The more than occasional baker

Announcing a New Baking Challenge - AlphaBakes

2012-01-26T21:37:00.000Z

Welcome to AlphaBakes, a new blogging challenge which will be hosted on alternate months by Ros from The More Than Occasional Baker (host for February) and Caroline from Caroline Makes. This will be a monthly challenge where the aim is to bake with an ingredient that starts with the random alphabet letter chosen for that month. We debated about working through the alphabet in sequence but it's much more fun having a random letter which will keep us all on our toes. We won't repeat the same letter unless we have been through all of them! By then we will hopefully have come up with some new ideas (we already have a few knocking about).

We will be using a random letter generator to ensure fairness :) http://www.randomlettergenerator.com/

For now, please do join in and indulge your creative side. Most bakers like a challenge and it would be interesting to see what everyone comes up with for the same letter. In case the idea is not clear, I'll give you some examples.....

'A' can be apples, apricots or Anzac cookies

'B' can be banana, bread or a bumblebee cake

'C' can be coconut, cheesecake or a chocolate caramel cupcake

.... the possibilities are endless!

Each challenge will start on the 1st of every month and finish by the 25th of every month. A round up will be posted on the host blog by the 1st of the next month.

Now on to the rules which you MUST comply with

1. Post your recipe on your blog and link it to The More than Occasional Baker and Caroline Makes, stating the relevant month's host. If you do not have a blog, email us a picture and a brief description of your entry which we will include in the round-up at the end of the month.

2. You can use your own recipe or someone else's recipe. The recipe can be sweet, savoury or a mixture! Anything goes as long as the random letter is predominantly featured in the recipe as one of the main ingredients or flavours or in the name of the bake itself (i .e . not as a garnish , or using 'flour' for the letter F!) You can also republish old posts/recipes but you must include the information for this challenge as stated in these rules.

3. Add the logo to your post and add 'alphabakes' as a label to your post.

4. Email your entries to alphabakes@gmail.com by midnight (GMT) 25th of each month. Please include:

Your name (that you want included in the round up or we will use the name of your blog)
Your blog post URL
Recipe title
Photo of recipe (to be included in the round up)

5. You can submit as many entries as you like.

6. You do not have to participate every month to join in.

7. You may submit your entry to other challenges as long as it complies with their rules.

9. If you use twitter, please use the tag #alphabakes and mention @bakingaddict and @Caroline_Makes. We will retweet all those that we see.

10. Have fun! :)

The AlphaBakes Challenge will start on the 1st of February. The random letter selected is 'L' which will be hosted by Ros @bakingaddict from The More Than Occasional Baker

Irresistible Peanut Butter Cookies for National Peanut Butter Day

2012-01-24T22:42:00.002Z

Do you believe that things happen for a reason? Or that there's a silver lining in every cloud? Well I do :) I was supposed to go to the gym (stop laughing!) today for a double session but I got stuck in an almighty traffic jam causing me to be very late for my gym class so I did what any sensible person would do which was to head home and cook a delicious dinner! I saw a tweet from Mike's Baking announcing that it's National Peanut Butter Day. I absolutely LOVE peanut butter so I definitely could not let it go pass without baking something suitable. I believe that I was meant to make these cookies which is why I never made it to the gym (yes yes call me delusional!)

I won a lifetime membership to Eat Your Books from Jam and Clotted Cream recently - thank you again! If you have not already discovered eat your books, check it out NOW! It's absolutely amazing!! It's basically an online cookbook search engine. You add the books you have on your bookshelf (and online recipes too) and when you want to make something, just type in the ingredient and it will search your cookbooks for you. Today I typed in peanut butter and the first recipe to appear was Irresistible Peanut Butter Cookies by Lorraine Pascale from Baking Made Easy. It was fate. I had to make it and I'm so glad I did as these cookies are Delicious!! Yes with a capital D :)

If you are a peanut butter lover like me then you will definitely enjoy these cookies. I can see why Lorraine calls them irresistible! They are really soft and crumbly with the lovely peanut buttery taste. I love the crunch of the peanuts on top and the sweet, salty combination.

flatten cookies with a fork

sprinkle some chopped peanuts on top

Delicious!!

Recipe adapted from Lorraine Pascale's Baking Made Easy

130g butter

175g light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla paste

200g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

300g peanut butter (I used crunchy as I prefer the crunch)

Handful of ready roasted, salted peanuts - chopped. (optional)

Preheat the oven to 170C.
Grease and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add in the dry ingredients and mix well.
Add in the egg.
Finally, stir in the peanut butter - don't overmix the batter.
Scoop small scoops of dough using a small ice cream scoop and place at least 2 inches apart.
Use a fork (lightly dipped in water if required) to flatten the cookies.
Sprinkle the chopped peanuts on top (or skip this step)
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
The cookies will be very soft when removed from the oven but will firm up once it's cooled.
Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Nigella's Clementine Cake for Chinese New Year

2012-01-23T22:27:00.001Z

In case you didn't know, today Jan 23rd is Chinese New Year/Lunar New Year. It is the year of the dragon which symbolises power, strength and good luck. The following excerpt is taken from the daily mail (click on the link to see lots of pretty pictures!)

"Often regarded as one of the most important signs in the zodiac, Chinese tradition dictates that those born in Dragon years tend to be brave, innovative and highly driven, regularly making it to the top of their profession. Famous people born in Dragon years include former U.S. president Bill Clinton, actress Reese Witherspoon and artist Salvador Dali. Those celebrating Chinese New Year mark the occasion by buying presents, clothing, food and decorations embracing popular themes such as wealth, happiness and good fortune. "

Oranges are symbolic in chinese culture as a wish for good fortune. Tangerines and oranges sound like luck and wealth in the chinese language and hence are given freely during the festive period. (ps google is amazing!)

So to celebrate chinese new year, I decided to make a clementine cake from Nigella which was actually recommended by my mum - thanks mum! It's a really easy cake to make, Nigella says "It's the easiest cake I know" The added bonus is that it's gluten free. Everyone really enjoyed this cake. It was really moist and aromatic and I was impressed with the height considering that it's flourless. I've made a similar orange polenta cake but this is much better in my opinion!

As it's a Nigella recipe, I'm entering it to Forever Nigella hosted by Sarah from Maison Cupcake.

And also to Simple and in Season hosted by Ren from Fabulicious Food

boil clementines for 2 hours

then blitz

mix all ingredients together and bake

Recipe is from Nigella's website

Weekly Bake Off: Maple Syrup Cake

2012-01-22T19:17:00.002Z

Another week, another weekly bake off challenge. I was not planning to join in due to time constraints but when I saw the choice was a Maple Syrup Cake, I just had to! I love maple syrup and I've made a similar cake with carrots which was a huge success. Coincidentally, I was sent this lovely sample box from the people at Clark's so there really was no question about making this cake.

Its a lovely, tall 3 layer cake, so tall that it won't fit into my cake carrier! I'm not sure how to transport it now but I'll worry about that later. I've not had a chance to try the cake so I can't comment on the taste but the topping was very good :) I'm probably the only person that slices into a cake before giving it away so I can photograph it for my blog! I felt it would have been rude to eat a slice as well so I will update you tomorrow on the taste.

*Update: I've decided to slice the cake and bring it to work on a tray. It does say to keep in the fridge and there's no way the whole cake will fit plus I still had the transport problem. It does not look as nice but hopefully it will taste good enough! It also meant that I could sneak a cheeky piece and can now tell you what I think. The maple syrup is quite subtle in the cake. It's a moist and rich sponge with good flavours from the pecan. I may add a little orange juice next time and possibly more maple syrup. The whipped cream filling and topping goes well with the cake as a buttercream frosting would have been too much. *

the sliced up cake!

assembling the layers

spread the cream between the layers...

...and on top and around the sides to make a super tall cake!

Recipe from Mary Berry's Cakes and Bakes page 19

For the cake
225g butter
225g light muscovado sugar
zest of 1 orange
4 eggs
100ml maple syrup
350g self raising flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
50g pecan nuts, chopped

For the filling and topping
450ml double cream
2 tablespoon maple syrup (I used a little extra as I couldn't quite taste the maple syrup)
zest of 1 orange

Preheat the oven to 160C.
Lightly grease and line 3 x 20cm cake tins (Mary suggests using a deep 20cm cake tin and slice the cake in 3 but I just used 3 small tins)
Put all the ingredients for the cake except the pecan nuts into a large bowl and mix well.
Stir in the chopped pecan nuts.
Spoon into the cake tins and bake for about 20-25mins (longer if using only 1 tin).
Allow to cool slightly then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the filling and topping, whip the cream until it just holds its shape and then add in the maple syrup.
Fill and cover the cake with cream as shown.
Decorate the top with orange zest.
Store in the refrigerator.

Thank you Clark's for providing the maple syrup.

Checkerboard Cookies

2012-01-21T11:29:00.000Z

Dom from Belleau Kitchen hosts random recipes which is a great idea to use more of your recipe books. I tend to get recipes online or from other blogs and as my cookbook collection has grown exponentially last year, I really wanted to use more of my cookbooks this year. The challenge for this month is simple - choose a random recipe from your newest book and blog about it. My newest cookbook is Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking. I have to admit I was nervous about joining this challenge particularly with this book as I feared my random recipe would be too challenging. As instructed, I closed my eyes and randomly opened the book to page 42-43 which is Chocolate-Orange Pinwheels and Checkerboards. My first thought was 'oh no, this looks complicated and time consuming!' (Dom - I have to admit I was very tempted to cheat and turn the page but the next recipe is apricot pecan rugelach! Lesson is don't cheat!)

Anyway I decided I would tackle the recipe but only managed to make the checkerboards which to me were more challenging than the pinwheels. I've never made these before and have always wanted to as they look so cute. I'm glad I tried it but I'm not sure I would make them again as they do require quite a bit of time and patience. They did taste good though so it was worth the effort and the friend that I ended up giving them to really enjoyed them.

The recipe offers a few flavour variations and I chose to make chocolate-coffee for mine. I've probably made it sound more complicated than it really is! Has anyone else tried making these?

roll the dough into strips (ideally, they should be the same length!)

creating the checkerboard effect

cut off the ends...

checkerboard effect!

ready to go in the oven

so pleased you can see the pattern!

I also made some 'mini' ones as I had some dough leftover - only managed 3 rows with these.

Recipe from Williams-Sonoma essentials of baking

155g plain flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

30g chocolate, melted

125g butter, softened

125g sugar

1 large egg, separated

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 teaspoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in 1 teaspoon of hot water

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the egg yolk and vanilla essence and continue beating.
Add the flour and baking powder and mix well.
Divide the dough in half.
Place one half in a separate bowl and stir in the coffee dissolved in hot water.
Add the melted chocolate and cocoa powder to the other half and mix well.
Form each dough into a 5 inch square and wrap separately in cling film.
Refrigerate until firm (about 45 minutes).
Remove the dough from the fridge.
Cut each piece of dough into 6 strips.
One at a time, roll each strip into a rope, flouring your hands lightly, if necessary.
In a small bowl, beat the egg white with a fork until foamy.
Lay 3 ropes parallel to each other alternating the colours (see picture above) and press the ropes together.
Brush the top with egg white.
Place a second set of 3 ropes of alternating colours on top of the first set of 3, press them together and brush with egg white.
Repeat until you have a stack of 4 rows, always alternating the colours so that a checkerboard pattern is visible when the stack is viewed from the end.
Do not brush the top row with egg white.
Trim the ends evenly, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Slice the cookies and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 8 - 12 minutes until the edges just begin to turn light golden.
Allow to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Blueberry Pancakes with spelt and buttermilk

2012-01-19T22:04:00.000Z

I've been on a pancake phase recently. I can't believe I've never made pancakes until recently. It's so easy to make and does not require any special ingredients or equipment. I saw this recipe on What I Baked This Weekend. It looked really good and I decided to give it a go but modified it to use up all my leftovers. I had spelt flour and buttermilk leftover from baking my honey and spelt cake and some blueberries that needed to be eaten. I made half the original recipe as I didn't want to end up with stacks of pancakes!

The pancakes were delicious and I really like the texture of the spelt flour here. I'm sending this to Frugal Food Fridays hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours.

