THE JOY OF BAKING
There’s something very satisfying about sharing your creations with the people you love. These recipes are twists on the classics, but you’ll want to make them again and again
These sweet classics have been given a modern twist
MOCHA CREAM COOKIES
Deliciously soft and crumbly with a coffee buttercream filling.
Makes 25-30
Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 7-9 minutes
225g unsalted butter, ●● plus extra for greasing
175g dark brown sugar ●●
125g light muscovado sugar ●● 1 large egg ●●
75g soured cream ●●
2tsp vanilla extract ●●
275g plain flour, sifted ●●
75g cocoa powder, sifted ●●
1tsp baking powder ●●
For the icing:
110g unsalted butter, softened ●● 225g icing sugar, sifted ●●
1tsp cocoa powder ●●
1tsp espresso coffee powder ●●
1 Heat the oven to 180°C
(160°C fan) mark 4. Grease two large baking sheets.
2 Beat the butter and sugars. Beat in the egg, cream and vanilla extract. Mix in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and 1/2tsp salt.
3 Put walnut-sized balls of the mixture on the baking sheets, spacing well apart. Flatten slightly.
4 Bake for 7-9min until firm. Leave to cool, then transfer to a wire rack.
5 Mix the icing ingredients with 1tbsp cooled boiled water, until soft.
6 Sandwich the biscuits with the icing. Keep for up to three days in an airtight container.
COFFEE AND VANILLA BATTENBERG
Those iconic pink and yellow shades have been replaced in this coffee and cream version.
Makes about 10 slices Preparation time: 35 minutes Cooking time: 35 minutes
175g butter, plus extra for greasing ●● 175g caster sugar ●● 3 large eggs, beaten ●●
175g self-raising flour ●● 11/2tsp baking powder ●●
1tbsp very strong coffee ●● or 1tsp coffee extract
1/2tsp vanilla extract ●●
Icing sugar for dusting ●● About 280g ready-made ●● white marzipan
3-4tbsp apricot jam, sieved ●●
1 Heat oven to 180ºc (160ºc fan) mark 4. Grease and line two 900g loaf tins with baking parchment.
2 Using electric beaters, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs a little at a time so the mixture doesn’t curdle. 3 Fold the flour and baking powder into the mixture. Divide between two bowls and beat the coffee or coffee extract into one, and vanilla into the other. Turn into the two tins and level. Bake for 30-35min until golden. Leave to cool for a few minutes. Turn out on to a wire rack.
4 When cold, trim edges to neaten and cut each sponge in half along its length to make four equal pieces.
5 Dust the worktop with icing sugar. Roll out the marzipan into a rectangle about 4mm thick. Trim edges and brush with jam. Sandwich the cake pieces together in a chequerboard pattern with the jam.
6 Put the sponge on top of the marzipan and smooth it around the cake, ensuring the marzipan joins are slightly to the side of the sponge joins. Trim excess marzipan. Score a diamond pattern on the marzipan and crimp edges with your fingers.