BNU Baking Society
Introduction
This book is a collection of recipes from this year’s Baking Society. Each week, we took on a new challenge with a different set of ingredients, designed to push us to try something new, get creative, and improve our baking skills. Inside, you’ll find a range of easy bakes perfect for beginners, along with some of our favorites and timeless classics. Whether you’re looking to try something simple or wanting to remake one of your favourites, there’s something here for everyone.
Your Baking Society Committee
Recipe by Jack
White Chocolate Raspberry Blondie
Ingredients
- 200g White chocolate (chopped) - 115g Unsalted Butter (softened) - 2 Eggs
- 115g Silver Spoon Caster Sugar - 125g Plain White Flour - 115g Raspberries (fresh)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 190°C, (fan 170°C, gas mark 5). Line an 18cm (7 inch) square tin with baking parchment or greaseproof paper brushed with oil.
2. Put the butter in a saucepan and heat until melted. Remove from the heat. Add half the chocolate to the butter and stir until the chocolate has melted.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar until creamy and slightly thickened.
4. Sieve the flour into the egg mixture and then and add the chocolate mixture. Fold in gently until smooth.
5. Half the remaining chocolate and add along with half of the raspberries.
6. Sprinkle remaining chocolate and fruit on top.
7. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Leave to cool before cutting into squares.
Recipe by Ava
Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 200ml Milk
- 115g Butter or Margarine at room temperature
- 300g Strong White Flour
- 250g Plain Flour
- 140g Caster Sugar
- 7g Easy Bake Yeast usually 1 sachet
- 2 Free-range Eggs beaten For the Filling
For the Filling:
- 100g Butter or Margarine at room temperature
- 100g Caster Sugar - 1-2 tbsp Ground Cinnamon
For the Icing:
- 200g Icing Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2-3 tbsp Milk Instructions
For the Dough
Instructions
1. In a small pan, warm the milk & butter/margarine until it’s lukewarm (not hot!) and the butter/margarine is melting.
2. Meanwhile, sift the flours into a large bowl.
3. Gently mix the sugar and yeast through to combine.
4. Add the milk mixture and stir in a little, before adding the eggs too.
5. Mix until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough.
6. Transfer the dough to well-floured surface, and using well-floured hands, knead the dough for around 10 minutes.
7. Place the dough into an oiled bowl (to prevent it from sticking) and cover with an oiled piece of cling film, or a damp tea towel.
8. Leave to rise in a draught-free location for 1-2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
9. Once your dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and using a rolling pin, roll it into a rectangle around 45cm x 30cm in size. It’s important to make sure your dough is of even thickness all over to ensure you have nice, neat buns.
For the Filling
1. Lightly grease a large baking/roasting tin (I use a 35cm x 24cm one) and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix the butter/margarine, sugar and cinnamon together.
3. Spread the mixture evenly over your rolled dough, bringing it right to the edges.
4. Roll the dough tightly & evenly, from the long side to long side, to create a 45cm sausage.
5. Cut the sausage into 12 individual rolls - I tend to cut in half, quarters and then thirds to make sure I get even rolls.
6. Arrange the rolls in your pre-prepared tray with plenty space between each roll & the edges (they need space to grow!).
7. Cover loosely with lightly greased cling film or a damp tea towel.
8. Leave to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours until they look light and puffy.
9. After your buns have gone through their second rise, remove the cling film and place the tray in a pre-heated oven at 180°c (160°c for fan assisted ovens or Gas Mark 4) and bake for around 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
For the Icing
1. Mix together the icing sugar, vanilla extract and milk to create the icing. You can add more or less milk depending on your preference for how thick an icing you would like.
2. Spread/pour evenly across the buns shortly after the come out the oven.
3. Leave your cinnamon buns to cool a little until they are just warm and enjoy
Recipe by Jess
Mango and Coconut Cake
Ingredients
- 425g Tin of mango (drained)
- 244g Butter
- 275g Golden Caster Sugar
- 5 Eggs
- 244g Self-raising flour
- 61g Desiccated coconut + extra from sprinkling
- 170g coconut flavoured Greek yogurt
Instructions
1. Place the tinned mango slices on paper towel and pat dry. Then cut them into bite size pieces.
2. Beat butter and sugar together until combined
3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing to incorporate in between.
