Halloween Bakes

Have you started planning your Halloween bakes yet? Check out the links below for some inspiration. 

1. Dios de los Muertos Cupcakes- Ok not really Halloween but great hit at parties.

2.Pumpkin Pecan Bars- Because pumpkin. And its October. 

3.Orange Juice Cupcakes-Juicy and bursting full of citrus flavour.

4.Pumpkin Chocolate Brownie-See number 2

5. Ginger and Treacle Cupcakes

6.Chocolate Cola Cake-Beautifully chocolaty and a little fizzy with the cola. 

7.Horror Film Gory Cupcakes- Ahh that poor sour patch kid!!

8.Gluten Free Zombie Cookies-Well we needed zombies in this list! It IS Halloween after all! 

So what will you be making for Halloween?

Happy Easter 2015

Happy Easter! Lent is over, so you can go back to eating chocolate, drinking or generally whatever you promised not to do for all of Lent. But now its over, so in order to celebrate "the day of guilt free Chocolate day" try these Easter recipes to get you in the mood. Or just eat a Lindt Rabbit, your choice.

Hot Cross Buns Cupcakes

Easter Lemon and Ginger Cupcakes

Simnel Cake

Steamed Lemon Pudding

Farewell Blondies
 
Have a wonderful Easter

Fat Friday #34 Hot Cross Cupcakes

Its not long until Easter creeps up on us and there's a number of treats that you bake at this time at year. In this case, hot cross buns are a well known Easter time treat. This recipe was designed to put all the flavour of a hot cross bun into a cute cupcake. Its a fairly easy recipe to master as well!   

Cupcakes Makes 12 Cupcakes (Recipe Adapted from The Cake Book by Jemma Wilson):

• 12g currants
• 50ml orange juice
• 125g self raising flour
• 100g caster sugar
• 25g soft dark brown sugar 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon mixed spice
• 20g mixed peel
• 135g unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tablespoons whole milk 
• 1/4 teaspoon golden syrup
• Chocolate Buttercream recipe here or Vanilla Butter Cream recipe here

Equipment:

• Muffin tin lined with muffin cases
• Piping bag
• Bowl x 2
• Jug
• Sieve
• Wire Rack
• Whisk
• Pastry brush
• Scissors

Method: 

1.Preheat oven to 170c/375f/gas mark 5.

2.Soak the currants in the orange juice for 30 minutes, then drain.

3.Put the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine. Add the currants when drained.

4.Cream the butter and sugars together. Then add the eggs and beat to combine.

5.Add the milk and golden syrup to the sugar mixture, then whisk for 20 seconds, or until well combined. Then add the dry ingredients and mix again until incorporated.

6.Fill the papercases about 2/3 full with the cupcake batter mixture. 

7.Bake for 20 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

8. Meanwhile, warm the marmalade up in a saucepan and brush the tops of the cupcakes with a pastry brush.

9.Once cooled completely, decorate with a cross of vanilla (or chocolate) buttercream, using a piping bag.

 

Have a great weekend!

Fat Friday #33 Chocolate Guinness Mini Cupcakes

 "Top of the morning to you laddies!" Next week Tuesday it will be St Patricks Day and do you think of when you think St Patricks Day? In honour of this we're making Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes.Green, Guinness, leprechauns... all of which describes a good St Paddy's day celebration to me. But if you aren't keen on drinking Guinness, give these cupcakes a try because it isn't a strong overpowering flavour of the drink.(Even though its meant to be good for you. They used to give hospital patients, apparently. Well that's what my grandad said. But then again he is Irish, so he would say that!) So sit back, eat a cupcake and watch a little of Father Ted.

