Sweet stuff – Bake with Andrea

Vanilla ice cream

July 27, 2021July 27, 2021by bakewithandreaLeave a Comment

Making ice cream is one of those things that have always felt so mysterious to me. I never knew that you could make it at home as it seemed like such a complex, fancy thing! Like something that only a professional would know how to make. Then I saw some videos on how to make it and I realised that it’s just frozen custard! The hardest thing is committing to buying an ice cream maker – the rest is easy!

Nowadays you’ll find that there are lots of recipes online for “no-churn ice cream” and “3 ingredient ice cream” and stuff like that. I definitely think there’s a place for all of those – I’ve tried and loved them myself, they’re super easy to make and they do scratch that itch in a pinch. Particularly if you don’t have an ice cream machine – which let’s face it, it’s not a necessity is it. But in my honest opinion these recipes are no competition to a good ol’ classic ice cream made in an ice cream machine. It’s just so rich and flavourful and when you make it at home you can customise it in whichever way you want! It’s so much fun and so rewarding when you get to enjoy the final product!

If you’ve got a stand mixer like I do (I have the KitchenAid) and you’ve been thinking of buying an ice cream machine, I’d really recommend getting the attachment. It’s not that expensive, it’s really easy to use and it’s super convenient. Also, considering the size of other ice cream machines in the market, it doesn’t actually take up that much space which is great.

If you’ve been thinking about making your own ice cream but have been too intimidated to do so – please give it a try! I hope that you see how easy it is to make and you give it a chance. I promise it’s worth it. Let me show you!

Ingredients:

5 egg yolks
1 1/2 cup heavy cream (or whipping cream)
3 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
- This is the amount I normally put, I don’t like my ice cream too sweet but if you like it a bit sweeter, maybe use 1/3 cup instead
One vanilla bean

How to make it:

Cut your vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape off all the little seeds

In a pot, add your heavy cream, milk and vanilla bean with all the seeds you just scraped off

Turn on your stove on a low-medium heat and stir your creamy mixture occasionally. Keep it going until it starts to simmer (don’t let it come to a boil!). You just want it to be warm enough to have a few small bubbles around the edges but nothing more than that.
Once your mixture comes to temperature, turn off the heat and cover it with a lid. Set it aside for a bit so that your vanilla has a chance to steep (and get maximum vanilla flavor!).

While your vanilla is steeping, mix your egg yolks and sugar and whisk them together until they’re even in texture and the color is slightly lighter.

After a few min of the vanilla steeping (you can leave it for as long as you like – the longer the better!) we need to temper the eggs. This basically means that we can’t mix cold eggs with hot cream or else your eggs will scramble, so we need to bring them up to temperature slowly. In order to do this, ladle your cream mixture into your egg mixture slowly (one ladle at a time) whilst mixing.

Once you’ve added a few ladlefuls onto your egg mixture and it’s all looking well incorporated (you don’t need to add all the cream, maybe half of it or so is enough), return the whole mixture back to your pot and turn the heat back up to medium heat.

At this point, you want to keep stirring most of the time. Again, you don’t want the mixture to come up to a boil but you do want it to warm up to a gentle simmer. Make sure to keep stirring – otherwise it’ll stick to the bottom and the whole thing can get ruined.

You’ll know it’s ready when your mixture thickens but also, when you stir with a wooden spoon and then run a finger through the back of your spoon – if the sides don’t join back and the line you’ve drawn stays in place, your mixture is done. This is what “coating the back of a spoon” means (in case you ever see that description).

Once your custard is done, put it in a clean bowl but pass it through a sieve (to catch your vanilla bean and any other bits that you may not want in your final product, like bits of egg or whatever).

Cover your custard with cling film – make sure it’s actually touching your custard so it doesn’t form a skin – and pop it in the fridge to cool down completely. I usually leave it overnight.

Once your custard is nice and cold, put it in your ice cream machine and let it churn for about 30min, until it’s nicely frozen and it has significantly grown in volume.
- Every ice cream machine is a bit different so use yours accordingly. Mine is the KitchenAid attachment and it usually takes about 30 min to form into ice cream.

You can eat it right away but it’s probably a bit too soft still. Put your ice cream in a freezer-safe container (I use a tupper) and let it finish freezing for a couple of hours or so.

Serve whichever way you like best – we’re huge fans of ice cream cones over here so we just like to scoop it onto a cone and dig in!

And that’s it! Isn’t that actually super easy? There’s a bit of waiting involved but apart from that the only thing you need to be mindful of is not messing up your eggyolks – just like when you’re making custard. As long as you’re patient and gentle and just pay attention to what you’re making, this recipe is pretty bulletproof! I’d say that it’s light and creamy and not at all sickly sweet. Like I said, I don’t like ice cream that’s too sweet so I don’t put a lot of sugar in mine but if you find this not sweet enough, just add a bit more.