4. Fold the flour and desiccated coconut into mixture.
5. Fold the mango chunks and yogurt into mixture.
6. Pour into prepared 9x13 inch tin
7. Sprinkle extra coconut over the top of the cake evenly
8. Bake 180 (160 fan) for 40 minutes. Cool in tin for 20 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.
Apple Puffs
Ingredients Recipe by Tricia
- 2 medium-large Bramley apples (peeled, cored and roughly chopped ) - 50g golden caster sugar - ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 Gala or sweet dessert apple peeled, cored and cut into 1cm dice
- 1 tbsp butter - 320g pack puff pastry - 2 tbsp milk
For glaze: 2 tsp demerara sugar
Instructions
1. Put the Bramley apple, sugar and cinnamon in a small pan with 1 tbsp water. Cover with a lid and simmer over a low heat for 10-15 mins until the apple breaks down and turns into a compote.
2. Stir in the butter and the Gala apple and cook for a further 5 mins, uncovered, until the Gala apple is just soft but retaining its shape, and any excess water has evaporated to make a thick compote around the Gala chunks. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
3. Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Unravel the puff pastry sheet out on a work surface, and cut into 4 even rectangles.
4. Divide the apple filling to one side of each of the puff pastry rectangles, leaving a 1cm border.
5. Brush the border with milk and fold over the empty side of pastry over the filling and crimp together.
6. Brush with more milk and sprinkle over the sugar. Make a small steam hole in the middle of the turnovers.
7. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 20-25 mins until golden and puffed up. Leave to cool for 10 mins on a wire rack (the filling will be molten when it first comes out the oven) before serving warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or serve at room temperature. Keep for up to 2 days in an airtight container.
Recipe by Helen
Giant, Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 125g unsalted butter - 100g light brown sugar - 75g white granulated sugar - 1 medium Egg
- 1 tsp vanilla (optional!) - 300g plain flour
- 1 + 1/2 tsp baking powder - 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt - 300g chocolate chips (150g dark, 150g milk)
Instructions
1. Add your butter and sugars to a bowl and beat until creamy - I use my stand mixer with the beater attachment!
2. Add in your egg, and beat again. If using vanilla, add it in now!
3. Add in the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt and beat until a cookie dough is formed!
4. Add in your chocolate chips and beat till they’re distributed well!
5. Weigh your cookies out into eight cookie dough balls - they’re about 120g each!
6. Once they’re rolled into balls, put your cookie dough in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, or in the fridge for an hour or so!
7. Whilst the cookie dough is chilling, preheat your oven to 180C Fan, or 200C regular! If your oven runs hot, go for 160C-170c.
8. Take your cookies out of the freezer/fridge and put onto a lined baking tray. I put four cookies per tray!
9. Bake the cookies in the oven for 12-14 minutes. I don’t personally flatten the cookies, as they flatten enough during baking - however, if you like flat cookies, flatten them a bit before baking.
10. Once baked, leave them to cool on the tray for at least 30 minutes, as they will continue to bake whilst cooling!
Chocolate Pie
- Puff pastry or short crust pastry
- 200g of baking milk chocolate
- 200g baking dark chocolate
- 300ml double cream
- 4 pinches of ginger (variable to taste)
1. Preheat oven to 200.
Instructions Ingredients Recipe by Jack
2. Put your pastry in a circular pastry dish If using puff pastry Rest a bowl with baking paper on the bottom on top of pastry to stop the centre rising while baking the pastry.
3. Then place pastry into preheated oven for 15 to 20 mins or until golden brown.
4. Break both your chocolate bars up into chunks ready to be melted into a mixing bowl.
5. Heat the cream in a saucepan on a low to medium heat, simmer do not boil.
6. Add the 4 pinches of ginger to the cream during this time and mix in gently.
7. Add 1 a half tbsp sugar to the cream to sweeten then stir it in this is optional and depends on taste preference.
8. Pour the warm cream over the chocolate and then stir/fold the chocolate until smooth.
9. Add more ginger and sugar if needed.
10. At this point remove the bowl and baking paper so the bottom of the pastry can bake.
11. Bake until base is golden brown then take out of the oven and pour chocolate into the pie and even out and leave to cool in the fridge.
Recipe by Emma
Apricot Crumble Cake
Ingredients
- 225g unsalted butter - 200g granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature - 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 355g all-purpose flour (for the base), 65g all-purpose flour (for the crumble)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder - ¼ teaspoon salt
- 340g apricot jam
- Powdered sugar (optional - for topping)
1. Preheat oven to 180°c.
Instructions
2. Line a cake mould (or tin of choice).
3. Soften butter and combine with sugar. Beat together until light/fluffy.
4. Gradually add the eggs, whisking between.
5. Add vanilla extract.
6. Add 355g of flour, baking powder and salt.
7. Mix dough until smooth. Place 2/3 of it into the tin.
8. Spread jam on top of this layer
9. Add 65g of flour to the remaining dough. This should be slightly sticky, but more flour can be added if needed.
10. Crumble this dough over the jam layer. Coat hands in flour if needed.
11. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden in colour.
