49. Date Squares

One of my fave childhood desserts out there. Sticky sweet dates with a crumble topping keep me coming back for more every time!

Date Squares

Makes one 9x9" tin

For filling:

500g pitted dates

250g water

70g brown sugar

1/2 lemon juice

1tsp vanilla bean paste

For crumble:

230g plain flour

170g unsalted butter, softened

170g rolled oats

150g brown sugar

1tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

Start by making your filling. Roughly chop your dates. Add to a saucepan with your sugar and water and bring to a boil. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until the water has evaporated and you're left with a thick paste. Remove from heat, stir in your lemon juice and vanilla paste and leave to cool slightly.

For your crumble, mix your flour, oats, sugar, baking soda and salt together. Rub in your butter until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Preheat your oven to 170ºC

To assemble, press half your mixture into the bottom of your tin, spread your date paste overtop, then scatter your remaining crumble mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

48. Salted Caramel Cheesecake

The hardest part of making this fridge set cheesecake is the waiting time. It's totally worth the wait for this creamy bad boy though.

Salted Caramel Cheesecake

Makes one 20cm cheesecake

300g digestive biscuits

70g butter

300g creamcheese

80g icing sugar

300g heavy cream (30-35%)

150g mascarpone

1/2 vanilla pod

200g salted caramel spread

Start by making your biscuit base. Melt your butter in a saucepan set over a low heat. Place your digestive biscuits in a food processor and blitz until you get fine crumbs, or pop them in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Add in your melted butter, mix, then press into the base of a 20 cm tin and chill in the fridge.

For the filling, scrape the seeds of your vanilla pod and mix with the icing sugar and cream cheese. In a separate bowl, beat your heavy cream and mascarpone together until thick. Fold the cream cheese and whipped cream mixture together.

Assemble by spreading a third of your filling onto your base. Drizzle some of your salted caramel overtop, then cover with another third of filling. Repeat the process, then finish it off by drizzling/dotting some caramel on top and taking a cake skewer or a knife and swirling it through the mixture to create a marbled effect. If this step leaves any holes just gently tap or shake it out. Don't spread the top otherwise it will loose it's marbled effect. Chill for 4-6 hours until set.

47. Chocolate Caramel Hearts

I found some heart shaped ice cube molds in our local shop the other day so I thought I'd give homemade chocolates a try. What a success! Rustic, delicious, and a great way to use up some of that salted caramel spread.

Chocolate Caramel Hearts

Makes 14 hearts

500g milk chocolate, chopped into small bits
300g salted caramel spread

one awesome heart shaped silicone mold

Start by tempering your chocolate. Well tempered chocolate is key when making homemade chocolates: it ensures a lovely shiny finish and a good snap when eaten. To achieve this, heat 350g of your chocolate over a bain-marie until melted and a thermometer reads 50ºC. Remove from heat and stir in your remaining 150g of chocolate. Continue stirring to cool your chocolate to 27ºC. This may take 10-20 minutes depending on how cool your room temperature is. Once you've reached 27ºC, pop your chocolate back on to your bain-marie and reheat slightly to between 29 to 30ºC. Your chocolate is now ready to use.

Make sure your mold is clean and dry. Fill each hole with chocolate, tap it slightly against your work surface to remove any air bubbles, then turn onto a cooling rack set over a plate or bowl and allow your chocolate to drip out for about 1 minute. Once your chocolate has finished dripping, scrape the top of your mold to remove any excess chocolate, then allow to set slightly for 10-15 minutes.

Once your chocolate has set, fill with salted caramel to 1mm below the edge of your mould. If your filling seems too stiff, warm it slightly in the microwave or over your bain-marie. Freeze for a minimum of 30 minutes until your caramel has set.

Reheat your chocolate, fill each gap and scape the top of your mould, making sure the edges of your chocolates are lovely and clean. Allow to set in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Gently unmold your chocolates. If your feeling fancy, use some of your leftover chocolate to drizzle overtop. Eat straight away or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month.

46. Caramel Macarons

Caramel addicts beware: These little bits of caramel heaven go quickly!

Caramel Macarons
Makes about 30

For caramel filling:
200g white caster sugar
150g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

100g heavy cream (30%)

1tsp fleur de sel

For macarons:

200g icing sugar

200g ground almonds

5g instant coffee powder

150g egg whites (about 4), split in half

200g caster sugar

50g water

Start by making your caramel filling. In a small saucepan, bring your cream to a boil and set aside. Meanwhile, heat a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add in a third of your sugar and, stirring occasionally, allow it to melt. Once all the sugar has dissolved, add in another third. Repeat, using the final third, then cook your caramel until it turns a lovely dark amber colour and starts to smoke slightly, or reads 170ºC-175ºC. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in your butter, being careful to avoid any steam or splatter. Whisk in your hot cream and fleur de sel, transfer to a clean bowl and leave to cool.

