1st Birthday Princess Castle Cake

My cousin asked me a few weeks ago to create a cake for his daughter's 1st birthday.  He and his wife had a castle cake in mind so I had my work cut out considering I'd never tried anything like that before.  Shortly after being asked I jumped online and looked through pages of images on Google search and also spent a while on Youtube searching for ideas and inspiration.  I stumbled across a video on Youtube that provided me with the perfect ideas for this cake.

I knew I would have to use fondant icing again since it gives a better finish than buttercream for these kinds of projects, so this got me a little worried since I'm still not great at actually applying the fondant to the cake without a couple of holes or folds (I really should practise more).  So I went and collected my equipment and supplies from a local decorating shop and just decided to go for it.

I made two different kinds of cake for it, the base is devil's food cake and the upper tier is vanilla (just in case there are some crazy people at the party who have an aversion to chocolate).  Each tier has two layers of cake in it, with vanilla buttercream in between and on top to secure the fondant.  A friend came over to offer moral support for the evening but eventually got put to work helping me smooth the fondant onto the cake (thank you!).

After the tiers were both covered I rolled out some more of the pink fondant to line the bottom of the top tier to neaten up the edge.  After that I used some ivory fondant to make doors and brown fondant rolled out to line it for the door frame.  The door handles are heart shaped sprinkles which I got online.  All of these details are secured with the edible glue I got as well, best investment ever.  I have used it many, many times.

To finish the top tier off I rolled out more of the pink fondant and made the trim for the top.  It was just cut out by hand, I didn't measure it so it's not entirely even but I think it still looks pretty good!

After the main work on the castle was done I added a 'D' on the front (birthday girl is Darcy).  The stars are just cut out of yellow flower paste, but you can use sprinkles or fondant.  If the stars don't tickle your fancy try flowers or butterflies!  The large butterflies are also made from flower paste.  The towers are the cardboard tubes from kitchen paper, just covered in the pink fondant.  The windows are fuchsia fondant with the brown fondant serving as window ledges.  The tops of the towers are made from black construction card (again, the colour is up to you, it just happened it was what I had on hand).  The towers are fastened onto the cake with 2 toothpicks pushed into each.

To finish the cake off, I piped buttercream vines onto the castle (the design goes all the way around and is on all of the towers but I only took a picture from the front).  The flowers are all cut from flower paste with cutters (which I did on Monday) and stuck on with my edible glue.  The smaller butterflies are sprinkles too.  Finally, I used my grass piping nozzle to line the base with nice bright green buttercream grass.

It may not be the neatest cake in the world but I have to say I am pretty darn happy with how it turned out!!

Brownies!

Who doesn't love brownies?  They are little chocolaty pieces of heaven and they are so easy to make!

Ingredients:

200g dark chocolate

175g unsalted butter

325g caster sugar

130g plain flour

3 eggs

Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3.

Line a 33 x 23 x 5cm baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (ensure the base of the bowl does not touch the water in the pan).  Stir until the butter and chocolate has completely melted.  Remove from the heat and if the bowl is big enough, add the sugar and flour.  If the bowl isn't big enough, add the melted mixture to a larger bowl containing the flour and sugar and mix until all ingredients are well incorporated (remember to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula) then add the eggs.  When all the ingredients have been combined, pour or spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tray.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until flaky on top but still soft in the centre.  Leave the brownies in the tray to cool completely.  Once cooled you can slice the brownies into squares or bars.  To finish you can dust with icing sugar or just leave them plain.

To make your brownies super chocolaty you can always stir in some chocolate chips before you pour the mixture into the baking tray.  Yum!!

Trick or Treat? I Choose Treat!

It's that time of year again when the ghosts and ghouls come out to play... and fans of baking can get creative with their creations!

Add your own personal touch to parties this fiendishly festive season.  Grab some food colours; pumpkin orange, midnight black, gooey green, putrid purple, blood red and just go for it!  Look out for any sprinkles or candy to enhance your magical, scary baked goods.  I found some Haribo gummy ghosts and a "monster mix", but there are so many variations out there now.

I was at a party on Saturday (in my finest Dorothy Gale costume) and brought along some cupcakes and a haunted house cupcake stand I found in Lakeland.  The cupcakes were just plain vanilla, but I used my Americolor gels to colour the cake.  I divided it into 3 separate bowls and coloured one third orange, one third purple and the last third green.  After they were baked I topped them with contrasting coloured vanilla frosting (orange cupackes with green frosting, purple with orange and green with purple).  The frosting was coloured with my Americolor Electric gels which added to the eery Halloween look.  Topped with some gummy ghosts and bats.

Then yesterday my mother asked me to bake a cake for the family Halloween get together.  She had a Jack-O-Lantern cake tin, so I went to it and decorated it for her too.  I used my Americolor gels again to colour the vanilla buttercream (best investment I ever made).  To finish it off I melted some dark chocolate and used the cake tin to trace the eyes, nose, mouth and stalk of the pumpkin then used my leaf nozzle to pipe on some green frosting at the top.  I also used my red and gold lustre dusts to colour the chocolate eyes, nose and mouth to give a candle effect.