I really hope you give this recipe a try and love it as much as we do! It’s one of those great basic recipes that if you master you can really customise however you like and make whichever kind of ice cream you like! If you’re interested in seeing more options do let me know and I’ll post them for you. And as always, thanks for visiting and I hope to see you again soon!

Sweet stuff

Braided nutella bread

June 16, 2021by bakewithandreaLeave a Comment

Like most humans, I love chocolate – and something I love even more than plain ol’ chocolate is nutella. I mean it’s like chocolate but better, right?! I love finding any excuse to buy some and cook with it and honestly, this bread is the best vehicle for it. It’s sweet – but not too sweet – and really satisfying.

If you’re looking for a sweet treat that’s warm and comforting but not too indulgent, look no further! This nutella bread is what dreams are made of – specially when it’s fresh and warm right out of the oven! It’s not the kind of treat that is sickly sweet or feels so heavy that you only feel you can have a bit – it’s the more dangerous kind that tricks you into believing you can have more and more and more!!

I like to use the same dough from my cinnamon rolls because “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” right? It’s a wonderfully enriched dough that is not too sweet but it’s really flavourful and fluffy and delicious and when paired with ooey gooey nutella… it’s a match made in food heaven!

Of course, if you don’t like (who doesn’t though?!) or can’t have nutella you can substitute it for a different chocolate spread or a different spread altogether! Also you can customise it as much as you like by adding nuts or little pretzels or even – god forbid – raisins.

So if you want to learn how to make this beautiful and impressive – yet crazy easy to make – braided bread, keep on reading! Let me show you how.

Ingredients:

1 pack dry yeast
1 1/2 cup warm milk
- Make sure it’s warm but not hot – a good way to tell is if when you put a finger in there it doesn’t burn but also doesn’t feel cold. Should feel like “blood temperature”. For me it takes about 30-45 sec in the microwave.
1tbsp sugar
110g butter – you’ll need it melted and cooled down slightly

5 cups plain flour (may need a bit extra for rolling etc)
1 cup strong bread flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
Vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)

350g of nutella (or spread of your choice)
Optional: Any fillings of your choice – nuts, pretzels, raisins, dried strawberries…

*** NOTE: These measurements will give you two generous-sized breads so you can either cut the recipe in half, make two braids or use one half of the dough for something else (like perhaps my glorious cinnamon rolls?). If not you can also wrap up half of your dough tightly and freeze it so you can use it at some other point. It’s an easy-going dough!

How to make it:

The dough:

First of all, we need to activate the yeast. In order to do this, mix your melted butter with a tbsp of sugar and the warmed milk and sprinkle the pack of dry yeast over the top. Let it sit for about 5 min in a warm, draft-free spot – until it starts to get foamy and smells like a bakery.

In a large bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) add all the other ingredients for your dough

Once the yeast mixture has foamed up, add it to the rest of your ingredients and mix them all together until a dough starts to form.
- Sometimes you may need to add a bit more flour if it’s sticking to the sides, just let it all combine and give it some time to see if it comes together but if it looks really wet, just add a bit more flour – 1tbsp or so at a time

Place your beautiful dough baby in an oiled bowl (oil the sides and bottom of the bowl, roll the dough around to coat with the oil and cover the bowl with plastic wrap) and pop it in a warm spot that’s away from any drafts. I tend to use my oven (with the oven turned off).

Let it rise for about 1.5 – 2 hours, until it’s grown significantly (usually doubles in size).

The braid:

Once the dough is ready, gently deflate it and plop it onto a floured surface

Cut your dough in half so you work with one half at a time. Wrap the dough that you’re not using with some plastic wrap in the meantime so it doesn’t develop a skin.
Roll one half of your dough on your floured surface to form a rectangle and try to make it relatively even. You want the dough to be about half a cm thick.

Spread half of the nutella all over the dough – make sure to get as close to the edges as you possibly can!
- Again, because this recipe makes 2 braids, I use the whole 350g jar for both so I just divide it between the two. If you’re only making one you may want to get a smaller jar (or maybe not!).
- If your nutella is a bit too stiff I’d recommend putting it in the microwave for about 30-45 sec so it warms up a bit and loosens up. It definitely makes a big difference when spreading it!
- If you wanted to add any crunchy stuff to your rolls this is the time to do so! Just scatter them all over your nutella-covered rectangle.

Roll your dough lengthwise, to make a long sausage. Keep it seam-side down.

Cut your nutella sausage in half lengthwise but leave a little bit still together on one end. These will be your two braid strands.

To make the “magic braid” just put one strand over the other one, then the other strand over the first one and keep going until you reach the end – don’t worry if you get nutella everywhere, this is a messy job!

Once you get to the end pinch both sides together to make sure that your braid is “closed” at the top and the bottom.
Plop your beautifully braided bread onto a parchment paper-lined baking tray, cover it with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and leave it somewhere warm again to rise one more time. This usually takes about another hour or so.

