Tray bakes

The baking has slipped this week.  Played out two nights in succession this week and then early to rest last night meant no baking blog.  Going to make up for that with tray bakes.  These tray bakes are going to feed some hard working volunteers tomorrow morning.

First up is a white chocolate chip tray bake from the good food website which they call white chocolate spotty cake.

I read the reviews on this cake before I made it which left me a little concerned.  Many who had made it found it didn’t cook properly (cooked on the outside and raw in the middle) and found it heavy.  I made a couple of adjustments to the recipe and I’m very pleased with the result.

White chocolate chip bake

• 250g stork
• 250g caster sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 150ml greek yoghurt
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 300g self-raising flour
• 100g white chocolate chips

Frosting

• 200g white chocolate
• 300g cream cheese
• 100g icing sugar
• Milk chocolate buttons to decorate

I beat the sugar and stork together and added the eggs one at a time, mixing them in well.  I found the stork and the creaming method made a lighter batter.  I beat the yoghurt, vanilla and milk into the batter and then folded in the flour and baking powder.  Before the flour was completely combined I added the chocolate chips.  The batter was thick, fluffy and dropped easily off the spoon.  I spread it gently into a lined baking tin 21cm x 31cm and baked for 31 minutes at 160’c fan.  The bake was golden on top, slightly cracked and skewer came out clean.

Once the bake was completely cooled I melted the white chocolate and beat in the cream cheese before sifting in the icing.  I left it for a few minutes for the chocolate to cool and the frosting to thicken.

Second is a milk chocolate tray bake from the uktv food website called Easy chocolate cake.

I originally used the this recipe as a comparison for the tray bake above.  I still made changes to this recipe but I fear that I should have added more liquid to make the end result more moist.

Chocolate tray bake

• 25 g cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp hot water
• 225 g stork
• 225 g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp coconut greek yoghurt
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 300 g self-raising flour
• 2 tsp baking powder

Frosting

• 150 g dark chocolate
• 150 ml double cream
• white chocolate chips

I mixed the cocoa with the water and it formed a very thick paste (which didn’t mix in well with the batter later).  I beat the sugar and stork together and added the eggs one at a time, mixing them in well (as with the previous tray bake).   I beat the yoghurt, vanilla and cocoa mix into the batter and then folded in the flour and baking powder.  The batter was light and airy but didn’t fall off the spoon as freely (should have added more liquid!).  This is also baked in a 21cm x 31cm lined tin at 160’c fan for 25 minutes.

I made a ganache with the chocolate and cream, heating the cream to near boil and pouring over the chocolate and allowing the chocolate to melt.  The original recipe calls for yoghurt in the topping but I didn’t have any plain yoghurt.

My final tray bake is a chocolate fridge cake found on the BBC food site.  I also changed this recipe a little to match Annabel Karmel’s children’s recipe which I have in a book.

Chocolate fridge cake

• 200g milk chocolate digestive biscuits
• 200g ginger biscuits
• 300g milk chocolate
• 200g dark chocolate
• 170g butter
• 170g golden syrup
• 200g dried apricots, chopped
• 100g raisins
• 80g rice krispies

I melted the chocolate, butter and golden syrup and mixed in the fruit.

I crushed the biscuits and added these and the rice krispies to the chocolate mix.  Poured into 21cm x 31cm tin and left to chill.  Hindsight denotes that I shouldn’t have bothered with the rice krispies and maybe added more fruit.

Victory all round, fingers crossed it all goes in the morning.  Oh it is the morning.  Thanks for reading.