Strawberry & Lemon Roulade (The Dr Oetker Baking Challenge)

Readers, as I mentioned in my recent Snickers Tray Bake post, the lovely people at Dr Oetker sent me a bag of goodies.

As part of receiving the pack, I was asked to make the Zesty Lemon and Summer Fruit Roulade, which Kimberley Wilson from the Great British Bake Off demonstrates on video at the Even Better Baking Boutique website.

I’d never made a roulade before today, or made a sponge without any sort of fat as an ingredient, so it was a double challenge.  Firstly I watched the step by step video, then went to the website to get the recipe to remind myself what I needed.

I adapted the recipe slightly, just to use strawberries, rather than a berry selection and used double cream instead of greek yoghurt for the filling.  

My sponge cracked ever so slightly and looked a little more rustic than Kimberley’s version, but all in all, it was a decent first attempt!

My version of the recipe is below, but you’ll find the original here.  I’ve also included the video tutorial for your enjoyment.

Happy Baking!

Oh and I've entered this one into Bake of the Week over at Casa Costello!

Strawberry & Lemon Roulade

Serves 8-10 people
Ingredients

3 large eggs

100g caster sugar

100g plain flour

1 sachet of Dr. Oetker Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon of Dr. Oetker Sicilian Lemon Natural Extract

Filling

200ml double cream (whipped)

2 heaped teaspoons Lemon Curd

5 very large strawberries, chopped

Decoration

Dr. Oetker Wafer Butterflies

3 strawberries and cream to attach to sponge

Method

1. Heat oven to 200C (fan assisted oven). Grease and line a swiss roll tin with baking paper (37cm x 26cm x 1cm).

   

   Prepare your tin

2. Whisk the eggs and sugar at high speed until pale and fluffy (about 4-6 minutes).

   

   Whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy

3. Sift in the flour, Dr. Oetker baking powder and Dr. Oetker lemon extract and fold in until fully incorporated. Pour into the prepared tin and gently smooth the surface with a spatula.
4. Pour the mixture into a swiss roll tin (37cm x 26cm x 1cm) and bake in the centre of the oven for 10 minutes until golden. While it's baking prepare a sheet of baking paper, (a few inches larger than the baking sponge) by sprinkling it with 1tsp of caster sugar.
5. Tip the cooked cake out onto the prepared paper and peel away the paper it was baked on. Along one long side, make a shallow cut 1cm from the edge and use this to start the roll. Roll up the still warm cake, with the paper. Place it seal side down and allow to cool completely.

   

   Leave the cake to cool completely in the roll shape

6. In a medium bowl whisk the cream to soft peak stage. Add the lemon curd and whisk again to combine.

   

   Adding the lemon curd and whisk

7. Unroll the cake and spread with the cream mix, leaving a 2cm edge all round.

   

   Ready to re-roll 

8. Sprinkle over the fruit then re-roll loosely so as not to squeeze out all the filling. Turn seam side down, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for an hour to set.
9. Decorate with cream, strawberries and Dr. Oetker Wafer Butterflies and serve.

Watch the video here: 

Disclosure Statement: I received the samples from Dr Oetker for free, to bake with.  Any opinions expressed are my own.

Scottish Smoked Salmon Pâté

Readers, tonight is less about What Claire Baked and more about What Claire Didn't Bake…  Earlier this week, my friend and I visited Balgove Larder over in St Andrews and stocked up on some amazing local produce including smoked salmon from the Fife area.

I’d definitely recommend a trip to Balgove Larder if you are in the St Andrews area.  We had an amazing lunch (and desserts) sitting outdoors before taking a leisurely wander through the foodhall.

I picked up a decent sized pack of smoked salmon trimmings without any idea what I would do with them and after throwing some chopped into a pasta salad for lunch, was left with half a packet in the fridge.

A couple of Christmases ago, I made smoked salmon pâté for the family starter which turned out to be rather successful, but I've never got round to doing it again.   Smoked salmon trimmings are ideal to use in the recipe because you are blitzing them up with other ingredients, rather than serving straight from the pack, which looks a little less appetising than standard smoked salmon.