Hope these ideas help you to create some ghoulishly delicious treats.  Happy Halloween everyone!

Cakes By James: Cupcake Masterclass

I have been hearing a lot about this place in Belfast, Cakes By James.  I follow the twitter feed and last week I saw that they did masterclasses in cupcakes and that there was one taking place in the next few days, so of course I immediately bought a place for the class.  The classes take place on Saturdays before they open and have limited places available.  All of the masterclass details (dates, times etc) are available on the Cakes By James website.

So I set my alarm for that Saturday morning to get up and hop on the bus into Belfast.  Now, when I say I set my alarm what I actually did was change the time, but forgot to actually turn it on...  Luckily I did wake up in time to find an outfit to throw on and make my bus.  The universe was definitely conspiring against me that day, the bus hit every red light and stopped at every single stop on the way into town.  When I finally arrived on Royal Avenue I realised I still wasn't 100% sure of where this place actually was.  Fast forward to me wandering aimlessly up and down Queen Street (which was the only part about the address I could actually remember).  By 10:15am I managed to find it (making me a good 15 minutes late, meaning I had apparently missed tea and coffee, boo!!!)

James and the others were very obliging to my tardiness and carried on after I had joined them at the kitchen table where James had just begun to go through the Italian Buttercream tutorial.  This was the first lesson of the day.  Next up was writing with chocolate.  Now, for me writing with frosting is an issue, I am never happy with how the writing looks on my cakes so this presented a good chance to be shown new techniques, practise the skill and ask some questions.

As you can see, I still have a lot of practising to do.  My writing is still a little shaky, but I do like writing with chocolate instead of frosting (if only because I was very messy and HAD TO lick all the chocolate off my hand, gosh darnit!)

Afterwards we were ushered to the large wooden table in the studio for a quick lesson in piping frosting onto cupcakes.  We each got to take 12 cupcakes (I went for an even split of 6 vanilla, 6 chocolate) and then piping nozzles (Wilton 1M) and piping bags were passed out.

James showed us two different ways to pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes and then provided us with 3 different flavours of Italian Buttercream to play about with (vanilla, chocolate and raspberry).

Once we had all frosted our 12 cupcakes we were then presented with a vast array of sprinkles, glitters, lustre dusts, dragees, fondants, fondant cutters and flower paste.  After quick demonstrations on how to roll out fondant and flower paste, how to apply glitter and the best way to apply lustre dust we were once again given free reign on exactly how we wanted to finish off our cupcakes.

I thoroughly enjoyed the masterclass and am seriously considering the cake masterclass in which you decorate an 8 inch cake, with more on how to apply fondant to a cake and creating sugar flowers to decorate them.

Chocolate Truffles

One more chocolaty recipe before the end of Chocolate Week!  These truffles are very versatile, you can add different elements to suit your own tastes, or tailor them for somebody else if you make them as a present.

Ingredients:

300ml double cream

A knob of unsalted butter

Zest from 1 clementine orange

300g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids or above)

A pinch of sea salt

A few drops of brandy (optional)

Put the double cream in a saucepan over a medium heat and heat until bubbles start to appear.  At this stage add your butter and clementine zest, when the butter has melted slowly pour the mixture over the chocolate, whisking as you go so that the chocolate melts slowly.  If the mixture splits you can add a dash of boiling water to bring it back together.  Add the pinch of sea salt and brandy (if you're using it) then cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours so the chocolate mixture sets. 

Once the truffle mixture is ready take it out of the fridge and use a teaspoon to scoop out small amounts and roll them into balls.  You can then roll the truffles in whatever ind of coating you can think of; chopped nuts, cocoa powder, coconut, or if you're feeling really ambitious you could coat them in melted chocolate!

I have made this recipe with milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate before and those truffles turned out really tasty too.  If you don't want to use brandy why not try a flavoured liqueur, or substitute the orange zest for lemon?  The only limitation is your imagination!!

Chocolate Meringues

In honour of UK Chocolate Week 2011 I wanted to post this recipe. 

Ingredients:

1 cup egg whites

2 cups caster sugar

5 tbsp cocoa powder

4 oz (125g) dark chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas Mark 4.

Line some baking sheets with greaseproof paper.  In a heatproof bowl whisk together the egg whites and sugar over a simmering pot (ensure the bowl is not touching the water).  Whisk continually until the sugar has completely dissolved then remove the bowl from the heat.  Beat the eggs and sugar on high speed until the mixture is stiff and glossy.  Sift the cocoa powder over the meringue and sprinkle the chopped chocolate.  Using a spatula fold into the meringue until all ingredients are well combined.  Use a scoop to drop mounds of meringue onto the prepared baking trays leaving two inches between each to allow them to spread.  Bake for 8-9 minutes and then rotate the baking trays 180 degrees and bake for a further 8-9 minutes or until the meringues are fluffy and the surfaces have cracks in them.  Transfer the meringues to wire cooling trays, leaving them on the greaseproof paper.  Recipe makes 20-24 meringues.

Carrot Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Happy World Vegetarian Day!  I thought I would celebrate by baking with vegetables, so I went with a classic choice - carrot cupcakes.  I do love my carrot cake (or cupcakes) and this is the first time I've made it myself.

