Dorset Apple Traybake

I've been wanting to bake this for ages ever since I researched Dorset bakes when I mistakenly thought that the August Best of British challenge was Dorset. It was in fact Yorkshire and I ended up making a Real Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries and Apple Cake. Well things have come full circle as this month Karen from Lavender and Lovage is hosting Best of British again and it really is Dorset this month! Yay! 

The Best of British Challenge was created by Fiona from London Unattached and Karen from Lavender and Lovage which will run for 6 months. Each month, a county or region around the UK is selected. To enter, blog about your interpretation of a recipe or dish from that region. The challenge is sponsored by New World Appliances and there is a prize of a £50 Amazon voucher. 

I've entered every challenge since it started except for last month which was London. I am doubly upset as I live in London but unfortunately Sep was a crazy month and I was unable to participate. You can see the round up of amazing London entries here. I'm so excited to join in again this month with this simple and delicious bake from BBC Good Food. I especially like the layer of apples in the middle. The cake was moist, delicious and flavourful - definitely one to bake again and again. 

I'm also sending it to Made with love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior who encourages us to bake from scratch.

As apples are in season, I'm also entering this to Simple and in Season created by Ren from Fabulicious Food and guest hosted this month by Nazima from Franglaiskitchen.

 fresh Bramley apples 

 middle layer of apples 

 sprinkle sugar on the top layer 

 fresh from the oven 

 who wants a slice? 

Recipe from BBC Good Food website

Real Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries and Apple Cake

Karen from Lavender and Lovage invites us to visit the beautiful and diverse county of Yorkshire for Best of British this month. We've already been to Cornwall when I made clotted cream & strawberry tart and cookies and last month to Scotland where I attempted Scottish Tablet.  For Yorkshire, I decided to try this simple yet delicious recipe from Wensleydale Creamery. It uses Real Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries cheese in the cake. Yes real cheese in a cake!! I have to admit I was a little nervous trying the recipe out but I do know that apples and cheese go well together so why not in a cake? 

It is so amazingly delicious I don't know why it's taken me so long to try this. Honestly, this is one of the best cakes I've eaten in a while and that's saying a lot from a sweet toothed gal like me.  The cake is sweet and savoury at the same time. I love the tartness of the apples and cranberries and the lovely creamy taste of the cheese especially the slightly browned bits at the edges! Everyone was impressed with this cake and it disappeared in record time.  I ate one slice warm straight from the oven as it smelt so good baking I just couldn't resist and it was delicious with a capital D! I ate another slice the next day and it was just as good. Writing about it now, I wish I had more cake to enjoy - guess what I'll be baking this weekend? :) 

The Best of British Challenge was created by Fiona from London Unattached and Karen from Lavender and Lovage which will run for 6 months. Each month, a county or region around the UK is selected. To enter, blog about your interpretation of a recipe or dish from that region. The challenge is sponsored by New World Appliances and there is a prize of a £50 Amazon voucher. 

 The star ingredient - delicious on its own 

 cake batter with chunks of apple 

 crumbling in the cheese 

 almost ready to go in the oven... 

 just needs a topping of apple slices and a sprinkling of sugar 

 

Recipe from Wensleydale Creamery

150g butter
175g golden caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp milk
175g self raising flour
2 apples – peeled, cored & sliced + 1/2 apple for the topping
125g Real Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese with Cranberries
1 tbsp Demerara Sugar (I used brown sugar)

• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• Grease a 20cm / 8" cake tin.
• Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy
• Add the eggs one at a time, then beat in the milk and flour.
• Fold in the apples and crumble over the cheese.
• Spoon the mixture into a tin.
• Arrange the apple slices (from approx 1/2 an apple - depends on your cake tin size) on top and sprinkle with Demerara sugar.
• Bake for 55 minutes until risen and golden brown.
• Leave to cool in the tin.

Scottish Tablet

The Best of British has moved from Cornwall to Scotland and I've unintentionally made a recipe that segues nicely from one to the other! The first thing that came to mind was Scottish shortbread but I wanted to make something a little different. I decided to do some market research by asking all the Scots I knew to tell me what treats they enjoyed whilst growing up. Quite a few of them said Scottish tablet. Please excuse my ignorance but I've never heard of it before so I decided that's what I would make. I've been told it can be tricky to make but it wasn't going to stop me trying! I did some research on the internet for recipes and there were quite a few variations mainly around using water or milk and different ingredient proportions. If anyone would like to share their Scottish tablet recipe with me, I would love to make this again properly!

