Rock Buns or cakes have often unjustly been the butt of many baking jokes. Too often hard, dry and rocky by nature as well as by name, they have come to epitomise a mean austere style of vintage baking. Yet when they are made with plenty of butter, soft brown sugar, a generous helping of plump dried fruit, a waft of nutmeg and a grating of lemon zest, they can be utterly, meltingly delicious. Rock buns need to be large and filling, the kind of thing you'd be happy to find in a cake tin after a long walk or an energetic game, or for a rather good elevenses on any day the week.
FOR THE BUNS: 340g Plain Flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt a good grating of fresh nutmeg a pinch of mixed spice ( optional ) 170g light soft brown sugar 300g mixed dried fruits or just plain raisins / sultanas ( your choice ) finely grated zest of 1 lemon ( well washed ) 170g butter at room temperature but not too soft 1 large egg 1-2 tbsp milk
You will need : 1 large baking sheet or cookie sheet lined with baking parchment paper. Mix Method: Preheat oven to 180 C or 360 F degrees. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and spice in a large bowl. Prepare your dried fruit. Add finely grated lemon zest and stir to combine. Add the butter to your dry ingredients and rub together to resembles fine sandy bread crumbs until there are no lumps. Stir in your dried fruits and lemon zest. Make a well in the centre and add your egg and milk. With the fork, mix quickly and lightly until combined and in a stiff-ish, firm, slightly sticky dough. be careful not to make the mixture too slack or it will turn into flat cookies when in the oven. Using your hand or fork pile the mixture into 12 individual " rocks " (craggy piles) . Bake in a preheated oven for 17-20 minutes. Storage: Can be keep for 2 days in a airtight container. 1 week in the fridge. 1 month in the freezer. Happy Baking to all!!! Please Like my page in Facebook " Slice of Heaven " Subscribe my channel in You tube.
I’ve been wanting to make macarons forever now, but just hadn’t gotten up the nerve after reading how finicky they are. But I just discover the 6 tips to follow when making them and I am not afraid to make this delicate little cookies and so are you too :) Here it is guys your most awaiting recipe. Please show some results when you have done your success like what I do.
INGREDIENTS 3 Egg Whites ¼ cup white sugar (50 g) 2 cups confectioners sugar (200 g) 1 cup almond flour (120 g) (SEE NOTE BELOW) pinch of salt ¼
tsp cream of tartar (2 ml) * You can omit if needed, just may take a
bit longer to reach stiff peaks but the recipe will still work)
NOTE:
If you cannot find almond flour here is a tip to do your own almond flour. Use an Almond Slivered and put it in your food processor then grind them until they become grounds.
RASPBERRY BUTTER CREAM 1/4 cup salted butter (60g) 3/4 cup powdered sugar (75 g) 1 cup (150 g) fresh raspberries, worked through a sieve to extract 3 tbsp of juice
Mix METHOD: Preheat oven to 300 F degrees / 150 C degrees
Beat
egg whites until foamy, then add salt, cream of tartar and white sugar
for 8-10 minutes TIP #1. egg whites should be room temp. To create room
temp eggs, submerge in warm water for 5 minutes. Whip until they become STIFF...forms like a rocket ship.
Then add the food coloring. TIP #2. Color does fade as it cooks, so do a shade or two darker than you want them to be.
TIP #3.
Sift almond flour, and powdered sugar. What remains will be the larger
lumps of almond pieces. Just discard those, or use them to snack on :)
You want a really fine powder mixture to create a smooth and pretty on
top to your cookie.
Fold flour/sugar mixture into the egg white
mixture. TIP #4. This is where all your hard work can really go wrong.
Under mix and your macaroons will be lumpy and cracked when the bake
with no feet, over mix and your macaroons will be flat and won't have
feet, the mark of a well-made macarons. In my experience 65-75 turns of
your spatula when folding is about the right amount of time. Until you find your batter run into your spatula a bit sticky like a molten lava. But again,
it can be tricky, depends on how strong you are... So it can take a
few tries to get it right. But when you do, the trumpets will blare and
you will feel SO accomplished!
Transfer batter to a pastry bag.
Pipe out 1 inch rounds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
TIP #5.
tap the pan hard at least 2-3 times to release the air bubbles. This
will prevent the tops of your macaroons from cracking.
TIP #6. Let
them sit out for 20--30 mins, or up to an hour if you want. This will
allow them time to dry out a bit before hitting the hot oven. They
should be "tacky" to the touch, but not stick to your fingertips. This
is another important step to assuring your macaroons develop feet on the bottom. When
they dry out they can't spread out in the oven, and are forced to rise
up.These have a smooth rounded outer shell and flat bottom with what’s called “feet.” Bake for 20 minutes. DO NOT UNDER BAKE, even if they look done! Otherwise they will stick to your tray.
Meanwhile
mix the Raspberry buttercream. Whip butter with your stand mixer mixer until pale and
fluffy. Slowly add sugar. Then place sieve on top of a bowl the same
size. Place your fresh raspberries through the sieve with a spatula, pushing them
through, mashing them around until you extract their juice. You want 3
tablespoons of juice.
Add juice to your buttercream, and whip until combined. Transfer to a pastry bag, fitted with a small tip (about ¼ " in diameter)
Reverse cookie shells on their backs, and pipe a small mound of filling on one of them. Top with the other shell. Macarons or some people called it Tartalletes... There you go guys...start making it now!!! ENJOY AND HAPPY BAKING TO ALL :)