Recipe adapted from What I baked this weekend
Makes 4 pancakes of the size shown

120g spelt flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon honey
150ml buttermilk
75ml milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
75g blueberries

Mix the flour and baking powder in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk the honey, buttermilk, milk, egg and oil until smooth.
Make a well in the flour mixture and add in the wet ingredients.
Whisk until just combined.
Fold in the blueberries, saving a handful to sprinkle on top.
Heat a small amount of oil in a non stick frying pan.
Add a small amount of batter (depends on what size you want your pancakes!) and cook until the surface starts bubbling.
Flip the pancake over and cook until light golden brown.
Serve with the remaining blueberries and a drizzle of honey.

Honey and Spelt Cake

2012-01-17T21:41:00.000Z

I saw this spelt honey cake on Cake, Crumbs and Cooking. Do check out her blog if you haven't already for some other great recipes :) I bookmarked it immediately and it jumped to the top of my 'to-bake' list (which is growing longer by the minute) as I was really intrigued and wanted to know what it would taste like. Coincidentally, I bought some spelt flour recently for another recipe (which I still haven't baked!) and I always have honey in my cupboard so as I had everything I needed, I thought why not? Added bonus is that it's a really simple, mix everything together type of recipe.

I'm so glad I did as the cake was really good! I love the texture of the spelt flour and you can really taste the honey. It smelled really good as I was mixing up the batter. It's a moist and light cake with the fine texture of the spelt and the rich aroma of honey.

I'm sending this to bookmarked recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes.

luckily I had just enough honey for the recipe!

delicious!

Recipe from Cake, Crumbs and Cooking

175g butter, softenend
80g caster sugar
90g honey
100g plain flour
100g wholemeal spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
60g buttermilk *

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the flours, baking powder, honey, eggs and buttermilk and continue to beat until well combined.
Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 40-50 minutes until well risen and golden and springy to the touch.
Allow to cool on a wire rack.

* I made my own buttermilk as I didn't have any at home. It's really easy to make and probably cheaper than buying it from the supermarket.
- Place 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (or white vinegar) in a measuring jug.
- Add enough milk to bring it up to the 1 cup line.
- Stir and leave for 5 minutes.
- The milk will curdle which is what you want.

Weekly Bake Off: Devil's Food Cake

2012-01-15T19:14:00.001Z

I'm really excited to participate in my first Weekly Bake off, the brainchild of Amy from Weekly Bake Off. The premise is simple, to bake her way through Mary Berry's 100 cakes and bakes. A random recipe is selected by Amy every Monday and bakers have a week to bake and post a photo by Sunday evening. I bought this book months ago but due to other commitments was unable to participate at the end of last year. So I was really excited for the first January challenge which is a devil's food cake. However, all did not go to plan and I debated if I should post it or not. I think I'm often too hard on myself and this blog is about sharing my experiences - good or bad. So I present to you the Lopsided Artistic Devils' Food Cake :)

I made this in a hurry (I never learn my lesson!) which is partly what cause the downfall (no pun intended!) I had a really busy week but really wanted to bake this cake. I had to go to a friend's birthday dinner and drinks and had less than 2 hours to bake, frost and get myself ready for a night out! Could I do it? Well I do like a challenge so I decided yes. I whipped up the cake quickly and it turned out beautifully. I was a little nervous about the icing as it involves a sugar thermometer and the last time I tried making a meringue buttercream, it didn't turn out well. Sadly, I have not perfected the meringue buttercream. Perhaps I should have whisked it longer as it didn't stand in peaks. Remember I was against the clock here so I just put the icing on and left it to set while I had a great night out. When I got back at 1am, the top layer had slid off! :(

The plus point is the cake is delicious!! It's quite a sweet frosting but it works well with the cake. The sponge was light and moist and you can taste the cocoa in it. I'm dubious about chocolate cake that uses cocoa powder rather than real chocolate but it worked well here. It's a good cake to bake to impress (if you get it right of course)

A note on the frosting - it really does set very quickly so you have to be quick. I would also half the frosting recipe next time as I had a lot leftover. I think I didn't whisk it long enough to achieve the peaks. Any thoughts on this?

cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy - i could just tell the sponge was going to be good :)

ready to go in the oven

using my sugar thermometer

the lopsided cake

I like to call this my 'artistic cake' :)

Glad I still managed to get a layer slice so really if you didn't see the above pictures, you'd have been none the wiser :)

Recipe from Mary Berry's 100 Cakes and Bakes Page 162-163

For the cake

55g cocoa powder

280g caster sugar

115g butter

2 eggs, lightly beaten

175g plain flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

For the American frosting

450g sugar

2 large egg whites

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Grease and line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins.
Whisk the cocoa powder into 225ml water and set aside.
Whisk the sugar and butter in a separate bowl until light and fluffy as shown.
Add in the eggs until well combined.
Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl.
Alternately fold in the flour and the cocoa mixture to the butter mixture.
Divide the batter evenly between the tins (I usually weigh mine).
Bake for 30 - 45 minutes until well risen and firm to touch.
Allow to cool in the tine for a few minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting, heat the sugar with 135ml water gently until the sugar has dissolved.
Next, bring it to a boil and boil until it reaches 115C/240F on a sugar thermometer. The mixture will bubble and thicken.
Whilst you are heating the sugar, whisk the egg whites until stiff.
Once the sugar syrup is ready, allow the bubble to settle then pour slowly into the egg whites, whisking constantly.
Continue whisking until the mixture stands in peaks.
Sandwich the cakes together with a LITTLE frosting (I used too much which caused the cake slide plus the frosting was not stiff enough).
Spread the remainder of the frosting over the top and sides.
Work quickly as the icing sets rapidly.

We Should Cocoa - Chocolate and Mocha Cake

2012-01-13T21:49:00.000Z

I went to visit a friend of mine who has recently given birth to a gorgeous baby boy. I don't have any baby pictures to show you but I do have pictures of cake! My friend offered to cook dinner so naturally I said I'd make dessert. However, she wanted something low fat as she is still trying to loose her baby weight. So I went off in search of some healthy recipes, saving my full fat, triple layer cake for another day. I looked on my 'go-to recipe site' - BBC Good Food and found 2 options that looked reasonable - a light fruity sponge or a chocolate and mocha cake. I asked my friend to choose and she chose the latter which I was secretly pleased about as it fits into the theme for this month's We should Cocoa hosted by Chocolate Teapot which is to make a health conscious chocolate recipe.

I have to say I am a little disappointed with this recipe. I've not tried a bad recipe from BBC Good Food until now and there were certainly some unfavourable reviews on the website. The picture presented looks really good but sadly what I baked was nothing like the picture shown. Firstly, there was barely enough batter to fill 1 sandwich tin much less two and my sponge did not rise at all. Secondly, there was barely enough frosting to spread thinly much less oozing as shown. I followed the recipe exactly and actually debated about doubling it which would have defeated the purpose. I'll just have to use a much, much smaller tin next time.

Fortunately, it wasn't a complete disaster as the cake actually tasted reasonably good. It's nowhere near a lovely buttery, chocolatey sponge but it was a good alternative. The sponge was still light and moist and the icing was slightly sour due to the yoghurt and cream cheese but still palatable. I added some strawberries for extra 'health' factor and presentation.

low fat ingredients (apart from the chocolate)

whip the eggs and sugar until it looks like this

spread the icing on top of (flat) sponge

place another cake on top and spread chocolate mocha icing on top

drizzle with some melted chocolate

add some strawberries

Recipe is available from BBC Good Food website. I followed it exactly and added strawberries on top as garnish.

Posh Brownies

2012-01-10T23:24:00.000Z

It's Jan and almost everyone is on a health diet of some kind. I've never really been good at that - ~~poor~~, no self control and all but I thought I would make an effort and *try* to make something a little healthier. I remember reading about brownies made with mayonnaise which is supposed to be healthier. I happened to have a jar of extra light mayonnaise so I thought I'd give it a go. The recipe is from Hellmann's and they name it posh brownies so how bad can it be? They state that it's 55% less saturated fat than if prepared with butter.

It's a fairly simple brownie recipe with the usual suspects and the addition of mayonnaise instead of butter. I overbaked mine slightly so they were a little on the chewy side but I have to say I was quite impressed with these brownies. It's not buttery and fudgy but it still tastes like a brownie. It's fairly moist and light and I like the added crunch of the nuts. I'm not sure if it would taste different if I made it with full fat mayonnaise. Has anyone else tried this recipe?

Anyway at least I can feel virtuous eating these brownies....as long as I don't eat the whole tray!! :)

I am entering these to bake-along brownies over at Bake for Happy Kids

star ingredient - mayonnaise

adding the mayo

ready to go in the oven

slightly overbaked! oops

Recipe from Hellmanns website

40g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
25g cocoa powder
140g plain chocolate, broken into small pieces
3 eggs
225g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
110g mayonnaise
55g walnuts, finely chopped (I didnt have any so used chopped mixed nuts instead)

Preheat the oven to 160C.
Grease and line a 23cm square tin.
Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into a bowl and set aside.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar and vanilla essence.
Add the slightly cooled, melted chocolate into this mixture and mix well.
Next fold in the flour.
Add the mayonnaise and chopped nuts.
Pour into the tin and bake for about 30 - 35 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the tin before slicing.

Citruslove - Lemon Whoopie pies

2012-01-07T01:20:00.003Z

January is #citruslove month! I'm excited to be co-hosting this fabulous event and I hope you will join in too. I couldn't decide what to make as I love citrus fruits and flavours. I thought about tackling macarons but I've just signed up for a macaron class so I think I'll wait till after. It was therefore a choice between cakes, cupcakes or cookies. I was looking through my brand new copy of Dan Lepard's Short and Sweet and when I saw the whoopie pies, the choice was made.

I know everyone has been raving about this book. It's the first recipe I'm trying and I have to say I'm impressed. I made whoopie pies once before and thought they were a little too 'cakey' and dense but these are really something else. It's quite light and spongy and even though I'm not a huge fan of marshmallow, I love the marshmallow filling here. I've added in quite a bit of zest and juice as I love the lemon zing. Definitely making this recipe again (Dan has provided recipes for different flavour variations) and trying other recipes from his book. The previous whoopie pie recipes I've seen use shortening but this has sour cream which I'm sure makes the sponge lighter.

Please join in on the #citruslove fun by linking up *any citrus recipe *from the *month of January 2012*. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #citruslove event! The twitter hashtag is #citruslove.

Here's a list of all the co-hosts for this event, please visit them if you have time and check out what they've made.

A little bit of everything - http://www.roxanagreengirl.com/
Astig Vegan - http://astigvegan.com/
Baker Street - http://bakerstreet.tv/
Big Fat Bake - http://bigfatbaker.com/blog/

Cafe Terra Blog - http://www.cafeterrablog.com/

Cake Duchess - http://www.cakeduchess.com/

Cakeballs, cookies and more - http://cakeballscookiesandmore.blogspot.com/

Easily Good Eats - http://easilygoodeats.blogspot.com/

Elephant Eats - http://elephanteats.com/

Georgieacakes - http://georgiecakes.com/

Hobby and More - http://hobbyandmore.blogspot.com/

Mike's Baking - http://www.mikesbaking.co.uk/

Mis Pensamientos - http://juniakk.blogspot.com/

No One Likes Crumbley Cookies - http://tcrumbley.blogspot.com/

Oh Cake - http://cake-o-cake.blogspot.com/

Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives - http://lisamichele.wordpress.com/

Peaches and Donuts - http://peachesanddonuts.blogspot.com/

Savoring Every Bite - http://savoringeverybite.wordpress.com/

Simply Reem - http://www.simplyreem.com/

Smart Food and Fit - http://smartfoodandfit.com/

Soni's Food For Thought - http://sonisfoodforthought.blogspot.com/

That Skinny Chick Can Bake - http://thatskinnychickcanbake.blogspot.com/

The Art of Cooking Real Food - http://theartofcookingrealfood.blogspot.com/

The Spicy RD - http://www.eastewart.com/blog/

The Wimpy Vegetarian - http://thewimpyvegetarian.com/

Vegan Yack Attack - http://veganyackattack.com/

Vegetarian Mamma - http://vegetarianmamma.blogspot.com/

You Made that? - http://www.you-made-that.com/

adding lots of lemon zest to the batter :)

terrible piping!

making the marshmallow filling

oops... giant whoopie pies!

