Jam Doughnuts

It's the holiday season, so I decided to add a suitable recipe. Contrary to popular belief, these can be made without a deep fat fryer, all you need is a deep pan, a candy thermometer, and 2 bottles of vegetable oil, and hey presto you have a deep fryer. These taste incredible, though make 20, so feel free to halve the quantities. 

 

 Ingredients

500g Strong White Bread Flour

50g Caster Sugar

40g Unsalted Butter, Very Soft

14g Dry Instant Yeast

10g Salt

2 Large Eggs, at Room Temperature, Beaten

150ml Lukewarm Milk

130ml Lukewarm Water

1 Jar Strawberry Jam

Caster Sugar, For Rolling

2 Large Bottles Vegetable Oil, For Frying

Essential Equipment

Slotted Spoon

Fillable Squeezy Bottle or Piping Bag

If you don't have a deep fat fryer:

Deep Saucepan

Sugar Thermometer/Probe

Method

1. Put the flour, sugar, butter, yeast, salt, eggs, milk, and 100ml of the water into a large mixing bowl, and with your hands, combine to form a firm but not hard or dry dough. 

2.Slowly add the rest of the water, working it into the dough, then gently work the dough for 4 minutes in the bowl - or use the dough hook on a free-standing mixer at a low speed. The dough should be soft and start to get a bit stretchy but not sticky.

3. If using an electric mixer with a dough hook, put it on a medium low speed for 10 minutes, otherwise turn the dough on lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes to make a very smooth and quite elastic dough. Clean and lightly oil the mixing bowl and place the dough into it, and cover with a damp tea towel. Leave to rise at room temperature for an hour.

4. Once risen, whilst the dough is still in the bowl, give it a light punch, or 'knock back', turn onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 20 equal balls. Place them onto lightly floured trays, slightly spaced out, and leave to rise for another hour.

5. Toward the end of the rising time, heat the oil in a deep fryer or deep saucepan to 180C. Once risen, if the doughnuts have slightly flattened, roll them into balls before carefully dropping a few at a time into the oil. Leave to go golden brown on one side before turning. It will only take around 3-5 to brown, so pay attention to them.

6. As soon as one is done, take it out with a slotted spoon to remove excess oil, and immediately roll in caster sugar. Leave to cool completely.

7. Whilst waiting for them to cool, sieve the jam to remove seeds and lumps, and place into a squeezy bottle or piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Once cooled, make a deep cut using a small knife in each of the doughnuts and fill with jam.

Enjoy :)

Jammie Dodgers: My Take

'If it 'aint broke, don't fix it' - Bert Lance. I decided to take on the challenge of making a variation to jammie dodgers, and it actually worked quite well. Essentially I have made a brown sugar shortbread biscuit with reduced strawberry jam in the middle and a lemon icing on top. This recipe made about 32 biscuit sandwiches for me as I experimented with quantities of ingredients, so get ready for multiple trips to the oven!




 

 Ingredients

For the Biscuits:

225g Unsalted Butter, Softened

100g Brown Sugar

100g Caster Sugar

412g Plain Flour

1 Egg, Beaten

2tsp Baking Powder

2tbsp Milk

1/2tsp Vanilla Extract

Pinch of Salt

For the Jam Filling:

340g Strawberry/Raspberry Jam

Few Drops of Lemon Juice

For the Lemon Icing:

150g Icing Sugar, sieved

1tsp Lemon Juice

Method

1. Beat the butter until creamy and fluffy, then add both of the sugars gradually. Mix until very light in colour and texture. Gradually add the egg, beating well after each addition.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, and add to the butter mix gradually, alternating with the milk, mixing at a low speed between each addition. Add vanilla extract. 

3. Divide dough into to two portions, wrap in cling film and chill for 20 mins. 

4. Preheat oven to 180C/fan 160C and line a few baking trays with greaseproof paper. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8 of an inch thickness. Using a 2 inch cookie cutter, cut out as many rounds as possible, and reroll and cut the remaining pastry until as much as possible is used up. In half of your biscuits, either using an apple corer, or a smaller cutter, cut out a hole in the middle.

5. Place biscuits onto baking trays and bake for about 10 mins or until slightly browned. When they come out the oven they will be soft, but they will harden. Cool on a wire rack.

