Butterscotch Cake

Well, four weeks has flown by and it's back to school with a bump for the boys (and me!) We had a fun last day yesterday and treated ourselves to seeing Home, even enjoying the entire cinema to ourselves :) The boys thought this was fantastic (the film and having the whole screening for just us!) Then back home in the afternoon to make an end of holiday treat for the boys.

The recipe for this Butterscotch Cake comes from Treatology by Wilton and I was directed to it by the fantastic Man Bakes Cake. This is an American recipe and uses shortening in the buttercream (I use Trex here in the UK). This is the first time I've used shortening in a buttercream like this and having tasted it, I have to say that I'm a full-butter buttercream kind of girl. The cake itself is light and moist; the buttercream with chocolate chips and butterscotch is tasty (as mentioned, in my humble opinion would be improved by 100% butter | 0% shortening); but the winner of this recipe for me is the delicious butterscotch ganache which is added to the buttercream to give it a butterscotch flavour and then the pure ganache is drizzled over the top. This part is definitely a keeper!

Next time I make this, I think a chocolate cake would be pretty tasty with full-butter butterscotch buttercream (what a mouthful!) and then the butterscotch ganache over the top. Or even transformed into cupcakes would be super tasty too with a drizzle of the butterscotch ganache over the top. Yum!

I didn't manage to get many photos of the this before the boys dived in with a large slice each - although it was for them to celebrate the end of a fab holiday so who can blame them?!

Butterscotch Cake (from Treatology by Wilton)

Ingredients

Butterscotch Cake

• 340G PLAIN FLOUR
• 2 TSPS BAKING POWDER
• 1 TSP SALT
• 170G BUTTER
• 160G DARK BROWN SUGAR
• 3 EGGS
• 2 TSPS VANILLA EXTRACT
• 240 ML MILK

Butterscotch Icing and Ganache

• 300G BUTTERSCOTCH CHIPS
• 120ML DOUBLE CREAM
• ¼  TSP SALT
• 230G BUTTER
• 115G SHORTENING (I USED TREX)
• 375G SIFTED ICING SUGAR
• 50G CHOCOLATE CHIPS

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees
2. Lightly grease 3 baking tins - the recipe calls for a Wilton 6 inch Cake Pan Set but I used 3 7-inch cake tins
3. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt
4. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy
5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. If the mixture looks like it's curdling a little, add a tablespoon of the flour mixture
6. Add the vanilla and mix well
7. Add one third of the flour mixture and mix until just combined and then add half of the milk
8. Repeat ending with the final flour addition and mix until just combined - don't over mix otherwise this will toughen the mixture
9. Divide evenly amongst the tins and bake for 20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean
10. For the ganache, combine the butterscotch chips, cream and salt. Then microwave for 1 minute and stir. Continue to microwave in 30 second bursts (this stage took me a further 2 minutes). I then stirred the mixture until it was almost melted but there were still traces of unmelted butterscotch chips so I kept heating it at 15 second bursts until the butterscotch was smooth.
11. Put the butterscotch to one side and allow to cool
12. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and shortening and then add one third of the icing sugar on medium until well mixed. Continue until all the icing sugar is incorporated.
13. Add 2/3 of the cooled butterscotch and beat until well combined
14. Remove around 2 cups of the butterscotch buttercream and put to one side
15. Add the chocolate chips to the original bowl of buttercream
16. Then level the cakes if necessary and prepare to assemble
17. Put one of the cakes on a plate and then add half of the chocolate chip buttercream spreading it to the edge of the cake.
18. Top with the second cake, the remaining chocolate chip buttercream and the final cake.
19. Then use the remaining non-chocolate chip buttercream to cover the top and sides of the cake and refrigerate until the icing is set
20. When completely chilled, take the remaining butterscotch and blast it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds and then drizzle over the top of the cake
21. Optional: I took some of the leftover non-chocolate chip buttercream and piped a few swirls on top and then scattered some chocolate coated popping candy on the top

German Apple Cake

We've been lucky enough to have a couple of planned roadtrips and lots of daytrips across this school holiday. Last week, we were down in Dorset enjoying the sea air and sunshine and on a visit to Weymouth, we stopped off at a little cafe which my Dad proclaimed served the best Dorset Apple Cake ever! I tasted a little and it reminded me of a German Apple Cake that my mum used to make when I was little. So this week, when our next roadtrip included a visit to mum and dad's house, I found myself digging through her old recipe collection - you know, the lovely kind of handwritten and typed recipe cards shared by friends some twenty or thirty years ago. There are a number of old favourites which re-surfaced (and which may make an appearance on the blog at some time!) and it was an enjoyable trip down memory lane.

So after a fun day out running around castle ruins, this afternoon saw the recreation of the childhood favourite, the German Apple Cake. I had a look on the internet and there are a number of variations for apple cakes, some including nuts, some missing out the cinnamon, some with apple inside and some on top. Our version is a simple sponge covered with butter, cinnamon and sugar, layered with sliced apple and then topped with more butter, cinnamon and sugar. It's a light cake which is great for afternoon tea or covered with dollops of custard (my boys' favourite) for pudding. I've never made it before, but it was definitely the same as my mum used to make.

The boys loved it.

I think we may have found another childhood favourite for them too :)

German Apple Cake

Cake Ingredients

• 170G SELF-RAISING FLOUR
• 1 TSP BAKING POWDER
• 85G CASTER SUGAR
• 30G BUTTER (MELTED)
• 1 EGG (BEATEN)
• 140ML MILK

Cake Topping Ingredients

• 340G COOKING APPLES (I USED BRAMLEY APPLES)
• 30G BUTTER (MELTED)
• 1 TSP CINNAMON
• 85G SUGAR

Method

1. Prepare and slice the apples, putting them into a bowl of cold water
2. Turn on the oven to 170 degrees
3. Grease and line a round baking tin
4. Firstly, to make the cake, put the flour, baking powder and sugar into a bowl and mix to combine
5. Melt the butter and add to the beaten egg and milk
6. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and then put pour into the prepared tin
7. Melt the remaining 30g butter and brush half of this over the cake mix in the tin
8. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle half of this over the cake mix
9. Drain the apples and pat them dry. Then place them in overlapping rows on the cake mix
10. Brush with the remaining butter and then sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon | sugar mixture
11. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes (test with a skewer to ensure it come out clean)
12. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes to cool down (or longer if desired) and then move to a serving plate
13. Excellent with custard or just naked!

Salted Caramel Brownie Squares

We're speeding merrily through our four week Easter holiday with lots more fun planned and today was no exception. Catching up with friends is always a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon - accompanied by lots of good food and drink! Whenever we meet up with these friends, there's always sure to be lots of dessert as we always make one each - hers was a beautiful chocolate cake made with savoiardi biscuits, mascarpone and almonds; mine was a rich gooey salted caramel chocolate brownie. So lots of chocolate. Always a winner. Especially with five children around to enjoy them too :)

The Salted Caramel Brownie Squares are simple to make but do require a little planning as it needs around 5 hours of setting. And I always use a sugar thermometer for my caramel but this is the only additional equipment you'll need - and you can do it without but I've previously had varying degrees of success with caramel not quite at the right temperature! Once on the brownie, it does take a while to set the caramel and we had to uplift them from one fridge to another mid setting and then end with a quick blast in the freezer - so I'd say the longer you can leave this, the better! But it makes a delicious and rather gooey topping to the lovely little brownie.

Just perfect for sharing with friends.

