Amaretti Biscuits

Amaretti refers to amaretto or almond flavored macaroon that comes from Italy! The first time I had tried one was at a coffee shop sometime and became some what obsessed with them for a while. I was buying a big bag and munching on them with every cup of coffee I drank!

It never really occurred to me to make my own. It's crazy as I am a baker and although not every bake is successful, more on that in a minute, I have some experience in the baking world and the thought should have occurred to me.

I expected these to be like the bagged ones like and airy and crispy, but they were more dense and chewy, but still delicious! More like a macaroon and macaroons and I have never gotten on with. Never really had a successful macaroon experience, they were edible, but not pretty!

There is still a soft spot for the bagged airy crispy ones, but a new appreciation for the soft chewy almond-y home baked ones! Just a note when baking these that there is a whole hour wait time before baking.... so as always read through the whole recipe before baking so you know!

Amaretti biscuits

1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
160g caster sugar
95g ground almonds
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 eggs whites
30g icing sugar

Line your baking sheets with baking paper before sifting together the plain flour, cornflour, and ground cinnamon in a large clean bowl. Add half the sugar (80g), almonds, and grated lemon zest and gently mixing it together. In a separate clean bowl beat the egg whites with clean electric beaters until stiff peaks form before gradually adding the rest of the of caster sugar (80g).
Using a clean spatula or metal spoon fold the egg whites into the dry mixture until combined. Using a regular teaspoon heap it up with the dough/batter and drop on to your prepared baking sheet, continue to do this spacing them apart to allow for spreading, until all the dough/batter is used up! Leave to sit for an hour.

Heat the oven 180C/350F/Gas4 - Sift the icing sugar liberally and bake for 15-20 minutes.

My only regret is not being more liberal with the icing sugar, on the ones that had more there was a lovely caramelised finish and a lovely powdered sugar touch! I of course have had one or two or three of these with my morning coffee.

Wait I have one other regret... I hadn't made these sooner!!
Enjoy!!

Two Ways with a Gypsy Tart

I just realised that my title could be taken the wrong way … if you are inclined to think that way. Something that I’ve learned is that it’s actually how a lot of people think. Being one of the small percentage of people who don’t always get innuendo I say a lot of things that get laughed at. I would relay some of the these instances, but we don’t have all day. Just take my word for it.

It’s not the first time I shared a Gypsy Tart on United Cakedom, but I thought I would try something different this time. Then it didn’t turn out so well and I hadn’t accounted for a couple of things. With a little improvising and adjusting I sorted it out and ended up with two different way to make a gypsy tart!

The filling is the same, it’s the base that changes. First I made mini tarts with a sweet shortcrust pastry. Then when I was stuck with a lot of extra filling because I didn’t think to half the recipe or something I made a quick cookie/biscuit base to bake the rest of the filling over with successful results!

Just like the title of this post could be taken two ways this gypsy tart can be made two ways...here's how:

Gypsy Tart

filling  

(makes enough for 24 mini tarts or 12 mini tarts and 7inch Gypsy Tart)

451ml (1 can) of evaporated milk
300g muscovado sugar

Whip them together for 15 minutes until light, fluffy, and tripled in size.

Mini Gypsy Tarts:

sweet shortcrust pastry

300g plain flour
4 tablespoons of golden caster sugar
200g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons cold water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whisk the flour and sugar together before rubbing the cubed butter into the flour/sugar until it resembles bread crumbs. Add all the other ingredients and bring together with a spatula or your hands until it makes a smooth dough. Make into a ball and squish a little to make a fat disk like shape, wrap in cling film and chill for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough and cut out 12 circles to line each muffin hole. Gently press down into the corners, use a fork to put holes in the base of each pastry case before leaving in the fridge to chill for about 15 minutes. The follow the instructions below for blind baking.

blind-bake

Pre-heat the oven 200C - Line each pastry case with a square of baking paper and fill with ceramic beans. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes. Remove ceramic beans and bake for a further 10 minutes until pastry turns a light brown.

to finish 

Fill each pastry case with the gypsy filling and bake for 5-10 minutes. Do not bake for 15 minutes as I did and had them collapse on me. Which I then whipped up some whipped cream and drizzled raspberry sauce on top!

Cookie Base Gypsy Tart 

cookies base 

213g chocolate chip hobnobs
50g melted butter

Blitz the cookies in a food processor, then add the butter and pulse a couple of times. Line a 7inch circle cake tin with the cookie mixture.

to finish

Pour the remaining gypsy filling into the tin and bake for 15 minutes. Leave to cool in the fridge for 2 hours before slicing and enjoying!

notes: Gypsy Tart is a pretty basic recipe, but this one was adapted from Eric Lanlard's Tart it Up! I wrote about it here the first time I made it. This is my #thepastrychallenge entry which I host with Jen at Jen's Food. There is still time to link up here!

the hummingbird bakery: Life is Sweet {book review}

The Hummingbird Bakery has done it again! Life is Sweet is the fourth book published by the infamous bakery and it’s out today!

 The book itself is gorgeous in the familiar pink color and packed with stunning photographs! It caters to a large range of baking skill. It is noted if more experience is recommended or not. However, I don’t think that should ever put someone off trying, if that’s what you want. It’s how we learn!

Life is Sweet has 100 new recipes that showcase exactly what American baking is! Tarek Malouf noticed a lack of American Style baking in the UK and in 2004 he opened The Hummingbird Bakery. There are now five locations throughout London and now a total of 4 books packed with American style bakes.

This new one does not disappoint! It has cakes and of course cupcakes along with a variety of pies, cookies and candies, pancakes, ice cream, puddings and even bread and other savory bakes.

I can’t wait to try:

Upside Down Pear Cake

Pumpkin Chai Cupcakes

Toasted Marshmallow Cupcakes

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake… oh wait already tried that one (up on the blog tomorrow)

German Chocolate Cake

Strawberry Chiffon Pie

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

Soft Molasses Cookies

Vanilla-filled Chocolate Cookies

Birthday Cake Cookies

Turtle Cookies

Coconut Dream Bars

Red Velvet Brownies

Blackberry Limeade Bars

Cinnamon Pancake Cake

Grasshopper Pie Ice Cream

Fresh Peach Ice Cream

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Graham Crackers

The graham crackers really appeal to me. It’s because S’more’s really cannot be made without graham crackers and S’more’s are really really good!! All the recipes I have found previously have graham flour, not to be mistaken with gram flour, and graham flour is hard to find over here.

Everything I have ever baked from The Hummingbird Bakery books has turned out perfect. I have given Cake Days as a gift many times over to those who were looking to start out baking. It was the book that taught me a lot about baking. As an American in England it also gave me familiar and nostalgic bakes that I grew up with using UK measurements and ingredients. Which I was grateful for! It was the book that gave me the confidence to start my blog and share my baking experience online.

I guess you could say I owe a lot to them! Life is Sweet will make a great addition to my baking book collection and I am sure it will get used as much as my other Hummingbird Bakery books have!!