6. To prepare the jam: pass all of the jam through a sieve to remove lumps and seeds. Then place into a saucepan with a few drops of lemon juice, and heat on a medium-low heat until steaming, then let it simmer on a lower heat for 2 mins. Chill in the fridge while preparing the icing.

7. To prepare the icing: Mix the icing sugar and lemon juice to form a loose paste - add more icing sugar/lemon juice if necessary. Put the icing into a piping bag with a small plain nozzle. Place all of the cooled biscuits with the hole in the middle on a sheet of greaseproof paper bunched together, and pipe long lines across all of them. Leave to set.

8. Take the jam out of the fridge and lightly spread the biscuits without the hole with a palette knife. Once the icing has set on the tops, place them on top, giving it a light push, so some of the jam will move to the hole in the middle. Add a drop of jam into the hole of each biscuit. 

9. Leave the biscuits in the fridge for the jam to firm up, and they will be ready. Enjoy :)

Banana and Pecan Muffins

A change from the normal incredibly unhealthy recipes I put on this blog, these fibre-full treats taste good, and serve as a fantastic snack. I make them mini-muffin size, and I recommend to as well, as with most bakes, I find the standard muffin size too large. This recipe makes around 8 or 9 normal sized muffins.

Ingredients

250g Plain Flour

25g Natural Wheatgerm

1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1tsp Baking Powder

1/2tsp Ground Cinnamon

100g Pecans, Roughly Chopped

3 Small Bananas (350g total weight including skins)

1 Egg, Beaten

85g Butter, Melted

100g Light Muscovado Sugar

175ml Buttermilk 

Icing Sugar for dusting (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6/fan 180C. Grease or line your muffin tin. In a large bowl combine the flour, wheatgerm, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and 85g of the pecans. Peel and mash the bananas.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the egg, butter and sugar, then stir in the mashed banana and buttermilk. Add the egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture, stirring until just combined, but don't overmix it or the cake will turn out heavy.

3. Spoon the mixture into the tin, about 3/4 the way up. Sprinkle with the remaining pecans, and bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack.

4. Once cooled, dust with icing sugar, or cut a design out of a circle of greaseproof paper to make a template, and dust over that.

Gingerbread Latte

The days are getting shorter and colder, and at this time of the year people need a pic-me-up. Overpriced coffee shops love to bring out winter ranges, and this is a staple whom's taste is incomparable, and can easily and cheaply be made at home, as it really is just coffee and the special gingerbread syrup. This recipe will make a small jug of syrup, of which not much is needed for each cup, so will probably last long enough for even the most keen coffee-holic.

Ingredients

For the Gingerbread Syrup

2 Cups Water

1 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar

2 1/2tsp Ground Ginger

1/2tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/2tsp Vanilla Extract

A Pinch Ground Nutmeg

Strong Coffee

Milk

To Finish (optional)

Whipped Cream

Cocoa Powder

Ground Cinnamon

Ground Nutmeg

Mini Marshmallows

Method

1. Place all of the gingerbread syrup ingredients into a medium saucepan, and bring to the boil, mixing every so often

2. Reduce heat to a medium and simmer for 20 minutes uncovered. This is to boil of some of the water, and reduce the syrup, making it thick and with a more concentrated flavour. Once done, it should be thicker than before, yet not as thick as something like golden syrup.

3. Remove from heat and pour into a jug or a resealable container. Make your coffee, and then add around 1/4 cup of syrup (less or more if desired) and add milk (frothed milk is nice with this recipe).

4. To finish, add whipped cream, and then possibly cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, or whatever you want and enjoy :)

To store, seal the container, or cover the jug with cling film in a cool, dry place.

Marbled Cake Pops

A recipe I am planning to make in school and wanted to try out at home, these cake pops are so good, but you do need the cake pop tin. The actual cake is very simple, and this is really not too hard to make - you just need time.

Ingredients

The Cake
125g Self-Raising Flour
125g Soft Unsalted Butter
125g Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2tsp Cocoa Powder

The Finish
200g Dark/Milk COOKING chocolate
100g White Chocolate
Ground Almonds or Dessicated Coconut

Wooden Skewers/Cake Pop Sticks

Method
1. Grease the mould and preheat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5.

2. Cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, then beat the eggs together in a jug, and gradually pour them in, beating well after each addition.

3. Fold in the flour, and then put half the mix in a separate bowl, and add the cocoa powder to one of them.

4. Place a bit of both of the mixes in each pod, and then marble with a toothpick. Make sure it only reaches a small dome above the lip of each pod. Place in the oven for about 15, but place a cake tester in the hole before taking them out.

5. While the cakes are cooling, melt the dark/milk chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, and pour into a ramekin.

6. Once the cakes have cooled, pop them out. Dip one end of the skewer about 1cm into the chocolate, and then push into one side of the cake about 3/4 of the way, and place on a sheet of greaseproof paper, stick up.

7. To stop the chocolate in the ramekin from hardening, place the ramekin into a larger bowl with hot water. Once the chocolate around the sticks have hardened and the sticks are held in place, dip each pop into the chocolate in the ramekin until its completely enrobed in chocolate, letting excess drip back into the ramekin. Place one end of the skewer into a colander, as in the picture to let the chocolate harden.

8. Once all the dark/milk chocolate has hardened, melt the white chocolate like the dark/milk and while turning the skewer of a cake pop, pick up a small amount of white chocolate on a teaspoon, and let it drip onto the cake pop, creating swirls.

9. Before you return the pops to the colander, sprinkle with a some ground almonds or dessicated coconut so it sticks to the white chocolate, and shake off the excess. Return to the colander and leave to set. 

Vanilla and Double Chocolate Chess Cake

Originally from 'The Great British Bake Off: How to turn everyday bakes into showstoppers' by Linda Collister, this cake is a great twist to the marble cake. Originally three layers, I compressed it down to two, and it was still quite tall. It is essential though, that you have two relatively large piping bags with 1.5cm tubes, otherwise you will not get the chessboard effect.

Ingredients

The Sponge

233g Butter,Softened

233g Caster Sugar

233g Self-Raising Flour

40ml Milk

                             33g Cocoa Powder

4 Large Eggs, Beaten

2/3 tsp Vanilla Extract

Pinch of Salt

White Chocolate Ganache

87g White Chocolate, finely chopped

63ml Whipping Cream

25g Unsalted Butter

Dark Chocolate Ganache

150g Dark Chocolate (70% Cocoa Solids), finely chopped

150ml Whipping Cream

To Finish

A slab of white chocolate (not much will be used)

8 Boozy Chocolate Truffles (click link for recipe)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4. Grease 2 x 20.5 sandwich tins, and line the bases with baking paper. Put the butter into a large mixing bowl, and beat with a free standing mixer until very creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar, then the vanilla. Keep beating (scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time) until the mixture is very pale and fluffy in texture.

2. Gradually add the eggs, a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 1 tablespoon of the flour with each of the last 2 portions of egg to prevent curdling.

3. Sift the remaining flour and the salt into the bowl, and gently fold in using a large metal spoon until thoroughly combined. Transfer half of the mixture into another large bowl.

4. Sift the cocoa into one bowl, and add half of the milk; fold in until completely blended. Fold the rest of the milk into the second bowl of mix. Fit two piping bags with 1.5cm plain tubes, and place each in two large glasses, folding the top of the piping bags over the rim of the glasses.

5. Fill the piping bags 2/3 of the way up, one with the vanilla mix, and one with the chocolate mix. Take one sandwich tin, and pipe a chocolate ring around the inside edge. Then pipe a vanilla ring inside the chocolate ring. Repeat with alternate piping bags until the tin is filled. In the next tin, start with the vanilla mix on the inside edge, and again, alternate piping bags until the tin is full. Make sure all of the rings are even the whole way round before baking.

6. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until browned/ a skewer will come out clean. Run a knife around the inside of each tin, and turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely before icing.

7. For either/both ganaches, put the chocolate (and butter for the white chocolate ganache)into a heatproof bowl. Heat up the corresponding quantity of cream until right before it starts boiling, and pour over the chocolate. Slowly stir with a spoon until all the chocolate has melted, and leave in the fridge to set.

