Jammy baking

 



























I used raspberry jam to make a little feast of pretty edible treats, as a kind of last hurrah to summer. All floral, pink and light, before autumn begins properly and I get stuck into squashes and gingerbread lattes and pies.

The first thing I made were jammy dodgers. These are like the ones you can buy, except better because they taste homemade. An alternative is to make shortbread biscuits and sandwich them together with jam, but this biscuit is made with milk and is a little bit smoother and creamier. I essentially made up the recipe after failing to find anything suitable online. Somehow it worked!

I also made raspberry cupcakes from 'Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery' (a wonderful book for all cake lovers). You lightly swirl raspberry jam into the cake mixture, meaning you get the odd really jammy bit of cake - it's good. I didn't go all out and spoon jam inside the cake after baking, then ice the cakes with white chocolate buttercream, as the recipe instructs, but that extra effort does transform them from good to brilliant. It was just white water icing and pink glitter for lazy old me. They were still delicious though.


Recipe - Jammy dodgers

Makes 12 jammy dodgers (i.e. 24 biscuits sandwiched together)

150g butter
75g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
225g plain flour, sifted
3 tbsp milk
100g raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Rub together the butter, sugar, vanilla and flour (or use an electric mixer) until sticky breadcrumbs are formed.
Add the milk a tbsp at a time, until a dough forms - don't let it get too sticky.
Wrap the ball of dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 5-6mm thick. Use a 3 inch round cutter to cut 12 circles, then use a 1.5 inch round cutter to cut out smaller circles from the centres. Gather all scraps, roll out again and cut 12 more whole 3 inch circles.
Bake everything on a lined tray for 12-15 minutes until pale gold and fairly crisp.
When cool, sandwich together with 1-1.5 tsp of jam, then leave in the fridge to set a little before eating. If you can resist.


Recipe - Raspberry cupcakes

Makes 12 regular cupcakes

110g butter, softened
180g caster sugar
2 large eggs
125g self raising flour, sifted
120g plain flour, sifted
125ml semi skimmed milk, at room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 for fan ovens). Line a 12 hole muffin tray with cases.
In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until pale and smooth, which should take about 3-5 minutes using an electric mixer.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Combine the two flours in a separate bowl.
Mix the milk in a jug with the vanilla extract.
Add one third of the flours to the creamed butter and sugar mixture, and beat well. Pour in a third of the milk and beat again. Repeat until all the flour and milk have been added.
Gently fold in the raspberry jam until it's mostly combined. You want streaks of jam through the mixture, rather than an evenly coloured batter.
Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling them to about two thirds full.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until slightly raised and golden brown.
Leave the cakes in the tin for about 10 minutes before cooling on a wire rack.
(Optional:)
Once they are cooled, cut a small hole in the centre of each cake and carefully place a teaspoon of jam inside. Ice the cakes with buttercream.