Salted Caramel Brownie Squares (from Donna Hay) Makes 25 small squares

Brownie Ingredients

• 150G DARK CHOCOLATE
• 200G UNSALTED BUTTER
• 265G BROWN SUGAR
• 3 EGGS
• 110G PLAIN FLOUR (SIFTED)
• 2 TBSP COCOA (SIFTED)
• SEA SALT FLAKES (FOR SPRINKLING BEFORE SERVING)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees (fan)
2. Place the chocolate and butter in a saucepan over a low heat and stir until melted and smooth
3. Set aside to cool slightly
4. Place the sugar, eggs, flour and cocoa in a bowl and whisk to combine
5. Add the melted chocolate | butter and whisk again until well combined
6. Pour the mixture into a greased and lined baking tin (mine is 23cm x 23cm) and spread evenly
7. Bake for 30 - 35 mins until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean
8. Allow to cool a little to room temperature and then refrigerate to cool completely

Caramel Ingredients

• 180ML SINGLE CREAM
• 90G UNSALTED BUTTER
• 330G CASTER SUGAR
• 125ML WATER

Method

1. To make the caramel, place the cream and butter in a saucepan over a medium heat until the butter is melted
2. Set aside to cool a little
3. Place the sugar and water into a saucepan. Mix just until they are combined but then stop mixing and let the sugar bubble and boil with no stirring until golden brown and the thermometer reads 175 degrees
4. Remove from the heat and add the cream mixture in a steady stream stirring all the time
5. Return the pan to a low heat and stir for 5 minutes until the caramel has thickened
6. Pour onto the cooled brownie and then refrigerate for 4-5 hours
7. Cut into squares and sprinkle with salt before serving

Vegan Chocolate Puds

Hello, everyone! Huge apologies for my radio silence over the last week, but we went away for Easter and ended up staying away a little longer than planned. The week was spent out and about enjoying the sunshine and sea air with the boys and not so much time couched at home in the kitchen. But it didn't stop me planning and having arrived back late this afternoon, I planted two feet firmly in the kitchen to whip up my latest creation. If you're not a fan of Instagram or Facebook, here are a few of my Easter creations from the last week or so. We have indulged in way too much chocolate and cake!!

So whilst we were away, I succumbed to buying Deliciously Ella in the local supermarket. It sat there looking all shiny on the shelf and having been inundated with Ella's Instagram photos of her book launch and recipes, I fell hook, line and sinker! I think it's always interesting to understand the path that people take and I found Ella's story very uplifting and inspiring - and although left with little choice, I admire her determination to rise from the brink of hospitalisation and overnight transform her eating into a plant-based diet. The first recipe I resolved to try was the Avocado Chocolate Mousse.

The same day as I bought Ella's book, an e-mail pinged into my inbox from Jamie Oliver with an Eat Well This Easter message - and amongst his suggested eats were Vegan Chocolate Pots. Hmmm...which chocolate delight to try first. Or maybe both at the same time?

So I decided to have a little chocolate mousse-off with these two recipes. For sure, the easier of the two options was Jamie Oliver's Vegan Chocolate Pots. The main ingredients were dairy-free dark chocolate and tofu mixed with maple syrup and vanilla paste (the original recipe included zest of a lime - the supermarket had run out! - and dark rum - but I'm not fond of alcohol in puds). Ella's recipe was a little more complicated and required a few more ingredients and a bit more effort. First of all, I had to make Almond Butter which involved roasting almonds for 10 mins and then blitzing them in the food processor for fifteen minutes to create a creamy butter. Once I'd made this ingredient, I was then able to move on to the mousse itself which involved blitzing an avocado, bananas, Medjool dates, almond butter, cacao powder and maple syrup in the food processor. Easy as. And so, the verdict?

Well, I first taste tested them on the boys. Honestly, they weren't keen. I'd hoped blitzing lots of good food with chocolate flavour might persuade them that these were yummy chocolate puds. Then I tried it on hubby. I think we both agreed that the Jamie Oliver Chocolate Pots were the clear winner and also could pass as a "regular" chocolate mousse at a dinner party. Although for me there was still a clear taste of tofu which kind of detracted from it a little. Perhaps the rum would have softened this flavour and if you are a fan of alcohol fueled puds, I would definitely recommend giving this a go.

What I like about Ella's pud is that I feel seriously healthy eating it. I mean, avocadoes, bananas and dates plus its other goodies. Sadly the taste wasn't quite as enjoyable and I think this might have been down to one of two things: my avocado and bananas weren't overly ripe (and she does call for very ripe bananas) and I think the ripeness will definitely enhance this next time (note, I said next time so it can't have been that bad!); and then Jamie's recipe called for melted dark chocolate and I think this really added to the richness over the cacao.

But I'm comparing this to what I call a regular chocolate mousse (dairy-laiden and eggy) and what I have learned of late, is that you can't substitute and expect things to taste the same (we have a psoriasis sufferer in the family and I tried to make a beetroot spag bol - beetroot remains the work of the devil to me to this day - I couldn't make it through more than more mouthful!) There are many reasons for choosing different kinds of diets, but in my humble opinion it means learning to love different flavours and foods and not just trying to recreate past loves. I would definitely recommend giving these two a go!

Avocado Chocolate Mousse (adapted from Deliciously Ella) Makes 2 ramekins

Ingredients

• 1 RIPE AVOCADO
• 2 RIPE BANANAS
• 6 MEDJOOL DATES, PITTED
• 2 TBSP ALMOND BUTTER (see below)
• 2½ TBSP RAW CACAO POWDER
• DRIZZLE OF AGAVE NECTAR

Method

1. To make the almond butter, turn on the oven to 180 degrees (fan) and roast 150g almonds (with skin) for 10 minutes
2. Then pop them into the food processor with a sprinkling of salt and blitz for around 15-20 minutes
3. Remove and set aside
4. Peel the avocado, remove the stone and put it in the food processor with the other ingredients
5. Add a splash of water and  drizzle of agave nectar and blitz until smooth (mine took around 10-15 minutes)
6. Spoon into bowls and chill until ready to eat

Vegan Chocolate Pots (from Jamie Oliver) Makes 2 ramekins

Ingredients

• 100G DAIRY-FREE DARK CHOCOLATE
• 350G SILKEN TOFU
• 80G MAPLE SYRUP (I RAN OUT AFTER 60G SO MADE THIS UP WITH AGAVE NECTAR)
• ½TBSP VANILLA BEAN PASTE
• OPTIONAL: ½ TBSP DARK RUM, SMALL PINCH OF DRIED CHILLI FLAKES, SMALL PINCH SEA SALT

Method

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave for around 1½ minutes (check after every 30 seconds) until melted and set aside
2. Put the tofu in a tea towel and ring out the excess water, then add to the food processor with the remaining ingredients (minus the chocolate)
3. Blitz for 2 minutes and then add the chocolate
4. Blitz again until smooth
5. Divide the mixture between two bowls and chill for at least 15 minutes in the fridge

Egg Chocolate Brownies

It's almost Easter. Cue a week of chocolate and bakes featuring mini eggs, bunnies and baby chicks. I wouldn't say the boys are as excited as at Christmas, but it definitely ranks up there and we're frequently counting down the number of sleeps until the Easter bunny arrives with an abundance of yet more chocolate! For those of you that don't know me so well, I kind of like Pinterest - not quite as much as some of my friends (you know who you are!!!) - but I love it for inspiration and ideas from cooking to baking to crafts to homes to travel and more. But pinning me down to do something with the pins is another thing entirely. I first saw this idea on Pinterest a year ago and it's taken me this long to do it (well, my excuse is that I was waiting for Easter as that kind of feels like the best occasion for this one!)

Baking brownies in eggshells. Cute, eh? Originally in Italian. I followed a crude translation and my own ingredient quantities but the idea came from Brownies In Eggshells and is inspired. A touch fiddly to create this little work of art, but still lots of fun and I decided to add my own twist and pop in a small chocolate egg into each eggshell. This meant that the holes I had to create in the bottom of the eggs were a touch larger than you'd ideally need but I experimented with two different types of egg: Mini Cadbury Creme Eggs (these mini eggs are actually quite large compared to an actual egg so you do have to create quite a gaping hole) and Lindt Eggs (white and milk chocolate).

