Are You Feeling Festive?

A big thank you to everyone who has come along to the cafe this term, I hope you've had fun and I'm really looking forward to seeing you again next term.

Until then...

Crumble top mince pies:

• 225g cold butter
• 350g plain flour
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 egg

Rub together the butter and flour with your fingers to make crumbs then beat in the egg and sugar to form a soft dough (you may need to add a little water or flour till you get the right consistency) Give the dough a quick knead then roll out quick thinly (but not so thin that it's difficult to handle!) Use a pastry cutter to make rounds, place them into a greased cupcake tin/tray.

• Jar of mincemeat
• 250g mixed dried fruit
• Small grated apple

You can just use shop bought mincemeat (or home made! Although you have to start at the end of October!) but I think the addition of extra fruit makes them fresher and less sickly sweet.

Blob the mincemeat generously into the pies but don't overfill or you will end up with a sticky mess everywhere.

Now either add another round of pastry on top (the mince will help seal it so there's no need to use egg) or top with a sprinkle of crumble made by rubbing together 100g butter, 100g plain flour, 50g oats, teaspoon of mixed spice and 80g of sugar. 

Bake at 180C until pastry is crisp and golden and enjoy with a large glass of mulled wine. Mmmmm....

Unfortunately I cannot claim credit for the very funky Santa hats and Christmas trees, they were great fun to make and eat so if you're got some time to spare over Christmas then give them a go!

http://www.ericasweettooth.com/2010/12/strawberry-christmas-tree-brownie-bites.html

Belated Iced Buns

This is the very easy iced bun recipe I used a couple of weeks ago, for a bit of a retro school dinner taste...

• 500g white bread mix
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 350g icing sugar 
• Food colouring

Whizz together the bread mix and sugar, add in the egg add around 250ml warm water to form a soft dough, knead on a floured surface for around 5mins then stick it back in the bowl, cover with cling film and set aside for an hour or so until it has doubled in size. "Knock back" by dropping and squashing the dough, then divide into your separate buns and lay on a greased baking tray, leave lots of room for them to double in size again over the next hour. Bake for around 10mins at 180C, once cooled get creative with the colourful icing!

Black Forest Cupcakes

The Space will be back this Saturday with lots of lovely cakes on offer including the very decidant Black Forest Cupcakes!
- Cherry jam
- Half a tin of cherries chopped
- 115g self raising flour
- 1tbsp cocoa powder
- 115g softened butter
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 55g dark chocolate melted over simmering water
- Whipped cream
Preheat oven to 180C. Sift the flour, and cocoa powder together. Add the butter, eggs and caster sugar beat together with an electric whisk. Fold in the melted chocolate and chopped cherries. Put one large blob into each cupcake case, follow with a teaspoon blob of jam and top with another blob of the mixture. Bake for around 20mins. Once cooled pipe or blob on whipped cream.

NO CAFE - Sat 12th November

Please be aware there is no cafe this coming Saturday as there is a wedding (woo!) in Alma church. The Space will be open again on Saturday 19th with lots of the usual goodies on offer.

Taste of Italy

Two delicious recipes for you this week cappuccino cake and lemon drizzle. Okay so lemon drizzle is an English favourite but the lovely cirusyness always reminds me of the Mediterranean...

Cappuccino cake (we discovered this works brilliantly as a loaf or large cake but not as cup cakes!)

1tsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp instant coffee granules

225g melted butter

225g caster sugar

4eggs

225g self raising flour

1tsp baking powder

Add a little hot water to the coffee and cocoa to make a thin paste then literally dump everything into a large bowl and whisk with an electric blender until well combined. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for around 35minutes, cool before adding the frosting...

100g white chocolate

50g butter

3tbsp milk

175g icing sugar

Melt chocolate butter and milk together in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, once melted beat in the sifted icing sugar gradually until you have a smooth paste, spread over the cake and chill. Dust with cocoa powder before serving.

Lemon Drizzle

175g butter

175g caster sugar

3 eggs

175g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

Finely grated zest of 2 lemons

Another easy one, just whiz everything together until smooth and bake at 170C for around 25-30 minutes until a knife comes out clean, pour over the drizzle whilst still warm...

Approximately 4tbsps of lemon juice

70g caster sugar

Zest of one lemon

Gently heat together in a pan but do not allow the mixture to boil or the sugar will burn, you should see the mixture starting to thicken a little and cling to the back of the spoon when all the sugar has all melted, don't let it get too syrupy or the pan will be a nightmare to wash up!!

Chocolate Eclairs

100 g plain flour

150 ml water

75 g butter

3 eggs, whisked 

Double cream whipped

150g dark chocolate

75g butter

Place a small dish of water in the oven to create steam and preheat to 200C. Put the water and butter in a saucepan(yes I know it's weird!), bring to the boil. Take off the heat and sift in the flour, beat it in quickly until the batter comes away from the side easily. Beat in the eggs gradually, this is meant to be a quite liquidy batter. Pipe or blob onto grease proof paper and bake for around 20 mins. Don't open the oven for at least the first 15mins or the pastry will sink!