The baking:

While your bread is resting, turn on your oven to 180C
Optional: you can warm up some heavy cream in the microwave and brush it over your bread before baking. It’s not necessary but I’d definitely recommend it!
Once your bread is nice and plump and ready to be baked, put it in the oven for 20-25 min until it looks beautifully golden and smells unbelievable!

Nutella bread — *Look at those ripples of gooey nutella! You know it’s going to be good.*

When it comes out of the oven let it cool down just slightly – about 5-10 min should be enough. Then slice it however you like, devour and leave no crumbs behind!

This recipe is a total winner in our household – you know it’s a good one when the hubby keeps asking for it! It’s actually super easy to make but looks really impressive and apart from letting the dough rise it doesn’t take very long either. It’s always a crowd-pleaser and honestly you should definitely make both braids because they won’t last long! They are deceptively easy to eat and before you know it it’ll be gone.

If you’re having some friends over or you’re celebrating mother’s day / father’s day (or any other day!) or if you’re just having a bit of a sweet tooth and want to treat yourself – I really hope you give this recipe a try and let me know how you get on with it! I’d love to know your thoughts on it – if you liked it or not, if you struggled or if it was smooth sailing!

As always, thank you for stopping by and supporting me and I’ll see you again soon with another yummy recipe!

Sweet stuff

Cinnamon rolls

April 2, 2021by bakewithandrea3 Comments

In case you couldn’t tell so far, I am a huge fan of cinnamon! And of course, cinnamon rolls are just the crown jewel for all things cinnamon. I think it all started when I visited the States and my now-husband took me to Cinnabon. Ahh what a lovely mistake he made – I’ve been deeply in love with cinnamon rolls ever since! And even though I haven’t been back, I keep dreaming about them. It’s one of my favourite super-indulgent treats ever.

I’ve wanted so badly to have that experience again that I’ve made cinnamon rolls a million times and honestly, no matter how hard I try I cannot recreate what those guys do! I don’t think I ever will but I will say that these are really delicious, and while they’re not like the ones you would buy, they are fairly close!

These buns are such a showstopper – they’re big and decadent and deliciously cinnamony. They have (in my opinion) just the right amount of frosting and they are sweet and oh so fluffy! The dough is probably the part I’m most proud of – it’s one of those recipes I’ve made over and over and tinkered with a lot and I think the results are worth all the effort! (Not that it’s a problem having to eat cinnamon rolls over and over, but you know!)

I really do think these are the ultimate cinnamon buns, they are beautiful and decadent and don’t get me wrong – it’s not something I’d suggest making often! – but they really feel like something special. I’m really proud of how they’ve turned out and I think the recipe is pretty bulletproof. I’ve made it over and over again and it comes out perfect every time. So let me show you!

First things first:

Make sure to check that your yeast is not expired and find a warm spot for your dough to live
Get the butter for your filling out of the fridge to soften up

Dough:

1 pack dry yeast
1 1/2 cup warm milk
- Make sure it’s warm but not hot – a good way to tell is if when you put a finger in there it doesn’t burn but also doesn’t feel cold. Should feel like “blood temperature”. For me it takes about 30-45 sec in the microwave.
1tbsp sugar
110g butter – you’ll need it melted and cooled down slightly

5 cups plain flour
1 cup strong bread flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
Vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)

Filling:

200g soft butter – spreadable consistency, almost melted
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2-3 tbsp cinnamon (depends on how cinnamony you like it! I use 3tbsp)
- Optional: 1/4 cup heavy cream +/- pinch of cinnamon

Frosting:

80g cream cheese, soft
20g butter, soft
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)
2-3 tbsp milk

How to make them:

1 – The dough:

First of all, we need to activate the yeast. In order to do this, mix your melted butter with a tbsp of sugar and the warmed milk (read how to tell warmth on ingredients list) and sprinkle the pack of dry yeast over the top. Let it sit for about 5 min – until it starts to get foamy and smells like a bakery.

In a large bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) add all the other ingredients for your dough

Once the yeast mixture has foamed up, add it to the rest of your ingredients and mix them all together until a dough starts to form.
- Sometimes you may need to add a bit more flour if it’s sticking to the sides, just let it all combine and give it some time to see if it comes together but if it looks really wet, just add a bit more flour – 1tbsp or so at a time
Once it’s looking like dough, knead it for a couple more minutes – until it no longer sticks to your fingers and it looks smooth. It should still feel tacky but it shouldn’t stick.

Place your beautiful dough baby in an oiled bowl (oil the sides and bottom of the bowl, roll the dough around to coat with the oil and cover the bowl with plastic wrap) and pop it in a warm spot that’s away from any drafts. I tend to use my oven (with the oven turned off).