Ingredients:

225g peeled carrots

130g raisins

2 eggs

130g golden caster sugar

120ml corn oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Zest of 1 orange

120g plain flour

1 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas Mark 4.

Line a cupcake tin with cases.

Finely grate the carrots and drain off any liquid.  In a large bowl combine together the grated carrot and raisins and set aside.  In a separate bowl, cream together the eggs and sugar, then add in the oil, vanilla and orange zest.  Into a third bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, beating well between each addition.  Pour the batter mixture into the bowl containing the carrot and raisins using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to fold all the ingredients together.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared cases and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester or tooth pick comes out clean when inserted.  Allow to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

The cupcakes can be eaten plain or you could make some orange cream cheese frosting to top them with.

Ingredients:

175g cream cheese

450g icing sugar, sifted

125g unsalted butter (room temperature)

Zest of 1 orange

Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix well until all ingredients are combined and the frosting becomes pale - this can take a few minutes.  Top with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon, sugar paste carrots, or in my case sprinkles shaped like carrots.  Yum!!!

Pumpkin Coconut And Walnut Bread

There was a spare tin of pumpkin purée in my cupboards from when I had made a pumpkin pie for my dad last Christmas, I also had left over nuts from various other things I had baked so I went about searching for a recipe that would use up both.  I came across the recipe for this bread and decided to try it out and wow, is it yummy!  Delicious warm and cold.

Ingredients:

450g plain flour

440g soft dark brown sugar

135g caster sugar

425g pumpkin purée (canned or home made)

250ml vegetable oil

150ml coconut milk

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

60g desiccated coconut

115g walnuts, toasted and chopped

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas Mark 4.

Grease and flour 2 loaf tins.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugars, pumpkin, oil, coconut milk, baking soda, salt and spices.  When all ingredients are well mixed, fold in the coconut and walnuts.  Pour half the batter into each loaf tin.  Bake for approximately 60 minutes, or until a cake tester or tooth pick comes out clean when inserted.  Remove from the oven and cover with foil to steam for 10 minutes.  Remove foil and turn out onto a cooling rack, place the foil over the bread again, loosely this time, and allow to cool completely.

Pirate Themed Cupcakes

Firstly, YAaaaaaar! Happy "Talk Like a Pirate Day".  To celebrate this 'holiday' i made some pirate themed cupcakes.  They were made with vanilla cupcakes coloured blue (using my good old Americolor gels) and then the design idea was to have a desert island in the centre of a blue buttercream ocean, with a pile of gold booty on top of the island with a jolly roger flag sticking out of the middle of the gold.  To finish it off I had planned to make shark fins with marshamllow fondant to put in the buttercream waves.

Unfortunately my buttercream was not stiff enough, I'm gonna blame my new hand mixer for this one.  It was very difficult to tell if the consistency was right, when I used my old mixer I could tell from the feel when it was ready.

Anyways, here is my finished result.  They don't look too bad but I had a way more awesome looking cupcake in my head, it was just very hard to translate it into being.

The jolly roger flags were made from searching the images on google  and using word to put two of them together so that they could be wrapped around a tooth pick and glued.

Peanut Butter and Jam Muffins

It's clear by now that I love me some peanut butter.  How happy was I when a friend sent me this recipe to try out?  I loved peanut butter and jam sandwiches growing up so how cool is it to have that combination in muffin form?

Ingredients:
350g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 eggs, beaten
80g soft demerara sugar
2 heaped tbsp of peanut butter
110g butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
Jam (use whatever kind is your favourite, but strawberry or raspberry are good)

Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) Gas Mark 6
Sieve the flour and baking powder together in a bowl and add the salt.  In a separate bowl mix the eggs, milk, vanilla, peanut butter, sugar and melted butter until smooth.  Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.  Line your muffin tin with muffin cases.  Place a spoonful of muffin mixture into the bottom of the cases and smooth with the back of your spoon.  Place a rounded teapsoon of jam in the cases, then top with another spoonful of muffin mixture so that the jam if totally covered.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a cake tester or tooth pick comes out clean when inserted.  Allow to cool completely before eating, the hot jam will burn!  One batch makes 12 muffins.

Banana And Chocolate Cupcakes

I really love baked goods with bananas in them.  I have previously posted recipes for whoopie pies and breads so now, in honour of National Cupcake Week I'll post the recipe for these cupcakes!

Ingredients:

120g plain flour

140g caster sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

Pinch of salt

80g unsalted butter (room temperature)

120ml whole milk

2 eggs

120g bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

In a bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt and butter with an electric mixer on a slow speed until you get a sandy consistency.  Slowly pour the milk into the mixture, beating until all the ingredients are well mixed, then add the eggs and mix well.  Scrape any unmixed ingredients off the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Stir the bananas into the batter by hand until they are evenly incorporated.  Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases so that the cases are two thirds full and then bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the sponge bounces back and a cake tester or tooth pick comes out clean when inserted.  Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tins before moving them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.  Frost the cupcakes with chocolate buttercream (recipe on the Basic Recipes page) and to finish them off, grate some chocolate onto the top.  One batch makes 12 cupcakes.