For your macarons shells, place your icing sugar, ground almonds and coffee powder in a food processor and blend for a minute. Alternatively, you can sift your ingredients together into a medium bowl. Add half your egg whites and mix to form a smooth paste.

Place your caster sugar and water in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Cook until a sugar thermometer reads 118°-119°C. While your syrup it cooking, place the other half of your egg whites into a large heatproof bowl or stand mixer. Whisk your whites to soft peaks (you can start once the temperature is around 105º-110ºC). Slowly pour your hot syrup into your beaten whites, whisking constantly on a medium speed. Once all the sugar has been added, turn your mixer up to high and beat until cool and thickened, about 6-7 minutes. Fold one third of your meringue into your paste, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides so it is evenly incorporated before adding another third. Repeat with the final third of meringue to make a fairly thick batter.

Now for the make or break of a good macaron: the "macaronage". This step serves to knock out some of the air and deflate the batter slightly to make it more fluid. This is done by scraping the mixture and pressing it against the sides of your bowl. Repeat this action 15-20 times until it turns glossy and a ribbon of batter reincorporates into itself in about 10 seconds. Under mix and your macarons won't be shiny and may crack; over mix and you will end up with flat, uneven macarons.

Preheat oven to 160ºC. Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Pipe you're batter into 3cm mounds about 3cm apart. Tap the base of your tray with the palm of your hand or against your work surface to knock out any air bubbles and to smooth out your batter. (Note: If you are confident with your macaronage, you do not need to allow macarons do dry out before baking. If you are unsure, allow them to "croute" for 20-30 minutes until they are dry to touch.) Bake your trays one at a time for 12-13 minutes. Allow shells to cool completely before attempting to remove them from parchment paper.

Check your filling. It ought to have cooled to a smooth paste. If it's too hard, heat it gently over a bain marie until it reaches piping consistency. It it's too liquid, pop it in the fridge for a few minutes and give it a good whisk before filling your piping bag.

Pair up your shells and pipe a tablespoon of filling onto the base and use the top to push the filling out to the edges. If you can help yourself, store your macarons in the fridge overnight in an airtight container to allow the flavour to develop. Keeps for 3-4 days.

45. English Muffins

Take a little time to make these bad boys if you fancy waking up to some wicked breakfast muffins or eggs benny on a Saturday morning.

English Muffins

Makes about 10 muffins

450g strong white bread flour

350g semi-skimmed milk

25g honey

10g salt

8g dried active yeast

about 100g cornmeal

Heat your milk in a saucepan for about 30 seconds until "hand hot" or a thermometer reads 35ºC. Tip in your dried active yeast and set aside for 10 minutes to allow your yeasty friends to become active. Once your yeast is good and active, add all your ingredients to a large bowl and mix to form a soft dough. Place your dough on a clean work surface and give it a good 10 minute knead, until it is smooth and elastic. Pop your dough back into your bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for 1 hour.

Once your dough is risen, roll it out to 2cm thick and, using a 7.5cm cutter (or something similar), cut out as many muffins as possible. Place them on a baking tray sprinkled with cornmeal. Bunch up the leftover scraps and roll them out again to make a few more muffins (don't waste any of this dough... it's delish!). Sprinkle more cornmeal over the top of your muffins, cover with cling film and leave to rise for another 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes is up, preheat a large frying pan on a medium low heat and rub a bit of butter onto the cooking surface and place as many muffins as will comfortably fit into the pan. Cook them for about 10-11 minutes flipping halfway through and pressing down on them slightly to flatten. Eat warm or allow to cool completely before storing in a plastic bag to keep them fresh about 4 days (or 3 months frozen).

44. Treacle Tart

Such a good cold weather classic. Serve warm with a bit of fresh cream and a few spoonfuls of jam... Delicious.

Treacle Tart

Makes one 23cm tart

1 portion sweet shortcrust pastry

120g breadcrumbs
60g ground almonds
1 egg
400g golden syrup
80g double cream
30g lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 200ºC. Roll your dough out to 2mm thick and line your tart tin, trimming away any excess pastry. Chill for 15 minutes.

