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Food Network UK Doughnut Week

I was lucky last week to be invited to a Food Network party to celebrate the 20th anniversary of National Doughnut Week. I was really excited because I love doughnuts! I also made Banana Bread Donuts to celebrate at home!

To celebrate Food Network are having a month of doughnuts. There is a doughnut calendar with a different doughnut every day for the month of May.

There were plenty of doughnuts from Dunn's Bakery to eat! The sale of a doughnut will benefit The Children's Trust. There were plenty of Jam Doughnut Cocktails too! Sweet chocolate raspberry drink with a sugar rim.

MD for the channel Nick giving a speech. Food Network UK is the fourth fastest growing channel on Sky! Pretty impressive since they've only been on the air about a year.

Here's me trying to eat a doughnut without licking my lips! I managed to do it but it's not easy! I did end up with jam all over my dress (it came out though)!

Tristan Welch (head chef at Launceston Place) managed a double decker without licking his lips

Ainsley Harriott was there. I used to watch Ready, Steady Cook all the time when I was a student.

Jun Tanaka, frequently on TV in the UK and Executive Chef at The Pearl. I also spotted Eric Lanlard, Ed Baines and Reza Mohammed.

I managed about three donuts and three cocktails before I was over come with all the sugar!

I had a really great time and everyone was super nice! I also met Abby from The Exquisite Cake Company. She made the doughnuts from the first day on the doughnut calendar.

Here is a video from Food Network UK you tube channel with me trying the doughnut challenge! Eating a doughnut without licking my lips. I'm very briefly here at 8 seconds (making a stupid face) and at 17 seconds.

· awesome, donuts, fruit, london, tv

Banana Bread Donuts

Move over Royal Wedding desserts here come the donuts! I have some exciting donut fun coming up next week (stay tuned for that) but in the meantime I decided to make some! The last donuts I made were Pumpkin Cake Donuts for Thanksgiving.

These are the best donuts I have ever made! The recipe only made about 6 donuts so I took the photos really quickly so I could eat them!

It's a basic cake donut with mushed banana, pecans and cardamom added to the batter.

*This recipe uses very hot oil. Make sure you have the proper equipment*

Banana Bread Donuts

adapted from Doughnuts: Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home (makes 6-12 donuts)

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups plain flour, sifted

2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup caster/superfine sugar
1 tsp nutmeg

2 tbs unsalted butter

1 egg

1/3 cup scalded milk (I used soy)

2 tbs plain yogurt (I used soy)

1 tsp vanilla

1-2 mashed bananas

1/4 cup chopped pecans

pinch of cardamom
Rapeseed oil for frying

Glaze
1 1/2 cups (150g) icing sugar, sifted
2 tbs maple syrup
2 tbs milk

1. Scald the milk by bringing it to a near boil in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Set it aside to cool down. Scalding the milk keeps the donuts fluffy.

2. In a small bowl mash the bananas. Mix in the chopped pecans and cardamom. Set aside for later.

3. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and sugar. Add the butter and blend together with a hand pastry blender. The mixture will be like crumbs.

4. In the cooled saucepan with the scalded milk mix in the yogurt, egg and vanilla. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon. Add in the banana mixture and fold until the batter is thick, similar to cookie dough. Don't over mix or the donuts will be like rubber.

5. Cover the mixture with cling film and set aside for 20 minutes. While that sits get your frying station and glaze ready.

6. Make the glaze by whisking together the icing sugar, maple syrup and milk. Pour 2 inches of oil into a big pan and clip a candy thermometer on.

7. Heat the oil to 360 F. Cut out squares of parchment and grease them lightly. Fill a piping bag with a round tip (big enough to allow the pecans through) with the batter. Pipe rounds on each square.

8. When the oil reaches 360 F put 2 donuts parchment side up in the oil. Using a pair of tongs lift the parchment paper off. Fry on each side for 1-2 minutes (do a test donut first).

9. When done lift the donuts out and place on a paper towel lined plate. Once slightly cooled glaze (I did 2 coats).

These are best enjoyed on the same day they are made (they will go soggy quickly)!

· donuts, fruit, nuts

Royal Wedding Whoopie Pies

Royal Wedding Victoria Sponge Whoopie Pies

I had just enough time to squeeze in one more Royal Wedding treat! I decided to go with a simple Victoria Sponge but styled into a bite size whoopie pie. These are really quick and easy to bring to your local street party! I still haven't decided how to spend my day off from work. Any suggestions?

Victoria Sponge is the most classic British cake, after a fruit cake. It's two vanilla cakes with whipped cream and raspberry jam sandwiched in the middle. It's not overly sweet but a good contrast to the sweet Bubbly Peach Cupcakes I made earlier.

I used cookie cutters to make stencils out of the aluminium foil for the icing sugar dusted on top. A little glitter mixed in there would look nice too. You could also make a reverse template to what I've done.

I used Hannah Miles book Whoopie Pies: Fun Recipes for Filled Cookie Cakes, which is absolutely adorable (I bought my sister the book and in the US it is in cup measurements not grams)! I thought about dying the cake red and blue but figured that wouldn't be sophisticated enough for such an occasion.

Victoria Sandwich Whoopie Pie
adapted from Hannah Miles 'Whoopie Pies' (makes 12)

Ingredients
Cake
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
220g caster/superfine sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
320g self rising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
250ml buttermilk
100ml hot water (not boiling)

Filling
300ml whipping cream
raspberry jam
icing sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease a whoopie pie tin. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder together in a medium bowl and set aside.