UK National Cupcake Week 2011

Head on over to the National Cupcake Week website to join in the fun with recipes, photo galleries, NCW prize winners and other resources to help you celebrate what should really be a national holiday.

You can also follow the official National Cupcake Week twitter feed for other links and tips.

Champagne Cupcakes

I made these back in April for my mother's 60th birthday which was Oscars themed.  She was adamant that she did not want a birthday cake so I made 7 tiers worth of cupcakes, in 6 different flavours.  The champagne buttercream was a big hit.  I thought I'd post the recipe since it's National Cupcake Week here in the UK.

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup butter (room temperature)

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

3/4 cup champagne (allow to sit so that it is no longer bubbly)

6 egg whites

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas Mark 4

Line cupcake tins with cases (one batch makes about 20 cupcakes).  In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  In a separate bowl sift the flour, baking powder and salt together then add to the butter and sugar, alternating with the champagne.  In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the cupcake mixture to lighten the batter, then fold in the remaining egg whites.  Fill the cupcake cases two thirds of the way and then put them into the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until a cake tester or tooth pick comes out clean when inserted.  Move the cupcakes onto a wire cooling rack after allowing them to sit in the tins for about 5 minutes.

While the cupcakes are baking you can start to make the champagne buttercream.

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups icing sugar

1 cup butter (room temperature)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp champagne (room temperature)

In a bowl beat the sugar and butter together on a low speed until blended, then turn the mixer up to medium for a further two minutes.  Add the vanilla and champagne and beat for another minute or two.  Frost the cupcakes when they are completely cool.

Brownies (Vegan, Gluten Free, Wheat Free)

A friend of mine has an allergy to gluten and wheat products, so when she sent me a message to say she'd be stopping by my house for a cup of tea I thought I'd make some tasty gluten free munchies to go along with it.  I stumbled across a recipe for these brownies, and really who can say no to a chocolatey little treat?

Ingredients:

115g gram flour (chick pea flour)

35g potato starch (potato flour)

2 tbsp arrowroot

50g cocoa powder

200g unrefined caster sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp salt

125ml coconut oil (melted)

125ml unsweetened applesauce (if there are apple pieces in the applesauce, blend smooth)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

125ml hot water or coffee

150g vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

Lightly grease three 12-cup mini cupcake tins with extra coconut oil, or line with mini cupcake cases.  In a bowl mix together all of the dry ingredients.  Add the oil, applesauce, vanilla and hot water/ coffee to the dry ingredients and stir until smooth.  Using a spatula, fold in the chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

Spoon the mixture into your tins (or cases).  Bake in the preheated oven on the centre rack for 10 minutes, rotating the tray after 5 minutes.  For a fudgier cake, bake the brownies for 8 minutes total.  Insert a cake tester or tooth pick, which should come out clean.  Let the brownies stand in the tins for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.  The brownies are best served warm, but can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days, just cover with clingfilm.

Raspberry Scones (Vegan, Sugar Free)

I'm really enjoying trying out my vegan recipes, I'm totally curious to see how they turn out in comparison to non-vegan recipes.  I really loved these scones, I just ate them plain but you could use whatever spread takes your fancy and they were fantastic with a cup of tea (a very important factor for me, you just can't beat a good cup of tea!!).

Ingredients:

240g Doves Farm wholegrain spelt flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

75ml coconut oil, plus more for brushing

75ml agave nectar, plus more for brushing

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

50ml hot water

150g fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas Mark 4

Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.  In a medium bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt together.  Add the coconut oil, agave nectar and vanilla extract and mix until everything comes together into a thick slightly dry mixture is formed.  Pour the hot water in and continue to mix.  Using a rubber spatula, fold in the raspberries until they are marbles through the mixture.  For each scone, scoop 75ml of the mixture onto the prepared baking tray (I used a 1/3 cup for this - 1/3 cup = approx 75ml) leave 2.5cm between each one to allow them to expand.  Lightly brush each mound with extra oil and agave nectar and then bake in the oven for 14 minutes, rotating the baking tray 180 degrees after 7 minutes has passed.  Once they have baked, let them stand on the baking tray for 15 minutes and then use a spatula to gently move them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.  Mixture makes 8 scones.

Yum yum yum!!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

It's been a while since I last posted, but that doesn't mean I haven't still been trying out some new recipes!  I decided to try pineapple upside down cake since I'd never made one before (or eaten one for that matter) so I looked one up and picked up a tin of pineapple rings.

Ingredients:

For the topping

120g butter

200g soft brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 pineapple rings (a 430g tin should have enough in it)

6 maraschino cherries

For the cake

170g butter (room temperature)

150g caster sugar

2 eggs

150g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

To make the topping: melt the butter in a pan and stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract.  Heat until the sugar has melted then add in 50ml of pineapple juice from the tin (just be careful in case it starts to splash).  Simmer on lowest heat for another 5 minutes.  Arrange your pineapple slices in a 23cm cake tin and place a maraschino cherry in the centre of each ring.  Pour the majority of the topping into the cake tin (keep some of the topping for a glaze later).  Let this stand while you mix the cake ingredients.