8. Once the ganaches have become much thicker, but still spreadable and glossy, take them out of the fridge and evenly spread one cake, browned side uppermost, with the white chocolate ganache, and place the other cake on top. Wipe away any trickling ganache. Next, cover the top and sides of the cake with the dark chocolate ganache, scooping away any excess. If the ganache has set too much that you cant spread it properly, hold a palette knife under hot water, dry, and then use to spread the ganache. Leave to set.

9. Take the block of white chocolate, and scrape a large knife across it, to create a bunch curls or shavings. Then take a small round cookie cutter and place in the middle of your cake. Place the chocolate curls in the ring, and lift the ring away, letting the curls cascade down. Place the truffles around the edges, and you are finished! Consume within 4 days.

                       

Simple Boozy Chocolate Truffles

Perfect as decorations for cakes, gifts, or an indulgent dessert, these are great! For a non-adult version, remove the Cognac (they still taste as good). Can be quite tricky to get the ganache right, but the rest is simple. Makes approx. 18 (depends on how big you want them)

Ingredients

100g Dark Chocolate (70% Cocoa Solids Minimum)

100ml Whipping Cream

2tbsp Cognac

Cocoa Powder

Method

1. Make sure the chocolate is at room temperature, then chop the chocolate into very small pieces, and place into a heatproof bowl.

2. Heat up the cream in a saucepan right its about to boil, and pour over the chocolate. Stir a little (but not too much, or it will separate) until the chocolate is completely melted. Be patient with this, as it might take a while (if the mix goes cold and the chocolate still hasn't melted, pour a few centimeters of very hot water into a larger heatproof bowl, and place the smaller one inside for a bit).

3. Stir in the cognac, and place the bowl in the fridge. Leave to set until the consistency resembles a thick chocolate mousse.

4. Cover a large chopping board with a thin layer of cocoa powder, and take a small scoop of the chocolate mix, and roll into a ball in your hands. Next, roll it in the cocoa powder until completely covered, then place on a dish

5. Repeat until all the mix is used up. Store in the fridge and enjoy :)

Cookies 'n' Cream Muffins with Homemade Marshmallow Fluff Icing

I don't think I have met one person who doesn't like oreos; so this recipe will suit everyone! Minus my tweaks, the original recipe was from the 'Primrose Bakery', and is the best cookies n cream cupcake/muffin recipe I have found yet, and it works great with the marshmallow fluff icing! It makes around 18 muffins(use a muffin tin, not a cupcake tin). The Marshmallow Fluff recipe makes a lot, so once you've finished icing, store the remaining fluff in the fridge to eat with toast, or use in cakes, drinks etc.                                                             

Ingredients

Cupcake Mix (the 'Cookie')

115g Dark Chocolate

85g Butter

175g Light Muscavado Sugar

2 Eggs (separated)

185g Plain Flour

3/4tsp Baking Powder

3/4tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Pinch of Salt

250ml Semi-Skimmed Milk

1tsp Vanilla Extract

Marshmallow Fluff Icing(the 'Cream')

120g Granulated Sugar

80g Golden Syrup

1.5tbsp Water

2 Egg Whites

1/2tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Pack of Oreos 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas mark 5. Line a 2 12 hole muffin tins with about 18 muffin cases (if you only have one tin, you can bake them in batches).

2. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave. Leave to cool for about 2 minutes.

3. Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer until pale and smooth, then slowly add the egg yolks bit by bit and beat well. Once combined, add the melted chocolate and beat well again.

4. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a medium mixing bowl and mix together until combined. Measure the milk into a jug and stir in the vanilla extract.

5. Gradually add alternate amounts of the dry floury mix and the milk mix into the creamed butter/sugar/chocolate mix, beating well between each addition.

6. In a clean bowl, using a handheld electric whisk, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks have formed. Then, using a spatula or a metal spoon, fold in the egg whites into the batter until thoroughly combined.

7. Using two spoons, spoon the batter into the cases, filling them about 2/3 of the way up, and bake for around 20 minutes (you'll know if you put the right amount of mix in if it's ready in exactly 20 minutes), or until when you stick a skewer in one, it comes out clean. If you don't have two muffin tins like me, cooking in batches might take a while, so start on the icing once the first batch is done.

