Brentwood Gazette published Get busy baking this week

A week after Jo Wheatley of Nazeing won BBC Two’s Great British Bake Off, comes the perfect week to follow in her footsteps.

National Baking Week runs from October 17 to 23 offering an excellent opportunity to spread the love by baking as many delicious cakes, cookies and pastries as possible, to share with friends and family.

The latest rising stars of baking are encouraging the modern generation to head to the kitchen and try their hand at making delicious homemade treats and re-create the community bonding experience of the past.

And to demonstrate how important it is to use high quality ingredients, baker extraordinaire and finalist of the Great British Bake Off 2010, Ruth Clemens, has developed these scrumptious Vanilla Sugar Cookies made using Nielsen-Massey vanilla bean paste.

There are also two other classic baking recipes with which to try out your baking skills.

Makes 25 x 2 ½ inch cookies, 16 x 3 ½ inch cookies or 12 x 4 ½ inch cookies

Ingredients

225g butter

225g Billington’s golden caster sugar

1 large free-range egg

1 tbsp Nielsen-Massey vanilla bean paste

375g Allinson nature friendly plain white flour, sifted

Method

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and the Nielsen-Massey vanilla bean paste and mix well.

Sift in the flour and thoroughly mix to a dough. Split the dough in half.

Take two sheets of baking paper and lay one on your work surface. On top place one half of the cookie dough. Top with the second sheet of baking paper.

Roll out the dough, between the two sheets to approximately 4mm thick.

Place the rolled out dough, still in the baking parchment, in the fridge to chill for half an hour.

Repeat with the second piece of cookie dough.

Preheat the oven to 160ºC/Fan 180ºC/Gas Mark 4.

Once the dough is nicely chilled it will be much easier to cut out perfect cookies.

Cut out the cookies using your chosen cutter and place on a greased or lined baking sheet, chill again for a further 15 minutes or until they are completely hard again. The chilling stops the cookies from spreading and will help them keep their shape.

Keep re-rolling the scraps and chilling again between two sheets of baking paper until you have used up all the dough.

Bake in the oven for approximately 12 minutes until the cookies are golden brown on the edges. Baking times will vary depending on the size of cutter you are using, times here are based on a 2 ½” cookie.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

IT MAY sound slightly strange to use extra virgin olive oil in baking but it’s actually a very common practice in the Mediterranean.

Extra virgin olive oil gives cakes, biscuits and pastries a lovely rich, moist texture and a slightly fruity taste, without overpowering the flavour of all of the other ingredients.

Makes 12

Ingredients

115g / 4oz best 70% cocoa chocolate

80ml/ 5 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil

70g/ 2 ½ oz self raising flour

1 level tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

3 medium eggs

150g / 5 ½ oz caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Icing sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Method

Place chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Stir until chocolate melts. Alternatively melt in the microwave for around 20 seconds. Do not overcook in the microwave. Whisk in oil. Leave to cool.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. In another bowl whisk the eggs and sugar until light and pale. Stir in the vanilla extract and chocolate mix. Gently fold in the flour mix, until all is incorporated. Line an 8in / 20cm square non-stick tin with baking parchment and oil lightly. Pour in brownie mix and smooth over.

Bake in a pre-heated oven, Gas 5 / 375F / 180C for 20 – 22 minutes. Test with the point of a thin sharp knife – which should come out just clean, but slightly moist. Cool then cut into squares. Serve sprinkled with sifted icing sugar.

EMILY Davenport, managing editor of the Dairy Diary and the Dairy Book of Home Cookery, is excited about National Baking Week.

“Baking is trendy once more thanks to the BBC’s Great British Bake-Off.The programme has reignited interest in this culinary delight.

“With most forms of cooking, you can get away with throwing a few ingredients together without propensity for disaster. With baking, however, it really is a scientific art and without the right ratios of ingredients, it simply doesn’t work. That’s why recipes are so crucial.”

The Dairy Diary and the Dairy Book of Home Cookery are packed with baking recipes. The latter includes an entire chapter on baking.

Here’s one to try.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

110g (4oz) self-raising flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder

110g (4oz) butter

110g (4oz) caster sugar

25g (1oz) golden syrup

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

4 tsp milk

200ml (7fl oz) double cream, whipped

Grated chocolate to decorate

Method

Grease and line a deep 20.5cm (8in) round cake tin.

Sift flour twice with cocoa.

Cream butter, sugar, syrup and vanilla together until very pale in colour, light in texture and fluffy.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, adding 1 tbsp of sifted dry ingredients with each one.

Fold in milk and remaining dry ingredients with a metal spoon.

Transfer to prepared tin and smooth top with a knife.

Bake at 180°C (350°F) Mark 4 for 35-40 minutes, or until a wooden cocktail stick, inserted into

centre of cake, comes out clean.

Turn out on to a wire rack, strip off paper and leave until cool.

Cut cake into 2 or 3 layers.

Fill and cover top with double cream, whipped until thick, or butter cream.

The Dairy Book of Home Cookery (£10.49) and The Dairy Diary (£6.99) are both packed with recipes and available at www.dairydiary.co.uk or by calling 0845 0948 128, postage and packing not included.

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baking with Bill & Sheila