The result - according to my Scottish taste testers - it tastes exactly like tablet but was soft and squidgy like a Cornish fudge. Hmm... I'm not sure what the problem was but I didn't have time to make another batch. Plus these are seriously SWEET and don't even ask how many calories there are in these! I had to check the ingredients list a few times just to be sure and yes the amount listed below is correct! 

The Best of British Challenge was created by Fiona from London Unattached and Karen from Lavender and Lovage which will run for 6 months. Each month, a county or region around the UK is selected. To enter, blog about your interpretation of a recipe or dish from that region. The challenge is sponsored by New World Appliances and there is a prize of a £50 Amazon voucher. Last month the challenge was Cornwall hosted by Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog. This month, it's Scotland hosted by Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen. There's still time to enter as the deadline is 15th July 2012.

Ingredients required: 250g butter, 500g sugar (yes the whole pack!!), 1 tin of condensed milk and a vanilla pod (optional)

Use a large pot and place all the sugar plus 1/4 cup of water and heat gently.

Stir in the butter (cut into cubes) and then the condensed milk

Stir continuously and boil until it reaches the soft ball stage ~240F. Lower the heat and continue stirring until the mixture darkens (this is probably where I got it wrong!). Remove from the heat and continue stirring until it thickens. Add in the vanilla bean here if using.

Pour into a tray and leave to set

Break or in my case slice into pieces. It's supposed to have a grainy texture but should look much darker and firmer than this!

There are lots of recipes and videos available on the internet for reference.

Clotted Cream & Strawberry tart and cookies

I'm sure you've noticed that I love entering baking/blogging challenges so when I saw the Best of British Challenge on Chocolate Log Blog who is hosting this month I could hardly say no! Fiona from London Unattached and Karen from Lavender and Lovage came up with this brilliant challenge that will run for 6 months. Each month, a county or region around the UK is selected. To enter, blog about your interpretation of a recipe or dish from that region. The challenge is sponsored by New World Appliances and there is a prize of a £50 Amazon voucher. 

This month it's Cornwall and the first two things I thought of were clotted cream and strawberries. A quick search on google led me to a company that produces clotted cream and strawberry cookies but no recipe so I decided to make my own! It's a variation on a shortbread and I think the proportions still need some tweaking but I was quite pleased with the final result. 

In addition to the flower cookies, I also decided to make some mini tarts filled with clotted cream and fresh strawberry. These cookies/tarts are quite rich as they have butter and clotted cream but were absolutely delicious! There is a faint hint of strawberry in the cookie - I think I will have to add more next time.  Personally I preferred the tarts as I loved the 'extra' clotted cream and fresh strawberry. 

I'm also entering this to Tea Time Treats hosted by Kate from What Kate Baked and Karen from Lavender and Lovage as the theme this month is summer fruits. 

And to the one ingredient challenge hosted by Nazima from Working London Mummy and co-hosted by Laura from How to Cook Good Food.  The theme for June is strawberry.

As strawberries are in season, I'm also entering them to Simple and in Season created by Ren from Fabulicious Food and guest hosted this month by Laura from How to Cook Good Food. 

On to the recipe..... 

 Fresh strawberries, clotted cream, butter and freeze dried strawberries (I found it in Waitrose) 

 Mix the butter and clotted cream

 Adding the freeze dried strawberries at the end - such a pretty colour but turned brown after baking :( 

 I used my mini tart tray

 and cut some flower cookies 

 fill with clotted cream

 top with a fresh strawberry

 my new mini cake stand :) 

 cookies... 

.. or tarts? 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

100g butter, softened 

100g clotted cream

100g caster sugar

200g flour

50g cornflour

5g freeze dried strawberries (I would recommend using the whole tube which is 10g for a stronger strawberry flavour)

• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• Mix the butter and clotted cream in a medium sized bowl. 
• Add the caster sugar, flour and cornflour.
• Mix well. The dough will be slightly wet and sticky at this point.
• Stir in the freeze dried strawberries. 
• Chill the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes until firm.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut using cookie cutters. 
• To make the mini tarts, I used a round cutter and pressed the dough into the mini tart tray. 
• Bake in the oven for approximately 8 - 12 minutes (the mini tarts needed an extra minute or two). 
• If you made the tarts, fill with a dollop of clotted cream and top with a fresh strawberry.

Check out Rodda's 101 excuses for clotted cream if you have any left over!

Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored by Rodda's or anyone else. All opinions expressed are my own.