Royal Icing - Traditional doesn't mean old-fashioned

Royal icing is a pure white icing made from egg whites and powdered sugar (also known as icing sugar or confectioners sugar). This cake covering was popularised by Queen Victoria, whose 1840 wedding featured a highly ornate cake covered in white icing and decorated using intricate and lavish designs.  It also gave rise to the name royal icing. 

Over the last 20 years or so royal icing had become less popular with the introduction of sugar paste or "fondant".  This is powdered sugar combined with glucose and glycerine to produce a malleable paste that can be rolled and moulded.   The ease with which fondant can be rolled and applied to a cake compared to royal icing has helped to drive the trend away from royal icing.  With off-the-shelf sugar paste readily available it has spawned a generation of cake decorators and innovators able to achieve stunning and creative results and allowed brides to be to break with tradition in their choice and style of cakes.
It is probably true to say that for a wedding cake anything goes - cupcake towers, flapjack or even cheese.  But with the trend for many brides towards a stunning centrepiece with sleek, clean lines and styling, now is the perfect time to consider royal icing as the perfect choice to create that dream wedding cake.

Royal icing applied professionally will give a smooth sharp edges and a canvas for your decorations.  You can go retro and add swags, tails and Victorian style embellishments but a stripped back minimalist approach and bold use of colour can give a truly contemporary cake with the wow factor that today's bride is looking for.  It also means that you can keep a tier of your cake without freezing it to celebrate the next milestone in your relationship.
Traditional doesn't immediately mean out-dated or old-fashioned.

So I am looking forward to this season's creations as I take up the challenge of creating  royal icing designs suitable for the modern bride.

Flat-iced cake. Pressure piped royal icing fleur de lys and cameo decorations. Dorret Conway February  2016.

Traditional & Modern Christmas Cake

Cake has become an almost daily feature of life and celebration cakes are wheeled out to mark many occasions - from passing a driving test to changing jobs.  But when I was growing up I remember we  only ate celebration cakes for birthdays, Christmas, weddings and christenings. But gosh, what cake we would be treated to: dark, rich fruit cakes soaked in alcohol and iced in royal icing.

Royal icing is no longer "fashionable. In fact it's a bit of a dying art, having been replaced with fondant which is altogether cheaper, faster and much easier to work with.  And fruit cake is not the obvious choice for the big day - with cup cakes, flapjack even cheese taking its place.

So call me old fashioned but I am strictly about the old traditions when it comes to my celebration cakes.

And this Christmas I continue with my commitment to keep the tradition alive.

About my cake 

 

I baked a fruit cake using mixed fruit that has been soaking in alcohol for 12 months - the jars get topped up each Christmas. 

 

After baking I treated the cake to a few feeds of good quality rum - probably will be over the limit after a slice of this! 

 

 

 

 

A covering of homemade marzipan (which also benefitted from the addition of a tablespoon of rum) and then the royal icing layers have been added. I let the icing dry overnight before applying the next layer. Patience being the secret ingredient once again!

 

 



Marzipan first & final icing coat

 

For the first time I made the royal icing in my new mixer with the scraper beater blade.  That was successful for the initial stages but to get the final consistency I reverted to beating by hand.

Making royal icing in  mixer

Handmade poinsettia and blossoms and a bit of Xmas sparkle

I tried to give my cake a more contemporary feel by omitted all the "swags and tails" piping decoration that was all the rage in the 1970's, opting for a minimalist look for my cake. This meant I had to be meticulous with the icing coats there is no where to hide any imperfections!








 







Oh so simply RUDE cookies

I met Louise from Rude Health at the opening of the new Booths store in Poulton.  I tried their delicious granola which gave me an appetite to road test a few of the other products in the range. 

So what better way than to bake something quick and easy and super tasty. These biscuits are great for snacking on the go and are an adaptation of the biscuit base I use for my cheesecake recipes.
So simple but so versatile – would be so Rude not to try them!

Dorret’s Notes and Tips

This recipe is a variation on the biscuit base I use for my cheesecake.  They can also be crushed to make a nice crumble topping for fruit or yoghut.

Shaping the biscuits can be done in a dessert ring or something similar and pressing the mixture down with a spatula or the back of a spoon.

I have suggested 12 cookies which will be about 60g each with this quantity of mixture.  You can make them bigger or smaller but keep an eye on the baking timings:  smaller ones might need a little less time and larger one a little more.   

The cookies will spread when cooking so leave plenty of space between each one - unless you want one monster cookie!

Don’t leave any loose bits of mixture on the tray; these will burn and be a distraction to the correct cooking time.

