3 ways with dates....and chocolate

Been away for a year, how did that happen? I've been baking and making but not blogging and I want to get back into it, so here is a great trio of things to do with dates.

A vegan friend of mine recently told me how she made her own twix bars, the recipe is from another site which I shall try to find in due course. The part that intrigued me was the use of dates to make the  caramel section. My girls can't eat dairy, and miss out on traditional chocolate bars, so maybe this was a way to create something for them. I already make dairy-free chocolate truffles with dates, cocoa and ground almonds and the girls love those, so today I tried out my own twix recipe:

1 pack of supermarket shortbread biscuits
100g moo-free chocolate bar
3 tbsp plamil catering chocolate
a block of dates (250g)
2tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp caramel flavouring

I heated up the dates and caramel flavouring with about 100ml of water to soften them, then when they were cooled, I blitzed them to a smooth paste with 2tbsp of cocoa powder.
This mix was then smeared thickly over 9 shortbread biscuits.


I melted the two chocolates together and cooled slightly before dropping each biscuit carefully in and turning it over very gently to coat it, using a fork. The coated biscuits were placed on the cool windowsill for about 30 minutes before going into the fridge. Done.


Almost.

I had a huge amount of the date mix left and the scrapings of the chocolate, which I couldn't waste. So, I thought to myself, what can I use this for?
My girls are always on at me to make whoopee pies, which I'm not so bothered about, but I was feeling generous (why else would I have been making twix bars in the first place?) so I made up the following batter:

2oz sunflower spread
2oz date mix from above
about 2tbsp of melted chocolate
1 egg
2.5oz self raising flour
a splash of soya milk to soften the mix

I mixed all this and made 12 dollops on a baking tray, then baked them at 180c for about 15 minutes. They looked fine, but I think that the mix could have been even softer to let them spread better.

Once cooled, I made my third date and cocoa creation - frosting. Yep, if you mix equal quantities of the date mix and sunflower spread, you get the beginnings of a very good frosting consistency; it's not chocolatey enough, so I tagged another tbsp of cocoa powder and the same of icing sugar to get the texture just right. I spooned the frosting onto one cooled cake round, then sandwiched another cake on top.



A sprinkle of icing sugar and they are ready to eat:

Gingerbread Pudseys

It is Children in Need time, and today at school we held a cake sale to raise some money. I was determined to theme my baking, and what better way than this?
I used my gingerbread recipe, then used rolled white icing and icing pens to add the details. Simple, yet effective.

Lemon cheesecake cupcakes

I made my most delicious concoction to date yesterday. It was the combination of a few different ideas that came together beautifully for the school social last night. I was very pleased!

I based the cakes on some I had made a few months ago. I changed the icing and based the biscuit part on the topping from these cakes.

Ingredients

For the cakes:
8.5oz self raising flour
6oz caster sugar
6oz soya margarine
3 eggs
grated rind of 2 lemons

lemon curd

For the cheese topping:
3/4 tub of mascarpone cheese
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk

For the biscuit topping:
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (I was kindly sent some graham crackers from Canada, but you can use digestive biscuits for this part - they are close enough in flavour)
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup soft brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted

Method

Make up the cake mix, adding a little milk if necessary to give a soft consistency, it should drop off the spoon into the cake cases with just a little help. Set out 16 cupcake cases and place a heaped teaspoon of mix in each case. Top each one with about 1/3 tsp of lemon curd, then cover with another heaped tsp of cake mix, making sure the lemon curd is covered completely. This method should use up all the cake mix.

In a separate bowl, mix the biscuit topping ingredients together to make a crumble. Tip this out onto a baking tray and place in the oven with the cakes. Keep an eye on it to avoid it browning too much, it benefits form a stir during cooking to ensure it cooks evenly.
Bake at 180c for around 14 minutes until the cakes are starting to brown on top, remove the topping from the oven after about 10 minutes.

Allow the topping and cakes to cool in their tins, then place the cakes on a wire rack to ensure they cool fully before putting the toppings on.