Recipe is from Dan Lepard Short and Sweet page 201-203

Peanut butter and jam muffins and a cupcake maker review

2012-01-05T13:26:00.000Z

I don't think I need to tell you again how much I love peanut butter. Peanut butter and jam are one of those classic combinations that most people love including me! There's something about the salty nuttiness of peanut butter combined with the sweet jam that makes it wonderful. Why am I talking about peanut butter and jam? Well I was sent this lovely cupcake maker from find-me-a-gift.co.uk to review. It comes in a box with an instruction booklet and recipe. It states that you can make cupcakes or muffins so I chose muffins! There is 1 recipe for chocolate chip muffins in the booklet but I chose to make these instead. They were really simple to make (just mix everything together) and the muffins were delicious! A great breakfast or tea time treat.

this is what you get in the box

ready to make my mini muffins

putting them in to cook

ready in 3 - 5 minutes!

delicious!

Disclaimer : I was sent this product free to review but did not receive any other monetary incentive. I was not required to provide a positive review and all opinions are my own.

Pros

- It's simple and easy to use.

- It's non stick and very easy to clean.

- You can have mini cupcakes or muffins in minutes (also see con).

-No extra equipment eg cupcake cases required

- It's a great gift especially for non bakers or for kids but will still require supervision.

-It's great if you are looking for a hands on activity with the kids as you don't have to wait 20-30 minutes for the cupcakes/muffins to cook especially if you want the kids to decorate them.

-It's good for portion control as they are bite sized.

-You can still bake even if your oven is not working!

Cons

- You can only make 7 muffins at one time. 1 recipe makes about 35 mini muffins which is approximately 15-25 minutes total baking time. For me, it would have been quicker to just bake them all at once in the oven as with this I had to remove the cooked muffins every few minutes and put new batter in to cook.

Recipe adapted from nomandglug

Makes 35 mini muffins as shown (you can make 1/4 recipe which should yield 6-7 mini muffins. Here's a top tip from Andrea about quartering the egg - "Break the egg and whisk it up. Pour it into a measuring cup (usually 1 large egg is about 1/4c). Then use as much as you need (1/4 of 1/4c is 1T)"

250g self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

60mls honey

60mls vegetable oil

180mls milk

1 egg

70g peanut butter (I used crunchy peanut butter)

75g strawberry jam

Prepare the cupcake maker according to the instructions given.
Mix flour and salt together in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix the honey, milk and egg.
Add this to the flour mixture and mix well.
Add in the peanut butter.
Finally swirl in the strawberry jam - do not over mix.
Cook in the cupcake maker as instructed.

Happy 2nd Birthday and a Peanut Butter Toblerone Cheesecake

2012-01-01T23:05:00.001Z

Happy new year everyone, hope you all had a good one. Lots of reasons to celebrate today... it's the new year and it's my blog's 2nd birthday! I can't believe my blog is 2 years old!! What a year it's been too. I just realised I didn't really celebrate the first birthday of my blog which was an important milestone (sorry blog!) so I definitely had to make something special this year. I planned a special cake and bought a special mould but what happens? My oven dies :( I can't believe it! I know I've been moaning quite a bit on twitter about my dead oven but it's like a part of me has died. However, oven or no oven, I was determined to make something spectacular for my blog's birthday. When life throws you a curveball you 'keep calm and bake cakes' ... well make a cake in this case :)

So I present to you a peanut butter toblerone cheesecake. It has my favourite ingredients and tastes absolutely divine!! It is rich and creamy and heart-stoppingly good. So good that my friend Kate came over immediately in her pyjamas at 10pm on a sunday night to try some and her verdict "wow!!! What a treat - love the hidden chunks of toblerone!"

Thank you everyone who has visited and/or commented on my blog this past year. It has been a really good year and I look forward to even more exciting baking/blogging in 2012 (see baking/blogging resolutions here). Do help yourself to a slice of cake - there's plenty to go round :)

oreo cookie base

add filling on top and chill in the fridge

top with Peanut Butter M&Ms - my favourite :)

enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Kraft

For the crust

2 x 154g packs of Oreo cookies (I wanted a thicker base)

75g butter, melted

For the filling

500g cream cheese

250g smooth peanut butter

200g caster sugar

250ml double cream

100g toblerone, chopped

First make the crust by blitzing the oreo cookies in a food processor and adding the melted butter to it.
Press onto the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan and put in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to set.
Pour the double cream into an electric mixer (or use a hnd mixer) and beat until it stiffens.
Scoop out the cream and place the cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar into the bowl. Beat until well incorporated.
Add the cream back to the mixture and continue mixing briefly.
Finally stir in the chopped toblerone pieces.
Pour the filling on top of the crust and smooth the top with a spatula.
Decorate with peanut butter m&m's.
Chill for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.

Banana, peanut butter and chocolate cookies

2011-12-30T23:22:00.000Z

This is my last post for 2011 and I think it's fitting that it contains most of my favourite ingredients - banana, peanut butter and chocolate! I don't think I have to tell you how much I love baking with bananas judging by the number of banana posts on my blog. This is the second time I've tried it in a cookie and it worked beautifully. I saw this recipe on one of my favourite blogs Cupcake Crazy Gem and bookmarked it immediately. I went out to buy a banana to ripen for this cookie and the 1 week wait was well worth it. You get a soft, chewy cookie with the crunch from the peanut butter, the chocolatey goodness when you bite into a piece of chocolate all wrapped up in the aroma and taste of bananas. Great excuse to eat cookies for breakfast :)

2011 has been a great year for my blog. I've made many new blogging friends and joined in many fun blogging events. I've tried lots of new recipes including making up a few of my own. I really look forward to 2012 with even more baking and blogging. I don't normally make resolutions but I'll make some 'baking/blogging' ones. Do you make resolutions and if so would you like to share them with me?

So for 2012, I want to....
1. Bake something I've never made before - macarons, bread, pie/pastry.
2. Attend a cake decorating course and learn how to make pretty things from fondant icing.
3. Reply to everyone's comments on my blog.
4. Have a new motto from a birthday present I got earlier this year....

And finally.... drum roll please..... I am very excited to announce that I will be co-hosting a new baking challenge with my friend Caroline from Caroline Makes in 2012. Stay tuned for more details (probably 2nd week of Jan) and I really hope that as many of you as possible will join in and bake with us.

Thank you for all your support this year. Wishing all of you a very happy, healthy and successful new year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!!

Mixing all the ingredients together

I ran out of chocolate (gasp!) so used a mixture of milk and dark chocolate

Delicious!

100g light brown sugar

100g caster sugar

185g crunchy peanut butter

113g butter

1 over-ripe banana

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

220g plain flour

3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

100g roughly chopped milk chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugars until fluffy.
Add in the peanut butter and continue mixing.
Add in the vanilla, egg, bicarbonate of soda, salt and banana and mix well.
Next add in the flour and mix until well combined.
Finally stir in the chopped chocolate chunks.
Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop out balls of dough onto the lined baking sheet (Or use a tablespoon)
Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes until it is golden brown.
Allow to cool for a few minutes on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

(You can also chill the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes before baking for a more formed cookie)

I'm entering these delicious cookies to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes

Tribal Hot Chocolate with Bananas

2011-12-29T20:31:00.000Z

I'm very pleased to announce my first guest post on my blog. Mariam from Hot Chocolate Gourmet is kindly sharing with us her favourite hot chocolate drink. It contains one of my favourite ingredients - bananas! Please check out her blog if you haven't already for everything to do with hot chocolate. Take it away, Mariam!

A hot chocolate that is so rich, creamy and thick you wouldn’t believe it’s actually good for your health!

My version of Kuna hot chocolate

Yet it’s true – this all natural banana hot chocolate recipe comes from the Kuna tribe of Panama – the southernmost country of Central America. This drink is based on only water, bananas and cocoa. As exotic as this may seem to Westerners, it is the only thing the Kuna people drink throughout their conscious life.

While drinking up to 5 cups of hot cocoa every day, there is something the Kuna people don’t do: namely worry about heart disease! According to a Natural Health Dossier report, the latest research shows that cocoa is the Kuna people’s secret weapon against cardiovascular problems. Also, click here to see how it can protect your brain!

How is this tribal hot cocoa drink prepared? The Kuna people boil bananas in a pot of water until they break in pieces. Then they add ground cocoa beans, continue cooking and finally strain.

Because I don’t lead a tribal lifestyle, I adapted this recipe for home use. Making hot chocolate for two, I took

- 1,5 cups of water
- 1 banana
- 4 heaped tsp of all natural, unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutched!)
- A dash of cinnamon

Finishing touch of cinnamon

Thank you Mariam. Here's my take on her recipe...

If you wish, you may use a blender instead of a fork. The latter tool leaves banana fibre intact, so the resulting drink is not as smooth. However, I prefer it this way, because it feels closer to roots.
But if you mash the banana with a fork, please don’t wear a white shirt – otherwise this drink truly has the power to transform you into a savage!!! (Just kidding… But do watch out!)

Now it’s time for you, my dear reader, to speak up: do you like this recipe? How do you modify it? What are the healthy ways you enjoy your cocoa?

Well I had to get out my "chocolate" mug for this one. If you can't quite see it, it says "Lady and the Chocolate" and it has a funny story on the other side.

I have to admit I was a little nervous cooking bananas into the drink as I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. I've never made hot chocolate with water before but now I'm making most of my hot chocolate with water! I added 4 small squares of chocolate as I wanted it to be extra chocolatey and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar for extra sweetness. The drink itself was rich and chocolatey. The banana adds flavour and texture and the cinnamon complemented the flavours well. You would not have thought this is a healthy drink! (without the extra chocolate and sugar of course)

Thank you Mariam for a great recipe, I'll definitely be making this again :)

Love Baking Magazine

2011-12-27T17:58:00.001Z

Christmas came early for me this year on 24th Dec 2011. I received my Jan 2012 issue of Love Baking magazine, a new baking magazine on the market. So here's the exciting news.... I was featured in their Bloggers Gallery! Thank you Love Baking Magazine :)

The other bloggers on the page are American Chop Suey, The Caked Crusader, I Heart Cupcakes, Cupcake Crazy Gem, American Cupcake in London, Apple and Spice and The Nom Bakery.

I submitted dark chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes. You can find the recipe here.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas. I'll be back with more baking soon :)

Nigella's Spruced up Spice Cake

2011-12-24T01:09:00.001Z

Well it's Christmas Eve and the day we've all been waiting for is almost here so what better way to celebrate this festive season than with a classic Nigella recipe. I've been making one of Nigella's recipes for the past few Christmases so I'm really pleased that this month's Forever Nigella has a Christmas theme as I'd always wanted to participate but never got round to it. Coincidentally, I was flipping through my beloved copy of Nigella Christmas when I saw the tweet announcement about this challenge. This challenge is hosted by Sarah from Maison Cupcake and there is still time to enter as the deadline is 31st December 2011.

I debated about what to make and finally settled on this spruced up spice cake as I really wanted to use my new snowflake moulds. I don't have the spectacular bundt tin that Nigella has but I think the snowflakes and stars work well. The recipe can be found on her website here. I made the spiced version and modified the spices slightly by adding 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger. I halved the recipe which yielded 6 snowflakes and 3 stars of the size shown. The cake is delightfully moist and the spices are present but not overpowering. I hope everyone will enjoy it on Christmas Day.

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone best wishes for the festive season. See you soon - I'll be back before New Year :)

HAPPY CHRISTMAS !!

Mr Snowman and Santa would also like to wish you Merry Christmas! :)

Sprinkling of icing sugar

5 minute cheesecake

2011-12-22T02:44:00.003Z

Following the success of my 5 minute chocolate mug cake, I was super excited to try out the 5 minute cheesecake in a mug inspired by the same amazing blogger Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella. If you haven't been to her blog, do head on over there and be prepared to be amazed and inspired.

It's so quick and simple and tastes incredible! Yes it really does taste like a cheesecake and it's low fat as well. As with the chocolate mug cake, the flavour variations are endless - you can use different fruits or jam, chocolate or even coffee. Do let me know if you try a different flavour and tell me what is your favourite cheesecake? I'm already envisioning a chocolate version topped with crushed Oreos or a Christmassy version with orange zest, dried cranberries/raisins and a dash of cinnamon (rum optional).