So, the results. Well, the recipe suggested baking them for 20 mins. This seemed a long time considering the size of each egg so I went with 15 mins, but really my instinct alarm bells were ringing and I should have gone for 10-12 mins I think for the perfect bake. The Cadburys Creme egg (I only made one with this) exploded out of the top so there was little Creme Egg left in it! The Lindt eggs fared better but still needed a little less cooking I think. I will definitely make this again but perhaps next time, I might try Chocolate Oil & Almond Cake for a change and freeze the chocolate eggs before putting them into the batter. The kids love them. They're addicted to eggs anyway but present them with an egg that they can peel and find a chocolate brownie inside - awesome! And the possibilities are endless with these little creations - definitely fun for Easter and for making with the kids in the school holidays :)

Egg Chocolate Brownies (adapted from Craft Marmalade) Makes 6

Ingredients

• 70G DARK CHOCOLATE
• 40G BUTTER
• 1 EGG
• 60G CASTER SUGAR
• 40G PLAIN FLOUR
• PINCH OF SALT
• 10G COCOA
• 6 EGGSHELLS
• 6 MINI CHOCOLATE EGGS

Method

1. To prepare your eggshells, make a small hole in the bottom of each egg - I used the sharp point of scissors, made a small hole and then picked away some of the eggshell until I had enough of a hole to be able to fill with batter
2. Shake the eggs until the insides come out into a bowl and then soak the eggshells in salty water for 30 mins
3. Remove from the water and allow to thoroughly dry
4. Pour a little olive oil into each eggshell to coat the insides
5. Turn on the oven to 180 degrees
6. Then to prepare the batter, start by melting the chocolate and butter in the microwave (around 1 min but keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn) and then set it aside to cool
7. Put the egg and sugar in a bowl and whisk it by hand and next add the chocolate until thoroughly mixed
8. Then add the flour and cocoa and mix evenly
9. Finally add the salt and stir through until the batter is smooth
10. Pour the batter into a pastry bag and fill the eggshells until they're ¼ full and then insert a little chocolate egg. Then top up the batter until the eggshells are ¾ full
11. Bake for 10-12 mins until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean
12. If the batter spills over the edge of the eggshell you can wipe away the excess when they're still warm
13. Allow to cool, peel and enjoy :)

Lemon Polenta Cake

Although it's technically springtime and we've seen some signs of sunshine in recent days, today it's grey and windy here in south-west London and we need to bring a little bit of sunshine into our home! A couple of friends recommended I try Nigella's Lemon Polenta Cake - although to date on the blog I've been keen to work through different bakers (and have already featured a Nigella recipe) but am making an exception here as both waxed lyrical about this one. And then yesterday Nigella posted a Regram of this very same cake but suggesting that the butter could be replaced with olive oil to make a completely gluten-free and dairy-free which sealed the fate of this bake and here it is.

It's a very light cake and the real magic is the infusion of lemon syrup which soaks into the cake post-baking. The original recipe I looked at contained 200g butter, but as I mentioned, Nigella yesterday posted on Instagram suggesting that this could be replaced with 150ml light olive oil so I thought I'd make this switch. Although Nigella suggests baking for 40 mins, I checked mine after 35 mins and it was very much done by then so I'd keep an eye on it from 30 mins onwards.

I also read a few comments from people that their cake tended to drop in the middle when it comes out of the oven and this is to be expected due to the lack of gluten. However I found that mine didn't drop and kept good form - until I decided that I couldn't wait for it to be completely cool before removing it from the tin and then I put it on a non-flat plate and it did drop a little! But I can assure you it didn't affect the taste :) I love the yellow sun-shine colour of the inside and it's super-moist from all of the lemon syrup, but remains lovely and light, whilst the polenta adds a slight grittiness which gives it some added texture. This would be a great cake for afternoon tea or lunch with friends.

Lemon Polenta Cake

Ingredients

• 150ML LIGHT OLIVE OIL (YOU CAN USE 200G UNSALTED BUTTER AT ROOM TEMP IF YOU PREFER) 
• 200G CASTER SUGAR
• 200G GROUND ALMONDS
• 100G POLENTA
• 1 ½ TSP BAKING POWDER (GLUTEN-FREE IF REQUIRED)
• 3 LARGE EGGS
• 2 LEMONS (ZEST FOR CAKE BATTER & JUICE FOR SYRUP)
• 125G ICING SUGAR

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees
2. Line the base of an 8 inch spring form cake tin with baking paper and grease the sides with butter
3. Put the olive oil and sugar into a mixer and beat together until light brown
4. In a separate bowl, mix the almonds, polenta and baking powder
5. Add a third of this to the mixer and beat until well-mixed then add 1 egg
6. Repeat twice, ending with the final egg
7. Add the lemon zest and beat until well-mixed
8. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking tin
9. Cook in the oven for around 35 mins until a skewer comes out clean-ish and the edges have shrunk away from the sides of the tin. My cake was well set when it came out of the oven but the middle may wobble slightly and that's okay. Leave the cake to cool on the side whilst you make the syrup
10. Boil the lemon juice and icing sugar in a small saucepan until the icing sugar has dissolved
11. Make little holes across the top of the cake with a cocktail stick and then pour the syrup all over the top - you may need to do this in bursts waiting for the syrup to sink in before you add more
12. Leave to cool before taking it out of its tin. And enjoy!

Mexican Wedding Cookies

The calm before the storm. The last week of spring term at school before four whole weeks with the boys. For our last few days of calm, it's been a pretty busy week with an open book day, easter school concert and our spring fair. As well as baking for the fair (this time experimenting with both regular cupcakes as well as gluten-free and dairy-free offerings), I went with a friend to do a Biscuiteer Beatrix Potter icing course - always great to learn a new skill, but I need a LOT more practice and my desire to make everything perfect meant I wasn't entirely satisfied with my finished biscuits! (I think we chose a very tricky icing course as our first attempt) You can see photos of my easter fair and biscuit decorating endeavours on facebook and instagram :)

So now as I sit writing this, I'm already in the storm of the school holidays and with several bakes planned for this week, I'm just wondering how I'm actually going to get time to get everything done! We have a new local bakery (a chain that's fast springing up across London) and as I went on my maiden voyage to the one which has opened two minutes from our house, I had a delightful little biscuit called a Mexican Wedding Cookie. I instantly knew I wanted to recreate this at home so set about looking into the tradition and recipe behind this little treat.

Mexican Wedding Cookies are also known amongst other names such as Russian Tea Cakes, Viennese Sugar Balls and Polvorones - but we're going to call them the name by which I discovered them, so called as they're often presented as favours at Mexican weddings. They're very simple to make and require only a handful of ingredients. It seems like everyone has their own recipe for these and all slightly different so I decided to mix them all up in the one below. They have a light velvety taste but a slight crunch too. The only thing I might try differently next time is to add some other ground nuts to see if this gives a little more crunch (maybe hazelnuts and/or pecans). But they are seriously yummy!

Mexican Wedding Cookies Makes 30 cookies

Ingredients

• 230G BUTTER
• 60G ICING SUGAR
• 1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• ¼  TSP SALT
• 250G PLAIN FLOUR
• 95G GROUND ALMONDS
• 90G ICING SUGAR IN A BOWL (FOR ROLLING WHEN BAKED)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 165 degrees (fan) and line two baking trays
2. Put the butter, icing sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy
3. Then add the salt, flour and ground almonds and mix on the lowest setting until the dough forms
4. Using a tbsp measure, make little round balls with 1 tbsp dough and line them up on the baking trays, one inch apart
5. Bake for around 15 mins - you want the balls to be set but not browned so worth checking on them from 12 mins onwards
6. Remove from the oven and leave a for few minutes to cool down and then roll them in the remaining icing sugar - and then enjoy!

