Maple bacon lardy cake
DJ BBQ: When Baker Dave cooked this recipe for the book shoot, a rainbow presented itself. Flowing straight into the Gozney Dome. I gotta say, this was my favourite thing to eat of all the delicious bakes in this book. This is not something you should have every day, not even every week for that matter. Perhaps yearly? That said, despite its less-than-healthy attributes, it deserves a cameo in your life.
MAKES 1 LOAF
For the dough
10g dried yeast (20g fresh yeast)
A
drizzle
of
honey
425g
strong
white
bread
flour
10g caster sugar
10g salt
3 free-range eggs
75ml milk
100g bacon fat or softened butter
For the icing mix
100g icing sugar
50g maple syrup
80g butter, softened
5 bacon rashers, cooked until crispy, finely chopped
To finish
Streaky bacon, cooked until crispy, then glazed with maple syrup
1 If using dried yeast, mix with 2tbsp warm water and a drizzle of honey, then let it sit for 20 minutes.
2 Weigh the dry dough ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. You can also do this process by hand.
3 Whisk together the eggs, water, milk and yeast, pour over the dry ingredients, the ix on a slow until the dough comes together. Rest for 10 minutes (covered).
4 Mix the dough for 10-15 minutes on a slow-medium speed, adding in half the bacon fat after five minutes and the other half after 10 minutes. If kneading by hand, add the bacon fat bit by bit as you knead. You should end up with a smooth, silky dough. If it’s still a bit rough around the edges, mix for another five minutes, but don’t stress if it isn’t perfect. Leave to rest for one hour, covered, in a warm place, until doubled in size.
5 When the dough has doubled in size, tip it out onto a floured surface and roll it into a circle about 1cm (½in) thick.
6 For the icing, beat the icing sugar, maple syrup and butter together until smooth, then beat in the crispy bacon.
7 Spread half the icing mix over the middle of the dough, leaving a 2cm (¾in) border (like a pizza). Bring up the edges of the dough to meet in the middle, then pinch the dough together in the centre to seal. It will resemble a money bag.
8 Spread the remaining icing in the bottom of a large cast iron skillet or a deep 30cm (12in) cake or tart tin, then place the dough seam-side down in the pan. Gently press and push so the dough fills the pan. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to prove somewhere warm until the dough has doubled in size and fills the pan. This could take anywhere from 20 minutes to one hour.
9 Preheat a wood-fired oven to 180-200°C/350-400°F. If using a conventional oven, preheat to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Remove all the coals from your cooker before baking.
10 Spritz the dough with water just before baking, then bake for 20-30 minutes. If the top gets dark too quickly, cover with foil – you need to allow the base to caramelise properly. Keep an eye on it as it bakes; the sugary nature of the beast means it can go from golden caramel to disaster in just a few minutes.
11 Once baked, very carefully invert it out of the pan onto a plate or board. Scatter with crispy maple-glazed bacon, slice and enjoy with some clotted cream or charcoal-infused custard (you might as well...).
S’mores brownies
Baker Dave: There are many brownie recipes out there, but giddy-goodness this is a rip-snorting, toot-hooting son of a gun. Currently out on bail after being embroiled in a scandal at Camp Bestival involving DJ BBQ and his son Noah, this recipe has never been shared before, despite winning multiple accolades and awards. The greatest prize of all, however, awaits you once you complete these steps to heaven. Let’s go!
MAKES 12-15
SETUP
• Awood-fired oven with the coals removed sitting at about 180˚C/350˚F is best for this.
• You’ll need a roughly 25cm (10in) square cake tin.
1 packet of digestive biscuits (Graham crackers), broken into chunks
60g self-raising flour
60g plain flour
80g unsweetened cocoa powder
200g butter, plus a knob
100g dark chocolate (about 70%), chopped
4 free-range eggs
450g caster sugar
150g marshmallows
1 Get the wood oven up to temperature, then remove all the coals. If using a conventional oven, preheat to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 25cm (10in) square cake tin with greaseproof paper, making sure it’s neat and carefully tucked in at the edges.
2 Cover the bottom of the tin with a layer of digestive biscuits, reserving some for later.
3 Sift both the flours and the cocoa powder together into a large bowl. Set aside.
4 Melt the butter in a medium saucepan (or in the microwave), then add the chopped chocolate and stir until melted and combined.
5 In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the eggs and sugar until inflated, light and smooth, eight-10 minutes in a stand mixer on a high speed (or with an electric whisk) and considerably longer with a human arm and a balloon whisk. This is an important step as, if you do not get enough air into the mixture at this stage, you’ll miss out on the brownie crust (and you do NOT want to miss out on the brownie crust).
6 Add the butter and dark chocolate mixture to the egg mix and fold with a spatula until marbled but not totally mixed. Add the sifted flours and cocoa powder and fold again until just mixed. Only just. Then, quick as a flash, spoon the mixture into the cake tin on top of the biscuit chunks, smooth it off and scatter over the reserved digestive biscuits pieces.
7 Slide it into the wood oven (or indoor oven) and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, check your wobble. You want the brownie to have the consistency of a firm jelly, not a cake. The self-raising flour inflates the mix like a soufflé and you must take it out early so it can collapse into a dense, fudgy brownie. When this stage is reached (you may need more time depending on the temperature of your cooker), take it out and allow to cool.
8 When completely cool, place the brownie (still in the tin) in the refrigerator overnight. This is the fudging stage and will increase the fudginess of your fudging brownie, so don’t fudging forget to do it.