I'm entering this to Frugal Food Fridays hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours as this is a great time saving recipe plus it's fairly low cost to make and if you're anything like me, you'll already have the ingredients to hand. It's also healthy(ish), does not require any fancy equipment and there is minimum washing up required. It's a win win :)

a mini tub is perfect for 1 portion

I added some lemon zest for extra 'zing'

I only had frozen mixed berries to hand so that's what I used

before cooking

after cooking - it should still be wobbly in the middle, it will set after cooling.

delicious!!

Recipe adapted from Not Quite Nigella

To make 1 portion

20g/2.5 tablespoons icing sugar

35g/2.5 tablespoons low fat cream cheese (one mini tub as shown)

2 tablespoons low fat yoghurt (or sour cream)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

zest of 1/4 - 1/2 lemon (depending on how lemony you want it to be)

1/2 egg, beaten

Handful of frozen mixed berries

1 Hobnob cookie crushed in a ziplock bag (or digestive)

In a large bowl, whisk the icing sugar, cream cheese, yoghurt and egg until very smooth. This is important otherwise your cheesecake will be lumpy.
Add in the lemon juice, lemon zest and berries.
Spoon into a ramekin or mug and microwave on medium for 1 minute. All microwaves vary and I have a really old one that only has a cook or defrost function (Mine took 2+ minutes to cook). I would advise cooking in 30 second bursts to ensure it's not over or undercooked.
The cheesecake should still have a wobble in the middle but be cooked around the edges. It will continue to cook once its out of the microwave and it will set once it's been cooled in the fridge.
Chill in the fridge for a few hours (this is the hardest part - waiting to eat it!)
Crush the cookie in a sealed ziplock bag and sprinkle on top of the cheesecake and enjoy!

Banana, cinnamon and honey pancakes

2011-12-19T17:00:00.001Z

It has been hard to focus and concentrate on what I need to do this week- writing my dissertation. I am so easily distracted and all I want to do is bake particularly Christmas baking. So I decided to treat myself to some pancakes as an extra incentive. I looked around my kitchen to see what I could use and came up with this creation. I had quite a few ripe bananas that needed to be used and leftover cinnamon sugar from making cinnamon sugar palmiers. I didnt have any nice bananas that I could slice to put on top so I sprinkled a few dried cranberries (again leftover from baking chocolate, orange and cranberry cookies). I also thought it made the pancakes look slightly festive and therefore added a sprinkling of icing sugar which you can't really see in the photo. This would make a great Christmas or Boxing day breakfast.

By my calculations this only cost less than £1 to make. It's simple, tasty, healthy-ish and satisfying! So I'm sending it on to Frugal Food Fridays hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours. Do click on her blog for more details about this exciting challenge and feel free to join in!

Makes 5 pancakes of the size shown

125g self raising flour
1.5 tablespoon cinnamon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
180mls milk
20g butter, melted
2 ripe bananas, mashed

To decorate (optional)
Sprinkling of icing sugar
drizzle of honey
small handful of dried cranberries

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg with the milk and melted butter.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients.
Mix well and finally add in the mashed bananas.
Put a small amount of butter in a non stick frying pan.
Pour the batter into the pan until it forms a small circle.
Once the edges are cooked, flip the pancake over - it should be lightly browned.
Continue cooking until golden brown.
Serve immediately with optional toppings suggested - drizzle of honey, sprinkling of icing sugar and a few dried cranberries. Alternatively, slice half a banana for added nutritional value.

Secret Santa

2011-12-19T16:52:00.000Z

Just a quick post so I can say a big THANK YOU to my secret santa! I got these today and I absolutely LOVE it. They are cranberry and white chocolate cookies which are very festive, delicious and beautifully presented. Thank you also to Amy from weeklybakeoff for organising the secret santa. I hope you get something nice from Santa in return :)

how cute is this tin?

delicious!

Hot Chocolate on a stick

2011-12-18T12:05:00.002Z

Winter means many things and hot chocolate is one of them. I love drinking hot chocolate but always feel that they are not chocolatey enough. However, when I was in Bruges earlier this year, I had proper hot chocolate - melted chocolate in milk and it was delicious! I bought loads of these hot chocolate on a stick from my visit to Bruges. I don't know why but I never thought about making my own until I saw this on Holly Bell's blog Recipes from a Normal mum which I bookmarked immediately. It's such a simple idea and makes a great Christmas gift. There's definitely no going back. The best thing is you can add whatever flavour variations you want - mint, coffee, cinnamon, orange....

I made these with plain dark or milk chocolate and topped with either crushed candy canes or mini marshmallows. They were for work colleagues and friends so I kept the flavours simple. I'm sure I'll be making some 'custom made' ones for myself!

These are not strictly baked but Becky said it's ok so I'm entering them to the English Mum's Big Christmas Bakeoff

I'm also entering them to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes

And to Let's Cook for Christmas Red and Green hosted by simply food

And also to the holiday goodies link up at Diary of a Semi-Health Nut hosted by Amanda

* UPDATE: My post has been featured over at Gourmet Hot Chocolate - if you are a fan of hot chocolate, do head on over there for delicious recipes and reviews of hot chocolate products *

This is all you need - mini muffin cases, lollipop sticks, chocolate, candy canes and mini marshmallows.

Perfect chance to use my new chocolate melting pot . Tip: if you are making a lot as I ended up doing, its easier to melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and pour into the moulds. 200g of chocolate made approximately 10 sticks using my mini muffin moulds. In hindsight, these are very small portions but you can always stir 2 sticks into the mug! They do look so cute though :)

Pour the melted chocolate into the cases and leave to set. The best thing about the current weather is it only takes a few minutes by the window to set. When it's almost set, place a lollipop stick in the centre and top with crushed candy canes (or mini marhsmallows) Allow to set completely before removing from the case.

I love the look of them!

Here's a close up

I packed them in cellophane bags, tied a festive ribbon around and added a tag which says " Stir into a mug of warm milk until completely dissolved. Cream optional. Enjoy!"

Mass production for my friend's Christmas party :)

For more detailed instructions and other presentation ideas, check out Recipes from a Normal Mum by Holly Bell, Great British Bake Off finalist.

Cranberry, flame raisin and macadamia oat cookie

2011-12-17T11:23:00.002Z

Christmas baking is slightly limited this year due to other commitments but I really just can't help myself. I went food shopping the other day and came across this lovely bag of goodies ....

... I don't know about you but the first thought that crossed my mind was cookies! So after the success of my chocolate, orange and cranberry cookies, I decided to create another cookie recipe. I felt an oat cookie would work best and as it's Christmas, I added in some cinnamon. The result - an oaty, cinnamonny and crunchy cookie with juicy cranberries and raisins. The flavours work really well together here. You can also add in chopped white chocolate or milk chocolate if you like to make it even more indulgent.

I'm entering this to Tea Time Treats which is hosted by Kate from What Kate Baked who is our lovely hostess for this month and Karen from Lavender and Lovage.

and also to the English Mum's Big Christmas Bakeoff

love the bright colours

ready to go in the oven

delicious!

An original recipe by bakingaddict

Makes approximately 50 cookies

220g butter

150g soft light brown sugar

75g caster sugar

2 eggs

150g self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon powder

270g rolled oats

1 pack of cranberry, flame raisins and macadamia mix (300g)

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add in the eggs and mix well.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, cinnamon and oats together.
Add to the butter mixture and mix well.
Finally stir in the cranberry, flame raisins and macadamia mix by hand.
Use a small ice cream scoop to scoop out small rounded spoonfuls of dough spaced apart.
Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
Allow to cool on the sheets for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container.

Cinnamon sugar palmiers

2011-12-15T22:26:00.002Z

I've mentioned before that I love palmiers but the last time I tried to make it at home, it wasn't perfect. So after a little research I decided to give it another go. My main inspiration comes from one of my favourite blogs Joy the Baker. I then saw a cinnamon version on 365 days of baking based on Joy's recipe. The pictures on both blogs looked amazing and I had high hopes for my second attempt. I'm very pleased to report that I was not disappointed in the least. The result was exactly what I was looking for. Crisp, buttery, sugary and cinnamonny (is that even a word?!) Perfect for Christmas so I am entering this to the English Mum's Big Christmas Bakeoff

This is really easy to make and all you need are 3 ingredients - puff pastry, sugar and cinnamon. To make the cinnamon sugar, mix 1 cup of sugar with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.

spread lots of cinnamon sugar on a worksurface

Place puff pastry on top and sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on top. Roll out the edges of the puff pastry with a rolling pin

fold one end to the middle and repeat on the other end so you end up with....

...something like this

scroll like

place in the fridge for about 30 minutes then slice and place on baking tray. Bake for about 20 minutes and...

..voila!

Chocolate, orange and cranberry cookies

2011-12-12T21:13:00.005Z

It's a new month and therefore a new We Should Cocoa Challenge. December is hosted by Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog and she chose orange as the ingredient for this month. Chocolate and orange is quite a classic pairing and a few ideas ran through my head - cupcakes, cakes, brownies, cookies.... I finally decided that I would create my own recipe in the form of a cookie. I absolutely love cookies, probably more than cake! My inspiration came from this lovely bag of Orange Nice Spice Puddles from Hotel Chocolat - they were part of the Christmas Collection Gift Bag that I won from a giveaway hosted by purelyfood - thank you so much! :)

So on to the cookies. Well it's a basic sugar cookie with the addition of orange zest, fresh orange juice, dried cranberries and the orange puddles. The result - a really lovely and festive cookie. You can clearly taste the individual flavours which complemented each other well. The cookie was light with a slight crunch and smelled amazing! I'm definitely making these again. You can substitute the chocolate puddles for chopped chocolate or chocolate chips - I'm thinking bits of Terry's Chocolate Orange next.

adding the orange zest

I made sure every cookie had at least 1 chocolate puddle :)

I'm also submitting this to Vanessa's Let's Make Christmas Event as it would be a great Christmas gift

And finally to a cookie bloghop from mikesbaking #cookielove

An original recipe by bakingaddict

Makes 22 cookies of size shown

125g butter

75g sugar

1 egg

Zest of 1 orange

Juice of 1/2 orange

150g plain flour, sifted

110g chocolate puddles as shown here

50g dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and mix well.
Add in the zest of 1 orange and juice of 1/2 an orange.
Sift in the flour and mix well.
Finally stir in the chocolate puddles and dried cranberries with a spatula.
Use a small ice cream scoop to place cookies on the baking tray spaced apart.
Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes until lightly brown around the edges.
Allow to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Ninjabreadmen

2011-12-07T21:16:00.004Z

This Christmas I present to you some 'Ginja Ninja's!' Everyone loves gingerbread (possibly with the exception of myself!) and this is a really fun twist to making gingerbread. It's simple to bake and if you have kids, they can join in the fun too.

I was sent these ninjabread cookie cutters by find-me-a-gift.co.uk to review. They are made of stainless steel and come in a set of three. There's a recipe for gingerbread on the back of the pack which I used to make these ninjas. These are seriously cute cookie cutters and I'm sure I will be making lots of ninjas throughout the year. Everyone has been impressed with the results and keep asking where they can buy these cookie cutters. Unfortunately the supplier has run out of stock currently but they should be getting more stock in so check back to find-me-a-gift.co.uk later. They would make excellent Christmas presents :)

*update: cookie cutters are now back in stock. Click here to buy some for yourself *

The fun thing about making gingerbread ninjas (or men or women) is that you can be really creative with the decorating. I'm afraid I'm not terribly creative and just went with the picture on the website and the pack. I might try my hand at royal icing next time.

As this is a Christmassy treat, I am entering this into the tea time treats challenge. This is a monthly event hosted on alternate months by Kate from What Kate Baked and Karen from Lavender and Lovage. Kate, the host for this month has chosen Christmas as the theme.

I'm also entering it into Vanessa's Let's Make Christmas event. Do check out her blog if you haven't already for the ultimate guide to making your own edible Christmas gift.

And to Let's Cook for Christmas Red and Green, hosted by simply food

And to the holiday goodies link up over at Diary of a Semi-Health Nut hosted by Amanda

the ninjas!

making ninja's

ready to go in the oven

spot the odd one out :)

Many thanks to find-me-a-gift.co.uk for providing me with the ninjabreadmen cookie cutters.