Peanut Butter & Marshmallow Cookies

Woo hoo, it's Friday! I've definitely got that TGIF feeling today! There was much excitement in our house this morning as not only was there the eclipse, but it's the House Singing Competition this afternoon (cue crazy costumes and Freddie Mercury songs on the way to school!) Then I had a lovely breakfast with a friend, booked a cheeky little Biscuiteer decorating course and came home to bake cookies for a playdate this afternoon.

We have our Easter Fair at school next week and when I was looking at gluten and dairy free options for this, I found this cookie on  Bakers Royale. Made made with peanut butter, it's both gluten and dairy free. I've found a number of gluten free recipes using peanut butter, however the marshmallow frosting transforms this into something much more indulgent (I contemplated turning the frosting pink but living in a house of men, resisted the urge!)

Mine is an adapted version - for one thing, I use liquid egg whites to make my meringues and marshmallows which you can pick up in the supermarket. These have been pasteurised which makes them safe for pregnant people which is an added bonus - in this recipe we do heat the egg whites but you can feel safer knowing that they have been already been pasteurised. It does change the properties a little but I've always had complete success with them.

This recipe makes 6 large sandwiched cookies. As they're quite sweet, I'd probably try to get 9 or 12 cookies out of the dough next time - as they are, they are a huge sweet treat and maybe more dessert sized than snack sized!!

Peanut Butter & Marshmallow Cookies (adapted from Bakers Royale)

Peanut Butter Cookie Ingredients

• 1 CUP (225G) CRUNCHY PEANUT BUTTER (USE WHICHEVER TYPE YOU PREFER)
• 1 CUP (140G) BROWN SUGAR
• 1 LARGE EGG
• 1 TSP BICARBONATE OF SODA
• 1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT

Method

1. Put the oven on to 160 degrees
2. Prepare two baking trays with greaseproof paper
3. Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and combine until smooth
4. Put 1½  tablespoons of mixture on the baking tray - this should make 12 little mounds
5. Then flatten the cookie with a fork in a criss cross pattern
6. Bake for 12 minutes until the edges are golden
7. Wait for them to cool for a few minutes and then using a slice (they'll still be soft) move them to a cooling tray

Marshmallow Frosting Ingredients

• 165G LIQUID EGG WHITE (5 EGG WHITES)
• 300G WHITE SUGAR

Method

1. Mix the liquid egg white and sugar in a microwaveable bowl and heat to 70 degrees celcius - I do this in blasts of 20 seconds and then stir and take the temperature
2. When it's reached the right temperature, transfer it to a mixer with whisk attachment. If you feel the outside of the bowl it should feel warm/hot to the touch and you need to beat the meringue until the bowl has cooled down - around 10 minutes on high speed until the meringue has formed stiff peaks.
3. Then put the meringue into a piping bag with the nozzle of your choosing and pipe meringue onto one half of each cookie and sandwich it together with another half
4. I did have half a bag a marshmallow frosting left which you could use to decorate cupcakes or any other cake that needs a bit of jazzing up - or eat it straight from the piping bag if you prefer :)

Karpatka

Last year, I had the pleasure of attending the baby shower of a Polish mum-to-be. Even though it was her party, she made dinner for all the children there as well as treating us to a platter of Polish delicacies. The one that has been firmly planted in my mind since then was a beautiful Polish version of our vanilla slice - Karpatka. She was full of apologies about how it wasn't as perfect as her mother's and I think was taken aback by its success! Instead of the puff pastry of an English vanilla slice, this has layers of choux pastry sandwiched together with vanilla custard. It is seriously delicious (and I've been dreaming about it ever since!) It reminds me of the choux buns my mum used to buy for me when I was little although they had chocolate drizzled across the top too :)

This recipe is a hybrid of my research into this lovely Polish dessert but all published recipes follow a similar process and it's surprisingly easy to make.  The choux pastry is springy to the touch and the custard sets really well in between the two layers so it makes a robust bake that's easy to cut. The choux pastry in the oven browned VERY quickly and I was really worried that it wouldn't make the full 25 minutes, but I also know it's imperative not to open the oven door whilst it's baking so I decided to ride it out - and with a great result. Although it looked crispy when it came out of the oven, it was still really springy to the touch which is exactly what I was looking for.

The vanilla custard is absolutely beautiful in texture. We are huge custard fans in this house so it had a lot to live up to and surpassed all expectations. There were multiple slices of the Karpatka being handed around when the boys had dinner tonight and it was a big hit. I think this is my favourite bake of the journey so far!

Karpatka

Choux Pastry Ingredients

• 1 CUP WATER
• 125G BUTTER
• 1 CUP FLOUR
• 5 MEDIUM EGGS
• 1 TSP BAKING POWDER

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (fan)
2. Line 2 baking trays (around 32 x 23cm) with baking paper
3. Put the butter and water into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil
4. Add all the flour and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes away from the sides of the saucepan which is very quick (around 30 seconds)
5. Then put the mixture into your mixer with a paddle attachment (or food processor if you prefer)
6. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after addition until each egg is fully mixed in and the mixture is smooth and sticky
7. Finally add the baking powder and beat until it's fully mixed
8. Divide the mixture between the two baking trays and smooth it out until it forms two rectangles the shape of the baking tray
9. Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes until the tops have browned. It's very important not to open the oven door once they're in until they're cooked so don't be tempted to check on them too early!
10. When they're ready, put them on a kitchen surface to cool down and you can start preparations for your vanilla custard.

Vanilla Custard Ingredients

• 720ML (3 CUPS SEMI-SKIMMED MILK)
• 170G SUGAR (3/4 CUP)
• 110G BUTTER
• 1 TSP VANILLA PASTE (OR VANILLA EXTRACT IF YOU DON'T HAVE PASTE)
• 30G PLAIN FLOUR (1/4 CUP)
• 5 TBSP CORNFLOUR
• 4 EGGS
• ICING SUGAR (FOR DUSTING)

Method

1. Whisk together the eggs and vanilla in a bowl and then add the flour a little at a time - the mixture went a little lumpy with the addition of the flour so you want to add it slowly and mix thoroughly so you can ensure than it's lump-free
2. Then add a cup of the milk (240ml) milk and whisk thoroughly until smooth
3. Place 2 cups (480ml) of milk, the sugar and butter in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil
4. Once this is boiling, pour the egg mixture into the saucepan and whisk well until the custard thickens and starts to boil - this took mine around 90 seconds - but be careful to ensure that you're scraping the bottom of the boil when whisking as it can burn very easily
5. Pour this custard onto one rectangle of choux pastry and spread it out leaving a small border around the edge (you're going to trim the rectangles down at the end)
6. Sandwich the custard with the top layer and then place in the refrigerator until the custard cools and sets
7. When ready to eat, dust the top layer with the icing sugar and cut it into squares - I got 16 squares from mine (and lots of edges to eat when neatening it up!)

Minion Sunflower Wedding Cake

This weekend I delivered my very first wedding cake. I had the pleasure of meeting the bride and groom in late summer last year and they spoke to me about their sunflower wedding. We talked about a simple 3-tier wedding cake in white with a handmade sugar sunflower. With a surprising twist of a minion bride and groom on the top! A few requests - the bride had to have two eyes (!) and the groom had to have "Dave combover hair" and wear morning suit.  What a challenge!

This cake was enormous compared to anything I've made before- three tiers including 6 inch, 9 inch and 12 inch cakes. I had to clear my fridge out to set the different levels so we've been eating hand to mouth for the last few days. This cake contains 3kg butter, 3.5kg caster sugar, 1 litre cream, 29 eggs, over 1kg chocolate, 1 kg raspberries, 450g egg whites and 4kg fondant amongst other ingredients. Phew! All layers were vanilla sponge soaked in sugar syrup, filled with raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream, covered in white chocolate ganache and then a final layer of fondant. The little pearls in between each layer were individual edible pearls placed by hand.

