Sunday Bake | Wedding Cake Engagement Biscuits

I love giving and receiving homemade gifts, so when I was invited to my friend Emma's engagement party I thought it was the perfect opportunity to use a wedding cake shaped biscuit recipe I had from Edd Kimber's book 'Say it with Cake'. I love how simple the design is, yet they look so cute! I wanted to make two different shapes, so I decided to also make a simple chocolate biscuit heart with Emma and her fiancé Billy's initials intertwined.

The Chocolate biscuit recipe is from a blog called the Pink Whisk run by Ruth Clemens who actually came second to Edd in the first series of the Great British Bake Off! Her recipe is here, I halved all the ingredients as I didn't want to make too many biscuits.

The Wedding Cake biscuits and icing are actually lemon flavored which was a really nice change. Like the Chocolate hearts I also halved the recipe so I wasn't drowning in biscuits. The recipe below however is the original from the book and makes around 25.

For the biscuits and icing you will need:

425g Plain Flour,
1/2tsp Salt,
200g Caster Sugar,
Zest of 2 Lemons,
225g Unsalted Butter, cold
1 Large Egg,
1 Large Egg Yolk,
1tsp Vanilla Extract

450g Royal Icing Sugar,
75ml Lemon Juice

Method:

1. Firstly, put the the flour, salt, sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and mix to combine. Then rub the butter into the flour by hand until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg, yolk and vanilla extract and stir until the mixture just comes together. Then tip onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead together until uniform. Divide the dough in half and wrap in clingfilm, then chill for about 1 hour.

2. Remove the dough from the fridge and allow to warm up slightly (around 10 minutes) before rolling out. Working with one half of the dough at a time, roll to a thickness of 4-5mm. You'll then need to use a Wedding Cake cookie cutter or create a template out of baking paper, and cut as many biscuits as you can, re-rolling the dough if needs be. Place them onto the baking sheet and chill for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4.

3. Bake the biscuits for 15-18 minutes or until the edges turn golden. Then leave to cool completely.

4. To make the Royal Icing, pour the icing sugar into a large bowl and add the lemon juice. Using a wooden spoon gently mix the two together until combined. Then beat the mixture until you have a thick and smooth paste.

5. To decorate the biscuits, put the icing into a piping bag fitted with a thin plain piping nozzle, about 2mm wide. If you don't have a piping bag you could use a sandwich bag and snip a small corner off the edge. Once decorated allow the icing to set for a few hours. Or just dig in straight away if you don't mind getting a little messy! ;)

Adapted from Edd Kimber's 'Say it with Cake'

I hope you liked the biscuits and hopefully it gave you an idea for any future engagement/wedding presents!

Aimée
Xxxx

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Sunday Bake | A Healthy Biscuit?

Okay, so I may have slightly twisted the truth in calling this a healthy biscuit, but its definitely a lot healthier than most! This is the Anzac biscuit, which was originally made to send to the ANZAC's (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) serving in Gallipolli. Now its made to commemorate Anzac Day. Now, I say its healthier as it only has 125g of butter and has coconut and porridge oats to bulk it out. It's super tasty and sooo easy to make, so I thought I'd share it with you as a way to beat the January Blues without completely ruining your New Years diet!

Ingredients:
1 Cup Plain Flour (1 Cup = 225g)
1 Cup Porridge Oats
1 Cup Dessicated Coconut
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
125g Butter
2 tbs Golden Syrup
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Method:
Firstly, pre-heat the oven to 160 Degrees and line two baking sheets, or one large sheet with baking paper.

Then stir together the flour, porridge oats, dessicated coconut and brown sugar.

Next in a small saucepan melt together the butter, golden syrup and 2 tablespoons of water over a medium heat. Remove it from the heat once its all melted and add in the bicarbonate of soda, it will froth up quite a lot! Then put the butter mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until it is all combined.

Then roll the mixture into small balls ( I made about 15) and place on the baking trays about 5cm apart. Flatten them slightly with a fork or the palm of your hand, then bake for 10 minutes until golden brown. They will be VERY soft when you take them out of the oven, but just leave them to cool on the baking tray and they will firm up.

Once they have cooled enough, you can either tuck in straight away or pop them in a box to save for later! I hope you like them! Let me know if you try the recipe :)

Aimée
Xxxx

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Sunday Bake: Viennese Whirls

To me, the weekends are all about baking. Put simply, I enjoy following a recipe knowing that there will be a tasty treat at the end of it. (And the opportunity to lick the bowl!) Baking is my way to relax - unless I'm challenging myself in the kitchen and then I usually end up a hot mess covered in flour. Not a good look.

Baking is definitely something that runs in my family though, with my sister having a strong passion for it too. We spend many a day dreaming of the bakery we will someday own! She recently begun her own baking blog and if your a fan of the Great British Bake Off, you'll enjoy her weekly 'Bake Along' feature. You can check it out here. :)

Back to the post at hand, I thought I'd share with you one of the best biscuits ever! The Viennese Whirl :) I absolutely love these, so I thought I'd give making them a go! The recipe is from the Hairy Bikers 'Big book of Baking'. with a few slight alterations.

Ingredients:

Biscuits: 250g very soft butter * 50g icing sugar * 250g plain flour * 50g cornlflour * 1/2tsp vanilla extract * 1.5tbs milk
Filling: 100g very soft butter * 200g icing sugar * 1/2tsp vanilla extract * As much raspberry jam as you can handle!

Method:

Preheat your oven to 190C/Fan 170C/Gas 5. Line a few baking sheets with parchment, and draw 16 rings about 6cm in diameter (a bit smaller than a digestive :)!).

If you have a food processor, you can blitz the butter, icing sugar, flour, cornflour and vanilla extract until smooth. If not, you'll need to use a bit of man power and beat it all by hand or with an electric hand-whisk. I added milk to the ingredients, as I found it created a smoother mixture to work with and resulted in a crumblier biscuit. Don't saturate the mixture at once though, put the milk in slowly while mixing for the best result.

Then you'll need to spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle, before piping circles (where you previously marked) onto the baking paper. Top tip time! To keep the baking paper from moving, pipe a small amount of the mixture between the baking tray and paper to act as a glue. You'll then need to pop the biscuits in the oven for 12-15 minutes until they are pale golden brown and firm.

While the biscuits are cooling you can begin to make the filling. Put the butter into a bowl and sift the icing sugar on top. Add the vanilla extract and beat with a wooden spoon or a hand-held whisk until very light and smooth. In a separate bowl, pour in as much jam as you want and stir to make a smooth consistency.

Once the biscuits are completely cool, spoon the jam onto the flat side of half the biscuits, and spread the cream onto the flat side of the remaining biscuits. Then sandwich them together, and voila! Sprinkle them with icing sugar if you want to be extra fancy, and then consume with a cup of tea. Try not to eat them all at once, no matter how tempting it is!

I hope you have a tasty Sunday Bake soon!

Aimée
Xxxx

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