baking Whoopie Pies. Oh yes, they have well and truly landed (in my tummy anyway). They're great - reasonably simple to make, and very tasty too. Rumoured to be a replacement for the cupcake - and I can see why. No icing-up-your-nose incidents as I've heard cupcakes can cause.

I made the original flavour Whoopie Pies today - quite similar to a sponge cake batter, with buttermilk and salt added. Filled with buttercream, as personally I'm not too sure about the marshmallow filling thing.... then got carried away with icing on top, silver balls, edible glitter and stars and butterflies (from Chatawak, a great cake stuff shop not a million miles from me - spent far too long in there going 'ooh sparkly')

Then once iced I spent hours hanging round the kitchen waiting for the sun to shine to get some decent photos... that was fun. It finally came out about 6.45pm when I was at a 4 yr olds birthday party about 5 miles away.

Results:



Have a look at the website for other Whoopie Pies and a bit about their history.

Will try and pin down the recipe I used and post it here tomorrow.