8. For the marshmallow fluff icing, put the sugar, golden syrup and water into a pan, and cook on a high heat for about two minutes until the mixture thickens and turns golden (it will resemble caramel).

9. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then keep beating while slowly adding the hot sugar mixture. Don't worry if your whites lose their stiffness.

10. Continue beating at a higher speed until the mixture becomes thick, glossy and cool. Towards the end, add the vanilla extract. 

11. Wait about 10 minutes for the muffins to cool a bit before adding the icing, then spoon on a small dollop onto each muffin, and smoothen out with a small palette knife, or a round-ended knife.

12. Chop your oreos into quarters, and save the crumbs. Place two quarters on each cake, and sprinkle the remaining crumbs around them. 

And as always, enjoy! :)

Double Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Summer has finally come to England, and there's no better way to celebrate it than strawberries. This delicious and indulgent dessert looks as good as it tastes, and is much easier than you may think. For the adults out there, add some liqueur to the melted dark chocolate for an extra boozy kick. Also, i recommend cutting the stalks off, and chilling the strawberries before starting. I've written approx. for the chocolate, as it depends how much you use per strawberry. If you don't want to have the dark chocolate, skip to halfway step 3.

 Ingredients

1 punnet strawberries

Approx. 50g Dark/Plain Chocolate
Approx. 25g White Chocolate

Method

1. Wash and dry the strawberries, and melt the dark chocolate. Once melted, pour into a ramekin.

2. Dip each strawberry into the chocolate about 1/2-3/4 of the way, and let all the excess chocolate drip off into the ramekin. Place with the chocolate facing up onto a sheet of greaseproof paper.

3. Let the chocolate set completely (if in a rush, put them in the fridge to set), and melt the white chocolate.

4. Hold a strawberry from the bottom over the pan/bowl of white chocolate. Take a small spoon of white chocolate, and let some drip off until the stream is thin. 

5. While moving the spoon around the strawberry, let the chocolate drip onto it, and enrobe the strawberry. WARNING: do not try to scrape off failed attempts of white chocolate from the dark base layer; the liquid white chocolate will melt some of the chocolate below, and you'll end up with a smudged mess.

5. Again, let the chocolate set, and let them come to room temp. before serving.

Halloumi Pasta

One of my absolute favorite recipes, originally found on the bbc food website, and originally created by Tony Tobin, and changed a bit by me. Every time I say I am making it, my sister goes crazy! It's a fantastic dish, though I would say to leave some time for chopping up and preparing the ingredients. Serves 4.

      Ingredients

4 tbsp olive oil

1 and ½ red onions, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

A pinch of dried chilli flakes

250g halloumi, cut into cubes (make them not too small - they'll melt)

4 tomatoes, seeds removed and finely chopped

425g penne pasta 

4 tbsp chopped fresh basil

A squeeze of tomato puree

Method
1. Boil some water in a big pan and add the pasta, cooking it for as long as the packet says

2. While this is happening, heat the olive oil in a frying pan until you can feel the heat when placing your fingers near. Add the onion, garlic and chilli flakes and fry until the onions have softened.

3. Add the halloumi and fry until golden (don't worry if it melts, just chop it up and separate it with a wooden spoon in the pan). Add the tomato puree.

4. Add the finely chopped tomato and basil, and mix on a low heat for a few minutes.

5.Add the sauce-thing to the pasta, season and serve.

The Ultimate Bakewell Tart

One of my favorite recipes, devoured within a week in my house, the 'Ultimate' Bakewell Tart. Pinched from 'The Best of British Cookbook' with a few of my tweaks, this summer recipe is incredible. A Bakewell Tart is basically sweet shortcrust pastry, jam, and then an almond sponge. In this recipe things like lemon icing and a mixture of jams are added.

Ingredients

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

175g Plain Flour

A Pinch of Salt

2tbsp Caster Sugar

115g Butter, Chilled and Diced

1 Egg Yolk, mixed with

2tbsp ice-cold Water

4tbsp Raspberry or Strawberry Jam (or a mix of both)

Almond Sponge

65g Softened Butter

65g Caster Sugar

1 Egg, At Room Temp

35g Self-Raising Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

55g Ground Almonds (if you don't have, just put 50g blanched almonds in mortar + pestle and grind, or put in a food processor)

A Few Drops of Almond Essence


Lemon Icing
50g Icing Sugar
1/2 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Cold Water


Some Blanched Almonds (to sprinkle on top)

Method

1. For the pastry, sift the flour, salt and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Add the diced butter and rub in, until the consistency is as fine as breadcrumbs.

