traybakes & more

Chocolate Almond Tartlets

There seems to be quite a theme running through my retro recipe books of pastry, with a layer of jam (preferably raspberry) and then some variety of topping. And these Chocolate Almond Tartlets fit this pattern perfectly. Crisp pastry case, thin layer of raspberry jam and a chocolate and almond topping. The topping is a little crisp and a little chewy and combined with the pastry and jam, it’s really rather delicious!

The recipe makes about 16 tartlets. The topping will rise and crack a little in the oven. And if your house is anything like mine, these Chocolate Almond Tartlets won’t last very long!

Ingredients

Pastry

6oz/170g/1½ cups plain flour (all-purpose flour)

3oz/85g/¾ stick butter

3oz/85g/¾ cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp cold water, if needed

Filling

raspberry jam

2 egg whites

4oz/110g/1 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)

2oz/55g/½ cup ground almonds (almond flour)

1 tbsp cocoa powder

½ tsp almond extract

Method

1. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the sugar. Mix in the egg yolk until the pastry comes together into a ball. You might need a little cold water to help it along, but only add a little at a time.

2. Wrap the pastry in cling film/plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

3. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out thinly. Use to line about 16 tartlet/bun tins. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of jam in the bottom of each pastry case.

4. Place the almonds, icing sugar and cocoa powder in a food processor and blitz to ensure there are no lumps.

5. Whisk the egg whites until they reach the stiff peak stage, then fold in the remaining ingredients (almonds, cocoa, sugar and almond extract).

6. Fill the pastry cases with about 1 tablespoon of the chocolate/almond mixture and bake in a preheated 325F/160C oven for 20-25 minutes.

7. Leave to cool in the tin, then remove to a wire rack.

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Mint Chocolate Melting Moments

May 30, 2018 / CJ / 0 Comments

Chocolate and mint. A classic pairing found in two of the most popular recipes on the blog (No-bake Chocolate Mint Slice and Mint Aero Traybake). And now also featuring in these Mint Chocolate Melting Moments.

I decided to make a mint buttercream to sandwich my Melting Moments together, but there are numerous flavors that would work equally well here – vanilla, chocolate, raspberry. Choose your favorite and go with that! I use 2oz/55g/½ stick of butter mixed with 4oz/110g/1 cup icing sugar to make my buttercream, which I flavored with a couple of drops of mint extract and some green food coloring.

Traditional Soda Farls

May 16, 2018 / CJ / 2 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve had a savory recipe on the blog, so I thought it was about time to venture back into the ‘& more’ section of traybakes & more. It’s also been an even longer while since I made these Traditional Soda Farls (which my autocorrect keeps trying to change to farms!) but once I had made them, I was left wondering why I don’t make these more often. Wheaten bread is my usual go-to bake when I need bread in a hurry – and I’ll aim to have my recipe for that on the blog soon – then I made Soda Farls for the first time in ages and realized they are even easier and quicker to make.

Ginger Slice Traybake

May 2, 2018 / CJ / 0 Comments

Ginger has been a popular flavor running through my bakes since I started the blog. And as it’s always proved a winner with Little Miss Traybakes, when I saw this Ginger Slice Traybake recipe, I had to give it a go. For other gingery bakes try Date and Ginger Crunchies, Ginger Shortcake or even Ginger Cake. See, I told you ginger is popular in traybakes (and cake, and cookies…!)

No-Bake Honey Crunch Traybake

April 18, 2018 / CJ / 0 Comments

Another new traybake for me this week. I can’t remember which retro recipe book this No-Bake Honey Crunch Traybake came from as I just made a copy the last time I was back at Mummy Traybakes’ house, but it intrigued me enough to make a note of it and I recently decided to try it out.

And it was a success all round! I offered some to my book club (my other official taste testers) and it proved to be a hit companion to our latest book discussion, as well as getting a thumbs up from Little Miss Traybakes.

No-Bake Polish Cake

April 4, 2018 / CJ / 0 Comments

It’s another no-bake chocolatey biscuit traybake this week – No-Bake Polish Cake. Nope, I have no idea why this is called Polish Cake either. Perhaps it’s because you can ‘polish’ off a whole tray in one sitting? Bad puns aside, it’s another straightforward recipe. (One of these days, I’m going to have to make something more complicated! But I guess that’s the joy of traybakes, they are generally easy to make.)

French Chew

March 21, 2018 / CJ / 1 Comment

Nope, I have no idea where the name French Chew comes from either! This was a new traybake to me. I don’t remember ever eating French Chew. I don’t remember ever baking French Chew. But the recipe looked interesting, so I thought I’d give it a go. Now, having no real point of reference to compare it to (and my internet searching proved fruitless), I therefore have to assume that this is an accurate representation of French Chew.

So, French Chew is a soft sponge base, topped with a thin layer of coconut meringue. That’s it. Pretty simple and straightforward. Also pretty tasty.

Butterscotch Squares Traybake

March 7, 2018 / CJ / 0 Comments

This Butterscotch Squares Traybake recipe is essentially a recipe for Blondies. However, when I was a child, I’m not sure I would have known what a Blondie was, so Butterscotch Squares seems much more descriptive! It’s another easy bake, just some melting and mixing required. And it got a big thumbs up from Little Miss Traybakes. And she’s not even a big fan of nuts in my baking, so that’s got to be a good sign!

No-Bake Chocolate Biscuit Cake Traybake

February 21, 2018 / CJ / 0 Comments

This No-Bake Chocolate Biscuit Cake Traybake goes by many different names, with subtle variations to the recipes. But the basic principle is a chocolatey mix with crushed biscuits and any additions you want. I kept it traditional, for me at least, by adding raisins and glacé cherries, but feel free to take liberties with the recipe and add other dried fruit, or even something like Maltesers!

Brown Sugar Meringues

February 7, 2018 / CJ / 0 Comments

Meringues were a regular feature at my birthday parties when I was growing up (along with Toffee Rice Krispie Squares), although typically made with white sugar instead of these Brown Sugar Meringues. And Mummy Traybakes usually sandwiched them together with whipped cream. Yum!

Nowadays I see these being referred to as Meringue Kisses or Meringue Cookies, but I still just think of them as meringues. Making them with brown sugar, instead of the more traditional white sugar, creates a darker, more treacley flavor, with a hint of caramel, which is just as delicious.

retro recipes for the modern baker