This makes an ideal starter for a dinner party or you can make a batch and top blinis for canapés at a drinks reception or nibbles at a buffet.

Scottish Smoked Salmon Pâté

Ingredients (Makes 1 small fridge tub!)

75g Scottish smoked salmon trimmings

100ml double cream

100g reduced fat light soft cheese

½ teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon chopped dried chives

Ground black pepper to season

Method

1. Firstly tear strips of smoked salmon and add to a food processor.  Blend for around 30 seconds until the salmon is coarsely chopped.
2. Switch the processor off and add in the soft cheese and half of the double cream.  Switch on and blend for a further 30 seconds, then switch off and add in the remaining double cream, lemon juice, chives and black pepper.
3. Blend for the final time until you have a relatively smooth pâté.

   

   Ready to serve

4. Remove from the food processor and serve on oatcakes.

   

   Delicious thick Scottish oatcakes

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 72 hours.

I'm also entering into #recipeoftheweek over at A Mummy Too

White Chocolate Peanut Snickers Traybake

Readers, this weekend it was time to get experimental again! The lovely folks at Dr Oetker sent me a goody bag full of baking treats (more bakes coming soon!) but I figured I would start with something nice and easy.  A traybake.

I’d originally planned to do a Mars Bar Traybake, as it’s so simple but once I got started, decided to be a bit more experimental.

I do love working with peanut butter, so this week’s tray bake incorporated Snickers bars (or Marathon if you are old skool…) I also used some goodies from my bag of tricks from Dr Oetker, to liven it up a little!

White Chocolate Peanut Snickers Traybake

Ingredients (makes 16 squares)

2 x Snickers duo bars

60g butter

3 heaped dessert spoons Golden Syrup

6 heaped teaspoons crunchy peanut butter (2 for mix and 4 for topping)

75g puffed rice cereal

150g Dr Oetker Fine Cooks Chocolate (I used white)

¼ tube Dr Oetker Sugar Stars

Method

1. Prepare a 20cm x 20cm tin with greaseproof paper, or grease a silicone cake pan.
2. Melt the butter, Snickers bars, golden syrup and 2 heaped teaspoons peanut butter in a non stick saucepan, stiring until fully melted and combined.
3. Remove pan from heat and stir in the puffed rice cereal, coat until fully combined (you may use more or less puffed rice to your liking).

   

   Melting the ingredients together
   

   

4. Transfer the mix to the 20cm x 20cm prepared cake pan and flatten out so the top is even.  Move to the fridge and allow to set for at least 30 minutes.
5. When 30 minutes are nearly up, transfer the remaining peanut butter to a microwave proof cup and heat on high for 30 secs (850 watt microwave).  The peanut butter will warm and loosen.
6. Remove the cake pan from the fridge and pour over the peanut butter.  Smooth over the top using a spatula until the top is covered.  

   

   Spread over the peanut butter

7. Return to the fridge to set for at least 30 mins.  My top tip is to freeze it for around 5 minutes, just to harden the peanut butter.
8. Once the mix has set, remove from fridge.

   

   Get set and decorate...

9. In a glass bowl, over a pan of barely simmering water, break up the chocolate bar and allow it to melt over a gentle heat.  Stir until smooth.
10. Remove the chocolate from heat and allow to cool for several moments.  Then, pour over the peanut butter topping and smooth to cover the top.  Allow to cool in the fridge for several moments before removing and sprinkling over the Dr Oetker Sugar Stars.  Return to fridge until chocolate is fully set.

    

    Sprinkle the stars over the top

11. When set, remove from fridge and cut into 16 squares before serving.
    Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.  Again, I guarantee they won’t last that long!
    
    I'm entering (AGAIN!) into #recipeoftheweekover at A Mummy Too!
    

    

    
    I'm also taking part in my first ever Cook Blog Share over at Supergolden bakes
    
    

    
    

    Disclosure Statement: I received the samples from Dr Oetker for free, to bake with.  Any opinions expressed are my own.

Product Review: Veronica's Crunchy Creatures

Readers, today I discovered, well, say discovered, more confirmed, that I’m a big kid at heart.  The lovely people at Veronica’s Snacks, sent me a boxful of Crunchy Creatures, their new corn snacks.

