Fat Friday #29 Quick Valentine Hearts (plus more 4 bonus cheap valentine ideas)

Its Friday the 13th and your forgot Valentines day? Unlucky huh? Opps you're in trouble now, well don't worry. You've got just over 12 hours to do something special. This weeks Fat Friday is a quick and fast Valentine recipe to impress your date. You can bake them a cake or use a plain shop bought cake if your super stretched for time. But by decorating with dark velvety ganche, you'll add a special touch to your cake. Also featured in this post are 4 more cheap and cost effective ways to spend Valentines day!

Heart Shaped Cake covered with chocolate ganche recipe:
Your sweethearts favourite cake baked into a square tin: Try using one of these recipes:
Salted Caramel Brownie
Red Velvet Cake
Blondies

Chocolate ganche recipe (my own)

• 200g dark chocolate
• 285g double cream

Equipment:

• The baking equipment needed or a pre-made cake to cut
• Saucepan
• Wooden spoon
• Heatproof bowl
• Cranked palette knife or plain knife for spreading ganche
• heart shaped cutter
• Sharp knife

1. Bake your huni buni their favourite cake (Robs favourite is Salted Caramel Brownie) and let it cool completely.
2. Once cold, using a heart cookie cutter, cut out a heart shape, using a sharp knife. You should be left with lots of yummy off cuts and heart shaped mini cakes.
3. To make the ganche, heat up the double cream in a saucepan until its hot but not to boiling point.
4. Pour the hot cream on the dark chocolate and mix in until combined with a wooden spoon.
5. Once thickened up, spread on top of each heart and smooth until the sides and top are evenly coated.
6. Place your coated hearts in the fridge and serve with raspberries or strawberries and ice cream or whipped cream.

Other great (cost effective) valentine ideas
1. Create a date night jar- Grab a small jar and a some paper and write down some suggestions for a perfect day between you and your partner. You can class them by price or location if you like. Fold them up and place them in the jar. You can decorate your jar with glitter, sequins or anything you see fit.
2. Lazy meal deal- Many supermarkets now offer Valentine Meal deals, in which you pay, lets say £20 for a 3 course meal and wine. This is a cheap alternative to a meal out. Shop around the supermarkets for the best deals. Most of the time the meal deals are a 'throw in the oven' type of meals ensuring that you and your other half can enjoy some time together.
3. The scenic route- Do you have a park or a beach near you? Take a walk together without your mobile phone (or at least on silent) so your not disturbed. Get re-acquainted with your other half.
4. Movie night in- Grab a cute jar/box, add popcorn, crisps, a bad for you cheesy dip, chocolates, fizzy drinks and a couple of decent films. Instant night in, plus a great gift! Get films that you and your other half will really enjoy and veg out on the sofa.  

Have a Happy Valentines Day whatever your doing!

Limoncello Valentine Creams and Valentine Heart Shaped Biscuits

Valentines day is only one day away. I finally managed to make both  Limoncello truffles and Valentine Heart Biscuits. I didn't think that I would be able to make anything this year as I've been busy with work and home life etc etc. 

But I managed so woo!

Limoncello is a lemon based liquor originating in Italy. It's a really nice drink with lemonade in summer or neat but I don't recommend it! I know a certain friend, that can't stand the smell of limoncello because she got drunk and I wont name name's. Right Sof? Haha. 

You will need about 3 days to make these but that's because the truffles go into freezer twice. 
Day 1: Make truffle centre, pop in freezer
Day 2: Roll into balls. Back in freezer.
Day 3: Cover in chocolate and place in fridge to set. 

Before you go steaming in with this recipe, there's a little warning. Work with the truffle filling as quick as you can, as it's prone to melt at room temperature and at hand temperature. I wrapped some in little bags to give out as gifts, which were tied with floss, because I couldn't find any string. 

Recipe: Makes 36  

      ·   200g/7oz white chocolate

      ·   4 tbs double cream

      ·   Grated zest of 1 lemon

      ·   4 tbsp limoncello liqueur

      ·   100g/4oz butter

      ·   600g/22oz white chocolate, for tempering

      ·   Sprinkles/glitter

      ·   Pink food colour paste (optional)

Equipment:

     ·   Heatproof Bowl

     ·   Saucepan

     ·  Wooden Spoon

     ·  Whisk

     ·  Sealable container

     ·  Tablespoon

     ·  Teaspoon

     ·  2x Boards or plates covered with parchment paper

     ·  Fork 

    1.    Heat 5cm/2 inch water in a saucepan. Put a heatproof bowl on top of the pan, making sure the bottom of bowl does not touch the water. Place the 200g of chocolate in the bowl with the cream and heat gently to allow the chocolate to melt. If using put the food colouring into the mix at this stage.

    2.    Take the bowl off the heat and toss in the lemon zest, limoncello and butter. Whisk until the mixture looks like lemon curd.

   3.  Spoon into a sealable container, put the lid on and chill in the fridge overnight.

    Now go read a book or have a nap or just go about your business.

    4.    Scoop small teaspoons of the mixture and roll into balls. Put on a board lined with baking parchment and freeze overnight.

   
   Once again go outside and play in the snow (It's been snowing here in London again but now it's all slush by now.)
  
  5.   Temper the 600g chocolate by chopping it into pieces, then place it into a microwavable bowl and melt at 800-1000W, checking it 15 seconds and taking care that it doesn’t overheat. When the chocolate looks nearly melted but there are still a few bits bobbed on top, take it out of the microwave and stir in the chocolate gently until smooth.