The journey to the venue was the most stressful experience I can remember of late. There were roadworks everywhere and what should have been a 20 min journey turned into an hour of me hung over the back car seats into the boot clutching onto the cake at every twist and turn. But we got there. The sunflower table decorations looked fantastic and were such a sunny, happy choice of flower complementing the pop of the sunflower and the yellow Minions on the cake too.

Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Bourne. I hope you had a truly amazing and wonderfully special day!

Raspberry Scones

I had the best start to the day today.  Not only was the sun shining on the school run this morning, promising the start of spring (am I tempting fate??) but when I arrived at school I was given the fantastic baking book Babycakes by a lovely friend. This book is from the NYC bakery of the same name and has achieved acclaim through being "vegan, gluten-free and (mostly) sugar-free" although not necessarily all at the same time - and has lots of celebrity endorsements for its vegan and healthier favourites.

Before I started this blog, I hadn't tried any Free From recipes before (gluten, dairy or vegan) or at least, I hadn't wittingly tried them. But I have friends and friends' children who have some dietary restrictions and I'm enjoying trying new ways of baking as well as tasting them for myself as I'd always assumed that Free From meant that there was something lacking. Oh, how wrong I was! Armed with my new book, I wanted to try out a new recipe immediately although some of them are going to require a little more product sourcing (I am putting Agave-Sweetened Brownie Gems on my baking list for the next few weeks when I've gathered the ingredients for it!) and so I opted for a simpler recipe whose ingredients I already had with the exception of the spelt flour, agave nectar and a punnet of raspberries - Raspberry Scones. Now these aren't gluten-free as they have spelt flour but they are vegan and therefore dairy-free. 

This is a very simple one-bowl recipe but the flavours are fantastic in them. There's a faint taste of coconut, then a sweetness from the Agave Nectar and a freshness from the raspberries which all work together incredibly well. My only criticism is that the batter was quite wet so even though I used an ice-cream scoop for portion control, they tended to spread into random (messier) shapes on the baking tray. However not everything fits into a neat circle! I did think that making them into muffins might make them tidier next time. And although the recipe calls them "scones", the texture of mine are a mix of cake and bread.

But it's great to know that they're a healthier alternative to the usual sweet treats the boys would want for pudding and one of the boys wolfed one down super-fast declaring it to be "very yummy", praise in its highest form from my younger son and it even featured in his daily news report to daddy at bedtime!

Raspberry Scones (Vegan & Dairy-Free) from Babycakes

Ingredients (Makes 8)

• 2 CUPS (225G) WHOLE SPELT FLOUR (I got this from our local health food shop but you can get it from supermarkets)
• 1 TBSP BAKING POWDER
• ½ TSP SALT
• 1/3 CUP (70ML) COCONUT OIL PLUS A LITTLE EXTRA FOR BRUSHING
• 1/3 CUP (100ML) AGAVE NECTAR PLUS A LITTLE EXTRA FOR BRUSHING (again I got this from our local health food shop but then saw it in our local supermarket)
• 1 TBSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• 1/4 (59ML) CUP HOT WATER
• 1 CUP (200G) FRESH RASPBERRIES

Method

1. Pre-heat the over to 175 degrees and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Add the oil, agave nectar and vanilla and stir together until a thick, dry batter has come together.
4. Pour the hot water into the batter and combine.
5. Using a rubber spatula, mix through the raspberries until they're just marbled through the mixture.
6. Using a 1/3 cup ice-cream scoop, drop mounds of batter onto the baking tray leaving them 1 inch apart as they will spread. Lightly brush the top with coconut oil.
7. Bake the scones for 14 minutes rotating them 180 degrees after 7 minutes.
8. The finished scones should be golden brown and slightly firm. Remove them from the oven and brush the top with a little agave nectar.
9. After 10 minutes, gently slide a spatula under each scone to remove them and tranfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Macaron Hearts with Nutella

So today it's our 9 year wedding anniversary. 9 years. I mean, 9 years! That's almost a lifetime, right? Any time before we were together is a dim and distant memory now, but we have lots of happy memories and two wonderful boys to show for it :)

Continuing my experimentation with macarons, I thought they would make a nice treat to celebrate our anniversary and decided to look at shapes this time - and what better shape for love than hearts! To make the shell batter, I followed the same recipe and process that I used for my Matcha Macarons - minus the Matcha powder and I used Hollyberry Pink colouring instead of the green to colour them.

To create the heart shape, I created a PowerPoint slide with 12 standard Clipart heart shapes on an A4 sheet of paper and slipped this under the baking paper on my tray to use as a template. It's a little trickier to pipe the hearts and also I didn't achieve the smooth, flat surface that I usually have with the small round macarons but they just have a little more texture than usual! I also thought I'd experiment with some edible heart decorations and these worked well (some decorations can burn in the oven so I thought I'd try just a few with these until I was sure they would work).

We had a family party in the summer and I made a few different flavoured macarons and the most popular filling turned out to be Nutella. I personally find it a bit sweet but since hubby is a chocolate fiend, I thought these would work well with the contrasting dark colour of the chocolate spread.

If you'd like to have a go with these, please use my Matcha Macaron recipe but omit the ½ tsp of Matcha powder from the batter. Then to colour them, I used Sugarflair Sugartint Droplets in Hollyberry/Pink - I had to use quite a lot of this to achieve a dark colour but you can add as much as you like, just remembering that once you add the meringue to the mixture, it will tend to lighten in colour.

Finally, you'll need a jar of Nutella spread or whatever filling you choose for these - simple jam would be just as effective or you can mix the jam with a little buttercream to give a richer filling. The beauty of macarons is that they're so versatile once you master the shell, you can then experiment with lots of flavours, colours and toppings. I use a piping bag to fill my macarons and then sandwich the top onto them. If I had edible glitter, you'd probably see a little of that on there too - but then again, that might not be quite manly enough for this gift!

Chocolate Olive Oil & Almond Cake

It's been a crazy week. I haven't had much time for baking and have mostly been running around doing back to back errands. We're ending it with an impromptu visit from my parents and there was a definite need for something rich and chocolatey this afternoon! This is Nigella's recipe for Chocolate Olive Oil & Almond Cake and is both gluten and dairy free - and I can assure you that the lack of either of these does not compromise the taste of this lovely little cake! A couple of changes I might try next time would be to exchange the almond meal for plain flour (needed for anyone with a nut allergy), add instant espresso in place of the vanilla or use coconut sugar in place of the regular white sugar. 

I had a slice about 15 mins out of the oven and just warm, it was seriously delicious and would only be improved with a dash of vanilla ice-cream, I think. There are lots of flourless chocolate cake recipes with dark chocolate, but I wanted one that was made from cocoa so chose this one from Nigella and I would wholehearted recommend this for Sunday lunch with friends, a dinner party or maybe even a weekend afternoon treat. It's also very simple to make :)

Chocolate Olive Oil & Almond Cake

Ingredients

• 150ML OLIVE OIL (PLUS A LITTLE MORE FOR GREASING THE CAKE TIN)
• 50G GOOD-QUALITY SIFTED COCOA POWDER (I USED GREEN & BLACK'S)
• 125ML BOILING WATER
• 2 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• 150G GROUND ALMONDS
• ½ TSP BICARBONATE OF SODA
• PINCH OF SALT
• 200G CASTER SUGAR
• 3 LARGE EGGS
• ICING SUGAR FOR DUSTING

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 170°C. Grease an 8" springform tin with a little oil and line the base with baking parchment.
2. Sift the cocoa powder into a bowl or jug and whisk in the boiling water until you have a smooth paste. Whisk in the vanilla extract and then set it aside to cool a little.
3. In another bowl, combine the ground almonds with the bicarbonate of soda and pinch of salt.
4. Put the sugar, olive oil and eggs into a mixer and beat together on fast speed for 3 minutes (it should be a pale, aerated and thickened cream).
5. Turn the speed down a little and slowly pour in the cocoa mixture. When it's mixed in, scrape down the side of the bowl and then slowly tip in the ground almond mixture with the mixer still running.
6. Scrape down the sides again and then pour this liquid batter into the prepared tin.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the sides are set and the very centre, on top, still looks slightly damp. 
8. Leave it to cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, still in its tin, and then ease the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula and spring it out of the tin. 
9. Eat warm or leave to cool, if you can wait that long!

