Bake Along: Chelsea Buns

baking
It the final of The Great British Bake Off this week! Boo! Hiss! This week we've made Chelsea Buns at Ashley Thomas HQ. This recipe is soft, sticky and totally scrummy!
Super easy to make to try it at home yourself with the recipe below.


You'll Need...
500g Plain Flour
100g Caster Sugar
1 tsp yeast (easy bake)
280ml milk, tepid
1 tsp salt
100g butter
1 egg, medium

100g sultanas
50g currents
50g mixed peel
Large pinch of mixed spice

To Make...
Mix together the flour, 50g sugar, slat and yeast.
Rub in 75g butter
Whisk egg lightly into the milk and add to flour mixture.
Mix to form a soft dough.
Knead thoroughly for 10 minutes, shape into a ball.
Enclose in a greased plastic bag or covered bowl until risen to double in size.
Flatten with knuckles to distribute gases then knead again lightly.
Roll dough out to a rectangle 18ins x 12ins melt remaining 25g of butter and brush it over the dough.
Mix together dried fruits, peel remaining sugar and mixed spice and sprinkle over the top of the dough.
Roll up from longest side, cute into 16 slices and place close together on a greased baking tray.
Enclose in greased plastic bag and leave to rise for about 30mins.
Heat oven, bake buns until well risen and golden brown.
Cool on rack and separate when cold.



New Stockist: Pembrokeshire

ashley thomas
I have a lovely new stockist in Pembrokeshire. The Golden Sheaf Gallery are passionate about quality, supporting local and buying British. "We're passionate about design, about storytelling, about the little something you buy just for yourself." They are passionate about their customers and want to bring the unique, the handmade, the slightly quirky and the downright beautiful to the local high street.Visit them at... 25 High Street, Narberth, Pembrokeshire
or online at www.goldensheafgallery.co.uk


Product of the week: Bakery Cookie Jar

ashley thomas
Inspired by the quaint country village, this white cookie jar comes from my home range at Debenhams. Designed in the shape of a bakery, it is crafted from stoneware with a lovely floral trim and a scrumptious cake display in the window. It features an air tight lid, perfect to keep those biscuits fresh.






Get your whilst stocks last exclusively at Debenhams, £20
www.debenhams.com

Teacup Chocolate Soufflés

ashley thomas
Oh dear a bit disastrous this week! Soufflés are notoriously difficult to make.
Mine looked great in the oven but collapsed quickly as I took them out to photogrpah.
So I reccomend if you are going to attempt this recipe serve them straight away.
They are definately a fun way to use your teacup collection though!
This recipe makes 6 Chocolate Soufflés.

You'll need...
115g plain chocolate
2 tbsp of water
300ml milk
40g butter
40g plain flour
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs
50g caster sugar
Plus some icing sugar for dusting

To Make...
Pre-heat the oven to 190oC heat a empty baking tray ready for your soufflés.
Lightly grease six teacups. Shop for my Debenhams collection here
Weigh out all your ingredients ready and separate the eggs.
Break up the chocolate and put in a pan with the water and 2 tbsp of the milk.
Stir over a low heat until the chocolate has melted.
Add the rest of the milk and bring to the boil.
Remove from the heat.
Melt the butter in another pan
Stir in the flour and cook on a low heat for 2 mins.
Stir in the chocolate milk, return to the heat and bring to the boil.
Leave to cool, you can do the above steps in advance if you have a dinner party planned.
Beat in the egg yolks slowly.
Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff.
Whisk in the sugar.
Take one spoon of the egg whites and stir into the chocolate mix to loosen it.
Then carefully fold in the rest.
Pour into your teacups and bake for 25mins. 
They should be firm on top and gooey in the middle.
Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.