Recipe from the back of the pack: Makes 24 ninja's and 1 gingerbreadman

350g plain flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger (I used 3)

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

100g butter or margarine

175g soft light brown sugar

1 egg

4 tablespoons golden syrup (I used just over 5 as the dough was still crumbly)

Preheat the oven to 190C.
Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
Sift the flour, ginger and soda into a bowl.
Rub in the butter with your fingertips.
Add the sugar then stir in the syrup and egg.
This should make a firm dough.
Roll out onto a floured surface about 5mm thick and cut out your ninjabreadmen.
Place onto baking trays, spacing them apart as they will expand.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown.
Once cooked, leave to firm up for about 10 minutes before placing on to a wire rack to cool completely.
Decorate with coloured icing.

Mini Custard Pots

2011-12-06T22:10:00.001Z

I had 4 egg yolks leftover from making these peanut butter chip pillows recently. I was debating what to do with them so I sent out a tweet asking for suggestions which did not include custard and got the following replies: lemon curd, lemon meringue, meringue pie/tart and golden cake (thank you to those who replied)

What did I end up making? Custard which I did not want to make initially but I honestly just couldn't resist having seen them on Laura's blog and tweets. I had to wait another day to make them as I didn't have any cream in the house so the anticipation had been building up and they were well worth it.

I made a few different flavours - vanilla, lemon, lemon and honey, coffee and chocolate. My favourite was the coffee one which was a surprise as I don't drink coffee but then again I do like coffee based desserts. Surprisingly, the chocolate ones were my least favourite.

These custard pots are really smooth and silky and taste much better chilled. Writing this post makes me wish I still have some in the fridge!

first time baking in a bain marie

forgot to take a picture until it was almost all gone!

my favourite coffee one - tastes much better than it looks!

Recipe adapted from cakeandfeminism

4 egg yolks (you can also use whole eggs)

140g golden caster sugar

300ml double cream

300ml whole milk

Flavour variations

For vanilla - add 1 teaspoon vanilla essence or 1/2 vanilla pod (for 2 ramekins)

For lemon - add 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest and 1-2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice (to taste)

For honey and lemon - add 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest and 1 teaspoon honey

For coffee - add 1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in 1 tablespoon of hot water

For chocolate - add a few chunks of melted chocolate

Preheat oven to 150C.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl.
Bring the cream and milk to a boil in a large saucepan.
Pour onto the egg mixture, whisking throughout.
Pour the custard into ramekin dishes.
Add flavours as suggested above.
Sprinkle ground nutmeg or cocoa powder on top depending on flavour used.
Bake for 1 hour in the centre of the oven.
It should be set around the edges but still have a wobble in the middle.
Allow to cool then place in the fridge.
Best eaten chilled.

BBC Good Food Show and Great British Bake Off

2011-12-04T12:18:00.000Z

Last weekend, I managed to visit the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham. It was a really good day out but I was exhausted by the end of it. It was a really busy show and there were hundreds and hundreds of people there! I managed to buy a few foodie items to take back with me but the highlight for me was my "Great British Bake off Experience". I was lucky enough to book seats for the GBBO theatre. Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry showed us how to make an 8-plait bread and meringue roulade respectively. It was really nice to watch them live having seen them on television earlier that year.

Jo Wheatley, winner of GBBO 2011 and Edd Kimber, winner of GBBO 2010 also come on stage showcasing their meringue roulades. There was an audience vote and Jo won! I took quite a few photos and videos but unfortunately I can't upload all the videos here. I'm not tech savvy and the only reason I can think of is that the file is too large. It won't let me upload certain videos - if anyone can help, I would be grateful and I can upload them later. I have one of Mary Berry showing you how to roll the roulade.

Paul's intricate looking bread

'here's one I made earlier'

This video shows you how it's done. Paul said (jokingly I hope!) that it should be a technical challenge in the next series of GBBO. If you've applied, do take notes :)

"it's tough being a judge"

judging the meringue roulades - Jo won!

with Jo and Edd on stage

The lovely and talented Mary Berry. I was so excited and pleased that I got to meet her. I was completely starstruck! She and Jo did a book signing where the Q was so long, they had to turn people away as they only had a 30 minute slot! I think they added a second session later in the day though. She must have had hundreds of photos taken of her that day! Jo was just as I imagined from watching her on the show.

Mary and Jo signed my book :)

Edd also signed my book and I had a little chat with him. I was quite nervous and starstruck but I got to show him pictures of his cakes that I made and asked for some advice. (I brought my own book hence the coloured tabs)

Edd doing a live demo where he showed us how to make blackberry millefeuille and chewy speculaas blondies (below). I got to sample one of these and they were delicious!

I also visited the Great British Bake Off stall and had a chat to the team there. They were busy recruiting for the new series. Unfortunately, I missed seeing the other GBBO contestants who had been at the stall earlier. I also visited Ruth Clemens at StovesUK and had a brief chat to her. I also felt quite nervous and starstruck but she was really friendly and nice. I didn't take a picture of her though!

Finally, just before I had to leave to catch my train, I saw Rob Billington demoing a sea salt caramel I think... only stayed for a few minutes :( and in case you are wondering he looks even better in person :)

Did anyone else get to the Good Food Show? What did you think?

Cake club: Glitz & Glamour

2011-12-02T23:00:00.000Z

I attended the inaugural Cakes4Fun Cake Club in Putney, London last week. Thank you Caroline for inviting me. It's a monthly get together where everyone bakes something according to the set theme for that month. It's a great excuse to eat cake, have a drink and chat about baking. The theme for November was 'Glitz & Glamour'. There were 6 very glamourous cakes there, 5 with a chocolate base (clearly great minds think alike) and 1 non-chocolate cake. Obviously there was glitter and shimmer everywhere :)

Fran was our lovely host and she gave us really useful hints and tips along the way. We each got a chance to 'present' our cake - why we made it and how and answer any questions and then of course the important tasting. It was fun to swap baking tips and stories over cake, tea and wine.

Next month's cake club is on Jan 26th, the theme being ‘New Year….New you’ Healthy cakes to kick start your January. Contact cakes4fun for more details if you are interested in attending.

And now I present the lovely, glitzy and glamourous cakes.....

This was a lovely potato and chocolate cake. Yes you read it correctly - potato! It was absolutely delicious and you really can't taste the potato. I love the little gold homemade truffles too.

Next up a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall chocolate torte cake. Love the decoration here. This was lovely and moist and fudgey.

Moving on to a chocolate and banana cake with honeycomb on top. As you know banana is one of my favourite baked flavours and the addition of honeycomb made it even better.

This was Laura's white and dark chocolate cake. It was lovely and moist and I really loved the decorations! To read more about this cake, check out her blog here.

Look at the lovely layers... yum!

This was made by my friend Caroline and was the only non chocolate cake of the evening. It's a hummingbird cake which is made from bananas, pineapples, walnuts. It was lovely and moist and made a refreshing change from all the chocolatey-goodness we were consuming. It's one of my favourite cakes to make and eat so I was pleased to see it on the table. She used a gold shimmer spray and made the cute toppers from candy moulds from hobbycraft. Please take a moment to visit her blog which she has recently started.

Finally we had my ultimate chocolate cake which sadly arrived in pieces. This cake does not fare well on long bus and tube journeys! The collar had to be broken anyway to cut into the cake so it wasn't a major disaster and everyone kindly said that it looked quite artistic. It was lovely, soft and moist and surprisingly light as it looks like a 'heavy' cake. Still loving the gold maltesers :)

Fran showed us a feather cake she was going to make at the weekend. Can you believe this is all edible? Do check out the cakes4fun website for more amazing cakes. I had a chance to look at some of their display cakes - wow!

Ultimate chocolate cake

2011-11-30T21:35:00.000Z

I attended the first cake club at Cakes4Fun last week where the theme was 'Glitz&Glamour' - there will be a post on this with photos of all the delicious cake I got to eat coming right up. I debated for ages about what to make to fit the theme. I had a few ideas and finally settled on Edd Kimber's ultimate chocolate cake from his book the boy who bakes. I had originally intended to make this cake for my friend's birthday but decided on a raspberry ripple cake at the last minute. So I'm glad I finally got a chance to try this cake.

It's a really soft and moist chocolate cake which was surprisingly light. The chocolate ganache is heavenly and I could quite happily eat it all on its own! Well I did have to taste a little bit you understand - chef's tax :) I decided to 'glitz' it up by making a chocolate collar (first time with slightly disastrous results!) and add gold shimmer spray to the maltesers on top. Has anyone else tried Dr Oetker's gold shimmer spray? - AMAZING!

The result : a giant chocolate cake wrapped in a chocolate collar (with a few cracks) and gold, glittery maltesers on top. A bit OTT perhaps but it was well worth the effort. It tasted absolutely divine and looked pretty from the 'good' side! I had strangers stop me on my way to and back from cake club saying they like my cake which was really sweet. I was quite upset that it didn't turn out perfectly and it actually got worse on my way to cake club but more on that later. Back to the cake....

3 layer chocolate sponge

making the chocolate collar. measure your cake (diameter and height) and cut out a strip of parchment paper that size. Lay it over a larger piece of parchment paper to avoid mess. I used milkybar giant white buttons which I randomly spread on the parchment paper using a little bit of water to stick them down.

Next melt chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. I used a combination of milk and dark chocolate here. Allow to cool slightly then spread on top of your white buttons, using a small palette knife to spread it evenly. Allow to set then wrap around the cake. Note : do not leave it until it's completely dry which is what I did as it was past 1am and I really needed to get to bed! It will then be very hard and difficult to bend resulting in cracks!

spread ganache between each layer of cake, down the sides and on top

my cakes were a little wonky (I accidentally put the top cake the wrong way up creating a gap in the middle) Ah well nothing that a bit of ganache and a chocolate collar can't fix!

hence the collar... this is the 'good' side

I love gold maltesers :)

I had some leftover chocolate ganache and chocolate from making the collar so I put them into moulds and made these.

Recipe for the cake and chocolate ganache is from The boy who Bakes by Edd Kimber

Chocolate Fondant Pudding

2011-11-29T22:39:00.000Z

I love chocolate. No surprise. I love dessert. No surprise. Naturally, I love chocolate fondant. It is one of my favourite desserts to order if it's on the menu and will almost always order it unless there is a good lemon tart on offer. I saw these on thelittleloaf's blog recently and immediately bookmarked it to make. Some recipes are on my bookmarked list forever and others just go straight to the top of the Q. I simply could not wait to make my own. However, it is dangerous knowing I can make my own as I ended up eating these for a whole week... well the recipe did make 4! Gu might just go out of business soon ;p

It took a few tries to get the oven temperature correct - first one was undercooked so it collapsed when I turned it out and one of them was overcooked so there was no gooey middle. I did manage to get it right after that and they were absolutely delicious. Well worth the effort and the nervous anticipation whilst it's cooking wondering if it's going to turn out ok. Obviously in the name of research I had to keep making them until they were perfect :)

I am also submitting this to Jac's bookmarked recipes for Dec

first try - a gooey mess as my oven temperature was inaccurate but delicious nonetheless

second time - almost perfect! I would have preferred it slightly runnier

I love this picture :)

Recipe from thelittleloaf which was adapted from a Jamie magazine recipe, with very minor modifications of my own.

175g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

25g salted butter, at room temperature

75g golden caster sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

25g plain flour

Preheat the oven to 200C.
Butter 4 ramekin dishes and dust with cocoa powder. Shake off the excess powder.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl placed over a pan of barely simmering water.
Set aside to cool slightly.
Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time and then add the vanilla extract.
Stir in the flour until just combined and then gently mix in the melted chocolate.
Pour into the ramekins in equal portions.
Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes (it will depend on your oven).
It should be set around the edges but still soft in the center.
Note: the uncooked batter keeps well in the fridge, just remember to increase cooking time by a few minutes if cooking from chilled.

Secret recipe club - Peanut butter chip pillows

2011-11-28T13:00:00.007Z

I'm very excited to present to you my first secret recipe post. The secret recipe club was started by Amanda from Amanda's Cookin' Essentially the idea is that you get assigned a blog which you keep secret hence the name and make a recipe from that blog. Someone else will have your blog too. All posts are revealed at the same time on a set date. As Amanda says, its a fun way to discover new blogs, make new friends and step outside of our comfort zones.

