Recipes — The Boy Who Bakes (2024)

Matcha New Orleans Style Beignets

After the political disaster that has been 2016 I don't know about you but I need cake, cookies and all things sweet. I need to bury myself in baking, take shelter in the kitchen and just pretend the last year didn't happen. It doesn't surprise me that when the world is in a situation of strife we often turn to the sweet things, I've done that my entire life and cake will always put a smile on your face. Plus make something for another person and you can pass that smile along. Over the next four years I plan on putting out as much positivity into the world as I can muster to counteract whatever is to come. With that said, make this recipe and invite a bunch of friends round for coffee and beignets, its minimal effort and trust me, everyone wants something to put a smile on their face this week.

Beignet Dough
500g strong bread flour
30g caster sugar
1 tsp fine salt
7g fast action dried yeast
300ml whole milk
75g unsalted butter, very soft
Zest of 1 large lemon
1 large egg

Coating
25g icing sugar
1 1/2 tsp matcha powder

To make the matcha beignets place the flour, sugar, salt and the yeast into a large bowl and mixto incorporate evenly. Add the lemon zest and butter to the bowl. In a jug mix together the milk, and the egg and add to the bowl, mixing on low/medium speed using an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook for about 10-15 minutes or until the dough is elastic and coming away from the sides of the bowl. Place the dough into a clean bowl and cover with clingfilm, setting aside for about an hour or until doubled in size. At this point you can also place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight. If you are chilling the dough follow the recipe along as below adding a little extra time to the rise.

Tip the risen dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and using a rolling pin roll into a large rectangle about1 1/2 cm thick. Lightly cover the dough with a kitchen towel and leave to rise for about 20-45 minutes or until the dough is puffy. Using a pizza cutter cut the dough into small squares about 5x5cm.

Whilst the beignet dough is rising, pour about 2-3 inches of oil into a large pan and heat over low/medium heat to bring to about 170/180C. Carefully lower 4-5 beignets at a time into the hot oil and cook for about 3-4 minutes, turning halfway through cooking. Once cooked use a slotted spoon to remove from the oil and drain on a layer of kitchen paper. Once all of the beignets are fried prepare the coating by mixing the icing sugar and matcha together. To serve place the beignets onto a large serving platter and liberally coat with the topping, using a fine sieve to dust onto the doughnuts.

These beignets are best served on the day they are made. If you don’t fancy using the matcha simply omit and increase the icing sugar a little.

As it is now clear that summer is over and the cold has moved in for the rest of the year,this is the perfect autumn treat, in fact it would be fabulous for Bonfire Night and Halloween;those nights where a thick coat is required with a little paper bag of sweets stashed in the pocket. The only piece of equipment you absolutely must use is a candy thermometer. You can go fancy and use an electric version or stay basic and use a cheap jam thermometer, but you do need to measure the temperature accurately so no skipping the thermometer, well unless you like dipping your fingers into boiling hot caramel to measure it (im not joking that is the original way of judging candy).

Place the sugar and the butter into a medium sized, heavy bottomed saucepan and place over a medium heat. Stir until the butter and sugar have melted. Add the salt and water and cook, stirring regularly until the mixture reaches 149C/300F, this will take about 15 minutes. Watch the temperature carefully as it will rise slowly at first before suddenly rising rapidly. If, during cooking, you notice sugar clinging to the side of the pan either place a lid on the pan for a minute or brush the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush. Both methods clean any sugar from the sides of the pan, stopping any possible caramelisation in its tracks.

Once at the correct temperature quickly remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and immediately pour onto the pan, spreading into a rectangle roughly 20x30cm. Sprinkling the chocolate roughly over the toffee and set aside for about 5 minutes or until the chocolate melts. Spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee and sprinkle over the toffee. Set aside to cool for a while before placing into the fridge for an hour or so until everything is set. Remove from the fridge and use a knife to cut into pieces. Because the chocolate hasn't been tempered I keep the toffee in the fridge where it will keep for up to three days. If you temper the chocolate, spreading onto the cooled caramel, this will keep for a lot longer, at room temperature.

This is my second recipe for Chocolate Week and it's a fabulous dessert for the weekend ahead, no more difficult than a chocolate brownie,the method is actually pretty similar, the caramel cream served with the cake really makes this something special. There is no denying it's on the richer side the spectrum so if you want to lighten it up a little you can always serve it with some poached pear, something fresh to cut through the richness of the chocolate and cream. For me this is best served fairly quickly after baking when it is at is lightest, made with whisked egg white the cake melts in the mouth, but over time the cake becomes a little more brownie like, especially if you refrigerate it.

For the caramel cream, the way to get that rich and dark, almost bitter flavour is to properly caramelise the sugar. Place the sugar into a small pan and cook over medium heat. Once it has melted and started to caramelise you need to watch it carefully, it can burn quickly. If the sugar doesn't caramelise enough the cream will end up just tasting sweet, you need to take it right to the edge, stopping just before it burns. If the finished caramel, before adding the cream, has the colour of a dark rusty penny you should be set.

If you fancy trying the dish for yourself I will be making this on stage at the Chocolate Show at Earls court this upcoming weekend (on the 16th at 2pm) and I'll be bearing samples.