Let it rise for about 1.5 – 2 hours, until it’s grown significantly (usually doubles in size). This is a good time to take your butter and cream cheese out of the fridge to soften up.

2 – The filling:

In the meantime, prepare your filling by mixing both sugars and cinnamon until it’s an even consistency.

Make sure your butter is nice and spreadable. If not, you may want to pop it in the microwave for 10-15 sec – you don’t want to melt it!
- To fill your rolls, you can either spread the butter and sprinkle your sugary mixture on top or you can mix it directly with the butter to create a delicious paste. I like to do this as I feel it’s actually easier to fill them and it also gives me a more even coating.

3 – Shaping the rolls:

Once the dough is ready, gently deflate it and plop it onto a floured surface

Roll the dough to form a rectangle and try to make it relatively even. You want the dough to be about half a cm thick.
- This amount of dough should give you a rectangle measuring about 80x40cm (please don’t get the ruler out – it’s just for reference!)

Spread your sugary cinnamony butter all over your dough and make sure to get as close to all the edges as possible!

Roll the dough on it’s long side, so you end up with a long log – I like to roll away from me. Then keep the seam-side down and squeeze it gently to make the whole log as even in thickness as possible.
- When I did this my roll measured about 95cm in length (again, please don’t measure it – just did this for your reference).

Cut your dough log into equal-sized pieces. I like to cut it in half, then each half in halves etc.
- Keep the rolls as thin or as thick as you like but for this size log I usually get out about 16 chunky rolls

Place the rolls on your baking tray (with the swirl up), cover loosely with plastic wrap and pop it back into a warm spot to rise for another hour or so.

4 – The glaze:

Now that your rolls are having their second proof, it’s a good time to make your glaze so it’s ready for when they’re baked. Make sure your butter and cream cheese are nice and soft and beat them on a med-high speed for a few minutes, until they look well combined and slightly fluffy.

Once your butter and cream cheese are nicely combined, add-in your sifted powdered sugar and beat slowly until combined. Then crank the speed up and keep beating until everything is well combined and looks light and airy.

Add in your vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste) and beat for another minute or so.
At this point, it’s up to you what consistency you want. Slowly add some milk – 1 tbsp at a time – until it’s as thick or as runny as you want it. I usually need to add 2-3 tbsp for this.
- A good way to tell if the glaze is at a nice consistency is by grabbing a spoon and drizzling it on itself – if you’re able to draw the number 8 and the ribbons stay for a few seconds or a minute, it’s usually a pretty good consistency I think. If you like it a bit more runny, just add some more milk. Just do it slowly!

Keep the glaze air-tight until you’re ready to use it
- I like to put it into a piping bag so I can spread it evenly once my rolls are baked
- Make sure that your frosting doesn’t sit in the open air for a while or it’ll form a crust and set completely

5 – Baking and glazing the rolls:

When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 180C
- Optional (but recommended!): While you’re waiting for your oven to heat up, warm up some heavy cream in the microwave for about 30-45 sec. Then very gently brush it over the top of your rolls, just before baking. This will provide moisture, a golden crust and a little extra bit of flavor! Yum.
- If you want to maximise the cinnamony flavor, add a pinch (about 1/4 tsp or so) to your cream when you warm it up. Yes please!

Bake your rolls at 180C for 20 – 25 min, until they look beautifully golden on top and your house smells like heaven (honestly, best smell ever!)

When your rolls are done baking, get them out of the oven and let them cool down on your countertop for about 5 – 10 min and then frost them – I like to either spoon it or pipe it over the rolls, in a non-specific manner.
- Frost your rolls while they’re still warm but not straight out of the oven or your frosting will melt completely!

Wait a few more minutes until they’re cool enough to handle and the frosting has found its righteous place – and dig right in!

Top tips:

This may seem like a lot of things to do, and in a way it kind of is. It’s not difficult but with all the proofing it does take a long time to make. If you don’t feel you’ve got the time to make them all in one go, you can make the dough the night before and let it proof slowly in the fridge overnight. You can also prepare the filling and the glaze all the day before and pop them in the fridge.
- You can also make the dough, let it have it’s first proof and then freeze it for another time. Just let it come up to temperature slowly and take it from there.
- Also, you can do the whole process up to the point of baking (make the dough, let it rise, roll it out and fill it, cut your rolls and put them on your baking tray) and then put them in the fridge or freezer. Then all you need to do when you want to bake them is take them out onto a warm, draft-free spot for a couple of hours, brush them with your warm cream and bake them.
- If you’re thinking of putting them in the fridge or freezer at any point, make sure they’re as airtight as you can. You don’t want the dough to dry out and get a weird crust on it!
If you like a bit more texture on your rolls, once you’ve spread your filling over your dough rectangle you can add other things like raisins (yuck), chocolate chips or nuts. I like to keep them as they are but this is an option!
This recipe is fairly large and it does make 16 very chunky buns. If it’s too much for what you want I’d suggest you make the dough, cut it in half and freeze the half that you don’t need (that way you can use it again on a different day). Then just cut the amounts of the other stuff (filling and glaze) in half and you’ll be good to go!