 

...and I got a nice re-usable bag!

Not only are they 40% less fat than other corn snacks (and 100% yummy) they are also gluten free… Yippee, not for me, but for my coeliac friend, who too can indulge in the dinosaur loveliness.

Dinosaur you say?!  Sorry, I haven’t yet got round to that.  On opening the first bag, I pulled out a small handful and was greeted by a series of cheesy T Rex snacks. Nope, these are not any old cheesy crisp like product.  They are shaped like DINOSAURS.

Yes, it's a cheesy dinosaur...

I am almost certain that these products are designed with kids in mind with the fun coloured packaging and cartoon dinosaurs,  but that doesn't mean a twenty something couple can’t enjoy them on a Friday night whilst watching Spain V Netherlands at the World Cup…

Other virtues of the dinosaurs include being 100% organic (great if you are sharing them with the family, as opposed to your significant other) and they are also suitable for vegetarians.

These are brand new to the market and are distributed through Veronica’s Snacks in Cork, Ireland.  For further information, or where to buy, send an email, I promise they are lovely, to hello@crunchycreatures.com or visit their Facebook or Twitter pages.

For now, I’m off to enjoy the delights of the Spanish national team – for their football skills – obviously – and tuck into another bag of dinosaurs.  

Oh and before I forget the point to this... did I enjoy them?! Absolutely.  They don't smell of artificial cheese, they aren't luminously coloured and they are dinosaur shaped.  Raaaaaaaar. 

Disclosure Statement: I received the samples from Veronica's Snacks for free, to eat and review.  Any opinions expressed are my own.

Orange and Cardamom Cupcakes

Reader, there’s something exciting about today.  Blog HQ has moved… TO THE PATIO!! 

The sun is shining in Scotland, it’s around 17 degrees (practically tropical) and I’m working outdoors! Extension cable is out and the posts are being written on the bistro table.   

I might have my moans, but Scotland is a beautiful country.  Today I’m sharing a view from the area around What Claire Baked HQ.   Look… blue skies and green golf courses!!!!  

Today’s post is a rework of the orange and cardamom cake I made for a colleague leaving. You can find the original recipe here.  I've turned it into a cupcake recipe.  These cupcakes were gifted for a retrial do a few weeks back, but I've only just got round to writing the post. 

Hope you enjoy! Oh and as usual, I'm entering this into #recipeoftheweek over at A Mummy Too!

Orange and Cardamom Cupcakes
Makes 12 large cupcakes

Ingredients

175g self raising flour

175g slightly softened butter

175g caster sugar

3 medium eggs

Zest of one whole orange

Juice of ½ navel orange

1 heaped teaspoon cardamom

Icing

100g softened unsalted butter

350g plain icing sugar

Orange food colouring

Juice of ½ navel orange

2 Dropss of orange oil if desired

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190c/ Fan 170c/ Gas 5.  Fill a muffin tin with 12 large cupcake cases.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add in the orange zest and cardamom and mix together with an electric mixer.

   

   Adding in the orange zest and cardamom

3. Next add two eggs and sift in the flour. Mix with an electric mixer until combined.  If your mix is fairly wet, you won’t need the third egg. (I did!)
4. Then add in the final egg and mix until your cake batter comes together. 
5. Juice 1 navel orange and stir ½ into the mix.  Save the other half for the icing.

   

   Finished cake batter

6. Spoon the mix into the 12 muffin cases and bake in the oven for 17-18 minutes until golden on top and a metal skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean.

   

   Cakes ready for cooling

7. Remove from the oven, remove from the tray and cool on a wire rack.

Decorating

1. Chop 100g of unsalted butter and add to a clean bowl. Using an electric mixer soften the butter until it becomes light, fluffy and creamy.
2. Slowly add in the icing sugar and beat until all the icing sugar in incorporated and a smooth buttercream is formed.
3. Add in some orange food colouring and beat to incorporate.  Keep adding until you reach your desired colour.
4. Mix in the remaining juice from the navel orange.

   

   Preparing the buttercream

5. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle.
6. Pipe a swirl onto the top of each cake and then top with sprinkles or decorations if desired.

Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days or serve immediately.