I have been assigned bakingbad as my secret blog. It's a great blog with a variety of foods and bakes which are very helpfully listed in the recipe index. Please do hop over and visit if you haven't already. I spent a few happy hours perusing her blog and bookmarked a few recipes to try. However, I went back again and saw these mint chocolate chip pillows which were posted recently. I have been wanting to try something similar but never got round to it so this is as good a chance as any.
I've substituted peanut butter chips for mint chips as if you know me or read my blog enough you will know that I love peanut butter. This is a great gluten free recipe. It's a baked meringue with chocolate and peanut butter flavours. Mine are probably slightly underdone as I like it soft and chewy but with a crisp exterior. You can definitely taste the chocolate and peanut butter combination. They are so light and airy, you can easily eat the whole lot in one go (no I have not, honest!) I can see why they are aptly named pillows.

light fluffy chocolate meringue

adding the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips

ready to go in the oven

yummy 'pillows'

you can see the peanut butter chip and the soft, chewy interior

Recipe adapted from bakingbad

4 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

95g sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

100g dark chocolate chips

100g peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 150C/300F.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form.
Continue beating whilst adding in the sugar a little at a time.
Add in the vanilla extract.
Then add the sifted cocoa powder and finally fold in the chips (you can subsitute for any flavour you like - chocolate, mint, butterscotch etc)
Using a small ice cream scoop, place heaped scoops of batter on the tray spaced apart.
Bake for 35-45 minutes until they are dry.
Allow to cool slightly on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in a an airtight container at room temperature. Should keep for a week but I won't know as mine will all be gone before then!

Food Bloggers Unplugged

2011-11-27T11:54:00.000Z

I have been reading this on a lot of blogs recently so was really touched to be tagged by Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen. Susan from a little bit of heaven on a plate started this fun, online tag which helps us get to know the person behind the blog. I have to admit I was feeling quite shy and unsure. I'm quite a private person and have kept personal details to a minimum on this blog. However, I am nosey and love learning about others. I guess it's only fair so I will try my best....

1. What, or who inspired you to start a blog?

It was a sort of new year resolution although I don't tend to make resolutions. I had baked like mad over festive xmas season 2009 and wanted somewhere to share my bakes. I wanted to do something different that year and focus more on my baking. A friend of mine suggested a blog and the rest as they say is history. I'm slightly technically challenged but it seems to have worked well. I can't make it look too pretty as I don't know how. Hoping to get a facelift for my blog next year.

2. Who is your foodie inspiration?

I'm sure almost everyone has said their mum but it's true. My mum is an amazing cook and baker and I remember when we were younger, after eating at a restaurant, mum would say I can cook that and she would! Often it would be a better version. I get inspiration from reading other food blogs, online recipes, cookbooks and talking to other cooks/bakers.

3. Your greasiest, batter - splattered food/drink book is?

I don't actually have one. I don't really cook much, I really just tend to bake. If I do cook, I'll probably get a recipe online or from my mum. I do have a rapidly growing collection of baking related books. My most frequently used ones are Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery, The Love Bakery and the Hummingbird Bakery.

4. Tell us all about the best thing you have ever eaten in another country, where was it, what was it?

It is so difficult to choose as I've been fortunate enough to have travelled to many different places and eaten lots of different, delicious foods. It would probably take forever to tell you about them. I'll go with recent food memories but as pictures speak louder than words ....

amazing little bread/pastry thing in Italy - I cant remember what its called. Great with ham and cheese

Delicious, fresh grilled seafood in Ghent, Brussels.

5. Another food bloggers table you'd like to eat at is?

Probably every food blogger I've visited! I'd like to mention 2 in particular: Not Quite Nigella, a food blogger from Sydney as I drool everytime I visit her site and Joy the Baker - absolutely amazing blog.

6. What is the one kitchen gadget you would ask Santa for this year (money no object of course)?

Ooh this is a tough one. Maybe a glass bowl for my KitchenAid as I keep seeing it on TV and cooking demonstrations. Plus it would be helpful when having to beat egg whites for the recipe as I don't have to wash and dry in between!

7. Who taught you how to cook?

I'm not sure as I can't cook very well. By osmosis from mum I guess but it's mostly been self taught.

8. I'm coming to you for dinner what's your signature dish?

See above - I guess it would be a 3 course dessert dinner! How about cake, cheesecake and pudding? If you insist on something savoury, maybe a vegetable curry or roast pork (which I've made only once for Xmas)

9. What is your guilty food pleasure?

It would have to be KFC!

10. Reveal something about yourself that others would be surprised to learn?

I don't really cook much at all. In fact I probably know how to cook about 5 things, ok maybe a little more. Everyone always asks if I cook great food as the assumption is that if you can bake then you can cook. I also have many weird food dislikes (which most people love) such as peas, lamb, celery, ginger, coconut, marzipan.... I think I better stop here!

Finally...tag 5 other food bloggers with these questions...like a hot baked potato...pass it on!

1. Nom from The Indulgent Baking Blog

2. Jo from What do you make of my cake

3. Gem from Cupcakecrazygem

4. Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes

5. Laura from lauralovescakes

If you have been tagged, please link up your entry here and if you tweet, use #foodbloggersunplugged on twitter.

Enjoy!

Banana, pecan and chocolate loaf

2011-11-22T22:51:00.000Z

Another banana recipe! This time with nuts and chocolate for a change. I love making banana bread as it's so simple to make and always tastes good. The bananas guarantee the moistness and you can add pretty much anything to it - fruit, nuts, honey, chocolate. If I've labelled my blog correctly, this is the 17th recipe with bananas that I've posted! I will have even more exciting banana posts as I have a very exciting, new cookbook which I will tell you about in due course. I'll let you in on a little secret - I actually buy bananas to ripen at home so I can bake with them. Please tell me I'm not the only one! :)

3 ripe bananas, mashed

170g caster sugar

185g self-raising flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons milk

100g dark chocolate chips

90g pecans, chopped (you can also use walnuts)

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Grease and line a loaf tin.
Mix the mashed bananas and sugar in a large bowl until combined.
Add the flour, eggs, oil and milk.
Stir until combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts.
Pour into the tin and bake for 50 - 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre come out clean.
Allow to cool for a few minutes in the tin before turning out to a wire rack to cool completely.

Apple and Sultana Crumble Bars

2011-11-20T22:26:00.002Z

This is my second entry for Tea Time Treats hosted on alternate months by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Kate from What Kate Baked. The theme for November is Ginger and Bonfire Treats, hosted by Karen. I was leafing through my Hummingbird bakery cake days book and came across this recipe which is in the 'Halloween and Bonfire Night' section. It's a lovely recipe which is relatively simple to prepare. I love the spices mixed with the apples and sultanas. I'm sure I've mentioned previously that I'm not a fan of ginger but you can barely taste it in this recipe which is perfect for me. The crumble is buttery and soft with the chewiness of the oats, plus it makes it seem slightly healthier!

making the base

add the spiced apples

sprinkle sultanas on top

finish with more crumble - I didnt have enough to cover the whole top so some of the sultanas were burnt!

fresh from the oven

Recipe from the hummingbird bakery cake days

200g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

200g unsalted butter, softened

250g light brown sugar

120g rolled oats

300g granny smith apples (approximately 2.5-3 apples peeled, cored and chopped)

4 tablespoons cornflour

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground ginger

175g sultanas

Preheat the oven to 170C.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.
Add the butter and rub together until they resemble breadcrumbs.
Stir in the sugar and rolled oats.
Press half of this oat mixture into a greased and lined tray (approx 22cm x 31cm).
Peel and core the apples, then cut into small chunks.
Mix the apples with the cornflour and ground spices.
Place the spice-coated apples on top of the oat mixture then sprinkle over the sultanas.
Spoon the remaining oat mixture on top and press down gently.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the mixture is golden brown.
Allow to cool completely in the baking tray before slicing and serving.

Rainbow Pudsey Cupcakes and Smarties Cookies for BBC Children in Need

2011-11-17T22:46:00.007Z

Tomorrow November 18th 2011 is the BBC Children in Need Appeal. It first started in 1927 as a five minute radio broadcast and has now grown to a huge annual fund-raising event raising over £600 million. Pudsey Bear made his television debut in 1985 when Terry introduced the new, brown cuddly mascot to the audience. He was designed by Joanna Ball, a BBC graphics designer, who named him after the West Yorkshire town where she was born. He proved very popular and returned as BBC Children in Need's official logo the following year with his design amended to that of a yellow bear with a red spotted bandage.

I was asked by BakingMad to make a Pudsey Bear Dessert for their Children in Need campaign. I wanted to do something slightly different from the standard vanilla cupcakes so I decided to make it a rainbow vanilla cupcake. It's really fun and simple to do and would be a great project with the kids if you have any. I used my standard vanilla cupcake recipe and divided it into 4 equal portions. I used ziplock bags to save on washing up and it also helped to fill the cupcake cases neatly. I ordered some colourful Pudsey cupcake toppers online but sadly they have not arrived so I decorated them as suggested on the bakingmad website. Do check out all the other fantastic cupcake recipes there.

If you like this recipe, please click here http://www.bakingmad.com/recipes/cupcakes/pudsey-rainbow-cupcakes and support my recipe as BakingMad are offering a prize to the recipe with the most page views. Thanks!

I also made some smarties cookies to go with the cupcakes as they fit the theme. I didn't have time to buy the Pudsey bear cookie cutters - perhaps something for next year. I hope they will raise some money tomorrow for this great cause. If you want to donate, you can do so by visiting http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/

UPDATE : I've raised £46.10 at work today!

what you need to make rainbow pudsey cupcakes - cupcake batter, cupcake cases, food colouring, coloured choco beans, black writing icing and some ziplock bags

I overfilled the bags so only got 4 colours but I love all of them! It's easy to mix the colours in the bags and then to pipe into the cupcake cases

layer the batter in the cupcake cases. I've started here with blue followed by red...

...and then purple...

... and finally yellow

fresh from the oven - I had to trim the tops a little as they were slightly domed (note to self no need to add baking powder for this recipe)

decorate with vanilla frosting, coloured choco beans and writing icing.

isn't he cute?

cross section to see the beautiful rainbow effect

add some cookies to the mix

For the vanilla cupcake

250g unsalted butter

250g caster sugar

250g self-raising flour

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (I used Nielsen-Massey)

4 eggs

6 tablespoons milk

Food colouring

For the vanilla frosting

125g unsalted butter, softened

250g icing sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

1 tablespoon milk

Yellow food colouring

To decorate

Black writing icing (I used Silverspoon)

Coloured choco beans (I used Silverspoon)

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake cases.
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition.
Add the milk and vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste.
Finally add the sifted flour.
Divide the batter evenly into required number of colours - I used 4 here.
Add a little bit of food colouring to each portion and mix evenly.
Pipe a layer of the first coloured batter into the cupcake cases, followed by the second coloured batter and repeat until all the batter has been used.
Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 18-22 minutes until they spring back to touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool completely on a wire rack.
Prepare the vanilla frosting by mixing all the ingredients together (add the colouring last) until smooth (preferably in an electric mixer).
Spread the frosting on top of each cupcake.
Place choco-beans on 1 side to resemble Pudsey's bandage and draw the eyes, nose and mouth with the writing icing.

For the smarties cookies

250g butter
250g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
350g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
240g Smarties
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
- Gradually beat in the sifted dry ingredients to form a stiff dough.
- Finally stir in the smarties by hand.
- Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop cookie dough onto the baking sheets, spaced well apart. (These cookies expand in the oven)
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until pale golden brown.
- Allow to cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Oat and Cranberry cookie

2011-11-16T21:31:00.000Z

I saw this recipe on one of my favourite blogs, Lavender and Lovage. She made them as a secret recipe club challenge where the original recipe came from Patti's Comfy Cuisine. I love cookies and couldn't wait to try them out after the glowing review from both bloggers. I've made a similar version with pecan nuts and white chocolate chips, in fact one of my first few posts on this blog. I may have to make those again for a comparison taste test! Regardless, I really like this version as it's simple and tasty. It's quick to put together and you can make various variations with this recipe. I modified the recipe very slightly (just reduced the sugar amounts) and managed to get 48 cookies of the size shown!

