Dreamlike Shortbread Biscuits

As-Salamu Alaikum sisters, greetings dear reader,

The recipe I followed for this delicious dreamlike shortbread was taken from Lorraine Pascales baking made 'easy' series and let me tell you it is just that, easy.

3 standard ingredients of shortbread are butter, sugar and flour however, the addition of rice flour I feel gives shortbread a better sandy texture. If you haven't got rice flour to hand then i've read fine semolina can be used instead.

Some recipes out there call for corn flour although I'm not sure if this can be used as a direct rice flour substitute it does seem more plausible to me than fine semolina, as corn flour and rice flour have a more similar texture. 

You can't go wrong with Lorraines simple instructions for making and decorating,  get a fork and your pinchy fingers ready! Rich, crumbly and melt in your mouth goodness, Lorraine gives suggestions on how to give your shortbread a little flavour oomph with citrus zest or stem ginger! For full recipe click here

P.S. I forgot to sprinkle caster sugar over the shortbread once it had baked, but don't worry if you make that mistake / choice it is definitely sweet enough without it

P.P.S. Oh i almost forgot shortbread goes well with a nice cup of tea / coffee and don't mind any crumbs etc on the floor (yes that is my carpet lol) I had an excuse for not vacuuming that morning day... you guessed it I'd been baking shortbread......!

 Now I'm thinking of making..... millionaires shortbread, inshaAllah

Bakers Anonymous - for those of us who are addicted to butter, sugar and flour

As-Salamu Alaikum,

 

If you are mad about baking and The Great British Bake Off  please do follow/join this great little blog I stumbled upon named Bakers anonymous 

Bakers anonymous are having a GBBO bake along, yippee! come and share photos of that Cake, Pie, Petit Fours, Biscuit Tower etc. made from or inspired by the show.

Spoiler:- It's sweet dough week on tonight's GBBO, I can't wait......can you?

'Angel' Food Cake With Lemon Curd #GBBO

As-Salamu Alaikum,

Angel food cake with lemon curd is a must bake from this years series of The Great British Bake Off
It was given to the Bakers by Paul and Mary as their first technical challenge. Needless to say really, this is not an easy recipe for a novice baker to attempt however with a little know how (different stages of whipping egg whites, how to make an angel food cake) and the right equipment (tube pan, egg separator, stand mixer or equivalent) it can make your experience a whole lot easier, trust me.

'Angel' food cake is an American light sponge cake. Made from whisking egg whites, cream of tartar and any flavourings together to soft peak stage and then slowly adding sugar to form a firm, not stiff meringue. The job is done after gently folding in plain/cake flour along with more sugar, easy?!

One great tip when separating eggs, is to do them 1 by 1 in another bowl first before adding each yolk free white to your main bowl, that way you will avoid that 1 broken yolk spoiling all your whites. At the very most you will loose 1 egg white maybe 2 if your like me and forget to put your egg white in the mixing bowl before separating another egg.

Baking in an ungreased tube pan is very important so that the cake can cling to the sides of the pan this helps it rise plus the tube in the centre helps cook the cake evenly.

Always, always, once your cake has baked turn the pan upside down as you do with a chiffon cake, this prevents the cake from falling in on itself and don't worry it is very unlikely your cake will fall out because you didn't butter your pan remember?

This is not my first time making an Angel food cake but the second. My first attempt was barely edible, not only did I not use a tube pan but I didn't fold in my flour thoroughly so don't do as I did and be patient when folding in your flour, don't worry you won't loose all the air you built up in your meringue if you are gentle just try to work fairly quick, lets say within 5 minutes.



Well they didn't really let this all American cake go out there without putting something British all over it, yes whipped cream but I was thinking more of Lemon Curd. Yes I did my research Fruit Curd originated in England back in the late 19th early 20th Century.

Egg yolks that are leftover from separating go into a pan with sugar, lemon juice and zest to make your very own, far better than shop bought lemon curd.
Sweet and Sour and Smooth (from the addition of Butter) you will produce more than enough curd to decorate the cake, so you can eat the rest as I did by the spoonful or use as a filling for cupcakes and I sometimes even spread it on toast!

Creamy, Light, Sweet and Citrus this cake you can Bake at home for everyday and that special occasion.

Passion fruit is called for to also top the cake, I couldn't get my hands on any but I feel raspberries would make a nice alternative.

For the full recipe click here
* I used a 9inch tube pan instead of the 10inch called for in the recipe
** I didn't use cream of tartar to stabilise my egg whites (makes them whip better) but if you want to I recommend the dr. oetker brand as it is made from unfermented grapes.