Make up the mascarpone cheese topping by mixing the 4 ingredients until you get a smooth creamy consistency. When the cakes are cool, spread a tsp of the mascarpone on each of the cakes.

As close as possible to serving the cakes (I did this 4 hours before, and they stayed crunchy) sprinkle a tsp of the biscuit topping on each cake.

Seedy apple cookies

I have been merrily baking what I know my children will eat, and a lot of the time paying little attention to the nutritional qualities of these treats. I have decided that there are times when I need the full on sugar extravaganza - like a birthday cake, but I could also use baking as a sneaky way of getting more good food into my children and myself.

Emma is quite happy munching on nuts and seeds, but Charlotte does not. I was hoping that I could adapt a recipe to get seeds into Charlotte's diet as a starting point for my experiments. I based it on my apple and cinnamon cookie recipe, which I have also made as ginger and lemon cookies.

Ingredients

130g soya margarine
55g granulated sugar
45g soft light brown sugar
50g crushed digestive biscuits
100g plain flour
80g oats
50 g sunflower seeds (blitzed into small crumbs)
20g sesame seeds
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
200g dried apple, chopped roughly
1 large egg
1 tbsp agave syrup

Method

Cream together the margarine and sugars.
Add the egg and agave syrup and mix well.
In a separate bowl mix the flour, biscuit crumbs, oats, seeds, bicarb and cinnamon.
Add the dry mix to the wet, mix well then stir in the chopped apple.
Bake on a lined baking tray at 170c (fan) for 12 minutes.
Makes 24.

Biscuit cakes

After trying out the "graham cracker and chocolate chip muffin" recipe recently, I decided I would try to adapt my basic cupcake recipe to incorporate digestive biscuit crumbs and chocolate chips. Whilst the muffins were delicious, I was advised by one of my critics (mum) that they were a bit heavy and didn't need the crumble on top. It was my birthday yesterday and a group of us were going to the park for the afternoon, I needed to take some cakes along as the batch of cupcakes my mum had made were not going to be enough for everyone. I gazed around the kitchen, looking for inspiration and noticed the last few digestive biscuits loitering around the fruit bowl, and decided they needed using up, today was their day to shine...

Ingredients

2.5 oz self raising flour
2 oz digestive biscuit crumbs
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 oz soya margarine
4 oz caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 oz dairy free "milk" chocolate chips
2 eggs

Method

Cream the margarine and sugar in a bowl.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Add 1 egg, vanilla and a tbsp of the dry mix to the wet mix and stir well.
Repeat with the other egg and more of the dry mix.
Add the rest of the dry mix and the chocolate chips and stir.

This mix made 18 small cupcakes, which cooked at 180c for 13 minutes. They were very light and moist, so I think another time I would add the biscuit crumbs as extra to the 4.5oz flour instead of substituting 2 oz of the flour with biscuit crumbs and baking powder. The flavour was great though, so worth trying again to get the texture right.

"Graham cracker" chocolate chip muffins

I came across a recipe the other day for Graham cracker chocolate chip muffins and they looked and sounded delicious. I couldn't get hold of Graham crackers here in the UK, so I had to resort to digestive biscuits in this recipe adaptation. I have made them dairy-free, and am hoping that I haven't lost too much of the taste of the original recipe in the process.

Ingredients

2 cups of plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup of digestive biscuit crumbs
1 cup sweetened soya milk
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1 large egg
2tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup dairy free "milk" chocolate chips

topping:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup light brown soft sugar
1/4 cup golden granulated sugar
1/2 cup digestive biscuit crumbs
3/4tsp cinnamon
3tbsp soya margarine, melted

Method 

Mix flour, crumbs, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl.
Mix oil, milk, egg and vanilla in a jug.
Add the wet to the dry mix and stir well to combine.
Finally add the chocolate chips and mix in.

In a smaller bowl, mix the topping ingredients together. The mix should be crumbly. I have changed the ingredient quantities from the original, as my version of the original was really gloopy. It must be due to the water content of the margarine.

