To celebrate the Queen’s 70-year reign, This Morning chef and professional baker Juliet Sear has whipped up a special Jubilee menu exclusively for Sunday People readers.
Juliet, who reveals how you too can create some bakes fit for royalty, has a special three-week series starting on the ITV show from tomorrow.
Here are her recipes for sausage roll, royal trifle, red, white and blue buttercream cookes and Union Jack cake to help you celebrate in mouth-watering style.
You could even stage your very own Queen's Platinum Jubilee Bake Off contest with friends, family and neighbours...
Juliet’s Jubilee Bakes, from May 16, ITV’s This Morning from 10am.
Sausage roll ( Serves 16-20)
YOU NEED:
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
100g dried white breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme
1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage
1½ tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp white pepper ½ tsp salt
700g sausage meat (veggie or regular)
1 x 500g block puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
METHOD:
1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6, 180C fan, and line a large baking sheet with non-stick baking paper.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan and gently soften the onion until translucent for about 12 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a further few minutes. Allow to cool.
3. Place the breadcrumbs, thyme, sage, tomato paste and seasoning into a large bowl.
4. Add the cooked onion and garlic, stir well to combine, then add the sausage meat to the crumb mixture. Mix well, using your hands to blend everything together.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to a 30cm x 35cm rectangle and place on to the baking tray. Cut away a length of pastry (approximately 4cm) to use for the letters. Set aside onto the floured surface while you assemble the sausage roll.
6. Place the sausage filling on to the surface next to the pastry and make a sausage shape that is the length of the longest part of the pastry, line up by eye to check, then place this on to the pastry.
7. Place the sausage mixture on one side of the pastry – along the longer side – leaving a space of about 5cm along the side. Brush egg over the strip of pastry, then fold the rest of the pastry over the filling and press gently over to seal, then seal the pastry edge by crimping and pinching small sections with your thumb and finger. If you like, you can cut the ends off with a serrated knife to neaten either side.
8. Cut out the lettering (I chose Jubilee 2022) using letter cutters. Dipping the cutters in flour and using a lolly stick to push the pastry out makes the job easier.
9. Brush the sausage roll with egg wash. Attach the letters and gently glaze over with more egg wash. If you want the letters to be even, use a piece of string as a guide lined up in a straight line across the sausage roll. Attach the letters, adjusting as necessary, then remove the string.
10. Bake for approximately 45-50 minutes until the pastry is crisp and dark golden and the filling is completely cooked through.
11. Decorate using sparklers, mini flags or whatever else you fancy!
Royal Trifle (Serves 18-22)
YOU NEED:
For the bottom layer:
1 pint strawberry jelly
150g strawberries
150g raspberries
For the second layer:
Sponge - 1½-2 Swiss rolls (depending on size)
60-100ml Dubonnet or sherry (optional)
For the third layer:
100g custard powder
1 litre whole milk
60g caster sugar
12 large strawberries cut in half
For the fourth layer:
600ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
50g icing sugar
Plus sprinkles/biscuits for decoration
For the optional Royal biscuit topper:
200g butter
200g golden caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
375 plain flour, plus extra for dusting
Edible gold spray or glitter
Milk chocolate crisp sugar shells coloured sweets or large sprinkles
Lollipop sticks
8.5cm fleur de lis template or biscuit cutter or any Royal themed shape
METHOD:
1. Bottom layer: Make up the jelly according to packet instructions and leave until cool but not set.
2. Pour into a large trifle dish and pile in the fresh fruit. Leave to set in the fridge until firm.
3. While the jelly sets, if using, make the biscuit toppers. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6/180C fan.
4. Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla together until combined but not creamed. Beat in the egg, then add in the flour and bring together until a dough is formed. Lightly knead the dough then use extra plain flour to roll out the dough to about an 8mm thickness.
5. Carefully cut around a template, or use a cutter and lift the biscuit on to a parchment lined baking tray. Hold your palm lightly on the biscuit and push in a lolly stick about ¾ of the way in, taking care not to spoil the shape. You can hold the template back over this once the stick is in and adjust with your fingertips if need be. You will need 8 or 9 biscuits for the trifle but it’s worth making a few extra in case of breakages.
6. Bake for around 15 minutes until firm and going golden. Leave to cool on the trays. Once cooled, decorate with gold shimmer dust and stick on the sweets or large sprinkles to finish using a little royal icing or icing sugar mixed with water to form a sticky paste and attach to the biscuits. Leave to dry. Set aside while you continue making the trifle.
7. Make the custard according to pack instructions. Using caster sugar will make a thick custard. Cover the surface with baking paper while it cools a little.
8. Second layer: Cut the Swiss rolls into slices and slice in half. Layer the sponge with the jam side towards the outside of the trifle dish in a neat layer. Fill in the centre of the dish too. Drizzle with alcohol if using.