Ingredients:

200g   Rude Health Wholemeal Flour

150g   Soft Brown dark sugar

60g     Rude Health Sprouted Oats

60g     Rude Health Granola

1 tsp   Baking powder

¼  tsp Bicarbonate of soda

¼ tsp  Grated Nutmeg

150g   Butter

2 tbsp Runny Honey

Optional: White or Dark couverture Chocolate: melted and drizzled over the cooled biscuits.

Method

1.       Preheat the oven to 180^oC

2.    Line 2 baking trays with parchment

3.       Weigh all of the dry ingredients into a bowl

4.       Melt the butter very gently without letting it bubble and fry. 

5.       Add the honey to the butter and warm through so that it flows freely.

6.       Pour the melted butter and honey into the dry ingredients and mix well.

7.   Shape the mixture into about 12 even sized balls.

8.   Place the cookies well spaced on the baking trays and flatten slightly.

9.  Bake for about 12 minutes - check them to see if they are ready. 

10.  Remove the tray from the oven and allow the biscuits to cool and firm up before moving.  They will be quite soft and will fall apart if you try to lift them straight away.

11. Allow the biscuits to cool completely on a wire rack.

12. They are nice with a drizzle of melted dark or white chocolate. : )

 

Dorret's Tart of the Week - Bakewell Tart

My all time favourite dessert is Bakewell Tart with Icecream.   We made Bakewell Tart as one of our cookery lessons at school and I instantly fell in love with it.

But Bakewell Tart is also significant because it ignited a new phase in my baking journey. Specifically it was after watching the Great British Menu in 2009 when Glynn Purnell showcased his bakewell with cider jam and doublecream icecream that inspired me to recreate and then start looking more closely at chef recipes for my own dinner party desserts.

Glynn Purnell researched Bakewell Tart as part of the process for the competition. His version has a classic frangipane filling.  And rather than add a layer of jam, he served it on the side as a hot sauce.  In my cookery class we made a sponge filling with some semolina flour added to the mixture and whatever jam we had in the larder at home - I am pretty sure mine was strawberry by Robinsons.

The first time I recreated the Glynn Purnell version I did a cheat with the jam.  Since then I now happily make my own jams and marmalades - e.g. apple and mint, rhubarb and passion fruit which I use to give a unique and individual character to my desserts.

Dorret's hints tips and notes

• This dessert has 3 elements - pastry, filling , finishing touches that can be customised to create a tart to suit your own style, taste, mood or occasion.  It might not be a "classic Bakewell" but it will be deliciously perfect.
• To make the cheat jam sauce, start with a good quality jam.  Gently heat the jam in a pan until it is runny.  Do this slowly and keep watch so that it doesn't start to cook. Pass the warmed jam through a fine sieve or muslin. Return the sieved jam to a clean pan and add some alcohol to thin out the jam further, e.g. kirsch, grand marnier or chambourd liqueur are good choices.  Before serving gently reheat again without burning out the alcohol and serve hot with the tart.

My Perfect Bakewell

• Thin shortcrust pasty - sweetened but not a full blown pate sucree or pate sable
• Raspberry jam layer in the tart
• Light sponge filling made with part flour, part ground almonds & flavoured with a couple of drops of bitter almond essence
• For the topping, a drizzle of tempered white chocolate and a few toasted almond flakes. 
• Served with vanilla ice cream or creme chantilly.

R

Orange & Apricot Frangipane Tart - specially made for sharing

On Saturday 24th October I spent 2 wonderful hours meeting GBBO fans at Booths Supermarkets newly opened flagship store at St Annes FY8 3UT -  and what a superb store.   My family has been shopping at Booths since the early 1960's and I have vivid memories of visits to their Fishergate store with its signature aroma of freshly ground coffee. It was the place for special purchases: a whole leg of cured ham at Christmas and fresh yeast for my baking classes at school.  Now I rely on their good quality ingredients for all my bakes!

As promised here is the recipe for the delicious frangipane tart that I made to share on Saturday. I originally made this tart for my sister in law Viv & her husband Chris.  It was an instant hit with Chris in particular. I have made it several times and I have noticed that men like it al lot - which was the case on Saturday too.

As a generalisation men tend to have less of a sweet tooth than women, but this tart seems to strike the right balance for them.  The apricots are not as sweet as tinned peaches and the slightly sweetened pastry (pate brisee) is not as rich as a pate sable or a pate sucree.

Try it and let me know what the men in your life make of it.

Hints, tips and Dorret's notes.