I made 16 muffins in lined muffin tins with this quantity of mix, with each case 2/3 full of mix. I then added a teaspoon of the crumbly topping to each muffin and baked at 190c (fan) for around 15 minutes until they were cooked through. They smell amazing. They taste delicious, especially while still warm!

Experimenting with digestive biscuits

I saw a recipe the other day (via Ree Drummond) for graham cracker chocolate chip muffins, and was intrigued. They looked absolutely delicious,  but why can't you get graham crackers in the UK? My research determined that the closest thing is a digestive biscuit, although it is thicker, but to use as crumbs would do just fine. I haven't bought sweet biscuits for a while, so was pleased to see that Sainsbury's own brand digestives were dairy-free. Hooray!

Today, I decided to make a quick pudding using some of the biscuits. It was a real store-cupboard wonder - tinned peach and digestive crumble:

Method

Drain a tin of peach slices and place in a suitably sized dish, so they easily cover the bottom.
In a bowl, crush 8 digestive biscuits and rub 1tbsp soya margarine into the crumbs.
Pour the crumbs on top and bake at 180c for about 15 - 20 minutes.

We decided that there was far too much crumble (I actually used 10 biscuits) but it was delicious with dairy-free vanilla ice-cream. It kind of reminded me of cheesecake because of the digestive biscuit crumbs.

Fig Rolls

My mum always used to buy us fig rolls when we were little, or that's how it seems to me now. I loved them, even though I didn't like fresh figs. My sister believes that dad told us we didn't like fresh figs so he didn't have to share the ones from his fig tree with us. Cynical? Possibly, but now I know how good home grown figs are, I am inclined to agree - I am very possessive of my fig tree.

Anyway, I digress. Fig rolls seemed like a great idea for a new bake, as dried figs are a good source of calcium and iron. If the girls like them I can feel a bit less guilty putting these in their lunch boxes (chocolate chip cookies don't have much goodness in them, methinks). I had a large number of egg yolks left over from my (appallingly bad) attempt at meringues today, so these were put to good use in the pastry.

Ingredients

250g plain flour

150g soya margarine

65g light brown soft sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 egg yolks

150g soft dried figs

A little lemon juice

Method

Rub the flour and margarine together to make crumbs, then stir in the sugar.

Mix the vanilla and egg yolks together, then add to the crumbs, mixing to make a soft dough.

Chill in the fridge for at least 1/2 hour.

Cut the hard stems off the figs and place in a saucepan with 100ml water.

Simmer until the figs have absorbed the water and softened, a good 10 minutes. Let cool.

Add a squeeze of lemon juice to the figs, then put them in the blender to make a thick paste.

Roll the chilled dough out into a long strip about 15cm wide, then split it into 2 strips with a sharp knife. Spread half of the fig paste on each strip and roll together to make a long sausage. Cut into about 12 biscuits and place on a lined baking tray. Cut 2 slits in the top of each biscuit with a sharp knife. Repeat with the other strip of pastry and paste. Bake at 190c for about 15 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

They tasted right, but the pastry was a little thick - I was expecting this, as it was very fragile and difficult to roll out. Not bad though.

Ginger and lemon cookies

I have been making apple, oat and cinnamon cookies for a while, and although they are delicious, I thought I might try a new twist on them today. We are going to see some friends tomorrow, and I thought a batch of cookies would be a nice gift for them. I decided to substitute the apple and cinnamon for ginger and lemon, and here is the recipe:

Ingredients

100g soya margarine
70g golden granulated sugar
50g light brown soft sugar
1 egg
140g plain flour
50g oats
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
4 pieces of ginger in syrup
1 lemon

Method

Cream the sugars and margarine together, then add the egg and mix well.
Add the flour, oats and bicarb and mix to form a soft dough.
Drain the ginger and chop it finely.
Use a sharp knife to carefully take the top layer of skin from the lemon, trying not to get too much of the white pith from underneath. Chop the pieces of skin up really small.
Add the ginger and lemon to the dough and mix well.
Dollop 24 blobs of the dough onto lined baking trays and cook for about 13 minutes at 180c.
Leave to cool slightly on the trays, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
When cool, sprinkle icing sugar over the biscuits.