To make the cake: preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas Mark 4.  Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl, add the vanilla extract.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time and then sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl and fold in well.  Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for 40 minutes or until a cake tester or tooth pick comes out clean when inserted into the cake.  Allow to cool in the tin for 20 minutes then turn out onto a plate so that the pineapple is now on top.  Glaze with the remaining syrup.  Serve with ice cream or custard.

Banana Bread with Coconut and Pecans

I had bananas left over from the vegan banana bread I made recently so I wanted to try out a new banana bread recipe I had come across.

Ingredients:

3 cups plain flour

11/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup canola oil (I used coconut oil)

11/2 cups sugar

3 eggs, beaten

11/2 tsp vanilla extract

11/2 cups bananas, mashed

3/4 cup sour cream (I used plain yoghurt)

11/2 cups chopped pecans, toasted

3/4 cup desiccated coconut

Preheat oven 180°C (350°F) Gas Mark 4

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.  In a large bowl, beat together the oil and sugar.  Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Add the bananas and sour cream and beat well.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until everything is just combined.  Stir in the pecans and coconut.  Pour batter into greased loaf tin until it is half full (I got 2 banana bread loaves from one batch).  Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the loaf.  Allow to cool for at least an hour before removing it from the pan and serving.  Tastes great plain, or with a little bit of butter.

To toast pecans: place nuts on a baking tray and heat in the oven (180°C/ 350°F/ Gas Mark 4) for 15 minutes or until light brown and fragrant.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

Continuing with the classic combination of chocolate and peanut butter, this time in the form of a whoopie pie!

Ingredients:

1 egg

150g caster sugar

125g plain yoghurt

25ml milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

75g unsalted butter (melted)

275g plain flour

75g cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

60g crunchy peanut butter

Cream the sugar and egg together until light and fluffy.  In a separate jug or bowl, pour the yoghurt, milk and vanilla and stir.  Gradually add this to the sugar and egg mixture.  Mix on a low speed until everything is well combined, then mix in the melted butter.  In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder.  Add half to the batter and mix well on a low speed and then add the remainder of the dry ingredients and mix until the mixture is smooth.  Add the peanut butter and mix it in.  Chill the batter in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.  Preheat oven 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3.  Line some baking trays with greaseproof paper, or grease your whoopie pie tins.  One the batter has cooled, spoon the mixture onto the trays/ whoopie pie tins.  If you are using a baking tray the mounds of dough should be 3-5cm in diameter, with enough space around each to allow them to expand (2-3cm) the mixture should make between 16 and 20 mounds.  (When I made them I used my whoopie pie tin and it made a lot more).  Bake in the oven for 10-13 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when pressed.  Allow them to cool completely on a wire rack.

Filling:
170g unsalted butter (room temperature)
280g icing sugar
220g marshmallow fluff

While the sponges are baking, get a new bowl and mix the icing sugar and butter together until smooth.  Add the marshmallow fluff (available from sellers on eBay, or if you live in Northern Ireland I know that it is available from the Rinkha in Islandmagee) increase the speed and mix until the filling is light and fluffy.  Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.

To finish, layer your whoopie pies, one piece of sponge, spread 1 tbsp of filling on top of it then top with another piece of sponge.

The sponge mixture for these whoopie pies was a much more firm than the mixture for the sponge of the Banana Cream Whoopie Pies I had made before and didn't spread at all in the whoopie pie tin so I pressed the batter into the tin.

Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies are my dad's favourite and they are super easy to make.

Ingredients:

1 cup margarine

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups oatmeal

Preheat oven 180°C (350°F) Gas Mark 4

Cream the sugar and margarine together, add the beaten eggs and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients and combine well.  Roll the dough into small balls (walnut sized).  Place on a greased baking tray, leaving space for them to expand.  Press flat with a floured fork.  Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.

Pupcakes!

This one is for all the readers out there who have a canine companion.  Have you ever been in the kitchen cooking or baking and look down to see a little pleading face looking up at you with hope in their puppy dog eyes?  Why not use your baking skills for your furry friend as well?  These pupcakes are so easy to make and will have their tails wagging in appreciation!

Ingredients:

375g wheat free and gluten free flour

300ml semi-skimmed milk

250g peanut butter (no added salt and no added sugar)

2 eggs

1 mashed banana

4 tbsp honey

4 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven 160°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

Mix all the ingredients together until they are well incorporated.  Divide evenly between the baking cases (mixture should make 20 pupcakes).  Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until they are golden in colour and spring bake when pressed (insert a cake tester/ toothpick to make sure they are done).  For smaller breed dogs, or younger pups I suggest making mini cupcakes.  If you decide to do this, adjust your baking time accordingly.  Place pupcakes onto a wire cooling rack, when they are completely cool you can decorate them.

Pupcake frosting:

250g low fat cream cheese or quark

125g peanut butter (no added salt and no added sugar)

4 tbsp olive oil

10 glacé cherries (optional)

Combine ingedients and beat until they become fluffy and then pipe it onto your pupcakes.  You can draw anything you want on top.  I did some with paw prints on them and the others had cat faces drawn on them, using the glacé cherries as noses and eyes.