• For those of you who like to know where you are going before you get there, this dessert is a pastry case filled with a little bit of apricot jam, a classic frangipane cream with a hint of orange, topped with pieces of apricot and decorated with a drizzle of white chocolate. The fruit is not baked into the tart.
• I will take it as a given that you know the better the quality of the ingredients you choose the better the result.  I always use good quality French butter and free range eggs. If you have friends with hens they usually have an abundance of eggs.  If you don't have such friends, now would be a good time to make some ; )
• The quantity shown will make one large tart (25cm) or 8 individual tarts (9cm) 
• The frangipane cream can be made in advance and kept in the fridge (in a sealed container) until ready to use
• I usually plan my bakes so that all pastry work is done before I switch on my oven so that I am working in a cool kitchen.  It takes a little bit more planning, e.g. make the pastry the day before, and can extend the timings but it is worth it for the result.
• Roll the pastry between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper so that you don't need to add extra flour.
• Don't throw away the greaseproof paper used for blind baking.   Store carefully and re-use next time you make pastry.
• I will assume that you are using an electric mixer as I seem to be the only person in the world who was still doing my creaming by hand or with a hand held mixer! I now have a brilliant SAGE mixer.
• One of the key ingredients inherent in all my baking is PATIENCE.  Do not be in a hurry to get to the end result.  Focus on doing each stage correctly and watch your bakes flourish!



Apricot Frangipane made for sharing at Booths Store.

INGREDIENTS:

For the pastry
200g of flour
120g butter
20g caster sugar
4g salt
16g free range egg yolk
32ml water

small quantity of egg white

For the Frangipane Cream
125g Butter
125g caster sugar
125g ground almonds
2 whole free range eggs
zest of 2 medium oranges
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon plain flour

Finishing touches

8 teaspoons of apricot Jam

3 cans of apricots

tablespoons arrowroot

lemon juice

50g melted tempered white chocolate

small piping bag

Additional Equipment
A circle of greaseproof paper to line the bottom of the case
Greaseproof paper and baking beans (or rice) to blind bake the pastry.


Make the pastry.

1. Weigh the sugar, salt and sieved flour into a bowl. 
2. Cut the butter into chunks and add to the flour mixture.
3. Rub the butter into the flour mix until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
4. Add the egg yolk and mix with a knife.  Add the water a drop at a time mixing with the knife until the mixture will come together in a dough.
5. Use one hand to squeeze the mixture to a dough.  
6. Wrap the dough in cling film and put in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
7. Prep the baking cases. Grease and line the base of the tart cases with a circle of greaseproof paper.
8. Take the chilled pastry and roll out in a circle that will fit the tart case. If making individual, divide the pastry into 8 pieces and roll each piece individually.
9. Line the tart case with pastry. Prick the bottom of the tart with a fork.  Place the case/s on a baking tray and replace in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
10. Note. the pastry can be trimmed before.  If chilled and using good quality butter there will be minimal shrinkage.
11. Switch on oven a heat to 180oC.
12. Place the greaseproof paper on the pastry and weigh down with beans or rice

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and   remove the paper and the beans. 
Allow the pastry to cool slight.  Brush with egg white and then bake uncovered for 5 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 160oC

Make the Frangipane Cream

1. Weigh the butter into a mixer bowl and start beating with beater attachment.
2. After a couple of minutes when the butter is softened, add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy and almost white (about 15 minutes with a good mixer).
3. Add the vanilla
4. Lightly beat the eggs. 
5. Reduce the mixer speed and add the eggs a little at a time making sure each addition is fully incorporated and the texture of the mixture is still white and fluffy and creamy.
6. Remove bowl from mixer.  Tip in the almonds and the tablespoon of flour and the zest of orange.  Fold in with a rubber spatula taking care not to knock out all of the air.
7. Cover the base of the tart with apricot jam.
8. Spoon the frangipane cream on top into the case/s fill to about 5mm from top.
9. Bake for about 30 minutes (small)/50 minutes (large) until firm to touch and golden brown.

Finishing

1. Strain the apricot halves and reserve the juice. Cut each apricot in half.
2. When the tarts are cool arrange the apricot halves starting at the outer edge and completing circles until all of the tart is covered.
3. Make a glaze using arrowroot  following the instructions on the packet using 100ml of the juice from the tinned apricots in place of water, Add the juice of half a lemon and 25g of sugar.
4. Cool the glaze and brush the glaze over the apricots.
5. Drizzle white chocolate over the apricots.

Welcome!

Hello to all the wonderful  #GBBO fans and baking enthusiasts.  My life has been a whirlwind since taking part in GBBO 2015 culminating in the decision to give up my day job and  dedicate my time to my passion for baking. Through my blog I hope to be able to bring you along on my journey as I transform into a baking butterfly. So come on, let's have some fun!


Dorret x