Matcha Macarons

We are a macaron loving household. When I make a trip into London, I always try to make time for a detour to Laduree or Paul to enjoy a few of their little beauties. But I also enjoy making them at home as we can choose our own colours and flavours and they are quite an investment in the shops, especially buying enough to satisfy four of us! I have been admiring Matcha Macarons for some time and have been loving the photos of them all over Pinterest so it's time to have a go at them myself. I recently bought myself some Matcha Tea from The Tea House in Covent Garden, although this organic tea will set you back nearly £20 for 30G so it's to be used sparingly!

I use the Italian Meringue method to make my macarons as it's been the most reliable way for me. You do need a sugar thermometer but it's a very straightforward and for me, foolproof way of making the batter. I looked at various recipes on the web and decided to experiment with my own quantities of Matcha as it's quite an unusual flavour. I added a half teaspoon of tea to the batter but the flavour has not come through very strongly so I think it could be upped a little next time. I filled them with a traditional buttercream and added a half tablespoon to this and this flavour strength is about right for my taste buds.

When I'd made them I decided to add a little sparkle so sprayed them with gold lustre, but when this ran out mid-decorating, I then brushed Sugarflair Edible Tint in gold over one shell of each macaron and both of these worked really well. For a touch of glamour, I also added a little edible gold leaf. I always think macarons make a lovely gift and once you've found a recipe that works for you, they're quite simple to make and very tasty to eat. And there's lots of experimenting with colours and favours. The perfect little Parisienne treat :)

Matcha Macarons Makes 12 (24 shells sandwiched together)

Ingredients

Macaron Batter

• 100G CASTER SUGAR
• 37ML WATER
• 80G EGG WHITES (I USE TWO CHICKS LIQUID EGG WHITES THAT YOU CAN BUY IN THE SUPERMARKET)
• 100G GROUND ALMONDS
• 100G ICING SUGAR
• ½ TSP MATCHA TEA POWDER

Matcha Buttercream 

• 115G BUTTER
• 125G ICING SUGAR (SIFTED)
• 1 TBSP MILK
•  1 TBSP MATCHA TEA

Method

1. Line two baking street with baking paper - if you're worried about the consistency of your macaron circles when you come to pipe them, you can draw little circles onto the paper as a guide. My macarons are around 5cm in diameter.
2. Put 40g of the egg whites into a mixer with the balloon whisk.
3. Put the caster sugar and water into a saucepan and heat without stirring to 95 degrees and then start the mixer on a low speed.
4. When the sugar syrup temperature reaches 105 degrees, increase the speed of the mixer and beat the egg whites to a stiff peak.
5. When the sugar mixture reaches 114 degrees, remove from the heat and pour the syrup in a slow, steady stream down the side of the bowl (not into the middle as you don't want to remove all the air) with the mixer still running.
6. Continue beating for 5 to 10 minutes until the outside of the bowl cools down.
7. Whilst beating the meringue in the mixer, prepare the almond paste.
8. Mix together the icing sugar, ground almonds and ½ tsp of matcha tea powder until they're well mixed. You can sieve them if you want to give a smoother finish on your macarons.
9. Add the remaining egg whites (40g) and mix until you form a paste. You can also add food colouring at this point - I added Sugarflair Spectral Paste Concentrate in green - just add a little to start with as you can always make the colour stronger, but you can't take it away once added!
10. Then once your paste is ready, add a third of the meringue and mix thoroughly - don't worry about knocking the air out at this stage as this is intended to loosen the paste a little before adding the rest of the meringue.
11. Add the remaining meringue, folding it in until it's mixed but be careful not to over-mix at this stage as you want to keep the air in it.
12. Fill a piping bag with a circle nozzle (number 1A works well for this) and pipe out small circles into the baking paper. Sometime you may find that your macarons have a little peak on top but this flattens out during the next stage.
13. I generally leave my macarons for at least an hour to form a thin crust on top - you should be able to lightly touch the macaron with your finger and it springs back without leaving a fingerprint.
14. When you're ready to bake them, pre-heat your oven to 150 degrees and bake them for around 14 minutes.
15. After you take them out of the oven, slide them off the baking tray onto a cool counter and then pop them off the baking paper and let them cool down.
16. Make your buttercream by beating the butter until it's light and fluffy.
17. Then add the icing sugar and matcha tea and mix until they're fully incorporated.
18. Finally add the milk and beat until it's smooth.
19. When you're ready to fill them, fill a small piping bag with the buttercream and a regular tip (I use the same one as to make the macarons but you can be creative here and use a star tip or other nozzle).
20. Pipe a small amount of buttercream into the middle of each macaron and then sandwich them together.
21. Your macarons are now ready to eat - some say they're better the next day - if they hang around that long! 

Dulce De Leche Brownies

Back to school, back to waking up to an alarm clock, back to earth with a bump! This week I am pretty busy with planning and creating - and in need of a bit of time to myself without having to entertain young children, but I always miss them when the house is so quiet. I have a couple of batches of birthday cupcakes for friends this week and have been working on the decorations for my very first (yes, I said very first - eek!) wedding cake due in a couple of weeks time. These things always challenge me but that's good, right?

So we have arrived mid-week and I hadn't even had a moment to contemplate blog baking this week - but then I found a lovely looking recipe for Dulce De Leche Brownies from Butter Baking which was adapted in turn from David Lebovitz. My go-to recipe for chocolate brownies has always been Hummingbird Bakery's but I loved the sound of the dulce de leche with Lebovitz's version. Now this recipe suggests it makes nine to twelve brownies. I took one bite and I'm honestly not sure who could make it through an entire one of these as they are super-rich and very sweet - but cut up into one-bite brownies they are kind of cute and do-able (although I served the boys a brownie bite with ice cream for dessert tonight and they wanted one, then another, then another...I think faced with a whole big one, it's too much but sitting in front of a plate of little ones, you want to keep eating and eating them!)

The recipe is very straightforward and although I've used David Lebovitz's recipe, I added the digestive biscuits that Natasha (Butter Baking) included in her version as I thought they may cut through the intense chocolate. The brownie mix is simple to make but it does make a very heavy, thick mixture which is trickier to spread - so once you add the base of biscuits and dulce de leche and then have to spread the brownie mix on top, it takes a little moulding and was very reminiscent of plastering! But totally worth it as the resulting brownies were squidgy, chocolatey and very yummy :)

Dulche De Leche Brownies (recipe from David Lebovitz & Butter Baking)

Ingredients

• 115G BUTTER
• 170G DARK CHOCOLATE
• 25G COCOA POWDER
• 3 LARGE EGGS
• 200G SUGAR
• 1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• 140G PLAIN FLOUR
• 6 DIGESTIVE BISCUITS (CRUSHED)
• 1 CUP DULCE DE LECHE

Method

1. Line an 8 inch (20cm) square pan with aluminium foil and grease the bottom and sides (I greased my pan and lined it with baking parchment).
2. Melt the butter in a medium pan. Add the chocolate and stir constantly over a low heat until the chocolate has melted.
3. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition.
5. Then stir in the sugar, vanilla and flour.
6. Sprinkle half of the digestive biscuits over the base of the pan and then add half of the brownie mix, spreading the mix evenly over the whole base.
7. Then using half of the cup quantity, drop teaspoonfuls of the dulce de leche across the brownie mix, evenly spacing it.
8. Sprinkle the remaining half of the biscuits over the mixture and then spread the remaining brownie mixture evenly across the pan.
9. Finally, add the remaining dulce de leche in teaspoonfuls and swirl it lightly with the brownie mix.
10. Start by baking it for 25 mins but it could take up to 45 mins (the two recipes have different timings). You're looking for the centre to feel just slightly firm and then remove them from the oven. My brownies took 30 mins.
11. Allow to cool in their tin and then cut up into whichever size brownie chunks you think you can handle!