Blind bake your tart by lining your pastry case with parchment paper and filling with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes, remove your baking beans and pop in the oven for a further 10 minutes until the base is slightly golden. Remove from oven and lower the temperature to 170ºC.

In a medium bowl, mix together your breadcrumbs and ground almonds. Combine your remaining ingredients, whisk together and add to your almonds and breadcrumbs. Stir until evenly combined, then add to your pastry case. Bake for 35-40 minutes until your filling is golden brown and set.

43. Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

One of the basics. This is such a great base for so many fantastic tarts. You'll never go wrong with a bit of sweet shortcrust.

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

Makes about 400g

200g plain flour

100g unsalted butter, chilled

25g icing sugar

2 egg yolks

15g chilled water

pinch of salt

In a large bowl, mix together your flour, icing sugar and salt. Rub in your butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix your eggs and water together, then add to your flour/butter mixture and stir until combined. Tip your dough out onto your work surface and give it a quick knead to smooth it out. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes before using. Keeps in the fridge for 4-5 days.

42. Chouquettes

Such an easy to make treat, and light as air too! I can easily justify eating 20 in one go.

Chouquettes
Makes about 3 dozen

100g water

100g milk

4g salt

4g sugar

90g butter

110g flour

180g eggs (about 4)

about 200g pearl sugar
1 egg, for egg wash

Preheat your oven to 170ºC. Place your water, milk, salt, sugar and butter in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove your pan from the heat and add in your flour in one go, then beat with a wooden spoon. Return your pan to a medium heat and continue stirring the mixture to dry it out a further 2 minutes (your dough will form a ball quite quickly, but keep stirring to dry the mixture out). Place your dough into a clean bowl and continue mixing until most of the steam has evaporated and the dough is cool, about 3-4 minutes. Add in your eggs one at a time, giving it a good mix in between additions. Your dough might need a little more or a little less egg depending on how much water remains. You can test the consistency by drawing a line in your batter: if the gap closes after 4-5 seconds you're good to go. If not, add a bit more egg.

Pipe or spoon your choux pastry into tablespoon sized mounds onto baking trays lined with parchment paper. Beat your egg and lightly brush the tops of your chouquettes, when sprinkle over your pearl sugar. Bake for 30-35 minutes, quickly opening the oven door after 25 minutes to let some of the steam escape and help your choux dry out (don't do this too early or your chouquettes will collapse). Your pastry should be puffed, crisp and golden brown.

41. Mini Meringues

Left over egg whites need never be wasted again!

Mini Meringues

Makes loads

100g egg whites (about 2 large)

100g caster sugar

100g icing sugar

Beat your egg whites with 2 tbsp of your caster sugar. Continue beating until you get medium peaks, then add the rest of your caster sugar one tablespoon at a time. Beat until firm. Add in your icing sugar and beat again for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is shiny, smooth and holds it's shape well.

Preheat your oven to 85ºC. Pipe meringues into little mounds about 2cm in diameter and bake for 1h30 to 2hrs until fully dry. Store in an airtight container.

40. Chocolate Macarons

Always blown away by how simple the ingredient list is for macarons, but how delicate and delicious they are! These chocolate macarons are a firm favourite around these parts, and I'll admit I've used them once or twice in exchange for a helping hand at the bike shop.

Chocolate Macarons

Makes about 30

For ganache:
250g heavy cream (30%)
250g dark chocolate (70%)
pinch of salt

For macarons:
185g icing sugar
185g ground almonds
30g cocoa powder
150g egg whites (about 4), split in half
200g caster sugar
50g water

Start by making your chocolate ganache. Bring your cream to a boil with your salt. Finely chop your chocolate and add to a medium bowl. Pour your hot cream over top and whisk until fully melted. Cling film the surface of your ganache and set aside to cool.

For your macarons shells, place your icing sugar, ground almonds and cocoa powder in a food processor and blend for a minute. Alternatively, you can sift your ingredients together into a medium bowl. Add half your egg whites and mix to form a smooth paste.

Place your caster sugar and water in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Cook until a sugar thermometer reads 118°-119°C. While your syrup it cooking, place the other half of your egg whites into a large heatproof bowl or stand mixer. Whisk your whites to soft peaks (you can start once the temperature is around 105º-110ºC). Slowly pour your hot syrup into your beaten whites, whisking constantly on a medium speed. Once all the sugar has been added, turn your mixer up to high and beat until cool and thickened, about 6-7 minutes. Fold one third of your meringue into your paste, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides so it is evenly incorporated before adding another third. Repeat with the final third of meringue to make a fairly thick batter.

