So bad it's actually *good* for you.

When in a foul tempered over-tired and all round miserable state there really is no better remedy than throwing together as much sugar/syrup/butter/chocolate as you can find and making a batch of Rocky Road
(that you are then too tired to contemplate eating).

Work are going to love me. Fact.


Pink wafer biscuits, marshmallows, white chocolate chips and honeycomb pieces. I have no idea how much of what I used...it was a case of chuck it all together and hope for the best.


The chocolate coating consists of 225g un-salted butter, 2tbsp cocoa powder, 2tbsp caster sugar, 2tbsp golden syrup and 100g plain chocolate.
Melt all that together, leave to cool for ten minutes or so, then add in your sugary goodness.

(you could use anything you want; dried fruit, malteasers, biscuits, mini eggs, gummy bears....)

I started off with bite sized pieces, then got bored and smushed the rest in to a lined tray.


Chilled it in the fridge for a couple of hours,

and voila!


The bigger one was still setting, hence no photo. Apologies for the shocking photo quality, my camera was throwing a hissy fit and I really didn't have the energy to fight it!

Onwards and upwards.

((Ironic that I work in a doctors surgery full of chocoholics, right?))

Let me know if you make this and what your favourite combinations are!

xxx

I Made you a (Vegan) Cupcake

This weekend is going to be a good one, my brother and his girlfriend are coming to stay (first time meeting her) and Bro, Dad and I are going to see Interpol on Saturday night.
In preparation for their arrival, and to score "good sister" brownie points I decided I would bake something. Bro's girlfriend is allergic to eggs so I had the perfect opportunity to break out "Vegan Cupcakes take Over the World" and have my first adventure in Vegan Baking.



The whole time I was mixing the above ingredients I wondered how on earth that odd assortment could taste palatable...let alone cupcake like! A quick (clean) finger dip surprised me...cake batter, with no raw egg to worry about....HELLO bowl licking duties.



It was a very runny batter and in hindsight I should have either made smaller cupcakes OR run out to get some muffin cases, because despite my hesitation these cakes ROSE



And ended up like this!
Never mind, lesson learnt and a quick trim (and trimming sampling) later and I had something more presentable.



The cakes were decorated with a vegan rich chocolate ganache (also from the book) which was SO easy to make and excellent for drizzling.



And overall, I don't think I did such a bad job of making them look better, right?



Right.

Outfit today is bordering on indecent length wise, I might or might not add shorts when I pop out later ;)





And makeup was kept natural. I've just started using Witch's primer which is doing wonders for my skin!



The end.

xxx

Snickerdoodles!

So, as I mentioned yesterday, I had baking planned. Snickerdoodles are something I have seen time after time on blogs but had yet to make, I've had a recipe in my folder for quite some time now and decided enough was enough and I.Was.Going.To.Make.Them.

I'd put it off because I thought they'd be complicated. Um, how wrong was I? These were some of the easiest cookies I have ever made. EVER (and I've made a lot of cookies!)

The recipe I used was from Nigella Lawson's “How To Be Domestic Goddess”

Ingredients

250g plain flour
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg (I used mixed spice the first time which was also nice)
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
125g butter, at room temperature
100g plus 2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 baking sheets, lined or greased

Method

• Preheat oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
• Combine the flour, nutmeg, baking powder and salt, and set aside for a moment.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter with the 100g of sugar until light in texture and pale in colour, then beat in the egg and vanilla.
• Now stir in the dry ingredients until you have a smooth, coherent mixture.
• Spoon out the remaining sugar and the cinnamon onto a plate, mix well.
• Then, with your fingers, squidge out pieces of dough and roll between the palms of your hands into walnut-sized balls.
• Roll each ball in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and arrange on your prepared baking sheets.
• Bake for about 15 minutes, by which time they should be turning golden-brown.
• Take out of the oven and leave to rest on the baking sheets for 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 32. They keep well for about 4/5 days in a tin.

Variation: Replace 25g of the flour with cocoa to make chocodoodles.

When I first put these on the tray to bake I was cautious because I've had a great big cookie blob far too many times in the past,
but actually these barely spread at all, so don't be afraid to cram them in!