When crisp and brown remove from the oven and pierce with a sharp knife. When cooled drizzle on the ganache* and fill with whipped cream.

* melt chocolate and butter together in a dish over a pan of bubbling water.

Chunky Chocolate Brownies

Chunky Chocolate Brownies

• 100g butter 
• 200g dark chocolate
• 100g white and milk chocolate broken into small chunks or chips
• 4 eggs
• 250g golden caster sugar
• 150g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 30g cocoa

Heat the oven to 170C, melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water, once melted allow the melted mixture to cool to room temperature (or you will end up scrambling the eggs when you mix them together!). Whisk the sugar and eggs together until they are light and glossy. Fold in the melted chocolate then fold in all the remaining ingredients, add a little extra four if it is too runny. Spread the mixture into a lined tin and bake for around 2omins, the middle should still be gooey but the top and end should be lovely and crusty.

Cake-a-licious

Join us tomorrow for carrot cake and brownies!

Nom nom nom...

Gluten free Peanut butter cookies

1 cup of peanut butter

1 cup of caster sugar

1 egg

Cream it all together, using a teaspoon blob on a well grease and lined tray (I learnt to my peril that this part is particularly important!) Whack them in the oven at 180oC for 10 minutes and that's all there is too it really, giving you plenty of time to try....

Chocolate chunk flapjacks

330g oats

200g melted butter

Approx 6 table spoons golden syrup

150g chocolate broken into chunks or chips

Coat the oats in the melted butter, stir in the chocolate followed by enough golden syrup so that the oats mostly hold together. tip the lot into a greased/lined tin and spread evenly, squash the mixture down using the back of a wet mettle spoon. Bake at 180oC for around 25mins, golden brown and chewy rather than chestnut brown and crunchy.

Sat 15th October - 1st cafe!

The Space will be flinging open its door to cake-hungry students for the very first time ever on Saturday 15th October!!

Come and sample some lovely free fresh baked:

Toffee apple cake

Chocolate chunk flapjacks

Peanut butter snaps (g/f)

It's going to be a slightly weird one as we will be down in the basement instead of the church hall, look out for the signs. Don't worry, it's a nice basement with sofas and a pool table, not a damp, smelly, dead rats sort of basement...

And we'll be closing up an hour early so come and see us between 12-4pm - and stuff yourself silly with cake!

3... 2... 1... FRESHERS!!!

Welcome to Bristol! It's madness here, but do look out for me around campus during freshers week and beyond, I'll be handing out flyers and free sweets xx

A Taste of Things to Come...

Toffee Apple Cake

If you enjoy baking, this is a cheap and cheerful way to use up some of the fallen apples this autumn. But fear-not bake-o-phobes, you can try this one, without any of the hassle, at The Space on October 15th 2011.

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

1tsp vanilla essence

220g self-raising flour

100g caster sugar

50g melted (but not boiling!) butter

3 medium apples

1/2 packet of Sainsbury's basics toffees

15g butter

2 tbsp cream (a little whole milk would probably also work)

Method

Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan and grease and line a cake tin. Peel the apples and either thinly slice (for bursts of appley-ness) or grate - at little lemon juice will prevent the apples browning until you need them.

Whisk the eggs and set aside. Use a large bowl to stir together the flour and sugar, gradually beat in the egg. Stir in the apple and melted butter. The mixture will be quite stiff because the apples release a lot of moisture during cooking.

Scrape into the prepared tin and bake for around 30 mins or until cooked through.

To make the toffee sauce, gently melt the extra butter and toffees together, stirring to prevent burning. When completely melted, take off the heat and stir in the cream. Drizzle evenly over the cake and either leave to cool or dig in straight away, it's great warm with vanilla ice cream.

 

Welcome!

Welcome to post number one of The Space cafe online. At the time of writing the cafe exists only as a blog and a scribbly list of ideas currently on my bedside table. But come October 2011 we will be up and running, handing out FREE tea, coffee and cake to the lovely students of Bristol! 

Every Saturday during termtime in the Alma church hall (behind Clifton down Sainsbury's) along with free refreshments we will provide space to relax, chat and study. We'll also have occasional evening events and I'll be updating the blog regularly with recipes, news and discussion topics. 

Every week I'll be suggesting a topic of discussion and encourage you - whatever your religion, background or opinions - to join in (entirely optional, you are equally welcome to curl up in the corner by yourself with a good book). I make no secret of my Christian faith and hope you will be equally up front about your views. We want to get you guys really thinking and challenging each other, in an environment of mutual respect and lots of FREE cake. 

See you all soon! 

Bryony x x x