I really hope you give this recipe a try, and if you do please share it with me! It makes me so happy to see you guys trying out my recipes and loving them, thank you!! I’m working on some more stuff that will be coming your way soon so stay posted! And as always, thanks for reading me and see you again soon!

Sweet stuff

Carrot cake

March 12, 2021March 12, 2021by bakewithandrea1 Comment

Ahh carrot cake… What is there to say about it? It’s just amazing.

I always like to give you some background story about my relationship with the food I’m sharing – is that weird?

Anyways – I think I first had carrot cake towards the end of my medschool years. I know right?! I’ve never seen this sort of cake in Spain. And honestly, when I first heard the words “carrot cake” I definitely made a face – and not a good one! It just sounded so freaking weird! Carrots in something sweet?! Are you crazy?!?!

Then I tried it. Ahh carrot cake. It’s just amazing.

So as you’ve probably noticed, I looove cinnamony sweets (I honestly think that every single sweet treat I’ve shared so far has cinnamon in it!) and I think that’s one of the beautiful things that this cake has to offer. If you’ve never tried, try it. It’s so weird – does not taste like carrots at all! It’s like the carrots are just there to make it uber moist and give it some texture but it doesn’t actually taste like carrots. Honestly I think it’s magic!

After trying it the first time I made it a bunch more times and tried different things, added my own twists to it and since I first made it I feel like I’ve perfected it to how I like it best. This cake isn’t too sweet but it is full of flavor and it’s moist and delicious. The frosting is very sweet so I like to dial back the sweetness on the cake so it’s not too much but if you’re using less frosting or no frosting at all, you may want to add in a touch more sugar. Up to you!

First things first:

Grate your carrots and apple

Toast and chop up your walnuts (or pecans)

Preheat your oven to 175C
Grease and line your baking trays – I use two 9-inch / 23cm pans

Dry ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans

Wet ingredients:

4 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
3-4 grated carrots (you should have at least about 350g when grated)
1 grated apple
Vanilla extract

Frosting:

120g butter
200g cream cheese
700g icing sugar – sifted
Vanilla extract

Makes two 23cm / 9-inch cakes

How-to:

You don’t need any special equipment to make this cake!

Mix all your dry ingredients in a bowl until even in color (this includes your pecans / walnuts!)

In a large bowl, beat your eggs and sugar until they look paler and increase slightly in volume – you can do this by hand or with an electric hand whisk if you like. It doesn’t need to be super fluffy just slightly aerated.

Once your egg mixture looks a bit bubbly, slowly add-in the oil while beating. Then add the vanilla extract as well. At this point your mixture should be a bit thicker and bubblier but again, not expecting it to be super fluffy.

Incorporate the carrots and apple with a spatula until it’s all well mixed through

Fold in the dry ingredients just until it’s all mixed – do not overmix!

Divide your batter evenly onto your prepared baking pans and bake at 175C for 25-30min – you’ll know it’s done when they spring back to the touch or when you insert a skewer or knife and you don’t get any wet batter on it. You should also see the sides of the cake starting to pull away from the pan.

Let the cakes cool completely – this is a good time to take out your butter and cream cheese from the fridge so they come to room temperature

Frosting:

To make your frosting, start by sifting your icing sugar so it’s completely lump-free

Cream the butter and cream cheese until they’re fluffy and pale in color

Add the icing sugar (in a couple of batches) and mix slowly until incorporated – so you don’t get a big cloud of sugar! – and once it’s fully incorporated beat on high speed for a few minutes until it looks light and airy

When it’s pretty much there in terms of consistency, add a splash of vanilla extract and mix for another few seconds

Frost the cake however you like! You can keep it rustic, you can level out the cakes and try to make them more perfect, you can do whatever you like – have fun with this!
- For this cake, I levelled off the bottom layer just to make sure it sat straight (and to have a little cook’s treat!) and used a cake board to transport it
- I used the frosting in between the two layers and then decorated the top with a piping bag fitted with a star tip
- I then used my caramelised pecans on top and that’s it! Simple but beautiful I think!

Top tips:

For an extra little delicious treat, I’d suggest making my maple syrup caramelised pecans and using them to top up your cake. They’re so easy to make and so delicious! As a non-pecan-lover I can tell you I could eat an entire bowl of these! You can also use them inside instead of plain pecans or walnuts.
Once you’re done decorating it, I strongly suggest that you put this cake in the fridge for an hour or two to set. Particularly if it’s a warm day (like it was when I made this one), your frosting will probably get a bit sloppy so putting it in the fridge just helps set it nicely and hold its shape.
If you’re a raisin lover – you’ll probably know I’m definitely not if you’ve seen my oatmeal cookie recipe – you can also add raisins at the same time as the pecans. Just mix them with your dry ingredients.