Jubilee biscuits

Yesterday, I thought I'd make something quick to tide us over until the big cake making session on Monday. We will have our village tea party on Monday afternoon, so I need to provide something special for that. I wanted biscuits, but couldn't be bothered with the hassle of rolling out dough, so this recipe was perfect.

Ingredients

300g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground mixed spice
125g soya margarine
100g light brown soft sugar
80g dark brown soft sugar
50ml hot water
1 tbsp golden syrup

Juice of 1 lemon
Icing sugar

Method

Rub the flour, bicarb, ginger, mixed spice and margarine together to make crumbs.
Stir in the 2 sugars.
Melt the golden syrup into the boiling water and then stir this into the crumbs to make a soft dough.
Using a dessert spoon, dollop around 24 balls of dough onto lined baking sheets and flatten slightly with your fingers.
Bake at 180c for about 15 minutes, then leave on the trays to cool for a bit.
Mix the lemon juice and icing sugar together to make a thick paste.
Put the biscuits on a wire tray to finish cooling, then spread a layer of icing on top and finish with some sprinkles.

Peanut butter and chocolate cookies

I love peanut butter. The best use for peanut butter (crunchy, not the smooth stuff) is in a fluffernutter. Made with 2 slices of white toast instead of bread, it is my absolute favourite yummy treat. I am also partial to peanut butter cookies, but as the children don't like them, I don't make them too often.

Then, I had a breakthrough. Emma now likes peanut and honey based cereal, and so I have an excuse for trying a brand new peanut cookie recipe on the family. Introducing the peanut butter and chocolate chip dairy-free cookie - I think it needs a better name.


Ingredients

3 oz soya margarine
4 oz soft brown sugar
5 1/2 oz peanut butter
4 1/2 oz plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg (I used a medium sized one)
6 oz dairy-free chocolate chips (I used 3 oz of dark and 3 oz of milk)

Method

Cream together the margarine and sugar, then add the egg and vanilla and mix well.
Add the peanut butter and mix.
Add the flour and bicarb and mix to make a soft dough.
Finally, stir in the chocolate chips.
You are supposed to put the dough for peanut butter cookies in the fridge for an hour to firm the dough and make it easier to use, but I am always in too much of a rush to bother. It does help the next stage if you do, though.
Take a tablespoon of mix at a time and place on a baking tray, then squash it down to a biscuit shape with a fork. I forgot to do this bit today, so I got mine out of the oven after a minute or so and squashed them - the chocolate was already melted and oozed all over the place, hence the finished biscuits having a mashed-up chocolatey top to them.
Cook at 180c for about 12 minutes, until they are browning around the edges.
Use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
Makes 18 large cookies.

On tasting them, I think that they needed a bit more sugar, and when I make them again (they are very good) I will use 5 oz of sugar. I love the crumbly texture you get from the peanut butter and the fact that these are a little less nutty than plain peanut butter ones. Conclusion - I am very pleased.

Gingerbread biscuits

We make gingerbread biscuits a lot. The girls like big ones that they can take for packed lunches, but we also make lots of little ones for nibbling at home. I tried a few dairy-free recipes for gingerbread, but the best by far was actually an Annabel Karmel one I found online. The dough recipe just uses soya margarine instead of butter and that's it. We have so many cutters, but today the girls wanted bears and circles, and I chose the old-fashioned gingerbread men and little diamonds. I always make diamonds, when you cut them out you can cut them very close together, so you don't have to keep pressing the leftover dough back together and re-rolling. I guess a square cutter would be just as good for doing this.


These are great biscuits for a decorating session, either just my two girls or with their friends. I make up a small bowl of icing sugar and water icing and give them a variety of sprinkles and decorations. They spoon a little icing onto each biscuit and then arrange and sprinkle the decorations to their hearts' content. It keeps them amused for ages, and they can eat their creations too. I found the tidiest way of doing this is to give them a few biscuits on a low sided baking tray. This way, the sprinkles don't roll all across the table and they can re-use what lands in their tray.