Debenhams Bake Off

Events
Last week I was invited to judge a bloggers bake off hosted by Debenhams. Twenty food bloggers came along to have lessons in trendy Islington within the kitchen of Jenius Social. A fab organisation which aims to create connections through food. I arrived just in time for the first lesson. We were taught to make cookie dough with different favourings. Then we tempered chocolate and made a variety of toppings such as honeycomb ready for decorating our cupcakes. After a champagne top up the bloggers got their game faces on, mixed up different coloured icing with the aim to make the most spectacular cupcake to impress me and Sarah from Kenwood. We had the tough decision to pick a winner who was fighting to win a brand new Kenwood kitchen aid. So the stakes were high! It was such a fun event hopefully we make it a regular event. Here's some fab photos below of the whole event.
 


New Stockist: Wokingham

news
I have a brand new stockist in Wokingham, Antique Rose is piled high with beautiful treats all handpicked by the owner, Georgina. They are a totally independent wanting to bring something to the Wokingham's centre that was missing. It's the perfect place to buy a great gift or home decoration, unusual and inspirational items not available on the high street. Most importantly, a great environment to browse and be inspired, with a friendly face and fantastic service if that decision proves a little tricky!

Visit them at...
Antique Rose 3 Bush Walk Wokingham RG40 1AT
or online at...
www.antiquerose.co.uk

New Stockist: Exeter

ashley thomas

I've got a brand new stockist in the beautiful city of Exeter.  Leela is a lovely gift shop selling clothing, interior accessories and gifts that are firstly very desirable and secondly ethical.
Interior products vary from the best quality leather pouffes from Morocco, to a very popular UK made lampshade range and now my greeting cards.
Visit them at... www.leela-uk.com
69 Magdalen Road‎ EX2 4TA ‎


Choux Pastry Swans

ashley thomas


These Choux Pastry Swans look really spectacular when put together and I promise they are really easy to do. The hardest part is making the Choux pastry. It's all about being quick when adding the flour and sugar. Putting them together can be a bit fiddly but really has the wow factor for a dinner party. This recipes makes 6 beautiful swans.

You'll need...
For the Choux Pastry...
60g strong white flour
1tsp caster sugar
150ml water
50g butter
2 large eggs, beaten

For the Filling...
150ml double cream

For the Butterscotch sauce...
50g butter
50g Muscovado sugar
50g golden syrup
2tsp lemon juice
75ml double cream

To make...
Preheat the oven to 180oC.
Make the choux pastry first. Sift the flour and sugar together into a bowl.
Put the water and butter into a pan and simmer over a medium heat until the butter has melted, bring to the boil, when it's bubbling add the flour and sugar. Stir quickly and continuously until the mixture forms a dough.
Add the eggs a bit at a time mixing well each time. The mixture should be quite wet, smooth and glossy.
Make the swan bodies by piping the mixture into a cupcake tray, pipe in a circle into a round ball. Save some of the mixture for the swan necks.
Bake the swan bodies in the oven for 20 mins or until golden.
Allow to cool on a wire rack whilst you make you swan necks.
Pipe S-shapes onto a baking tray covered with baking paper.
Bake for 10 mins, or until they are golden. Allow to cool.

Whip the double cream in a bowl with an electric whisk until the consistency changes. It should be very thick and firm. Put in the fridge until you put the swans together.

Chop the top 1/3 off each body and cut the top in half to form the wings.
Spoon the cream into the bottom half of the swan and push the two wings into the cream to form a V-shape. Insert the S-shaped necks into one end of the cream and your swan is formed.

Serve on a saucer of butterscotch sauce.
Make the sauce by melting the butter, sugar and syrup together.
Take of the heat and add the lemon juice then the cream. Allow to cool then pour onto a little saucer and top with you spectacular swans.





New Stockist: Delilah Petal

ashley thomas
I have a lovely new stockist in Somerset, Delilah Petal have two shops one in Crewkerne and the other in Wellington.


  
 
Visit them online at www.delilahpetal.com or visit their beautiful shops...

Crewkerne Shop
1a Church Street                                                        
Crewkerne                                                              
Somerset                                                                  
TA18 7HR

Wellington Shop
The Emporium Somerset
Clifton House
Mantle Street
Wellington
Somerset
TA21 8AR