And that’s it! It’s one of the simplest cakes to make that – aside from grating the carrots and sifting the sugar for the frosting – takes little to no effort to make and it’s always a crowd pleaser! Using oil instead of butter gives you a really moist and light cake, and not only using fresh carrots but also the addition of apple in this recipe gives you amazing flavor and yet, more moisture to the cake! I think it’s a killer recipe – super easy, don’t need any fancy equipment and everyone loves it!

I hope you give this recipe a try and really love it – and if you choose to make it for a special occasion I’m sure it won’t disappoint! As always, thanks for reading me and see you back here again soon!

Sweet stuff

Arroz con leche (rice pudding)

February 27, 2021February 27, 2021by bakewithandrea2 Comments

As you probably know, I grew up in Spain and if there is one thing that everyone can agree on is that Spanish people know how to eat! We’ve got the best food, freshest ingredients and I mean, to me there’s nothing like it. Spanish cuisine isn’t super elaborate and I actually really like that – they just use super good-quality ingredients and let them shine through.

This is one of those irreplaceable nostalgic comfort-food recipes that doesn’t look pretty, it’s not fancy at all but it just can’t be beat. It’s sweet, it’s cinnamony, it’s creamy and delicious and you can have it either warm or cold but either way it always hits the spot. Even though rice pudding is made in lots of different cuisines, the recipes can vary significantly. This is how I’ve grown up eating it, its a family favorite and I hope you love it as much as I do.

Ingredients:

1L of milk – ideally whole milk
100g of rice – short-grain works best here, something like arborio, risotto or bomba rice
Orange peel (1/4 to 1/2 orange)
Lemon peel (1/2 – 1 lemon)
1 or 2 cinnamon sticks
A vanilla pod – cut it in half lengthwise and use both the pod and the seeds inside (you can also use extract or vanilla bean paste)
70g sugar or a small can of condensed milk (370g)

Optional: knob of butter (about 10g)
Powdered cinnamon for dusting

How to make it:

In a large pot, combine your milk, rice, citrus peels, cinnamon stick and vanilla

Turn the stove on a very low heat and bring it up to a gentle bubble (do not boil!). Simmer it slowly for about 30-45 min, stirring every few minutes – if you don’t stir it frequently it’ll form a skin over the top really quickly

After this time your mixture should be starting to thicken up and look creamy but your rice probably won’t be cooked all the way through yet. It’ll still be a bit runny which is exactly what we want

At this point add the sugar and keep simmering it for another 5-10min, until your pudding is thick and creamy and your rice is fully cooked through

Turn the heat off and carefully remove your citrus peels, cinnamon sticks and vanilla pod. Make sure to mix through while you’re doing this so that it doesn’t form a skin.
- Optional: add your knob of butter once you’ve removed all your flavorings and mix through

Cover your pot and let it rest for about 10-15min, then serve or put it in the fridge to cool down (see below).

Top tips:

If you want to eat it warm you can serve it at this point, just sprinkle some cinnamon on top and enjoy! (I love it with tons of cinnamon)
If you prefer to eat it cold, transfer your warm mixture to an airtight container, sprinkle with cinnamon and make sure that no air is getting in there (again, trying to prevent a skin from forming!). Pop it in the fridge to cool down and let it sit there for a few hours, then serve!
If you want to make it even creamier and more decadent, try substituting the sugar for a small can of condensed milk and thank me later! This is how my grandma prefers her arroz con leche. Just keep in mind that you’re adding liquid so you may need to cook it down a bit longer than with just sugar.
If you want to make this the day before (I used to do that in medschool) just keep in mind that the rice will keep absorbing the liquid for a while after it’s off the heat. If you don’t like it too dry you can either reduce your cooking time a bit so it’s looser, or you can just add a bit of extra milk when you go eat it. Just mix it through really well and it should incorporate easily.

Let me tell you, there are few desserts that warm my heart as much as this one. This is probably where my love for cinnamon comes from actually – I just cannot get enough of it! When I was young my parents had to take it away from me because if not I’d eat it all and I wouldn’t leave any for the rest of the family. Just couldn’t get enough! Like I said, it’s super simple and doesn’t require lots of ingredients or effort so it’s really a great treat to have on hand.

Even if you’ve had rice pudding before I’m sure it won’t be quite like this one. When my mom and grandma made it at home I think they only put a tiny amount of lemon peel in there and as far as I remember there was no vanilla so this is not quite exactly like the one I used to have but in my opinion it’s even better! It may be a touch too sweet so if you try it and feel like it’s too much, just cut down on the amount of sugar a bit and it should do the trick.

