Baking with Auntie Sharabelle

Morrison supermarket own brand

 Brownie mix

Was half term for the local schools this week, so  my oldest niece joined me on Friday for a spot of baking.   While her younger brother opted too have a male bonding day with his cousin.

 In all I have 4 niece's and 2 nephews, there ages range from 11 yrs down too 3 yrs.  There all individuals and have there own unique personalities, lol. 

 We headed down to our local Morrison's supermarket, with a shopping list for the goodies she wanted to bake.  Then headed straight back and we pretty much spent the whole day cooking and baking.

First up Chocolate Brownies, we did cheat and use a pre-made mix for this one.  Picked up Morrison's own brand, which was a 3rd of the price of the Betty Crocker alternative.  Just because somethings cheaper doesn't always mean it's not as good.   The instructions where easy for my niece to follow.  She did all the hard work including licking the mixing bowl clean, while I did the easy work of putting things in and out of the oven.

Taste test:  I was happily told that the outside was nice and crunchy, while the inside had stayed really fudgy.  Another note to make is this Brownie mix is dairy free and okay for kids or adults that have food intolerance's.  I wouldn't recommend it if they have allergy's, as it's made in a Free from environment.   It could also be make egg free, by using an egg substitute

Cheese Scones

While the Chocolate Brownies were in the oven we got on with making Cheese scones for her mum and dad, my brother.  I have 2 brothers , both younger and taller than I me.  Can't complain really because of my height everyone things I'm the youngest, lol. 

The best Cheese Scone for me has got to be Mary Berry's Cheese Scone Round recipe, from her Mary Berry 100 Cakes and Bakes cookbook. The secret to a really great Cheese Scone is using mature cheddar cheese and adding a little mustard. 

Mary Berry recipes

Brownie's came out the oven, Cheese scones went in.  After a quick break,  we moved on to making Shortbread Petticoat tails.  Instead of rolling the dough out and cutting into shape, Petticoat tails are patted down or rolled into a circle.  Then Scored gently like a pizza into 6 - 8 triangles, once cooked you should be able to break them into individual pieces. 

 Sprinkle  caster sugar on top as soon as it comes out of the oven.  The remaining heat helps the sugar to stick. 

Basic shortbread recipe

6 oz Flour
4 oz Butter or Dairy free hard margarine
2 oz Caster Sugar
Pinch of Salt

Sieve the flour and salt into your bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and rub into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

Add the sugar to the other ingredients and then knead the mixture until it binds well together.
(Or you could cheat  and use a little water to help it along)

Option 1. Roll out dough on a floured work surface till about 5 mm thick.  Prick all over with a fork  and cut into shape, either with a cookie cutter or by hand into shortbread fingers. 

Bake in a pre-heated oven -   350 F or 180 Celsius for 10 -15 Min's

Option 2.  Place dough on a greased baking tray and pat out or roll out into a circle.  Prick all over with a fork, then using the back of a knife lightly score the shortbread like a pie into slices. 

Bake in a pre-heated oven - 325 F or 160 Celsius for an hour.  Turn round half way through if your oven has a hot spot. 

Before we had a break for lunch I supervised my niece making her own cheese omelet.  Best way to use up the left over cheese, that way it wouldn't be around to tempted me.  It's probably the only dairy product I really miss....

Baking wasn't over, next task she wanted to make a marble cake.  There was not eggs left, so I showed her how to make a wacky cake.  We divided the batter in 2 and mixed 1 tbsp of cocoa powder into  half.  Then we alternately placed scoops of  the vanilla batter and chocolate batter in the tin to create a marbled effect.

Taste test:- All the baking kind of made me hungry, so I helped her taste test this one.  Wish I'd used a smaller square tin or doubled the cake batter mix, because it was a bit on the thin side.  Tasted good to me, all I kept thinking was this would be great for dessert covered in custard. 

After writing the above, it now makes perfect sense why I'm so tired today.  I basically spent all day on my feet, but it was fun xxxx