5 stress-free bakes
Do your attempts at baking and whipping up desserts leave you frazzled and disappointed? Fear not! We’ve rounded up five of the easiest, scrummiest bakes from our favourite bloggers to give you a helping hand. Nigella, watch out!
Image source: olly2
As easy as 1, 2, 3 cheese biscuits
These scrummy little biscuit bites are perfect for cheese-lovers, especially as you can choose your favourite cheese as a filling, or even mix and match different flavours. Delicious!
Ingredients
1oz grated parmesan
2oz cold butter cut into cubes
3oz plain flour
1 egg
Recipe
Preheat the oven to Gas 4. Rub the butter into the flour, add the cheese and stir with a metal spoon. Then make a well in the centre, crack the egg into it and mix well with the same spoon until you have a slightly sticky doughy mess.
Flour your work surface and spoon the whole lot onto it. Then add some flour to the top of the sticky dough. Flatten with your palm until about half a centimetre thick, then cut out shapes and pop onto a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper.
Pop in the oven on the top shelf and bake for about 10 mins until they look a bit bubbly. Remove from the oven and let sit on the tray for about 2 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
No-knead bread
There’s nothing quite like a slice of bread fresh from the oven and, thanks to this rustic round loaf, you can get that just-baked taste whenever you want!
Ingredients
3 cups strong white bread flour
1/4 tsp instant yeast (this will use very little of a 7g packet)
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water
Recipe
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the water and stir until a soft dough forms. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for a minimum of 12, but up to 20 hours.
Drop your dough onto a floured surface and form into a rough round shape with wet hands. Drop this dough into a bowl lined with a floured cotton towel. Cover with the towel and leave to prove for 1-2 hours.
Set your oven to 230c. When your dough is ready add it to your pot and bake for 30 minutes covered, then 20 minutes uncovered. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes afterwards.
Simple scones
They’re the perfect treat for a spring afternoon, smothered with jam, slathered with cream and topped with a fresh strawberry or two. And these are so simple to make!
220g plain flour
60g butter
25g sugar
150ml milk
Recipe
Preheat oven to 220°C (Gas Mark 7). Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips, then stir in the milk and fold it in until it forms a soft dough.
Place on floured worktop and flatten with your hands until it is about 2cm thick and stamp out your scones with a cutter.
Place on lined baking tray, brush with a little milk and bake for 10-12 minutes until they have turned golden brown. Turn out onto a wire rack and cool.
Microwave chocolate cake
You know that sweet craving nothing but cake will satisfy? Thanks to this recipe, you don’t need to rush out to the shops any more. Now you can whip up this cake in a few minutes flat.
3 tbsp icing sugar
3 tbsp plain flour
Pinch of bicarbonate of soda
1.5 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp cooking oil
3 tbsp milk
Recipe
Mix all the ingredients together well in a mug.
Cook in the microwave for 30 - 60 seconds.
Three-ingredient chocolate mousse
It’s right there in the name: this rich, divine chocolate mousse has only three ingredients, and for that reason it’s low in fat and sugar too. Perfect for an after-dinner treat.
140g good quality dark chocolate
160ml boiling water
Half sheet of gelatin / 0.5tsp gelatin powder
Recipe
Place the gelatin in a small bowl with enough water to cover it.
Measure out 160ml of freshly boiled water into a large bowl, placed above another bowl of ice cold water. Immediately add the gelatin and the chocolate and stir the mixture until it melts, then whisk. Continue this until the cold water beneath the bowl cools and set the chocolate. This will take 5-10 minutes.
Once the mixture reaches a thicker consistent place into serving dishes and leave to set in the fridge for 3 hours.
Don't forget to check out Dotcomgiftshop, for everything you'll need to transform your kitchen into a home bakery!