I hope you give this recipe a try and love it as much as I do – it tastes like my childhood! Also let me know if you like simple traditional Spanish recipes like this one and if you’d like me to share more? I’d love to know what you like to see over here! Thanks for reading me and I hope to see you again soon!

Arroz con leche — *If your bowl doesn’t end up looking like this then something’s gone wrong – I’d suggest you try again!!*

Sweet stuff

Giant oatmeal cookies

February 15, 2021February 25, 2021by bakewithandrea1 Comment

I didn’t know this growing up but I actually love oatmeal cookies! I think it’s their chewiness and the cinnamony taste. I looove cinnamon! However, for some strange reason oatmeal has been forever paired with gosh-darn-raisins! Why?!?!? In my humble opinion, raisins are devil’s food. They are horrible. So weird and sweet but stale and chewy and not in a good way. What do you think? I think this is one of those divisive topics – either you love them or you hate them!

Anyways, I’m someone who hates raisins but you know what I love? Chocolate! Who doesn’t love chocolate?? It’s the best, most well-known comfort food. It’s just good for the soul in my opinion. So why not pair them both up? Sounds like a match made in food heaven if you ask me.

Let me just say, these cookies are no joke. They aren’t a “standard cookie size” – these are chunky, bakery-style cookies that will just make your heart so so happy. They are special, one of those treats you make for a special occasion and not just a random Thursday (although no one is judging here!). The only bad part is – they do need to be frozen before cooking them (sorry!). It all depends on how you look at it though – you could make a whole batch at once for a special occasion, or you could just bake one or two in a cookie emergency (or for that random Thursday) instead of baking the whole batch. I mean, there’s just no wrong option here.

First things first:

Cut up your butter into small cubes and pop them back in the fridge so they stay nice and cold
Cut up your chocolate into chunks, as big or as small as you like
Preheat your oven to 185C when you’re ready to bake

Ingredients:

230g cold butter, cut into cubes
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar

Oatmeal cookies — On this day I decided to use a mixture of white chocolate and caramelized white chocolate – yum!

200g white chocolate chunks
- Options: Caramelised white chocolate (best option), white chocolate bar cut up into chunks (second best), chocolate chips/chunks from a bag (least good option).

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups oats

2 eggs
Vanilla extract (don’t measure this but I’d say about 1tsp)
1/2 tsp almond extract

What to do:

I use a KitchenAid stand mixer but you can use an electric hand mixer or a bowl with a wooden spoon for this recipe.

In a large bowl, mix all your dry ingredients – your flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and oats

In a small bowl, crack your eggs, add-in your vanilla and almond extracts and beat them slightly so that they’ll mix through quickly once we’re ready for them

In a large bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer), mix the cold butter and both kinds of sugar until the butter has broken up into smaller pieces and your mixture looks like wet sand

Add-in your chocolate chunks and mix through so they’re evenly distributed
- If you were a raisin lover you could add raisins here instead, same amount

Add your dry ingredient mixture and on a low speed, mix through just until you have an even texture. It will look dry but this is normal, you just want everything to be evenly distributed.

Pour in your egg-extracts blend and mix until a dough starts to form. It might still feel a bit crumbly but the mixture will start to come together and into a ball of dough. Do not over mix! Just leave it there.

Divide your dough into evenly sized balls – I use a scale for this and measure 100g balls so I know they’re about even but you can use a large cookie scoop or just eyeball it. You want these big! I’d say between 100-125g per ball.
- When you’re rolling these, you want to try to handle them as little as possible. Don’t try to make perfect balls or to compact them too much. You want to just bring them together with your hands but once they stay in a ball-shape just don’t overwork them. They’re supposed to be chunky and a bit uneven.

Place your cookie balls into a freezer-safe container and pop them in the freezer. They should chill there for at least a couple of hours but ideally you should leave them overnight.

When you’re ready to bake them, preheat your oven to 185C and pop your parchment paper-lined baking tray in the oven to heat up – this will make the bottom of your cookies nice and toasty and will help cook them more evenly (keep in mind that they’re big and fully frozen!)

Bake for about 15-17 min or until they look golden brown and your house smells like heaven

Let them cool for about 10-15min and dig in!! Delicious oatmeal white chocolate almond cookies at your fingertips!!

Top tips:

You can make a single or double batch of these cookies, shape them and freeze them and then just use them up as you wish. They’ll be fine in the freezer for months so it’s the perfect cookie recipe to have on hand!
Keep in mind that your cooking time will vary depending on the size of your cookie balls. For me, 100g balls take about 16-17min in a 185C oven. I know they’re about ready when the house really starts to smell like cookies and when the cookies are looking beautifully golden.
If you have a temperamental oven (like I do), I recommend rotating your baking tray about halfway through so that they cook evenly. That way, if you have any hot spots in your oven, all the cookies will still get the same amount of heat throughout.