2. In a large bowl cream together the sugar and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy about 3 minutes.

3. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Whisk in the buttermilk, alternating with the flour mixture. Whisk until Incorporated. Stir in the hot water.

4. Scoop one spoonful of batter into the tin or onto the tray. Alternatively for a uniform smooth pie put the batter in a piping bag. Let stand for 10 minutes and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from tin after a few minutes and set aside to cool completely.

5. Make the filling by whipping the cream until stiff peaks form. Place in a piping bag and swirl onto a round.

6. Place another cake on top a dust with icing sugar.

7. Enjoy!

· cake, fruit, holidays, wedding, whoopie pies

Royal Wedding Bubbly Peach Cupcakes

April 29th is almost upon us and with it comes a barrage of TV and magazine specials, tea towel souvenirs and of course cake! Lots and lots of cake. In case you missed it check out my guest post on Cupcakes Take The Cake on Royal Wedding Cupcakes in the UK. I've never had so much fun doing research before!

At the real wedding there will be a fruit cake made by Fiona Cairns and a McVities biscuit cake. I reviewed Fiona's book Bake & Decorate earlier. Read it here and see the three recipes I tested. April 29th has been declared a bank holiday so I have the day off from work. I haven't decided how I'm going to celebrate yet!

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I'm not a huge fan of fruit cake so I made a peach champagne cupcake complete with juicy peach chunks and topped with a luscious champagne swiss meringue buttercream. The cases are made by Meri Meri.
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I bought a mini bottle of Spanish cava at the supermarket which is just enough for the both the cake and frosting. I think swiss meringue buttercream is my favorite kind of frosting at the moment. It's just so fluffy and fun to pipe.

Peach Champagne Cupcakes and Champagne Swiss Meringue Buttercream

adapted from Martha Stewart and Yum Sugar (makes 16)

Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups self raising flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup (1 stick/115g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla (peach flavoring also optional)

1/2 cup champagne or cava

1 cup diced peaches, tossed in flour

Frosting

5 egg whites

1 cup sugar
4 sticks/450g unsalted butter, chilled cut into cubes

a few tablespoons of champagne or cava to taste

1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C and line muffin tray with paper liners. In a small bowl whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

2. With an electric mixer on high speed mix cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating until combined. Add in the vanilla and peach flavoring (if using).

3. Add the flour mixture in two batches alternating with the champagne until all incorporated. Fold in the chopped peaches.

4. Fill each cup three quarters full and bake for 25 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

5. Make the frosting by whisking the egg whites and sugar over a double boiler until warm and the sugar has dissolved.

6. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and beat on medium high speed until smooth and fluffy, about 10 minutes. When the bottom of the bowl is no longer warm start adding the butter one cube at a time. Continue beating until all the butter is added and add the vanilla and the champagne one tablespoon at a time. Don't add too much or the frosting will go runny.

7. Once the cupcakes are cool pipe a generous amount of frosting on each and enjoy!

· cupcakes, fruit, holidays, london, wedding

Dark Chocolate Cherry Scones

I have wanted to make scones ever since I went to Alice's Tea Cup in New York. I was pretty excited when I bought their cookbook. I even bought a set of biscuit cutters from Williams Sonoma.

It took me three attempts to make an edible scone! I'm glad that I kept trying because they taste amazing. The middle is perfectly fluffy. They were supposed to be a summer mixed berry but the fresh berries I bought went in the bin along with the sticky messy dough of the first two failures.

Gross!

My first two attempts were using the Alice book and the dough was too sticky. I think the recipe calls for too much buttermilk. If anyone has successfully made scones from the book let me know! I used some dark chocolate chips and dried fruit that I luckily had in my baking cabinet for round three. In the end I ended up using some of the tips from the book and measurements from Joy of Baking website.

Scone at Alice's in NY

As I live in England, scones are pretty rife! They're not as big as the one I had in the US and are served with clotted cream and jam. My favorite are the ones at Richmond Tea Box. They serve sweet scones like Lemon & Poppy seed as well as savory scones.

Dark Chocolate Cherry Scones

adapted from Alice's Tea Cup and Joy of Baking (makes approximately 8 scones)

Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour (for UK bakers)/All purpose flour (for US bakers)

1/4 cup sugar plus a little more for sprinkling (I used vanilla sugar for sprinkling

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick/115g unsalted butter, cold

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup dried cherries

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup buttermilk (I made my own by mixing soy milk with a dash of apple cider vinegar)

some milk or cream for brushing on top.

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 F/200 C. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

2. Cut the butter into small cubes and blend into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or 2 knives. The mixture should be like crumbs.

2. Stir in the chocolate chips and cherries until evenly distributed. Add the vanilla to the buttermilk. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour small amounts at a time and stir. 2/3 cup buttermilk was enough for me but you may need a little more. If you add too much you can add in a little more flour.

3. Lightly flour a clean surface and pat the dough into a circle (don't knead). The dough should be one and a half inches thick. Using a biscuit cutter cut out rounds from the dough. Don't twist the cutter or the scones will come out flat. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet (or good non stick sheet).

4. Gather the scraps and keep cutting rounds (don't knead the dough). If you don't have a biscuit cutter cut little triangle slices (like pizza) from the circle of dough.

5. Brush with some milk and sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Serve with butter and jam if desired and don't forget a cup of tea!

· chocolate, fruit, scones

Archive HOT

Food Network UK Doughnut Week

Banana Bread Donuts

Royal Wedding Whoopie Pies

Royal Wedding Bubbly Peach Cupcakes

Dark Chocolate Cherry Scones

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