I was visiting my lovely friend Kura (who has linked to bakeclub a few times from her lovely 'little library girl' blog http://sweetlittlelibrarygirl.blogspot.com/) in Hawkes Bay and she had a hankering for good ole fashioned Pecan Pie... being time short, we cheated a bit and used pastry, and then followed Nigella Lawson's 'pecan plus pie' recipe for the filling - except we went back to pure principles and just used pecans... we were a bit low on nuts, and it took quite a bit longer to ...
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Ginny says: I exchanged evaporated milk for the cream/milk in an attempt to make it slightly less 'give you a heart attacky'...

3 eggs
375 ml thin cream (1.5C)
375 ml milk (1.5C)
110g caster sugar (1/2C)
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 croissants
200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Heat oven to 160ºC
Whisk eggs, cream, milk, sugar, vanilla
Cut croissants into small pieces and arrange half in an ovenproof dish
Sprinkle with chocolate and cover with the rest of the croissants
Pour egg mixture over...

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Below is what Nigel says about this cake ... I can't find fault with him, in any way. It was delightful.

However: I bought pre-toasted hazelnuts and accidentally put a mix of nutmeg and cinnamon into the cake (because I didn't read the spice jar label... it wasn't a disaster!)
I left the cinnamon out of the icing, and I dressed it with pomegranate. Yum!!

CHOCOLATE CHIP HAZELNUT CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE CINNAMON BUTTER CREAM by Nigel Slater

I like birthday cake. I love maki...

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I felt inspired to make these soda bread biscuits with caraway, 
lemon zest and raisins for a friend who recently had a baby.
I never understand how Americans use the term 'biscuit' but this 
is more akin to a scone in process - ie you rub in the butter... 

3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of sugar (depending on how sweet you want them)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons caraway seeds*
1/2 to 1 cup of raisins*
1 1/4 cu...

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I was inspired by the most delicious ones in Dizengoff, Ponsonby Rd (which they spoil by incuding sultanas!)...
I used this recipe at Taste but adapted it thus, for no particular reason other than that I wanted to use up some different ingredients:

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From Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

(sorry about the imperial measures, but you can figure them out!)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 oz dark chocolate (60 to 72% cacao), coarsely chopped
8 oz unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. ...
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I have adapted this from a recipe given to me by a student in my department, it was her grandmother's, originally (the student was considerably older than me), and makes a damn fine banana cake, I think perhaps the best I have tasted. I don't like bananas, but in cake like this, that's a different story. easy, fool-proof one could say. works well in a round or a ring tin, but then bake for slightly less time. I would just say if using chocolate it probably pays to line the base of the ...
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Ginny says: I would recommend NOT doubling the cornmeal, which I did not paying attention to quantities. Made it crunchier than I would have liked.

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The ever resourceful Ginny made these with the leftover egg whites from her pumpkin pie (see below).
She says: 'Easiest thing ever, and oh so delicious. Sometimes I put melted chocolate (dark), this time I couldn't be bothered. Either is good.'

2 cups coconut
2 egg whites
1/3 cup caster sugar

heat oven to 180C
mix ingredients together
put into 2-3 tsp-sized mounds on a sheet of paper
bake for 10-12 minutes (til they're a bit golden)
remove from oven.
cool.
eat.

recipe from Donna Hay Modern Classics 2

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This looks like a beauty, Ginny - dark, smooth and most certainly tasty.

Ingredients
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I had some bananas that needed to be cooked with. These sounded healthy and they were surprisingly moreish and delicious. I could have eaten about 6 in one go.

1.5 cups bran
0.75 cup boiling water
0.25 cup brown sugar
0.75 cup plain yogurt
1 egg, beaten
0.25 cup oil
2 bananas, mashed
1.25 cups flour
1.5 tsp baking soda
(approx 1 c frozen blueberries)

makes 12 'standard' muffins... grease a muffin tin
oven to 190C
mix bran with boiling water and leave to cool.
add yogurt, egg, oil and banana to br...
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Ginny admits: "I just used a bought puff pastry which is cheating, but hey, who as the time... it was still nice. and I only made half the filling. left over as custard it was really good! nice and lemony..."

filling:
2 1/4 cups milk
1 1/2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp cornflour
4 egg yolks
1/2c caster sugar
2 strips of lemon rind (thick)

whisk 1/4 c milk, flours and egg yolks until smooth
combine sugar, lemon rind and 1/4 c of water in a pan and sir over low heat til sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil....
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Ginny writes: "This is from 'My Bread' - by Jim Lahey, founder of Sullivan St Bakery in Manhattan, which makes the most incredible olive bread. Bakery is a bit of a mission, but worth a trip if you're in NYC. Go hungry.
He claims a revolutionary method. There's no kneading, and it rises for about 18 hours. It's very simple, but there are lots of steps.
Here's one I made. This loaf was nice and moist, not quite as delightful as his."

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8 ounces unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 ounces icing sugar
9 ounces plain flour
14 ounces granulated sugar
4 medium eggs, beaten together
4 tablespoons plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Grated zest 2 lemons
6 tablespoons lemon juice, strained
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

1 Put the softened butte...
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Our first official Bake Club tea was held on Sunday 19 Sep 2010 at Frances's house. What a great spread! All the recipes are below. As well as baked goodness Nic also brought her homemade homegrown broad bean dip and Frances made hummus. Can't wait for the next one. Perhaps the guys might like to take up the baking challenge?...

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A cake from Chile with German origins which involves drenching apples in cream. Yeah!
Ginny also provided clotted cream for this drunken affair.

Filling
1lb 7oz tart apples, prepared weight (about 5)
2¾ oz/generous ⅓ cup granulated sugar (I used dark brown sugar)
3½ fl oz/½ cup heavy cream
(I added half a nutmeg, grated)

Cake
10½ oz/2 cups all-purpose flour
2½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt (heaping, for me)
5½ oz/scant 1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs, lightly beaten
5 tbsp ...
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Ginny made these for a work do. But she let us taste one from her neat stack.

1 tsp cardamom seeds
8 white peppercorns
250g butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar
1 cup cornflour
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup cashews, roasted and finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 150C. Put the cardamom and peppercorns into a mortar and pestle or an electric spice grinder and grind until fine.

2. Cream the butter and icing sugar until pale. Sift the cornflour and flour together and add to the creamed mixture with...

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What a lovely afternoon of endless scones with whipped cream AND clotted cream and different kinds of berry jam.

500g/1lb 2oz self-raising flour, sifted, plus extra for dusting
100g/3½oz butter, softened, cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
large pinch salt
40g/1½oz caster sugar
300ml/10½fl oz full-fat milk, plus extra for glazing

To serve

butter, fresh clotted cream, good quality strawberry jam

1. In a large mixing bowl, rub the flour and butter together, using your fingerti...

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1 cup of butter
3/4 cup of brown sugar
3/4 cup of white granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons of heavy cream or yoghurt
1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
3/4 cup of cocoa nibs
Zest of one large lime

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat the butter and sugars together for about two minutes at me...

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necatrines (or other fruit, tamarillos are really good; pears are good too; cherries [and plums] are traditional)
2 eggs
1/3 C caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C flour
3/4 C milk

oven to 180C

cut up fruit into large pieces

beat eggs and caster sugar, add vanilla, beat, whisk in flour and then the milk to form an aerated batter.

butter dish, arrange fruit, pour over batter, and bake 45-55 minutes...

sprinkle over icing sugar if that's your thing... serve hot (but good co...
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