Hope your pups enjoy them as much as the ones who got mine!

Banana Bread (Vegan, Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Sugar Free)

Everything I have ever baked has been full of eggs, butter, milk etc.  I have wanted to try out vegan recipes as well as gluten free/ wheat free for a long time so I got myself some recipes and sourced ingredients for them.  I have always loved banana bread so when I saw this I knew it would have to be one of the first things I tried out.  I have to say, for somebody who has always been a little wary of gluten free baking, it was pretty darn good!

Ingredients:

300g Doves Farm plain white gluten-free flour (available in Tesco)

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp xanthan gum (available in Tesco)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

125ml coconut oil [melt the oil before measuring], plus more for the tin (available in Holland & Barratt)

150ml agave nectar (available in Holland & Barratt)

150ml rice milk (available in Tesco and Holland & Barratt)

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (I got mine on eBay)

6 medium bananas, mashed

Preheat oven 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

Lightly grease the loaf tin with some coconut oil.

In a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt and cinnamon.  Add the coconut oil, agave nectar, rice milk and vanilla to your dry ingredients and mix until smooth.  Using a spatula fold in your mashed bananas until they are evenly distributed in the mixture.  Fill the loaf tin halfway with your mixture.  Bake in the centre of the oven for 35 minutes, rotating it 180 degrees after 20 minutes.  When the banana bread it ready it will bounce back when pressed and a cake tester/ toothpick will come out clean when inserted.  Let the banana bread cool for about 20 minutes.  After the 20 minutes, run a knife along the edges to loosen.  Cover the loaf tin with a cutting board and turn out onto the board.  Get another cutting board and carefully turn the banana bread onto it so that it is right side up once again.  Can be eaten warm or cooled and stored for up to 3 days at room temperature, in cling film.

Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake

This cake is lemony and moist, just delicious.  Great if you're having a friend over for a cuppa and a chat.

Ingredients:

85g unsalted butter (room temperature)

245g caster sugar

Lemon zest from 11/2 unwaxed lemons

15g poppy seeds (plus extra to decorate)

165ml whole milk

235g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 egg whites

Lemon syrup ingredients:

Freshly squeezed juice and zest from 1 lemon

50g caster sugar

Lemon glaze ingredients:

Freshly squeezed juice from 1 lemon

250g icing sugar (sifted)

Preheat oven 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

In a bowl, mix the butter, sugar, lemon zest and poppy seeds and beat until the ingredients are well incorporated.  Slowly add the milk (don't worry if the mixture looks slightly split).  In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 3 additions, make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition to make sure everything is incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy.  In a separate bowl, whisk the egg white until stiff peaks form.  Fold the egg whites into the mixture with a metal spoon.  Pour into a greased ring mould and use a palette knife to even out the batter.  Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when touched.

While the cake is in the oven make your lemon syrup.  In a small saucepan, add the lemon juice, zest, sugar and 100ml of cold water and bring to the boil on a low heat.  When the syrup starts to boil, raise the heat and boil until the mixture has reduced by half or until it has a thin syrup consistency.  When the cake comes out of the oven and is still in the tin, pour the syrup over the top of the cake.  Leave the cake to cool slightly before turning it out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

When your cake has cooled entirely, make your lemon glaze by mixing the icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl.  The juice from the lemon should be enough liquid to make the glaze, it should be thick, but pourable.  If the glaze is too thick add more lemon juice or water to get it to an acceptable consistency.  Place your cake on a stand or plate then pour the glaze over your cake and sprinkle the extra poppy seeds to decorate.

I was able to find poppy seeds on eBay for a decent price.  They have lasted ages, so it was definitely money well spent.

Banana Cream Whoopie Pies

These are the first whoopie pies I've tried out so far.  I got a whoopie pie tin on Amazon to keep all my whoopie pies at least similar in size.  The recipe is sort of a whoopie pie version of a banana cream pie.  It's topped with salty caramel which was to die for, I literally could've just sat and eaten it with a spoon. Deelish!  The mixture makes 9 large or 24 mini whoopie pies.

Ingredients:

280g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 large banana
150ml crème fraîche
125g unsalted butter (room temperature)
100g caster sugar
100g light brown sugar
1 egg

Preheat oven 180°C (350°F) Gas Mark 4
If you're going to be using baking trays, line them with greaseproof paper, for whoopie pie tins, make sure you grease them.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.  Stir in the salt and set the dry ingredients aside.  In a separate bowl, mash up your banana and then mix in the crème fraîche and set it aside too.  In a third bowl, cream the butter and both sugars together until they are light and fluffy.  Add the egg and mix well.  Add the banana mixture and continue to beat until everything is combined.  Add the dry ingredients until everything is just mixed.  Chill the batter in the fridge for 30 minutes.