12. Dust with icing sugar (optional) and enjoy.
Recipe by Jess
MMM Mug Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp Self-raising Flour - 4 Tbsp Caster Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder - 2 Tbsp Oil (Veg or sunflower)
- 2 Tbsp Water - 1 Egg
- Handful of chocolate chips
Instructions
1. Add dry ingredients to the mug and give them a stir.
2. Add oil and water to the mug and mix to incorporate.
3. Add egg and mix vigorously until fully combined and there are no flour clumps left.
4. Stir through half the chocolate chips then top with the rest
5. Microwave for 1:30-1:45 minutes. Keep a close eye on this as it will rise and spill over if not careful, stop the microwave and wait for it to sink back down if it gets close to the top.
6. To check the cake is done, insert spoon, it should come out without wet chocolate cake.
Dark Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies
Ingredients Recipe by Tricia
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (265g) all-purpose flour (spooned and levelled) - 1 teaspoon baking soda - 1 teaspoon cornstarch - 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon salt - 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature - 3/4 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar - 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar - 1 large egg, at room temperature - 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract - 6 ounces (170g) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped* - 3/4 cup (105g) dried cranberries
Instructions
1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, beat in the chocolate and dried cranberries until combined. Cover and chill the dough for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator (and up to 4 days). If chilling for longer than a few hours, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
5. Scoop or roll cookie dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie, and place 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.
6. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cookies are still warm, I like to press a few more chocolate chunks/dried cranberries into the tops—this is only for looks!
Lithuanian Sausage in a Bun
Ingredients Recipe by Vytautas
- 200ml warm milk - 1 spoon sugar
- 7g instant yeast - 500g flour
- ½ teaspoon salt - 200g soft butter
- 12-16 hot dogs - 1 Egg - Sesame seeds (optional)
Instructions
1. In a small bowl mix warm (not hot) milk, sugar, and instant yeast. Cover it with a hand towel and leave in a warm place for 10 minutes. During this time, the yeast should become active and form a foamy layer at the top.
2. In a big bowl mix the flour and salt.
3. Add butter that has been pre-cut into smaller cubes. Rub the butter into the mixture until there is no more dry flour.
4. Pour the active yeast mixture, mix, and knead the dough. You can knead the dough using hands or electrical dough mixer. Knead the dough until smooth.
5. Put the knead dough into a bowl covered in oil. Flip the dough so it’s covered in oil. Cover the bowl and put into the fridge for 30-60 minutes, until the dough size doubles.
6. Knead the risen dough a few times, transfer it to a clean, floured surface, and roll it out into a sheet about 2-3 mm thick.
7. Cut the dough sheet into strips approximately 2 cm wide.
8. Take one sausage at a time and wrap it with a strip of dough. Form all the buns this way. Arrange them on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
9. Brush the surface of the buns with a lightly beaten egg and sprinkle with a little sesame seed.
10. Preheat the oven to 200°C (top and bottom heat). Bake the buns in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until they turn a beautiful golden colour.
Recipe by Jess
Brown Butter Marshmallow Krispy Treats
Ingredients
- 170g butter
- 600g of marshmallows
- Vanilla (paste or essence)
- Salt
- 450g rice Krispies
Instructions
1. Melt butter over medium heat until a golden brown.
2. Separate a cup of marshmallows. Mix all the remaining marshmallows in with the butter over a low heat.
3. Add the salt and vanilla.
4. Mix until smooth. Then take off the heat.
5. Add the cereal and fold gentles
6. Add the reserved marshmallows and fold.
7. Press into a prepared 9x13 inch tin, press down gently.
8. Let cool then cut. These will keep on the kitchen side for 5 days.
9. Additionally, you can add a chocolate drizzle to the top.
Challenges
Academic year 2024/25 challenge list:
Challenge #1 - Bakers choice
Challenge #2 - Chocolate
Challenge #3 - Yeast
Challenge #4 - Fresh Fruit
Challenge #5 - Spices
Challenge #6 - Jam
Challenge #7- Cereal (Oats)
Challenge #8 - Fried Fruit
Challenge #9 - Tinned Fruit
Challenge #10 - Easter
Challenge #11 - Hot Drinks
Challenge #12 - Sticky
Challenge #13 - Citrus
Challenge #14- Biscuit