(Edit: I was going to do a Mothers Day FF post but I'm sadly not spending it with my mum this year. However, I will be sending her something nice to make up for it.)
(Edit the second: I also would recommend making 12 normal sized cupcakes as well. You can use the same amount of ingredients)

Cake Ingredients (makes 30 mini cupcakes. Recipe Adapted from The Cake Book by Jemma Wilson):

·       125ml Guinness Stout
·       125g unsalted butter
·       37g cocoa powder
·       200g golden caster sugar
·       1 large eggs
·       ½  teaspoon vanilla extract
·       70ml soured cream
·       112g plain flour
·       1 ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Cream Cheese Frosting

·       75g unsalted butter
·       120g cream cheese
·       420g icing sugar

Equipment:

·       Bowl x 2
·       Mini muffin tin lined with mini muffin cases
·       Saucepan
·       Whisk
·       Sieve
·       Jug

Cake Method

1.Pre-heat oven to 160c/350f/Gas Mark 4.
2.Put the Guinness and butter in a pan. Allow the butter to melt but not boil. Whisk in the cocoa powder and sugar until dissolved. Remove from heat.
3.To the egg, add the vanilla extract and soured cream, the beat until well combined.
4.Gradually pour in the Guinness mixture, whisking continuously.
5.Mix the flour and bicarbonate of soda together in a separate bowl, then add to the wet mixture, beating until smooth.

6.Transfer the mixture to a jug, as it will be very liquid and carefully fill the papercases until 2/3 full.
7.Bake for 20 minutes or until they spring back when touched. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Cream cheese icing method

1.Beat the butter and cream cheese until pale and smooth.
2.Sift the icing sugar into a different bowl, then add to the butter mixture in two stages and mix thoroughly to combine.

Don't forget it is Mothers Day on Sunday. So grab her a bunch of flowers and a cupcake!
Have a great weekend!

Fat Friday #28 Gluten Free Raspberry Love Hearts

It's a week and a day until dreaded Valentines day. I'm sure you know how I feel about Valentines day here. Erg, but its a good excuse to bake cute heart shaped things, such as this weeks Fat Friday. We're looking at gluten free raspberry love hearts. You can make them with normal plain flour, but I chose to use gluten free flour to use it up. These are great on there own or served with ice cream or whipped cream as a dessert. The recipe is easy to make so you can make them up to the day before as a surprise for your valentine. Or you can scoff them yourself. Either way!

 

Biscuit recipe (Recipe adapted from The Great British Bake off Showstoppers by Linda Collister):

·       100g ground almonds

·       200g Gluten free plain flour (I used Dove brand), sifted

·       80g icing sugar

·       Pinch of salt

·       125g unsalted butter, diced and chilled

·       3 large egg yolks

Raspberry filling:

·       200g fresh raspberries

·       2 teaspoons cornflour

·       3 tablespoons icing sugar, plus a extra for dusting

Equipment:

·       Bowl

·       Sieve

·       Saucepan

·       Heatproof bowl

·       Clingfilm

·       8cm heart cookie cutter

·       Smaller heart cookie cutter

·       Baking sheet lined with baking parchment x 2

·       Rolling pin

Biscuit Method:
1.    Put the almonds, flour, salt and icing sugar into a bowl. Add the butter and rub into the dry ingredients until crumbly.
2.    Add the egg yolks until the mixture forms a dough. Leave in the fridge for 15 minutes.
3.    Roll out the dough until 2mm thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out the heart shapes, then use the smaller cutter to cut out the middle.
4.    Gather up the trimmings, re-roll and repeat until no more dough is left. Make 12 hearts and 12 smaller hearts.
5.    Place the hearts on a baking sheet and chill in the fridge for another 15 minutes.
6.    Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Bake for 12 minutes until lightly coloured.
7.    Leave the biscuits on the baking sheets for 10 minutes to cool. Transfer to wire rack.

Filling Method:
1.    Put the raspberries, icing sugar and cornflour in saucepan on a medium heat.
2.    Stir gently until the juices start to run.
3.    Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring until thick.
4.    Pour into a heatproof bowl to cool.

To finish:

1.    Spread the cold raspberry filling over the uncut biscuits, top with an uncut biscuit.

2.    Dust with icing sugar and consume with a loved one or stuff by yourself while watching a tacky rom-com or a horror film each to their own.