While the batter is chilling you can make your vanilla custard cream for the filling, for this you will need:

Pinch of salt
50g caster sugar
15g cornflour
1 egg
225ml whole milk
1/2 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
25g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
50ml double cream (optional if you just want to make vanilla custard)

In a bowl, mix together your sugar, salt and cornflour.  Whisk in the egg to form a paste.  Heat the milk, vanilla pod and seeds in a saucepan until it begins to froth, but before it starts to boil.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Slowly pour half of the hot milk mixture into the bowl, whisking as you add it.  Pour the conents of your bowl back into the saucepan and whisk.  Return the pan to the heat and whisk until the custard thickens.  Strain the custard into a heatproof bowl.  As it begins to cool gradually stir in the butter.  Cover the custard with clingfilm, pressing the clingfilm right onto the surface so as to prevent a skin forming.  Leave the custard to cool for 20 minutes, then chill for a further 2 hours.  (Custard will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, so this can be made in advance).  Before using the custard, whip the cream and fold into the custard.

Remove your chilled batter from the fridge and using a teaspoon drop your batter onto the baking tray/ whoopie pie tin.  Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 10-12 minutes for large whoopie pies, or 8-10 minutes for mini whoopie pies.  Remove the whoopies from your tray/ tin and place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

While your whoopie pies cool you can make the salty caramel topping.  For this you need:

2 tbsp cold water
100g caster sugar
120ml double cream
25g unsalted butter
Pinch of sea salt

Put the water in a heavy bottom saucepan.  Add the caster suagr and heat gently to dissolve, swirling the pot around without mixing the contents.  Once the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat up to high and bring it to the boil.  Continue to heat until the caramel is darkening (keep an eye on your pot, the caramel quickly darkens and can get very bitter if left for too long).  Whisk in the cream, be sure not to splash the mixture!  Add the butter and sea salt next and continue to whisk until smooth.  Let the caramel sauce cool before using it.  (Can be kept in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week).

To assemble your whoopie pies:
Take one whoopie half, add some of the custard cream, then another whoopie half.  Top with a drizzle of salty caramel and chocolate shavings (optional).

Yum yum yum!!

Lemon Bars

These lemon bars are the perfect mix of sweetness and tangy lemon.  They have been a big hit with my friends and go great with a cup of coffee.

Ingredients:

210g caster sugar

3 eggs

100ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 tsp lemon zest

Ingredients for base:

290g plain flour

70g icing sugar

Pinch of salt

230g unsalted butter

2 tsp lemon zest

Line a 33 x 23 x 5cm baking tray with greaseproof paper

Preheat oven 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

To make the base, mix the flour, icing sugar, salt, butter and lemon zest in a bowl until the ingredients come together to form a breadcrumb consistency.  Using your hands, press the dough together.  Move the dough into your baking tray and press out to fill the base of the tray.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the dough is golden brown in colour.  Remove and leave to cool sllightly.  (Keep the oven on)

Put the sugar, eggs, lemon juice and lemon zest into a bowl and whisk with a metal whisk until all ingredients are mixed togehter.  Carefully pour the mixture over the base and return it to the oven.  Bake for a further 20 minutes, or until the edges of the bars are golden brown and the topping has set.  Leave to cool completely, cover and keep it in the refrigerator overnight.  The bars are much easier to cut when they have been left to set.

They are super yummy and it's difficult to eat just one.

More Posts Coming Soon...

I have a few more recipes to post this week including Lemon Bars, Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake (I bought a lot of lemons last week) and Banana Cream Whoopie Pies.  This weekend I will also be trying out a vegan/ gluten-free recipe or two and homemade treats for man's best friend.

Watch this space.

#18 Star Tip: Zig Zags & Rope Patterns

There are so many patterns and decorations that you can do with the #18 tip.

I'm going to put up videos I've found on Youtube that have come in useful for me.  There really is so much you can find on that site!  So to save you having to spend time searching for videos I'll add them here.  The first video I'm going to add is to show you how to pipe zig zags and rope onto cakes or cupcakes. 

It's really quite easy to do and looks great.  I just used frosting from a tub this time (I'd run out of butter to make my own).

Lemon Cupcakes

Since I started baking I have made a bunch of different cupcakes.  I love trying out new recipes, regardless of how disastrous they turn out (red velvet were my cupcakes kryptonite for a while), but these lemon cupcakes have always been a crowd pleaser, a favourite among my friends.

Ingredients:

120g plain flour

150g caster sugar

11/2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp lemon zest

40g unsalted butter (room temperature)

120ml whole milk

1 egg

Preheat oven 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

Combine the flour, baking powder, lemon zest and butter in a bowl and mix on a slow speed until the mixture has a sandy consistency.  Slowly add the milk until everything is incorporated.  Add the egg to the mixture and continue to mix (scrape any unmixed ingredients off the sides of the bowl with a spatula).  Spoon your mixture into the cupcake cases until they are two-thirds full.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or  until a cake tester/ toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cakes. When your cupcakes are completely cool, decorate with your choice of frosting and sprinkles. Makes 12 cupcakes.  When your cupcakes are completely cool add the frosting.  Lemon buttercream frosting is almost exactly the same as the Vanilla Buttercream Recipe but you also add 2 tbsp of lemon zest and a little yellow food colouring.  Top the cupcake with some shreds of lemon zest, or sprinkles.