2. Add the egg yolk bit by bit while mixing with a palette knife to form a dough. You're looking for a slightly sticky dough, maybe a bit crumbly. If it's looking too crumbly and dry, add water, and if too sticky, add flour.

3. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for 20 mins, heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Take out a 22cm flan tin.

4. While the dough is chilling, put all the ingredients for the sponge in a bowl, and mix with an electric whisk for as long as possible until thoroughly combined, and much lighter than it started. 

5. Take out the dough, and roll out on a floured surface to a circle about 28cm across (it doesn't matter if it's not perfect) and line tin with the dough. If there is any dough hanging off the edges, roll your rolling pin along the edges of the tin, taking off any excess dough. Use this excess dough to cover any gaps in the tin.

6. Prick the base with a fork, spread with jam (it may not look enough, but if you put too much, the sponge will get ruined), and evenly spread the sponge mix on top (it's not the end of the world if some jam mixes with the sponge, but try to keep that to a minimum).

7. Bake in the heated oven for 30 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean from the sponge. Leave to cool completely and take out of the tin.  


8. For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and mix in the lemon juice and water. You want the consistency of a thick paste, so add icing sugar and water when appropriate.


9. Pipe/Spread the icing on however you want! I like to do it in lines, but you could do a lattice, swirls, or just spread it on.


10. Sprinkle some blanched almonds on, and enjoy :).

Millefeuille (Layer Cake)

Sometimes I find the best recipes come from the old, traditional books. In one of my grandma's dusty, ancient book of bakes, I found a recipe for this treasure: Millefeuille (more commonly known as cream slices). You can make it out of puff pastry; I'm going to put the recipe for rough puff (a more simple and faster type) but there is still nothing wrong with just buying frozen puff pastry.

               Ingredients

For the Rough Puff:

A squeeze of lemon juice

9 oz. Plain Flour (sifted)

6 oz. Cold, Cubed Butter/Lard

Cold Water

For the Filling:

1 Medium-Sized Carton Whipping Cream/Double Cream (or just a can of whipping cream)

Sugar

1/2 Jar of Raspberry/Strawberry Jam

For the Glace Icing:

Icing Sugar

Water

Cocoa Powder (optional)

Recipe

1. Line a baking tray, and heat oven to 220C/Fan 200c/Gas 7. Mix the butter with the plain flour well, but being careful not to break the cubes of butter. Add the lemon juice while stirring, still not breaking the butter, then slowly, bit by bit add some cold water, all the time mixing, yet still not breaking up the butter, until you get a stiff dough. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour.

2. While handling the dough as little as possible, roll the dough out on a floured surface into an oblong shape three times it's width. If you see the lumps of butter really melting, or if it's sticking too much, refrigerate wrapped in cling film for half an hour. 

3. Fold the top third of the dough down, and the bottom third over it, and rotate 90 degrees. Roll out to the oblong shape again, and repeat at least 3 more times. Leave aside wrapped in grease proof paper for half an hour before the next step.

4. Roll dough out on floured surface into a rectangle about 1cm thick, 6'' across, and the length of your tray (you may have to cut your dough so it fits). Place your dough on the tray and cut into 2'' strips across, and keeping them together, and put in the oven until golden brown, and bubbles can be seen on the surface. Leave to cool.

5. If using cream from a carton, add some sugar (but not too much - taste as you are doing it) and whisk until stiff. Then, once the pastry is completely cooled half each strip. Gather the strips in groups of three, and spread two of each group with jam (only on one side). Then spoon some cream onto the two, and sandwich together with the third.

6. Once finished arranging your Millefeuille, mix some icing sugar with a few drops of cold water to form a thick paste. Spread over the tops of your Millefeuille, and if needed make more. You can also make a small batch of chocolate icing, by adding some cocoa powder, and then to make a little motif, spread it in lines over the white icing, then cut through it with a toothpick.