Flourless Chocolate Cake
200g unsalted butter
200g dark chocolate (around 65-70% cocoa solids)
5 large eggs, separated
150g light brown sugar
50g caster sugar

Salted Caramel Cream
100g caster sugar
Pinch of flaked sea salt
400ml double cream

To make the cream place the sugar into a saucepan and cook over medium/high heat it has melted and caramelised, turning the colour of an old rusty penny. Add the salt and swirl to combine.Pour in the cream, adding in two additions, pouring slowly as it may bubble up violently.If there are any lumps of caramel, place back over the heat and cook until smooth. Pour into a bowl and press a sheet of clingfilm onto the surface of the cream and chill until thoroughly chilled..

To make the cake line the base of a 9-inch springform tin with parchment paper and lightly grease the tin with a little butter. Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan).

Place the butter and chocolate into a bowl set over a pan of simmering water and stir until melted. Remove and set aside for the moment. Place the egg yolks and brown sugar into a large bowl and using an electric whisk mix together for about 5 minutes until thick and pale. Pour in the chocolate mixture and mix until smooth and combined.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks then sprinkle in the sugar and whisk until the meringue holds soft glossy peaks. Add the meringue to the chocolate mixture in three additions, folding gently to combine. When no streaks of egg whites remain gently pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature (it will collapse in the middle but don’t worry you want that to happen)

Serve the cake at room temperature, topped with some of the cream whipped to soft peaks.

It is National Chocolate Week here in the UK and that means it is also Chocolate Week here on The Boy Who Bakes. Over the weekI will posting a whole host of utterly delicious and decadent chocolate recipes. Im starting the week with a doozy, Chocolate Sables, from my book Patisserie Made Simple.

Im not just baking these just because they’re delicious, and boy are they delicious, I’m baking them because im joining in with the wonderful #cookiesandkindness project launched by Dorie Greenspan. It is such a simple idea, bake a batch of cookies and share them with someone, posting about it online to show the world that there is still a lot of love out there. Every month Dorie will post a recipe on her website as a suggestion but you can bake whatever you fancy, just share the love, and the cookies of course. I bake these cookies on a regular basis, with or without the chocolate coating, and it makes a lot, a natural to share. When making the dough it’s formed into two logs and sliced into cookies. I bake off one half of the cookies for now and the second batch are refrigerated or frozen for a later date. So when making these to share why not do the same thing, it extends the happiness. giving a batch of cookies and a batch of cookie dough, the perfect gift.

To find out more about the #cookiesandkindness project and to get the story on how Dorie got into food I popped across the channel to Paris so we could record an episode of Stir The Pot together. I have met Dorie before but after spending an evening together I can honestly say that Dorie is one of the kindest, most encouraging and passionate people I have met. This episode of the podcast is a gem and if you love food and baking (if you don't how on earth did you get here) I would thoroughly recommend you to give it a listen. If I could also ask a big favour, if you are liking the podcast could you also help spread the love and tweet about it, leave a review on iTunes, or simply subscribe, it would mean the world!

Chocolate Sables

The Chocolate Sablé is the little black dress of biscuits: reliable, grown-up and with just a little hint of naughtiness! They take no time at all to make, but the rewards are bountiful. I use 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt in these biscuits, which might seem like a lot to some people, but salt and chocolate were meant to be together – it highlights the chocolate flavour and enhances the overall taste. Just don’t use table salt; you need a good flaked sea salt, such as fleur de sel. To dress up these cookies even more, I have dipped them in tempered chocolate and sprinkled them with cacao nibs, but this is optional – they are still a wonderful treat without it.

Makes 40

For the sablé dough
275g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon flaked sea salt
200g unsalted butter at room temperature, diced
50g caster sugar
200g light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
175g dark chocolate (60–70%cocoa solids), finely chopped

For the coating
250g dark chocolate (60–70%cocoa solids), tempered
cacao nibs, to sprinkle (optional)

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda into a medium bowl and add the sea salt, then stir together. Set aside.

Put the butter in large mixing bowl and, using an electric mixer, beat until smooth and light. Add the sugars and vanilla extract, and beat together for 2 minutes until smooth. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix together until you have a mixture that looks sandy (which is what sablé means in English), add the chocolate and mix to combine. The final dough should look almost like soil; it should not have formed into one large ball of dough. This is the key to getting the correct texture;mixed for too long the biscuits will be tough.

Tip out the mixture onto a work surface and gently press together to form a uniform dough. Divide in half and roll into two logs, 4cm thick.

Wrap in clingfilm and put them in the fridge to chill for 3 hours or until firm. (At this point you can freeze the dough for baking at a later date, or do as I do and bake one half of the dough and freeze the second.)

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan oven)/gas 4 and line three baking trays with baking parchment. Remove the dough from the fridge and, using a thin, sharp knife, cut into rounds about 1cm thick. Put the biscuits onto the baking trays, leaving 2cm between each one. Bake for 10–12 minutes until set around the outside but still soft in the centre.

Leave the biscuits to cool on the trays for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Once the biscuits are cool, dip each one halfway into the tempered chocolate, allowing the excess to drip off. Put onto the prepared tray and sprinkle with a few cacao nibs before allowing the chocolate to set fully at room temperature. The biscuits will keep for up to one week stored in an airtight container.

Tip
Although I have given a suggestion for the cocoa percentages of the chocolate used in this recipe it is purely a guide; you can use whichever chocolate you prefer. The key is to use one that you love.

(recipe is taken from my book Patisserie Made Simple by Kyle Books and the recipe photograph is by Laura Edwards)