The lemon cupcakes I made this time were for a friend's birthday so I topped them with mini white chocolate chips.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

I have always thought that candy company Reese's had the right idea by combining chocolate and peanut butter.  I love their products whether it be the peanut butter cups, Reese's pieces, and don't even get me started on the Nutrageous bars (heaven)!  So I have had a bag of their peanut butter chips in my cupboard for a while now and took a notion to make cookies after work yesterday.  The chips are not that easy to come by and UK sellers who stock them usually charge a bit for delivery (especially to Northern Ireland) but they are a nice little treat for every now and again.  One seller I found online who had them in stock was American Sweets, but sellers on Amazon and eBay sometimes stock them (P&P is usually quite expensive there too).

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

11/4 cups of butter (room temperature)

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 bag Reese's Peanut Butter Chips

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F)

In a large bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda then set aside.  In a separate bowl cream the butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and vanilla extract and continue beating.  Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until all ingredients are incorporated.  Stir in the peanut butter chips.  Line a few baking trays with greaseproof paper and using a teaspoon, drop cookie dough onto the baking trays allowing room for them to expand.  Bake for 8 or 9 minutes then remove from oven and allow to cool slightly on the baking trays before moving the cookies to your cooling rack to cool completely.  The cookies will flatten slightly during the cooling process.  One batch makes 40+ cookies.

Marshmallow Fondant

I keep seeing videos on Youtube of how to make your own marshmallow fondant so I ran out and bought some marshmallows to try it out.  There are LOADS of instructional videos but the one I have included below was my favourite, purely because I loved her outfit.

The fondant is very easy to colour, if a little bit messy (my hands were blue, green, yellow and brown for a couple of days afterwards).  I forgot to buy the vegetable shortening to coat my hands in.  If you try this out make sure you get some!  I had marshmallow goo EVERYWHERE!  At one stage I even had a box of icing sugar stuck in my hand, it was kinda funny. 

Well, here is how my first attempt at marshmallow fondant turned out:

It took a bit of getting used to, I had a couple of tears and folds in it but practise makes perfect!

Butterscotch Marshmallow Bars

Looking through one of my recipe books I came across the recipe for these.  They looked so good, even if my teeth hurt just looking at the picture, so I grabbed the ingredients I was missing when I was out at the grocery store.

Ingredients:

150g plain flour

40g icing sugar

120g unsalted butter (room temperature)

100g pink and white mini marshmallows

210g caster sugar

150g soft light brown sugar

190g golden syrup

70g unsalted butter

60ml double cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

60g crunchy peanut butter

30g mixed chopped nuts

Preheat oven 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

Line a 9 x 121/2 inch baking tray with greaseproof paper.  In a bowl, mix together the flour, icing sugar and butter until a dough forms.  Press the dough into your baking tray (make a lip around the sides to stop the topping from pouring over the sides later).  Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the middle is slightly more pale.  Set it aside to cool slightly.  Spread the marshmallows evenly over the base.  Put both types of sugar into a saucepan with the golden syrup and 240ml water and bring to the boil.  Let the mixture boil until it reaches the soft-ball* stage, then remove from the heat and add the butter, return to the heat and bring it to the boil again for around 3 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat and add in the double cream, vanilla and peanut butter.  Stir continuously until the peanut butter has completely melted into the mixture then pour the liquid over the base, ensuring you coat all the marshmallows with the sauce.  Sprinkle the chopped nuts over the top and let it set at room temperature for at least a few hours (preferably overnight).

Once it has set completely cut it into bars (makes about 10-12) and enjoy.  They are so sweet!

*Soft-ball: To check if your syrup has reached the soft-ball stage get a spoon and drop a small amount of it into a small bowl or glass of very cold water.  If the syrup has reached the correct heat, it will form a soft ball in the water but when it is removed will not retain it's shape in your hand.



Snickerdoodles

I have heard of Snickerdoodle cookies for years on all the US television shows I watch and always wondered what they were like so when I stumbled across a recipe and discovered I had all of the ingredients in my cupboard already I knew I had to give them a try.

Ingredients:

60g unsalted butter (room temperature)

160g caster sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

240g plain flour

3/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

(You will also need an additional 11/2 tbsp caster sugar and 1 tbsp ground cinnamon for the coating on the cookies).

Start by creaming together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract until it becomes light and fluffy.  Add in the egg and continue to beat mixture, scraping any unmixed ingredients off the side with a spatula, until everything is well incorporated.  Sift the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and cinnamon into the bowl and mix until the dough forms a smooth ball (I found that kneading it together by hand was easier).  Put the dough ball into a bowl, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 40 mintues so the dough can chill and rest.  While waiting for this you can preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3 and line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper.  In a small bowl add together the caster sugar and cinnamon.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator and break off small pieces and roll them into balls.  Coat the dough balls in the sugar/ cinnamon mix and place onto your baking trays (be sure to leave space for the cookies to spread).  Bake in the oven for 10-13 minutes or until they go golden brown, then remove them from the oven and let them cool slightly on the baking trays before moving to a cooling rack.  (One batch makes approximately 18 cookies).

They go great with a cup of tea.  Enjoy!!