Churros With Hot Chocolate Sauce

Well, we've come to the end of our half term week. It's been a good week catching up with family and friends, despite the bouts of coughs and sniffles that have arrived just in time for the return to school. Frozen to the core this morning in the playground and now sat listening to the rain outside, we've been craving a little winter warmer to keep us feeling snug and cozy this afternoon. This has arrived in the form of Churros.

I love these little doughnuts. Very simple to make, they are delicious just covered with sugar and cinnamon or for a more luxurious treat, dipped in lovely warm chocolate sauce. The batter itself is very simple if you follow the below recipe from Lorraine Pascale, although I had to experiment with the heat of the oil when deep frying them as too hot and the skin of the doughnut blisters and they go brown before the inside is cooked. I made each one quite small as I wanted a one-bite Churros rather than long snakes - but the danger with this is that you think you can eat a lot more than you should!  In fact, a number of them didn't make it from the cinnamon sugar bowl onto the final plate...well, I had to taste them to check they made the final cut :) These are best eaten fresh and they taste like the doughnuts you buy on seaside piers (with the added advantage that you don't have seagulls trying to eat them out of your hand at home!)

Churros With Hot Chocolate Sauce (from Lorraine Pascale's Baking Made Easy)

Ingredients

Churros Batter

• 60G BUTTER
• 150ML BUTTERMILK (I DIDN'T HAVE THIS SO USED MILK WITH A SQUEEZE OF LEMON)
• 70G PLAIN FLOUR
• PINCH OF SALT
• 1TSP GROUND CINNAMON
• 2-3 EGGS (I USED 2 LARGE EGGS)
• VEGETABLE OIL FOR DEEP-FRYING (AROUND 1/3 SMALL SAUCEPAN)

Cinnamon Sugar

• 100G CASTER SUGAR
• 1TBSP GROUND CINNAMON

Hot Chocolate Sauce

• 165ML DOUBLE CREAM
• 100G DARK CHOCOLATE
• 25G BUTTER
• 1TBSP GOLDEN SYRUP

Method

1. To make the batter, put the butter and milk into a saucepan and set it over a medium heat. Once the butter has melted, turn up the heat and bring to the boil.
2. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and add the flour, salt and cinnamon. Stir vigorously until the mixture starts to come away from the sides of the pan. Set it aside for 10-15 minutes.
3. Then add the eggs one at a time, beating hard after each addition. The mixture should be shiny and glossy. The recipe calls for 2-3 eggs - my mixture was very shiny and glossy after 2 large eggs so I didn't add the third.
4. Put the mixture in a piping bag with a star nozzle.
5. To make the cinnamon sugar, simply mix the sugar and tablespoon of cinnamon on a plate ready for the Churros rolling.
6. Heat the oil in the saucepan until a small cube of bread browns in around 50 seconds. 
7. Pipe 3-4 Churros in your saucepan (depending on size as they will swell up a little so they need some room and also if you add too many, it will reduce the heat of the oil and they won't cook). I pipe a small amount into the oil and then use a pair of scissors to cut the end of the Churros so it drops into the pan.
8. Once they turn golden brown and become firm then they are ready which should take around 4 mins. If the skin starts to blister and they become brown very quickly then the oil is too hot and you need to reduce the temperature.
9. Once they are cooked, remove them from the oil with a slatted spoon and drain on some kitchen paper, then roll in the cinnamon sugar.
10. To make the chocolate sauce, heat the cream in a saucepan until it's just starting to boil and then remove from the heat. Add the chocolate and butter and without stirring, set it aside for 5 minutes. Then stir it until it's smooth, add the golden syrup and then stir again until smooth.
11. Eat whilst still fresh and warm for the best tasting Churros!

Banana, Chia & Blueberry Loaf

Half term holidays are my most favourite kinds of school breaks - only a week long, it feels like you have to pack in the fun quickly before it's time to go back to school and they always leave you wanting more - which is a nice way to enjoy family time. This week, the weather has been mixed. Pouring with rain some days and then beautiful sunshine but cold days the rest of the time. Today we have been making bonfires and climbing trees in the winter (I should be saying springtime, but we're most definitely still feeling the chill of winter) sunshine.  

A week with grandma and grandpa always leads to far too many treats and sweeties so I've been looking for a bake that's secretly packed with superfood goodness. For many years, I've been an avid fan of Donna Hay - of her cooking, baking and styling - but she doesn't always cook the healthiest of food. Although about a week ago, a post popped up for her new magazine Fresh & Light which is geared towards a healthier and more balanced lifestyle. There's lots of recipes I plan to try in here, but being half term, I wanted something for the kids that didn't take too long to make (having both children in tow).

Now who doesn't love banana bread?  In this healthy magazine, a few variations of the classic bread are included so I decided to pack my little loaf with blueberries and chia seeds as well as the banana.  This is so easy to make and completely gluten free. The ingredients mean a trip to the health food shop rather than the local supermarket, but it is whipped together in no time and the longest part of making it is the baking - which is great when you want a lovely home-made treat but don't have hours to spend in the kitchen.

The resulting loaf is very moist and packed full of fruit. Regular sugar is switched for coconut sugar and the other sweetness comes from the maple syrup and bananas. At this time of year, the blueberries, not quite in season, are a little tart, but this works well. We're not traditionally a gluten-free family, but this is yet another recipe that shows me that gluten-free baking can be just as yummy as the alternative and doesn't even feel like a compromise!

Banana, Chia & Blueberry Loaf (from Donna Hay's Fresh & Light)

Ingredients

• 1½ CUPS (225G) BUCKWHEAT FLOUR
• 1 CUP (220G) COCONUT SUGAR
• 1 TSP GLUTEN-FREE BAKING POWDER 
• ½ TSP GLUTEN-FREE BAKING SODA
• 2 TSP GROUND CINNAMON
• 1 CUP MASHED BANANAS (APPROX 3 BANANAS)
• 1 EGG
• ½ (140G) CUP NATURAL YOGHURT
• ¼ (60ML) CUP GRAPESEED OIL
• 1/3 (80ML) CUP MAPLE SYRUP (PLUS EXTRA FOR BRUSHING OVER FINISHED LOAF)
• 2 TSP VANILLA PASTE
• 1 CUP (150G) BLUEBERRIES
• ¼ CUP (45G) CHIA SEEDS

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees.
2. Place the dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon) and stir to combine.
3. Add the banana, egg, yoghurt, oil, maple syrup and vanilla paste, then mix to combine.
4. Stir through the blueberries and chia seeds.
5. Pour into a 1½ litre loaf tin, greased and lined with baking paper.
6. Bake for 1 to 1 hour 10 mins until a skewer comes out clean.
7. Leave for 5 mins and then turn out carefully onto a cooling rack and leave to cool.
8. Brush the top with maple syrup and serve!

Valentine's Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day! A romantic day for many, but not for us. It will always be a special someone's birthday in our house and we celebrate my elder son's birthday over Valentine's Day every year. However, he came home earlier this week telling me that his teacher had asked who was going to make her a Valentine's cookie. At six (seven today!) years old, they're all eager to please so he put his hand up and volunteered - then promptly came home and told me the news that "we needed to make cookies". Given the amount of homework and after school activities we have every week, I knew he was really saying "you need to make us cookies"!!

Everyone's making Valentine's cakes and cookies right now, but I've been especially mesmerised by the fabulous Nectar and Stone who make the most gorgeous baked goodies and package them beautifully as gifts. Unfortunately they're based in Melbourne so I can't pop in for a visit - but that doesn't stop me drooling over their very pretty Instagram feed!