Makes approx 48 cookies of size shown

225g butter

150g brown sugar

75g caster sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

185g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

370g rolled oats

145g dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and mix well.
Stir in the oats and dried cranberries.
Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop out cookie dough spaced well apart on a lined baking sheet.
Bake for approximately 10 -12 minutes until golden brown.
Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Apple, chocolate and nut bundt cake

2011-11-14T21:47:00.000Z

This month's we should cocoa is hosted by Chele from Chocolate Teapot and she chose apples as the special ingredient. I have been baking quite a lot with apples recently as it's in season but I have never baked them with chocolate so this truly was a challenge for me. It took a while before the idea fully formed in my head. I leafed through some of my cookbooks to get inspiration and came across this nutty apple loaf from the hummingbird bakery cookbook which has chocolate in it. Excellent! I then thought maybe I could make it in my new bundt pan which I have been dying to use. I am so glad that it turned out well and looks really pretty.

As it's a small tin, I got to make some mini loaves as well. The cake itself was moist due to the apples and the nuts gave it a lovely crunch and texture. The chocolate complemented the flavours but did not overpower. I am definitely making this recipe again and again.

In case you didn't know, tomorrow November 15th is National Bundt Day. Mary from The Food librarian makes 30 bundt cakes in the month leading up to tomorrow. She has an impressive collection of bundt pans and a vast collection of bundt cake recipes some of which I have tried with good results. I am adding this recipe to her round up for 2011.

my new bundt pan

mix ingredients together for the cake

add chopped apple, chocolate and mixed nuts.

filling the bundt pan

perhaps a little overdone!

I love the way it looks :)

sprinkling of icing sugar on top

you can see the apples and chocolate

mini loaves with the extra batter

Recipe from the hummingbird bakery cookbook
175g unsalted butter
140g soft light brown sugar
2 tablespoons strawberry jam
2 eggs
140g plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
100g shelled mixed nuts, chopped
50g dark chocolate, chopped
2 eating apples, cored and roughly chopped

Put the butter, sugar and strawberry jam in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment and cream until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time.
Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a separate bowl and then beat into the butter mixture.
Stir the nuts, chocolate and apples into the mixture by hand.
Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 170C.
Pour the mixture into a bundt pan (or loaf tin) and bake for about 45-50 minutes. (My small bundt pan only required about 35 minutes to cook)
A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean and the sponge should feel firm to touch.
Leave to cool slightly in the tin before turning out to a wire rack to cool completely.
Dust with icing sugar if required.

Ginger and treacle spiced traybake

2011-11-12T23:46:00.002Z

Tea Time Treats is a new monthly blogging event hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Kate from What Kate Baked. This month's theme hosted by Karen is Ginger and Bonfire Treats. I love joining in these blogging challenges and was really excited to bake something that would fit this theme. However I don't like ginger but I was pretty sure I could find some other bonfire treats to fit the bill. In the end, I actually picked a ginger recipe as I made this for a team that I was visiting as part of my induction to my new job. I thought it would be nice to bring some cakes along and most people love ginger. Plus I wanted to try some new recipes from 1 of my many new cookbooks that I purchased recently. This recipe is from Mary Berry's 100 Cakes and Bakes. It's a really simple mix everything in one type of recipe - my favourite kind! The longest time taken was to finely chop the stem ginger.

I do apologise for the lack of photos as it was a gift so I couldn't get a cross section of the cake. I was told that it tasted good but I didn't try any myself. It certainly smelled good - gingery and spicy.

I am also submitting this to The Pink Whisk November challenge which is traybakes.

first time using black treacle and stem ginger

ready to go in the oven

looks and smells good

top with icing

sprinkle chopped stem ginger on top

225g butter, softened

175g light muscovado sugar

200g black treacle

300g self raising flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground allspice

4 large eggs

4 tablespoons milk

3 bulbs of stem ginger from a jar, finely chopped

For the icing

75g icing sugar

3 tablespoons stem ginger syrup from the jar

3 bulbs of stem ginger from a jar, finely chopped to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Measure all the ingredients for the traybake into a large bowl and beat until well blended.
Pour the mixture into the tin and level with the back of a spatula.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cake has shrunk from the sides of the tin and springs back when pressed in the middle.
Leave to cool for a few minutes before turning out to cool on a wire rack.
Make the icing by sifting the icing sugar into a bowl and adding the ginger syrup.
Pour the icing over the cake and spread it to the edges with a small palette knife.
Sprinkle with chopped stem ginger to decorate.
Allow the icing to set before slicing.

Pear and Cinnamon Yoghurt Cake

2011-11-11T23:38:00.001Z

This recipe is truly simple and pears are in season so I'm making this for Simple and in Season hosted by Ren of Fabulicious Food. It's a mix everything together type of cake with no fancy equipment required. The longest time taken (apart from baking) was pre-heating my oven (it's very slow) and preparing the pears. You can have this cake in the oven in 10 minutes flat, no kidding. The result - absolutely amazing in terms of smell and taste. I love the smell of baking but even more when there's cinnamon involved! The cake itself is light and moist and I love the crunch and sweetness of the pears. You can substitute the pears for apples or plums.

My cake tin is on the small side so I used the 'extra' half pear to fill the gaps

sprinkle with a generous amount of cinnamon and some brown sugar

freshly baked

Recipe adapted from honeyandsoy
3 pears, peeled and cut into halves
2 eggs
250mls yoghurt
160g sugar
80mls vegetable oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
300g flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon, plus extra for sprinkling (optional)
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon brown sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Grease and line a 25cm cake tin. (Mine is only 20 cm so I had half a pear left which I used to fill the gaps)
In a large bowl, mix together the yoghurt, sugar, oil, honey and vanilla.
In another bowl, sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda.
Peel and core the pears and then cut them in half.
Add the flour mixture to the yoghurt mixture and combine gently.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
Top with pear halves.
Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Raspberry Ripple Cake

2011-11-10T22:56:00.007Z

Today is my friend's birthday. I wanted to make an extra special birthday cake for her which we celebrated at the weekend. Warning this is a slightly long, rambly post but it was quite an effort making this cake!

I was really excited to receive my new book The Boy Who Bakes by Edd Kimber and decided I would make something from it. The first recipe is 'my ultimate chocolate cake' and I thought can't go wrong with a chocolate cake and it looks amazing so this is what I will make. Then I turn the page and see raspberry ripple cake. I got really excited and decided that I would make this instead.

Part 1 - the sponge went well. It rose beautifully and I could tell it was going to be light and moist. This recipe requires you to separate your eggs and fold in the egg whites at the end.

Part 2 - frosting. Disaster part 1! This is my first time making essentially what is a cooked buttercream frosting where you have to whip the egg whites then add boiling sugar syrup and continue whipping. I'm not sure where I went wrong as the frosting turned out lumpy and almost curdled? Or like the fat had separated? I don't know how else to describe it. I used fresh eggs from the market and I tested the eggs for freshness before using. Does anyone have any idea/suggestions/tips about this?

However the next morning, I kept whipping the frosting and the white chocolate frosting became nice and smooth but the raspberry half remained slightly lumpy.

Part 3 - decoration -Disaster part 2 - I ambitiously planned to make a sugar collar after seeing it on Lorraine Pascale's baking show on BBC. Sadly, it didn't quite work and yet Lorraine made it look so easy on TV! It didn't really set and as I was running late I decided not to wait and just bring the cake as it was. I piped some jam on top to have some sort of decoration. Sometimes less is more, right?

Fortunately, the cake itself turned out well. Everyone loved it including the birthday girl. It was a really light and moist sponge and I loved the jam between the layers. The frosting was not too sweet and quite smooth. I will definitely make this cake again but probably only for a special occasion as it was quite an effort and when I've left myself enough time. On the plus side, no one has been taken ill after eating this cake!

If you're still reading, thank you for staying with me till the end. It really does end well :) To depart from tradition, I will not be posting the recipe on my blog as I think it would be nice to support Edd Kimber by buying the book and I can definitely recommend it. Don't let my attempt put you off, its not the recipe, it's the baker! Look out for more baking with recipes from the boy who bakes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLOTTE!!

sponge

cooking the sugar syrup for the frosting using my new thermometer

spreading jam between the layers

my 3 tiered cake

you can just see the raspberry frosting below- its supposed to be swirled for the raspberry ripple effect but I really didn't like the texture or look of the raspberry frosting so decided to cover it up.

I love the layers!

My attempt at 'graffiti collar' for the cake. Perhaps I didn't boil it to the right temperature or just needed to wait for it to set.

Cookies and Cream Cookies

2011-11-09T22:13:00.000Z

If you don't already know, I'm a huge fan of oreos and I love baking with them. I've already blogged about 12 oreo bakes on my blog and I'd like to add this to the list. Oreo cookies within a cookie - what else could you ask for? I came across this recipe from an American Cupcake in London - which is a really cool blog so do check it out if you haven't already. It's a really simple recipe and very quick to put together. If you're anything like me then you will already have these items in your cupboard.

mixing in the oreos - yum!

Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies

113g butter

75g caster sugar

75g brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

156g flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 Oreos

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Grease and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla extract.
Slowly add the flour mixture.
Crumble oreo cookies and stir in by hand.
Drop heaped tablespoonfuls of dough (or use a small ice cream scoop) onto a lined baking tray, spaced well apart.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges turn golden brown.
Allow to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Popcorn, chocolate and nut slice

2011-11-08T22:07:00.001Z

I made these months ago but have not had a chance to blog about it until now. It's such a simple and effective recipe, I've like to share it with all of you. I went to a friend's party many years ago and the co-host is a chef. Most of her friends are chefs and I had the best food at this party. The thing I was most impressed with however was a chocolate biscuit slice. Essentially it's like a fridge cake and you can put whatever ingredients that take your fancy. I asked the co-host for the recipe and she kindly shared it with me. I'm sure she was probably expecting me to ask for the recipes of all the other delicious and amazing food there but I just wanted this one. It's simple, no bake and tastes absolutely amazing.
Now, each time I make this, everyone asks me for the recipe! My favourite combination is rich tea biscuits and dried cranberries which I have given in the recipe below.
However, for this occasion, I had to make it gluten free for my colleague and was looking around my kitchen and spied some popcorn (I still had a box leftover after making popcorn cake ages ago), cherries from my pineapple upside down cake and flaked almonds from my plum and almond crumble slice. Result - good use of my leftovers and a gluten free delicious dessert.

Makes enough for about 30 small slices

150g good quality dark chocolate
50g good quality milk chocolate
75g golden syrup
125g unsalted butter
100g Rich Tea biscuits crumbled into chunks, not powder
100g dried cranberries or raisins
icing sugar for decoration (optional)
(You can also substitute or add nuts, marshmallows, etc but total weight of 'extras' should not exceed 200g)
Note: the exception to this is popcorn which takes up volume but not much weight. For this recipe I had to judge how much popcorn could be covered with my chocolate mixture

Melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup together in the microwave in 30 second increments until almost melted.
Stir to melt fully (be careful not to let the mixture get too hot).
Allow to cool a little then stir in the biscuits and cranberries or other 'extras'.
Pour into a small rectangular or square tin lined with parchment paper.
Chill in the fridge overnight.
Sprinkle with icing sugar (if required) and cut into small squares.

Chocolate Mug Cake

2011-11-03T23:38:00.002Z

It's late at night and it's cold outside. It's been raining most of the evening and I'm drowning in work. The chocolate craving hits but a normal bar of chocolate or chocolate ice cream just won't cut it. Sometimes I just want cake. Preferably chocolate cake. Greedy as I may be, I can't really eat a whole cake myself (err.. ok maybe I can but that's not in question here!) I thought about whipping up a small batch of cupcakes and then I remember that I read about a microwave mug cake somewhere. I scrolled through my bookmarked recipes and there it was - the Five Minute Chocolate Mug Cake by Not Quite Nigella 2009. This is an amazing recipe and it really does take 5 minutes to make and minimal washing up. It tastes just like a baked chocolate cake and definitely satisfied my chocolate cake craving.

It's really dangerous knowing I can make cake so quickly and simply. I'm already thinking of different flavour variations - vanilla cake, lemon cake, extra chocolate cake (I think I'll put chocolate chunks next time), cinammon cake, caramel cake....

I'd also like to submit this recipe to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jac of Tinned Tomatoes, founded by Ruth of Ruth's Kitchen Experiments.