9 The next morning, your brownie will be very solid. Remove it from the tin and place on a large board.
10 Melt the marshmallows in a saucepan with a knob of butter. When it’s all melted together, spread it over the top of the brownie. Try to do it neatly and evenly, but also be true to yourself – if you’re a budding Jackson Pollock then go hell-for-leather.
11 As a final flourish, you can toast the top of the marshmallow using a blowtorch. Alternatively, transfer the brownie to a baking sheet and place under the grill until toasted – watch it like a hawk to ensure it doesn’t burn! If you want to be a live fire legend, try toasting your marshmallow using a glowing hot piece of charcoal – carefully hold it with tongs just above the surface of the marshmallow.
12. Let it cool (if you can wait!), slice and enjoy.
Rosemary smoked pit pavlova with coal clotted cream
DJ BBQ: This is one of Choppy’s go-to puddings. He started making meringues in a wood-fired oven and hasn’t looked back since. This pavlova is flavoured with rosemary as it works so well with the subtle smokiness. It’s an underused hard herb that’s perfectly paired with the sweet meringue – like warm bread and butter, each element elevates the other to new heights. We imbibe the whipped cream with the essence of hot coals to double down on the firekissed flavours. This is the ultimate spectacular finish to any big family cook out. Be warned, this recipe will require a lot of attention because of the tricky relationship between the dynamic heat of a wood-fired oven and the temperamental nature of sugar. That said, the riches you will discover are worth the time and effort. Sweet sweet pleasure treasure.
SERVES 8-10
SETUP
• You’ll need a wood-fired oven with a door. Start off with a large fire to give you a strong foundation and let it burn down to coals, so the oven has a strong capacity for heat and won’t cool down too quickly. You can even do this after making pizzas or baking bread in the oven. You’re aiming for a temperature of roughly 120˚C/250˚F. Once the wood burns down to coals, you can limit the airflow with the door and add a little charcoal to maintain the heat.
• Use dry wood logs and sustainable charcoal.
For the meringue
1tbsp rosemary leaves
3
50-400g caster sugar
200g (7oz) free-range egg whites (separate the eggs the day before you bake, if possible)
1tsp cornflour
Sea salt
For the whipped cream
100ml clotted cream
400ml double cream
50g icing sugar
1 vanilla pod, scraped out
For the crystallized rosemary
250ml water
250g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
A small rosemary sprig
To serve
Enough fresh berries to sink a small boat, or a tiny pirate ship
Passion fruit flesh and seeds
Fresh mints leaves
Pomegranate seeds
1 First, make the meringue. Finely chop the rosemary and mix it into the sugar. Spread it out on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and place in the wood oven for about five-eight minutes until the sugar starts to colour. Keep an eye on this, as you don’t want to burn the sugar at this stage or allow it to melt. Allow the sugar to cool slightly before making the meringue.
2 Ensure the wood oven is rocking at 120˚C/250˚F. Line a large perforated pizza sheet or baking sheet with baking parchment, ensuring whatever you use fits in the oven!
3 Put your egg whites in the (very clean and dry) bowl of a standmixer (or use a hand held electric whisk) and whisk until you have stiff peaks. The best test is to hold the bowl over the head of a loved one – if they aren’t covered in egg whites, then you’ve achieved the stiff peak stage, congratulations! (If you are now trying to get the aerated egg out of their hair, then tell them it’s a great hair conditioner.)
4 Once you have stiff peaks, spoonful by spoonful add the rosemary speckled sugar, while whisking on a slow speed, until it’s all combined and you have a thick, shiny mass of mallowy foam.
5 Add the cornflour and salt and whisk for 30 seconds longer.
6 Dot four small blobs of meringue on the corners of the baking parchment and flip over to stick it down on the tray. Now arrange the meringue on the paper. You may wish to pipe it neatly or smash it onto the tray with your bare hands. We like to use a spatula to get a rustic look. The shape you want is an even spread, banked up slightly at the edges to hold in all the cream and fruit when assembling.
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7 Put it into the oven. Pay attention at the beginning as you will probably need to turn the pavlova round every five minutes or so to avoid scorching (charring will taint the final dessert). Cooking time will fluctuate depending on your oven and fire management, but you should expect it to take between four-six hours. You are looking for a cappuccino-coloured cracked crust – don’t worry if there are some speckles of singe as the cream will balance them out, but if it’s too dark it will taste bitter. (If it’s gone too far, break off the burnt bits and make an Eton mess!) There are many degrees of doneness from a soft chewy meringue to a crisp cracker-like one. It’s your call.
8 Meanwhile, make the whipped cream. Whisk together the clotted cream with a third of the double cream until fully combined, then add the rest of the cream, sugar and vanilla and whisk until soft peaks.
9 For the crystallized rosemary, place the water, sugar and rosemary in a pan and heat until you have a thick syrup. Strain the syrup into a bowl and reserve the leaves. Once the leaves are dry, toss them in a bowl of caster sugar.
10 Finally, take a quarter of the berries and blend with the leftover rosemary sugar syrup, then pass through a sieve for a smooth, glossy coulis.
11 Once the meringue has cooled, place it on a plate or tray. Pile on the whipped cream andarrangethefreshberriesinanabundant mountain. Drizzle with the berry coulis and passion fruit flesh and seeds.
12 Finish by scattering with the frostylooking rosemary leaves, fresh mint leaves and pomegranate seeds. .
All recipes taken from DJBBQ's Backyard Baking: 50 Awesome Recipes for Baking Over Live Fire, by Christian Stevenson, Chris Taylor and David Wright, published by Quadrille, £20.