And how many are left?!

Well, between myself, Mum, Dad and work...3 remain (but not for long!)

xxx

P.S. HAPPY PANCAKE DAY!

About a Cake

Thanks for the fantastic comments on yesterday's post, glad I made so many of you giggle (and that you did the same in return!)
As I mentioned, and as some of you would have seen on facebook and twitter by now, I made a birthday cake for my second mum (does anyone remember the hot pink star covered one from last year?) and as promised, here are photos.

Much of the time I bake completely from scratch. I don't know why, but I prefer it (despite my thinking that box mixes are the same, just someone has done the weighing for you!) I saw this mix in TK MAXX weeks ago (when I should have bought a comic relief tee) and just knew it'd be perfect for the occasion, and being from the USA something Mum2 won't have had before.



The box doesn't lie...this does indeed seem to be a super moist cake...we'll be testing it later at work...and the smell when this was baking = doubly more amazing than usual baking cake! All it required was a 1 1/4 cups water, 1/3 cup vegetable oil and three eggs.



The dry mix.



The baked cakes, my oven was a bit too hot causing the cracked tops, but otherwise perfectly cooked!

For decoration I used a firm setting royal icing, some pink food colouring and the British Classic- Jammy Dodgers, which Mum2 is addicted too (and rightly so, they are delish, if you haven't ever tried one, DO IT)
The icing isn't perfect, it set too fast to get it neat around the sides, but overall I'm pretty pleased with the cake.





I'll report back on how it goes down!

What do you think of cake mixes? Cheating or not?
Any favourite icing recipes (I'm always looking for new ones)
and most importantly
DO YOU LIKE JAMMY DODGERS? If not...what's your favourite biscuit?

xxx

P.S. you have until Sunday to enter the giveaway!

P.P.S. if you want the flapjack recipe, shout and I'll post it.

an outfit, a bag and a lot of pictures of a cake.

Happy Thursday guys! Almost the weekend...yes! What are your plans? Who's going to be at LFW? And who (like me) is going to be utterly lazy?

Feeling a bit fragile today, having been sent home from work yesterday with horrible nausea and general feeling crap,
I do feel better today but not 100% so I'm indulging in a day of doing my favourite things.

Wearing: another old favourite





Loving: My new Nica bag, which was my treat to myself for passing Media law. I ordered from MyBag.com on Tuesday evening, and first thing this morning it was here!



I am not one of those people who can cope with little bags! This has so much space around for all my junk/really important stuff.

Baking: Chocolate sponge with malteasers inside and a chocolate icing drizzle. Just a basic sponge mix with cocoa and a couple of small bags of malteasers added in. It might look dense but it's as light as a feather. Sadly I don't get to taste it (yet) as it is for the doctors at work who have an inspection type deal this week + stress levels are high. They are chocaholics so I'm taking this in tomorrow to celebrate the end of the week.



pre-bake



post-bake



drizzled



close-up!

Malteasers work really well in cake for adding texture. The cupcakes I made a couple of weeks ago were such a hit most of the staff now have the recipe and have been making their own!

Have you baked lately?

xxx

Baking part 2; photo overload!

As promised, here is part two of my baking epidemic which saw me spend three hours in the kitchen (and another half an hour cleaning up...I'm a messy cook). The fruits of my labour are so worth it though even with the aching arms and flour dusted hair.

First up was the Key Lime Cheesecake. I have no idea where we got this recipe but it's been stored in Mum's recipe box for years and gets carted out time and time again...

The Tools:

(side note, condensed milk gets EVERYWHERE.) ((There is oddly no cheese in this cheesecake.))
(((apologies for dad's cigarettes being in the photo)))


See the rolling pin? That's for bashing...you could use a food processor but it's more fun this way!

Ingredients:
75g (3oz) butter
225g (8oz) ginger biscuits, bashed in to itty bitty pieces
1/2 pint double cream
The juice and rind of four limes
218g sweetened condensed milk

+ cream and lime slices to decorate

Method:
Melt the butter and mix in the biscuit crumbs, press in to your tin (we always use a spring form tin as it's easier to remove the cheesecake). Place in fridge to chill for around 45 mins.