If you want to see some more loved up recipes try these:
Anti Valentines Gluten Free Zombie Biscuits
Limoncello truffles
Valentines heart shaped biscuits

Have a great weekend and feel the lurve! 

Simnel Cake aka Easter Fruit Cake

I know what some of readers are thinking:

• "Where have you been?"
• "What on earth have you been doing to not publish on this blog?!"
• "Where did I put my sandwich?"

Well in order:

• In classrooms, at work or eating.
• In the world of revision and university coursework. Its not a good holiday destination. 
• I most likely ate your sandwich because of all the revision and travelling I've been up to. 

I've been darting back and forth to London, to celebrate my friends birthday and my own birthday as well. I've also been doing revision for the ridiculously hard last year of university. So excuse my blogging absence for the next few weeks. There will be some pictures, tweets and the occasional facebook update but until the exams are completely over! Woo!! So onto this weeks recipe post:

(PS there is a serious lack of pictures-This is due to me not being at my home computer. My bad! UPDATE: pictures have been added) 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Its nearly Easter again, where chocolate officially is on the menu. As much as stuffing your face with chocolate is possibly the best thing in the world, its sometimes best to step away from the cocoa. 
Instead why not try and bake this fruity alternative to chocolate?

This traditional light fruit decorated with marzipan. This Easter cake originated in the UK, which is served at the end of Lent. At times the marzipan balls (make your own jokes) are toasted using a blowtorch. There are 12 marzipan balls to represent the 12 apostles and Jesus minus Judas. 

Recipe: Simnel Cake

·       75g sultanas

·       185g currents

·       75g glace cherries (chopped)

·       75g mix peel

·       75g steam ginger (finely chopped)

·       2 lemon zested and juiced

·       1 orange zested and juiced

·       165g strong flour, sieved

·       2 tsp ground cinnamon, sieved

·       2 tsp ground nutmeg, sieved

·       1 tsp ground ginger, sieved

·       30g ground almonds

·       130g light brown sugar

·       130g soft unsalted butter

·       2 eggs

·       1 egg yolk

·       pinch of salt

·       (A little bit of milk, if necessary)
·       Marzipan 
·      Food Colouring (optional to colour the marzipan)

Equipment

·       Chopping board

·       Large knife

·       Grater or zester 

·       Bowl

·       Small Bowl

·       Electric hand held whisk/spatula

·       7 inch cake tin lined with silicone paper

·       Sieve

·      Fork
·       Rolling pin
·       Flower cutters/bunny cutters/ other Easter decorating cutters

1.Combine all the flour, spices and ground almonds in a bowl.
2.Beat the eggs and the egg yolk in a small bowl with a fork.

3.Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and

  fluffy. Beat the eggs slightly and add gradually to creamed mix.
4. Fold in the dry ingredients using a spatula and mix until just combined.
5. Fold in fruits, zests and orange and lemon juice. (Add milk if needed to dropping consistency.)
6.Bake at 300f/150c/Gas Mark 2 for 45 minutes in the lined cake tin. Insert a cake skewer into the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean then its done. 
  7. Once the cake is completely cool cut in half.

Step 8. Cut a circle of marzipan for the middle layer

Step 8.Middle layer

  8. Roll out marzipan and cut into a circle that's large enough to cover one layer of the cake.

Step 9. Make indents for decoration

  9. Roll out another circle of marzipan and make small indents

around the edges. This is for the top of the cake. 

  10. Decorate as desired: Bunnies, chicks and flowers are excellent! I made flowers using coloured marzipan. 
Have a fab Easter! 