Thought I had to get my 'cake' mug out for this

mix dry ingredients

add wet ingredients, mix and top with more chocolate chips

cake!

cross section of cake

add a small scoop of ice cream

Makes 2 mugs

(Adapted from Not Quite Nigella)

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

pinch of salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips, plus 2 tablespoons extra

splash of vanilla extract

Mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a mug.
Add egg, milk, oil and chocolate chips.
Stir well.
Top with the extra tablespoon of chocolate chips (1 for each mug)
Cook for 1-2 minutes in the microwave. My microwave is ancient and only has a cook or defrost function so took just over 2 minutes. If it's not cooked, just put it back and check every 10-15 seconds as you don't want to overcook it.
Note: I didn't cover my mug and there was no over-spill. I also used self raising flour as I'd run out of plain flour.
Serve with some ice cream straight from the mug.

Halloween Candy

2011-11-01T23:41:00.000Z

The last of my halloween baking this year. I made these for the trick or treaters who couldn't believe that I made these myself! I went to Hobbycraft at the weekend for the first time - how have I never discovered this before?! Anyway, better late than never right? I spent more than an hour there browsing and filling up my basket very quickly. I bought supplies for my cake pops (tip 1: candy melts here are cheaper than if you buy from amazon or other online stores; tip 2: buy oasis floral foam blocks to hold your cake pops) and came across this halloween candy making kit which was on sale. Of course I had to buy it and it was the last one!

It comes with 3 moulds, wilton candy melts (light cocoa, orange, white and red), 20 lollipop sticks, 4 disposable decorating bags, 1 decorating brush and 20 party bags. All for £9.99! I was really pleased with the final results. Will definitely be making more of these next year.

melt the candy melts in the microwave using the disposable decorating bags

Halloween Oreo Cupcakes

2011-11-01T19:26:00.000Z

Oreo cupcakes with a Halloween twist. I saw these limited edition mini oreos and just couldnt resist. I used my trusted oreo cupcake recipe and they went down a trick and a treat. It was like a magic trick as one minute it was there, the next it was gone!

Halloween Cake Pops

2011-10-31T22:14:00.000Z

It has been a mega halloween baking effort from me this year. I managed to make about 100 cake pops and cake balls over a few days which have all been eaten! Plus Halloween candy and cupcakes which will be featured next. I went on a cake pops class earlier this year taught by Leigh of Craft Cakes at the Oak Studio. Been planning to make cake pops since then but not had a chance until now. Luckily I still remembered how to but really need to practice my decorating skills. I did fail art at school so really you can't blame me! I also had some help from my friend P who was staying over and helped decorate the cake pops. The first time, we used writing icing which was difficult to control resulting in the cake pops above.
I then asked for some help from Olivia of livalittlebakery as her cake pops looks amazing, check it out here.
So the second time round, I used sugarflair colour paste with a paintbrush. However my brush was not fine enough and by then I was really tired and just wanted to get them done. Lesson learnt for next time. Leigh also had a great tip of using royal icing which I will definitely try next time.

prepare your items. I forgot to add in the tic tacs which I used for the pumpkin stem. Sainsbury's has an amazing baking range at the moment including these orange buttons.

dip cake balls and allow to set. I

I had this brilliant idea of using a pumpkin to display my cake pops and am glad it worked. Its also my first time carving a pumpkin so I'm pretty pleased with myself :) I need to carve the mouth a bit higher though.

yummy mummies (all decorating ideas are from Bakerella's cake pops - highly recommend if you want to make amazing looking cake pops)

2nd time - I tried making some skulls - ugh. Good thing its Halloween so ugly is pretty haha. I also got these oasis foam blocks and wilton candy melts from hobbycraft - great for cake pops. They were still a little difficult to balance using the empty egg cartons.

pumpkins using black sugarflair paste with a (too thick) brush and wilton candy melts - brighter orange colour but I think the silverspoon buttons gave a smoother appearance.

little pumpkins when I ran out of lollipop sticks and time to draw more faces... still looked good and tasted great.

If you need a reminder on how to make the actual cake pops, click here

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Banana, carrot and orange muffin

2011-10-25T21:47:00.001+01:00

From apples to bananas and carrots, I feel like I'm going through my alphabet...ABC! Hmm could be an interesting challenge but might be tricky when I get to X. Can you think of a food that begins with the letter 'X' that I can bake?

Anyway we digress. This is a really simple recipe, one of those mix everything and bake (my favourite kind) and perfect for breakfast/tea or as a snack. The muffins are really soft and moist and the orange flavour is quite strong. If you don't like the ctirusy tang then either omit the orange zest or put a minimal amount in. I had to put most of these in the freezer so they would last longer otherwise they were in danger of being eaten very quickly! They freeze really well and make an excellent breakfast on the go.

preparing the batter - love the colours

adding the egg whites

yummy batter

delicious!

185g flour

150g caster sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 eggs, separated

1 tablespoon honey

zest of 1 orange

2 bananas, mashed

150g carrots, grated

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 170C.
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Add 2 egg yolks, honey and orange zest and mix well.
Fold in the mashed bananas, grated carrots and oil.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Add the egg whites to the batter and fold in carefully.
Spoon into muffin cases and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Apple Streusel Cake

2011-10-24T23:11:00.005+01:00

October is National Apple Month. I've already been baking quite a bit with apples and other fruits that are in season this autumn. There are quite a few blogging challenges around the blogosphere so I'd like to submit this recipe for the cookbook party hosted by Louise of months of edible celebrations. Check out her website to see what else October is the month for... I was quite surprised! I'm also submitting this recipe to Simple and in Season.

This recipe is from the hummingbird bakery cake days (page 42). It's a really simple recipe and turned out beautifully. I added an extra layer of apples so you can see that there is only a very thin layer of sponge but lots of apples and streusel topping. It smelled amazing whilst it was baking and once it was out of the oven. I really love the combination of apples and cinnamon - a match made in heaven. I think this is better than the cinnamon crumble apple cake that I made recently.

make the streusel topping

layer the apples on top - I added a second layer after this!

add the streusel topping and bake

fresh from the oven

Recipe from hummingbird bakery cake days

For the cake
60g unsalted butter
140g plain flour
100g caster sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
80mls whole milk
3 granny smith apples

For the streusel topping
70g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
40g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
70g soft light brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 170C.
Grease and line a 20cm spring-form cake tin.
Firstly, make the streusel topping by sifting the flour and cinnamon into a bowl.
Add the butter and rub together using your fingertips until they resemble breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar and set aside.
Secondly, make the sponge by creaming the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla essence and mix well.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt and then add half to the creamed butter mixture followed by half of the milk.
Repeat with the rest of the flour mixture and milk.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin.
Peel, core and slice the apples and arrange on top of the cake batter.
Sprinkle the streusel topping on top evenly.
Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown.
Cake can be eaten warm or cold. (I had mine warm with ice cream and it was delicious!)

National Baking Week

2011-10-23T01:02:00.003+01:00

If you didn't already know, it's national baking week Oct 17th-23rd 2011. Ruth Clemens of the pink whisk and Great British Bake Off Finalist 2010 is the face of national baking week. You can watch a live Q&A session with Ruth here.

I saw the video of the national baking week cake online and couldn't wait to see it in person so I was really excited to go and see it in person today. It is a giant cake of London tube stops and landmarks and I absolutely love the details in it. It's definitely worth visiting if you are in the area or if you live in London for that matter. The display can be seen at King's Cross St Pancras International near the eurostar departures. However, if you can't get there in person, I hope these pictures will give you an idea of what it looks like. I wonder how long it took to make and how many bakers were involved.

view from the top. I love how it looks like the London tube map

ground level

I love the names of the stations - swiss roll cottage and victoria sponge are my favourites but they were all very creative and clever.

Butterscotch Marshmallow Bar

2011-10-22T00:54:00.000+01:00

I finally got round to making something from the Hummingbird bakery cake days having bought the book months ago. It's quite a good book (lovely pictures with a good, clear layout) although some of the recipes are similar to the original hummingbird bakery cookbook. I've already bookmarked quite a few but it joins my eternal 'to bake' list which seems to get longer everyday!

This is a quick and simple bake and guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser as most people love marshmallows (weirdly, not me!), butterscotch (yum) and nuts. The blurb in the book says "they're unlikely to last long - your friends just won't be able to resist" Well it definitely disappeared quickly at work with lots of compliments :)

I have to say it does not look like the picture in the book but it definitely tasted good. I also got to learn about cooking sugar until it reaches the soft ball stage.

base

the soft ball stage (this was a new learning experience for me so I thought I'd add in a photo to try and illustrate what it should look like - I have now ordered a jam thermometer so should be easier next time!)

sprinkle marshmallows on top

Add the butterscotch and nuts

For the base

150g flour

40g icing sugar

120g unsalted butter, softened

For the topping

100g pink and white mini marhsmallows

210g caster sugar

150g soft light brown sugar

190g golden syrup

70g unsalted butter

60ml double cream

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

60g crunchy peanut butter

30g mixed chopped nuts (I only had pecans so went with that this time)

Preheat the oven to 170C; grease and line a 22cm x 31cm baking tray.
Mix the ingredients for the base until a dough forms (by hand or with an electric mixer using the paddle attachment).
Press the dough into the prepared baking tray, making a slight lip around the edge and bake for 20 minutes or until the edges are a light golden brown and the middle is pale but cooked.
Place the marshmallows on top of the baked base, spreading them out evenly.
Place both types of sugar with the golden syrup and 240ml of water and bring to the boil.
Allow the mixture to boil until the sugar reaches the soft-ball stage (see notes below and picture above).
Remove from the heat and stir in the butter.
Bring the butterscotch back up to the boil and allow to bubble away for approximately 3 minutes.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the double cream, vanilla essence and peanut butter.
Stir continuously until the peanut butter has melted.
Pour the mixture on to the base and sprinkle the chopped nuts on top.
Allow to set at room temperature for a few hours or preferable overnight.
Slice into bars and serve.

Notes:

To check whether your sugar syrup has reached the soft ball stage, use a spoon to drop a small amount into a bowl of very cold water.

If the syrup has been cooked to the correct heat, it will form a soft ball in the water.

Removed from the cold water, this ball won't retain its shape but will flatten in your hand.

Giant Oreo Cookie Cake

2011-10-19T22:21:00.000+01:00

As most of you may know, I changed jobs recently. My lovely colleagues bought me an amazing cake stand and I also got this really cool giant cookie mould! (Thank you Kate!!) I've had my eye on it for a while so was really pleased when I was presented with it. If you don't already know, I love oreos and baking with oreos so I was really excited to make a giant oreo cookie! It really is more like a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting but it looks like a giant cookie. The texture is dense and chocolatey and it holds its shape really well. I was a bit worried it would not look like the picture!
I used the recipe from Williams Sonoma and found it far too sweet for my liking even though I reduced the sugar amount slightly. I've included the original amounts below as you may have a super sweet tooth but I would recommend 1/3 reduction if you prefer it less sweet.
PS apologies for the last two photos, I had to take it with my phone whilst at work after it was sliced.

giant cookie mould

Williams Sonoma Giant Oreo Cookie Cake

For the cake

45g cocoa powder, plus more for dusting

200g chocolate, broken into pieces

200g unsalted butter, cut into cubes

125g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

390g sugar

4 eggs

1 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the buttercream frosting

560g icing sugar

325g unsalted butter

3.5 tablespoons milk, plus more if needed

1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Using a small pastry brush, grease 2 sandwich cookie cake pans with butter, making sure to coat all the details and crevices in the pans.
Dust thoroughly with cocoa powder and tap out any excess.
To make the cake, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water.
Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, a few pieces at a time, until blended.
Let the chocolate mixture cool slightly.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until combined and set aside.
Ina large bowl, whisk the sugar, eggs and vanilla until well combined.
Add the chocolate mixture and whisk until incorporated.
Whisk in the flour mixture until combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the pans and spread evenly.
Gently tap the pans on the counter to release any air bubbles.
Bake until the tops of the cakes are shiny and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with a few crumbs attached, about 35 minutes.
Transfer the pans to a wire rack and allow to cool for 15 minutes before inverting the cake onto a cutting board/work surface.
To make the buttercream frosting - in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the icing sugar, butter, milk, vanilla and salt and beat on low speed for about 1 minutes.
Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
If the frosting is dry, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time until it is creamy but still holds peaks.
Using a large spatula, carefully turn 1 cake over the the printed side faces down.
Spread the buttercream evenly over the flat side of the cake.
Place the second cake, printed side up on top.