First third of meringue added to paste. Mixed until smooth.

Final third being folded into batter.

Now for the make or break of a good macaron: the "macaronage". This step serves to knock out some of the air and deflate the batter slightly to make it more fluid. This is done by scraping the mixture and pressing it against the sides of your bowl. Repeat this action 15-20 times until it turns glossy and a ribbon of batter reincorporates into itself in about 10 seconds. Under mix and your macarons won't be shiny and may crack; over mix and you will end up with flat, uneven macarons.

Preheat oven to 160ºC. Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Pipe you're batter into 3cm mounds about 3cm apart. Tap the base of your tray with the palm of your hand or against your work surface to knock out any air bubbles and to smooth out your batter. (Note: If you are confident with your macaronage, you do not need to allow macarons do dry out before baking. If you are unsure, allow them to "croute" for 20-30 minutes until they are dry to touch.) Bake your trays one at a time for 12-13 minutes. Allow shells to cool completely before attempting to remove them from parchment paper.

Check your ganache. It ought to have cooled to a smooth paste. If it's too hard, heat it gently over a bain marie until it reaches piping consistency. It it's too liquid, pop it in the fridge for a few minutes and give it a good stir before filling your piping bag.

Pair up your shells and pipe a tablespoon of filling onto the base and use the top to push the filling out to the edges. If you can help yourself, store your macarons in the fridge overnight in an airtight container to allow the flavour to develop. Keeps for 3-4 days.

39. Palmiers

I just love watching such a thin bit of pastry quadruple in size to form this crisp, lightly caramelised cookie. So simple to make and can be stored in an airtight container. Perfect for coffee dipping and road tripping.

Palmiers

Makes about 15

600g Puff Pastry

about 300g granulated sugar

Roll your puff pastry into a rectangle about 20 x 50cm. Sprinkle your sugar over your dough to cover. Starting at the short edge of your pastry, fold twice towards the center to create 3 layers, covering with sugar at every turn. Repeat with the other side of your rectangle. Fold one half over the other and roll a bit to secure, wrap in cling film and freeze for 15 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 200ºC. Cover the outside of your prepared dough in sugar. Cut your biscuits into 6mm slices and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Allow loads of room for your biscuits to grow. Bake for 15-20 minutes until well spread and golden.

38. Chaussons Aux Pommes

One of my favorites as a kid, a nice warm apple turnover brings back so many wonderful memories of chilly Canadian winter days in Quebec and the fabulous french breakfasts treats we would consume.

Chaussons Aux Pommes

Makes 8-9

One portion Puff Pastry
500g Applesauce, cold
1 egg, to glaze

Preheat your oven to 180ºC. Roll your puff pastry into a rectangle that's 23cm x 45cm, about 5mm thick. Using a 11cm diameter cookie cutter (or a mug and a paring knife), cut out as many circles as possible. Roll each disc lengthways to 3mm thick to create an oval. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, spaced evenly apart.

Whisk your egg. Add 2 heaping tablespoons of applesauce to the center of each disc and brush the edges with your egg wash. Fold your pastry over and press down to seal in your applesauce. Repeat with all your pastry discs, flip them over so the flat side is facing up and egg wash the top. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Give your chaussons a second egg wash (this will help it turn shiny and give it a dark golden brown colour), score them using a sharp paring knife, prick the tops to create steam holes and bake for 25-30 minutes until risen and golden brown. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before devouring. Enjoy!

37. Applesauce

Such a classic! Warm spiced apples with a hint of vanilla is the perfect accompaniment to any breakfast or dessert, or simply eaten on it's own.

Applesauce

Makes about 1kg

6-7 apples*

200g water

50g dark brown sugar

1/2 lemon, juice

1/2 vanilla pod (optional), split in half

1/2tsp cinnamon (optional)

*I used a mix of pink lady and golden. It's important to remember that cooking times vary depending on the type of apple you use. If you want a slightly chunky apple sauce, use a few firmer apples along with softer cooking apples. If you want your compote completely smooth, it's best to stick to the softer apples, or give the mixture a final whizz in the food processor.

Peel, core and finely chop your apples. Place in a large casserole with your water, lemon juice, sugar and spices. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and continue cooking a further 5-10 minutes until your apples are cooked though and start to break apart. Eat warm or allow to cool. Stores in the fridge for up to a week or freezes well for up to 9 months.