Happy Halloween 2013 Bakers

Reading all the lively and seasonal recipes and posts based on one of my favourite holidays. Thats halloween of course! Dios de los muertos is another favourite... and there's Christmas.... do birthdays count then?
Back to the subject at hand, sadly this year I havent had the chance to bake for Halloween. I know its bakery blasphemy but I've been bogged down with university work. Being the last year, its the toughest I've had to face. Super fun coursework includes:
*Business Research Product on female chefs
*Stragetic Management Report on Starbucks
*Stragetic Marketing Report on Tesco
* Working on the Slow Food society

So its pretty hectic at the moment. I have no outside life at the moment. But on the plus side I did do enough baking last year to make up for it. Heres the links for last years Halloween baking:
*Orange juice Cupcakes
* Day of the dead cupcakes
* Ginger Cupcakes with a Ginger frosting

Theres also this years baking as well:
*Pumpkin Pecan bars
*Pumpkin Coffee Syrup
*Horror Film Gory Pumpkin Cupcakes

So whats happening to the student who's not really that into boozing it up in her adult life and is too old for trick or treating (too many people asking where the kid is and I reply oh I guess that me. They give you a sad look), I'll be watching horror films back to back and scare myself stupid or go on a ghost walk. It depends on how cold it is outside!
Happy Halloween and... dont have nightmares....
Bake On!

Horror Film Gory Cupcakes Recipe

Its less then a week until Halloween, I hope you all have fantastic plans. My plans to celebrate is with cupcakes. But not just cute little cupcakes...
Be warned- This post contains blood like decoration and if your  a little faint hearted or a bit weird with blood then look away now.

Coming to your kitchen soon! You wont be able to hide from these yummy yet disturbing treats. They will find you. They wont stop until they have been devoured. Its, its ITS...:
Horror Film Style Gory Cupcakes!!!!

Ahh! Those Poor Sour Patch Kids!!

 

Ok film time has finished, time for that recipe!
Recipe-Makes 14 Cupcakes:

·       225g plain flour, sifted

·       2  teaspoon baking powder, sifted

·       ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda, sifted

·       2 tsp mixed spice, sifted

·       1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon, sifted

·       1/2  tsp salt, sifted

·       400g canned pumpkin puree (I used Libby’s)

·       80g unsalted butter, melted

·       55g golden caster sugar

·       120ml evaporated milk

·       2 large eggs

·       1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting:

·       300g icing sugar, sifted

·       200g cream cheese

·       1 teaspoon mixed spice

·       110g unsalted butter, plus a little extra to grease the baking tin

To decorate:

·       Red food colouring

·       Sour Patch Kids with the heads cut off

Equipment:

·       Muffin tin lined with cupcake cases

·       Wooden spoon/ spatula/ Electric whisk

·       Bowl x 2

·       Jug

·       Sieve

·       Can opener

·       Straw

1.    Pre-heat the oven to190c/375f/Gas Mark 5 and line the cupcake tin with cupcake cases.

2.    Make the frosting first as it needs 2 hours to thicken in the fridge.

This will make it easier to spread. To make the frosting, in a large bowl beat the butter and cream cheese with an electric whisk/ wooden spoon/ spatula.

3.    Gradually the rest of the icing sugar until the frosting is smooth and creamy. You can make it last however, to make it very gooey and very drippy so it looks halloweeny.

4.    In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, mixed spice, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Put to one side.   

5.    In the other bowl, on medium speed if using an electric hand whisk, beat together the pumpkin, butter, evaporated milk, vanilla and eggs until smooth.

6.    Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. 

7.    Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester, until golden and risen. Cool tins for 5 minutes, then place onto a wire rack to cool completely. Make sure that the cakes are completely cool before icing.

8.    Spoon into icing bag and ice the cupcakes with the gooey icing.

9.    Using the red food colouring, get a straw and splash icing so it looks like blood. Then decorate with sour patch kids cut in half so it looks like a massacre. 

So in a little more detail: How to Bloody Up Your Cupcakes

1. Dip your straw into your liquid food colouring. Cover the top of the straw with your thumb.
2.Hover your straw above your chosen cupcake and release your

thumb so that the food colouring drips onto the cupcake. 

3.This will create a 'blood effect' and that's how you make a gory cupcake! 

In the end you will have a good and gory cupcake that you will be able to eat and Halloween night!

Have a good weekend and a Happy Halloween!