I mean… you’re welcome! What else can I say. These are chunky, delicious, sweet – but not sickly sweet, and they are just so much better than anything that has raisins! I’m not the biggest fan of white chocolate in general (I like dark chocolate) but it just goes so well with the oatmeal, the almond extract and the cinnamon.

I discovered caramelized white chocolate a few months ago and it’s kind of a game changer! It’s a much richer, caramel-like flavoured and it’s just an interesting flavor. If you’ve never tried it, I recommend it! Give it a try, particularly in a recipe like this – it just takes it to another level. If you’d like to try it but can’t find it and you’d like me to show you how to make it – leave a comment down below and let me know!

I hope you give these a try and enjoy them! As always, thanks for reading me and stay tuned for my next recipe!

Sweet stuff

My favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe

January 10, 2021February 25, 2021by bakewithandreaLeave a Comment

Let’s get something out in the open – chocolate chip cookies are my absolute FAVOURITE sweet treat ever!!! Honestly, I could eat them every day. For breakfast, as a snack, as an after-dinner treat… I just could never say no to a chocolate chip cookie.

When I started baking I really struggled to get cookies right! They were always too crispy or too dry or too sweet or a million other things! Then as I started to learn a bit more about baking and about what makes cookies be a certain way (I mean – a gooey chocolate chip cookie isn’t the same texture as a Christmas sugar cookie or a peanut butter cookie and so on) and by trial and error (and lots of deep internet digging!) I think I’ve now found my favourite cookie recipe. It’s all about the ratios.

For me personally, chocolate chip cookies are best (always good but even more so!) warm out of the oven – when the chocolate is still a bit melty and the whole house smells like heaven – and they should be slightly crispy and browned on the edges but the middle should definitely be soft and gooey.

I love to make a double or triple batch of these every once in a while and put them in the freezer so I always have perfect chocolate chip cookies on hand – in case of a cookie emergency! Full disclosure though: the texture isn’t just quite the same when they’re cooked from frozen. They’re still absolutely delicious but the texture is just a bit different.

Get stuff ready:

Make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature
Preheat your oven at 180C

Dry ingredients:

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda (in the UK they call it bicarbonate of soda)
1/4 tsp of cinnamon (or a pinch)
1/4 tsp salt
250g of chocolate chips – you can also chop up a bar of regular chocolate you like to eat, I personally like 70% cocoa solids

Wet ingredients:

1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
115g butter (soft, at room temperature)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (approx, I never actually measure this)

Method:

Mix all the dry ingredients together until they’re uniform in color

Mix your soft butter and both kinds of sugar for a few minutes (about 3-4 min), until they’re well combined and starting to look pale in color and a bit fluffy. You can use a stand mixer on medium-high, an electric mixer or a wooden spoon! Whatever you’ve got

Scrape down the sides of your bowl to make sure everything is getting evenly incorporated
Add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix together for a couple more minutes. It’s okay if it starts to look curdled – this happens sometimes and gets “fixed” once we add the dry ingredients

Scrape down your bowl again!
Combine your wet and dry ingredients gently, mixing ONLY until they’re just about combined

Fold in the chocolate chips and again, stop as soon as you no longer see chunks of flour

Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper – I like to use a medium-sized ice cream scoop to do this – and leave some space in between them as they tend to spread a little (a couple of inches should be fine).

Bake at 180C for 9-10 minutes, until they look nice and browned around the edges but the middle looks gooey and the house smells like a bakery!

Top tips:

Don’t worry if your cookies look slightly undercooked when you pull them out, they keep “baking” once they’re out of the oven and they set up a bit more while they cool down. As long as your edges are brown they should be good but if you’re not sure just try them out and if you’re not happy you can just pop them back in for another minute or two. You can always bake them more but you can’t un-bake them!
If you let your cookie dough rest for a bit before baking it it gets even yummier! I think that it gives the flavours a bit of time to get to know each other better and the cookies come out even better. I like to make the dough and cover it with some cling film, I tidy up the kitchen, then preheat the oven and cook them, usually giving them about an hour or 2 of resting time.
The best way I found to freeze cookies is to scoop them out onto a baking tray as if you were going to bake them (I just pack the baking tray a lot more), put the whole tray in the freezer for a few hours until the cookies harden (1-2h minimum) and then put the dough balls into a resealable plastic bag. They should last a few months in there (if you can resist eating them!).
To cook them from frozen – take them out of the freezer and plop them onto your baking tray lined with parchment paper and in the meantime preheat your oven to 180C. Once the oven’s temperature is up, put the cookies in for about 10-11min and same rules apply – they should be nicely browned around the edges and gooey in the middle. Plus the smell, obviously!!

And that’s it! Yummy chocolate chip cookies – you’re welcome!! Please enjoy these delicious gooey chocolatey heavenly cookies and share your experience! I’d love to know if you like them, if you changed anything, if you had any issues… sharing is caring! Have an awesome day and thanks for reading me! 🙂