9. Third layer: Place the halved strawberries cut side outwards around the sponge layer and gently spoon the thick custard into the centre, pushing towards the side of the dish to seal in the cake and hold the strawberries against the glass. Leave to cool in the fridge at this stage. Use a lightly oiled piece of clingfilm to cover the top.
10. Fourth layer: Whip the double cream, sugar and vanilla until it has turned into soft peaks, then spoon round the bowl over the set custard. Decorate as shown in the picture with sprinkles in the centre and the royal biscuit toppers, if using.
Red, white and blue buttercream cookies (Serves 50 bite size biscuits)
YOU NEED:
For the cookies:
200g salted butter, softened
200g golden caster sugar
1 medium free-range egg
375g plain flour plus extra for dusting
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
For the buttercream:
250g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
500g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract or bean paste
Food colourings in royal blue and red
METHOD:
1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5/ 170C fan.
2 Put the butter and sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the vanilla extract or paste and mix together until just combined, not creamed. Beat the egg.
3. Tip in all the flour and to mix until a smooth and pliable dough is formed. Tip out and give it a quick knead.
4. Roll the dough out on a floured surface – use plenty of flour to prevent sticking. Keep the dough even and about 6-7mm thick.
5. Cut out the rounds and place on the tray leaving a little room in between each one.
6. Bake for around 12-15 minutes until golden brown, firm and springy to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.
7. To make the buttercream, beat the butter and vanilla until creamy, then add in the icing sugar, beating well until fluffy.
8. Divide into 3 and colour one bowl blue and one bowl red.
9. To create the tri-colour effect, spoon each colour on to a piece of clingfilm and roll up to make a long pointy sausage and put them together into the large piping. Squeeze the icing on to the cookies by holding the bag in a vertical position with the nozzle touching the cookie. Move in a circular motion around each cookie, starting from the outside edge, winding inwards and building height to create a peak.
Union Jack cake
YOU NEED :
For the sponge:
600g unsalted butter, softened
600g caster sugar
12 medium free range eggs
600g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp fine sea salt
For the buttercream filling and piping:
400g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
800g icing sugar
3 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
For the filling:
300g strawberry or raspberry jam (optional)
Colouring the buttercream: You’ll need to tint some of the icing for the flag. Keep abour 350g of it white and colour 300g bright red and 100g blue. Use gel food colourings only to colour the icing. Bright colours like royal blue will work well.
To make the sponge:
1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5/170C fan.
2. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until very light, pale and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time until all incorporated.
4. Dry whisk the baking powder through the flour and fold into the wet mix in increments of 3, making sure it’s gently mixed through.
5. Divide equally between each tin and using a palette knife or similar, level the surface.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden and risen. A cake tester or skewer should come out clean from the middle of the sponge when it’s cooked. Leave to cool for 5 minutes then turn out on to a rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, make the buttercream.
7. If you’re using fresh cream instead of buttercream, it’s best to whip this up to a soft peak consistency just before topping and decorating.
TIP: If you want your sponge and frosting to look very white as opposed to cream, use white vegetable fat instead of the butter, or half and half. You may need to add a little more salt and vanilla to taste.
To make the buttercream:
8. Add 1/3 of the icing sugar and butter
to a stand mixer bowl or mix with an electric whisk or by hand. Mix together on a slow setting until all of the sugar is combined into the butter, then add the vanilla.
9. Beat on a medium speed for a minute or so until smooth, then add the remaining sugar in two parts in the same way. Beat until pale, fluffy and soft. Set aside 450g of the buttercream for the filling.
10. Place the first layer of cake on to a large rectangle board, tray or serving platter and spread over with the jam (if using) and the reserved 450g of buttercream for the filling (or top with whipped double cream, depending on preference). Spread over the entire cake, leaving a little border around the edge of the cake so the buttercream or cream does not spill out when placing the second cake on top.
11. Add the second layer of cake to sandwich the filling. It’s best to turn the sponge upside down and have the smooth side that was in the base of the tin uppermost, it will give you a neater finish.
To decorate:
12. Now is a good time to take a look at a picture of a Union Jack flag to follow the design (it helped me).
13. Spread over the remaining white buttercream (flag design quantities) thinly to cover the top of the cake. Mark halfway lengthways and horizontally to give you a central cross to base the flag piping from. Begin by piping two equal-sized blobs of red either side of the mark and continuing along to build up the lines to give you a wide red flag design across both ways.
14. Now pipe up against the edge of this red cross with the white buttercream in neat blobs to outline it all the way up and down.
15. Pipe with the red blobs from each corner to meet the centre of the cross.
16. Pipe white blobs a little smaller by using less pressure up against these 4 red lines to frame them.
17. Lastly using little blobs, fill the remaining sponge area blue to complete the design.
18. Serve and enjoy!