Inspired by their lovely painted cookies, I decided I'd create some with watercolour paint effect and gold highlights.  It was lots of fun making these. The base is a simple vanilla cookie with a fondant topper hand-painted using Sugarflair Edible Tints mixed with vodka. But given the fun I had, I think this would be a great activity to do with children and edible pens would work perfectly for kids to draw pictures and create their own masterpieces. I'm definitely re-visiting these during the holidays!  In the meantime, with some lovely packaging and a hand-written note, these are a perfect gift to celebrate a day of romance :)

Vanilla Cookies (30 small cookies)

Ingredients

• 200G UNSALTED BUTTER
• 200G GOLDEN CASTER SUGAR
• 1 MEDIUM FREE-RANGE EGG, BEATEN
• 2 TSP VANILLA PASTE
• 400G PLAIN FLOUR

Method

1. Cream the butter and sugar and then add the beaten egg and combine.
2. Stir in the vanilla paste (you can use vanilla essence if you don't have the paste, but the paste gives the final cookie dough the lovely little specks of vanilla throughout).
3. Gently fold in the flour and mix through until the dough comes together.
4. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and then leave it in the refrigerator for at least 30 mins to firm up.
5. When you're ready to bake your cookie, pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees (160 degrees fan).
6. Lightly flour your work surface and then roll out the dough to 4-5mm thickness.  If the dough crumbles apart, mould it back together with your hands.
7. Stamp out your shapes using your desired cookie cutters (I used hearts and circles) and place them well apart on lined baking trays.
8. Large cookies take around 10-14 mins until they're pale golden (keep your eye on them after 10 mins to ensure they don't burn) and the little cookies take around 5-8 mins.

To decorate

• Roll out sugarpaste in your desired colour (I used Renshaw White Sugarpaste but you can get other brands and supermarkets are now doing their own too)
• Cut out your toppers using the shapes you used for your cookies (use the same size topper to cookie) and attach to the cookie with a little water or edible glue.
• Then using Sugarflair Edible Tints (I used pink, peach, pale blue, purple and gold), mix with a little vodka and paint onto your cookie. I wanted the watercolour effect so I made sure it was diluted enough (just test it on a piece of kitchen towel until your get your desired colour strength).
• Create your masterpiece and then package in a little bag with a handwritten note!

Raspberry & Lemon Curd Madeleines

I love lemons.  I love freshly squeezed lemonade, lemon cakes, limoncello (especially as a syrup soaked into cakes!), Absolut Citron, lemon curd...everything about lemons!  When I'm baking I often reach for short cuts, especially when I have two little boys at my ankles, but when I have some extra time, it's much more rewarding to make things from scratch. I was hosting a clothes shopping coffee morning and needed some baked goodies to feed everyone and decided to make this lovely Madeleine recipe but no short cuts on the lemon curd - homemade all the way this time!

This is my absolute favourite Madeleine recipe and it's from Rachel Khoo's Little Paris Kitchen. I remember seeing her make these years ago when she had the Saturday morning show and it has been a firm favourite of mine ever since - but I'll confess that I usually reach for the store-bought lemon curd to save on time.  Madeleines are always best served straight from the oven, but what I love about this recipe is that after you make the batter, you then refrigerate it and can leave it there overnight.  And to make the process even easier, I store it in a piping bag, ready to pipe straight into the Madeleine tins the morning of baking.  It does take a bit of concentration to bake them (and I can be easily distracted by kitchen chat with my friends!) so I make sure I religiously use timers to keep me focused.

Once made, the lemon curd is kept in the fridge overnight to set but it was really simple to make - and there's nothing better than the scent of freshly squeezed lemons bubbling away on the stove. I made double the quantity of this as my little boy has requested a special sweet treat for his birthday at the weekend and lemon is his favourite flavour too :)

Raspberry & Lemon Curd Madeleines (from Rachel Khoo's Little Paris Kitchen)

Lemon Curd Ingredients

• 1 UNWAXED LEMON (JUICE AND FINELY GRATED ZEST ONLY)
• PINCH OF SALT
• 40G SUGAR
• 45G BUTTER
• 2 FREE-RANGE EGG YOLKS

Lemon Curd Method

1. Place the lemon zest and juice, salt, sugar and butter into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar and butter have melted. Remove from the heat.
2. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl, then add to the pan and whisk vigorously. Return the pan to a low heat and whisk constantly as the curd starts to thicken.  Keep whisking until one or two bubbles start to appear and the curd coats the back of a metal spoon.
3. Pass the curd through a sieve into a bowl, cover with clingfilm (preferably so that the clingfilm is in direct contact with the surface of the curd) and put into the refrigerator overnight.

Madeleine Ingredients

• 2 FREE-RANGE EGGS
• 130G SUGAR
• 200G PLAIN FLOUR
• 10G BAKING POWDER
• 1 UNWAXED LEMON (FINELY GRATED ZEST ONLY)
• 20G HONEY
• 4TSBP MILK
• 200G BUTTER (MELTED & COOLED)
• PUNNET OF RASPBERRIES (OR AT LEAST 24 RASPBERRIES)
• ICING SUGAR (FOR DUSTING)

Madeleine Method

1. Heat the oven to 190 degrees.
2. Melt the butter and put aside to cool down.
3. Beat the eggs with the sugar until pale and frothy.  Put the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl and add the lemon zest.
4. Mix the honey and milk with the cooled butter, then add to the eggs and stir through.  In two batches, fold in the flour. Cover and leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight - I store it in a piping bag so I'm ready to go when it's time to bake.
5. When you're ready to bake them, butter and flour two 12-shell Madeleine tins and put around 1 heaped tablespoon of batter into each shell.  Then place a raspberry deep into each Madeleine.
6. Bake for 5 minutes and turn the oven off for 1 minute. Then turn the oven back on to 160 degrees for a further 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven, ease the Madeleines gently out of their tin and cool on a cooling rack for a few minutes.
7. Place a little lemon curd in a piping bag and squirt a little into each Madeleine.
8. Then try not to eat the whole batch in one go!

The Keira Rose Sugar Flower

Or When I Met Peggy Porschen.  All of my friends cannot have failed to notice how excited I was last week after a cheeky visit to Peggy Porschen's Boutique Bakery in Belgravia, led to an encounter with the one and only cake queen herself (cue girly excitement and photo opportunity!) The bakery itself is small with only a few tables and the cakes were merchandised to perfection - each one was identical and it was a real inspiration. And I can definitely recommend the Chocolate Salted Caramel cupcake :)  Peggy was so lovely and took time to chat to me about my baking and brand new blog and then invited me over to her Academy to see the Flower Diploma Class in progress. 

The students' work was amazing and so detailed.  Making sugar flowers is quite an investment as to create more than a simple rose, you need flower paste, cutters and a spectrum of tints.  Plus a lot of patience as you're often waiting hours or overnight for small parts of the flowers to dry before you can progress. That's why going to a class like this is great as you get to use all the equipment and try your hand at a variety of creations!

Peggy Porschen Flower Academy: the students' work

Inspired by seeing the Flower Academy in action, I decided my next challenge should be a sugar flower. I've been wanting to experiment with them having only attempted simple roses and hibiscus flowers. I chose a really beautiful rose from Peggy's book Cakes In Bloom - English Garden Roses inspired by David Austen's Keira Rose.  Now I'll admit right now that I only had leftover flower paste (a bit hard and crumbly), the wrong colour tints for the rose and leaves and I over-coloured the rose centre so it's a bit too pink with no spare paste to recreate it. But making the rose was pretty straightforward if you have patience and a gentle touch! It might not look quite the same as Peggy's gorgeous specimen but I was really pleased with my first attempt and I think it would look fabulous on top of a lovely celebration cake or maybe even add a touch of elegance to afternoon tea.

Attending the Flower Academy is on my bucket list.  In the meantime, there are a lot more flowers I want to make including a very important upcoming commission with sunflowers.  But that's another blog post!

Peggy Porschen's amazing sugar flowers