Whisk together all the other ingredients, blending until thick and smooth (I heartily recommend an electric mixer!)

Spread over the chilled base and return to fridge for a few hours to set.





Decorate with slices of lime and serve with cream if you wish.

Ta-da. A super simple but really bloody gorgeous dessert!

Next I made the Malteaser Cupcakes, using this recipe (please note the recipe states it makes 12 cupcakes that bake for 25 minutes. I ended up with 24 that cooked in 12 minutes so be careful when they are in the oven!)

No point in copy/pasting the recipe, it's easy to click so on with the photos!



My stash of cake cases!



The Russian Doll is my salt shaker



In the end I used the three bags of malteasers in the mix (around 120g) then scavenged another bag for the topping!





My piping bag is older than I am and not the best...so I gave up after half and just dolloped the icing on. When cakes are this good, they don't need to be pretty!



I made half the quantity of icing that the recipe states and that was enough for the 24 cakes. I also added a tsp of edible glitter whilst mixing it up.

Now the cakes are packed in my stacking cake tins awaiting tonight's American Supper!

Let me know if you make either of these!

((the cheesecake would also work well with lemon, and experiment with other biscuits for the base!))

xxx

Baking, part one.

Tomorrow is going to be mad baking day in preparation for the evening, but given that it's only Mum and I going and Dad is staying at home, I decided to bake him a treat today so he doesn't get left out.

I had a bar of Chilli chocolate from Thorntons knocking around (I may have bought a few too many of these once upon a time, I love it, but I'm a little sick of it) and a recipe for Chocolate Orange chunk cookies, so decided to have a play and sub the Orange for Chilli and see what happened!

The result an amazing smelling house (it's worth making these for the smell alone), cookies with a light, cake type texture and a very happy Dad!


Look at that chunk! SO good.
And yes, they are a little anaemic looking but personally I am a fan of slightly underdone cookies...

Want to have a go at making these? Here's the recipe, found on Recipe Network

250g butter, softened;
50g caster sugar;
100g light muscovado sugar; (I used all Caster Sugar)
300g self-raising flour;
2 tbsp milk;
175g orange-flavoured dark chocolate, roughly chopped; (subbed for Chilli Chocolate)
50g pecan nuts, roughly chopped. (Left out because I had none!)

Beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour and milk, mix well then stir in the chocolate and nuts.

Divide the mixture into 18 equal portions. Roughly shape each portion into a ball. Put on lined baking sheets making sure they are well spaced out. Lightly flatten each biscuit.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180c/fan 160/gas 4, until lightly golden around the edges but still a bit soft in the middle. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool slighty before eating.

These were such a hit I'm going to experiment with other flavours of chocolate, Green and Blacks Butterscotch is begging to be tried as are some of Thorntons latest offerings (mango or banana perhaps?)

Let me know if you make these, and if you experiment with some fun flavours!

I'll post the cheesecake recipe and malteaser cupcake recipe tomorrow

xxx

Will Bake For Shoes

Another day and a bit more baking! I'm making up for lost time! The cake and cookies yesterday were a big hit; after a delicious home cooked meal we all found space for some gingerbread and there were barely any leftovers (the ultimate compliment don't you think?)

Today I made some chocolate cupcakes, following the basic recipe I posted here + the addition of cocoa and dark chocolate chunks in the batter and white chocolate as icing. These are to take in to work tomorrow, I fully intend of baking my way to a permanent contract!

With agreement on Twitter, I've decided baked goods should become legal tender. I would happily bake day and night for a pair of killer shoes!



Animal Print cake cases are a must!





Fresh from the oven.



Trusty pink icing pen...a perfect (yet messy) way to drizzle chocolate!





As you can see, a few didn't go quite to plan...but they all go down the same way and I am a firm believer that looks aren't everything!

As for my outfit today, I've gone for my favourite swishy maxi skirt and a simple knitted tee





Don't forget my giveaways are running until the weekend!

xxx