    

   Look at the intense concentration on my face as I coat each truffle. I don't do photo's that well and it was on my bad side, of course. 
   6. Using a fork and spoon dip each truffle into the chocolate. Toss about to coat then lift out and place back onto the parchment paper, roughing the chocolate with a fork for a textured effect. Decorate while still wet. Repeat with all the truffles.

    7.    Place them in the fridge to set.
    8. Eat or wrap in bags to give away.

These biscuits are easy to make and make great gifts for that special someone. They will need a few hours to completely dry. I recommend that you make them a couple of days ahead of when you need them. 

Recipe: Makes 20 biscuits

    · 125g unsalted butter

    · 125g caster sugar

    · 1 medium egg

    · 1 tsp vanilla extract

    · 250g plain flour, sieved plus a little extra to flour your work surface.

Equipment:

   · Electric whisk

   ·      Bowl

   ·      Sieve

   ·      Heart shaped cutter

   ·      Whisk

   ·      Cling-film

   ·      Baking sheet lined with parchment

   ·      Rolling pin

   1.    In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy.

   2.    Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix together.

   3.    Sift half the flour into the bowl and mix in, then sift in the other half and mix again.

   4.    Knead the dough until smooth, then wrap in cling-film and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

   5.    Pre-heat your oven to 180c/350f/Gas Mark 4.

   6.    Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to around 4mm thick and cut out into heart shapes.

   7.    Place on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden brown. Allow to cool before decorating.

Recipe: Stiff peak royal icing

    · 500g icing sugar/confectioners’ sugar

    · 2 medium egg whites

    · 1 tsp lemon juice

    · Red and pink food colouring paste

Equipment:

    ·  Electric whisk

    · Bowl x 4

    ·  Sieve

    · 6 disposable piping bags

    · Scissors

    · Forks x 3

    · Toothpick

    · Tissue

    · Tablespoons x 3

1.    Sift the icing sugar into a bowl.

2.    Add the egg whites and the lemon juice to the icing sugar and mix together for about 5 minutes.

3.    The mix should look smooth and shiny. If it looks a little dry then add one drop of lemon juice and mix for a minute.

4.    Once your icing makes a stiff peak put it in 3 clean bowls.

5.    Colour 2 of the bowls of icing red and pink. Leave one of the icing bowls coloured white.

6.    Quarter fill, 3 of the piping bags with each colour. Snip a small hole in the top of each bag.

7.    Take a heart biscuit and starting from the top centre, pipe an outline around the inside edge of the biscuit to the tip of the heart. Stop and move the bag away from the biscuit quickly. Then repeat on the other side. You can do this in a combination of colours including half and half colours.

8.    Make sure there are no holes or missing gaps in the hearts, if there are fill them in with the correct colour.

9.    Once all the hearts have been outlined, add a teaspoon of water to each of the colours until the consistency of each icing is runny. Keep adding water, carefully, until it reaches running consistency.

10.  Fill each 3 more disposable piping bags and cut 3 small holes in the ends.

11.  Flood the inside of the biscuit starting at the edge and zigzagging up and down until completely flooded.

12.  Working as quick as you can, decorate your biscuit with other colours, by holding the tip of the bag just above the iced biscuit using a gentle pressure.

  13.  If you pipe 2 lines of icing on your biscuit and then using a toothpick drag lightly through the icing to create a marbled pattern. Wipe the toothpick with tissue to clean. You can even put dots instead of lines to make mini hearts.

I hope you all have a lovely Valentines day! Happy Baking!
Bake and Love On!
Penny

Killer Snow-woman, Boyfriends and Cranberry and Orange Cupcakes

"It's only cupcakes Penny, the ingredients don't have to be exact."

"Hey let's eat the batter."

"Look it's a Snow-woman in a Lush bath. It looks like you!"

Some of the best quotes that my boyfriend had blurted out when we were baking cupcakes. 

He doesn't bake much, bless. 

Baking is one of these things that can bring people together. The combination of doing something fun with someone you love as well as dancing around the kitchen to some tacky music to finally decorating the cupcakes and stuffing them in our faces afterwards. 

We did bake and decorate the cupcakes in the end and not just flinging flour at each other. It was lovely to spend some down-time in the kitchen with my better half. We, (well I did really,) decided upon Cranberry and Orange cupcakes with an Orange Cream Cheese Frosting.  

Cupcakes makes 12

•      228g plain flour
•      ½  tsp of baking power
•      1/4 tsp salt
•      ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
•      1 tsp ground cinnamon
•      200g caster sugar
•      2 large eggs
•      100g sunflower oil
•      135ml sour cream
•      1 tsp vanilla extract
•      Grated orange zest about 1 tea spoon
•      140g fresh or frozen cranberries, finely chopped

For the Frosting:

•     175g cream cheese
•     450g icing sugar, sifted
•     125g unsalted butter at room temperature
•     Grated zest of one orange

Equipment

•  12 hole muffin tray lined with cupcake cases
• Sieve
• Knife and chopping board
• Bowl x 2
• Electric hand whisk/ mixer 
• Christmas themed decorations 
• A bit of tacky Christmas music (optional)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150c/300f/Gas Mark 2. Line a 12 hole muffin tray with 12 cupcake cases.
2. Cream the eggs and sugar together until pale and fluffy. This should take around 3-5 minutes with an electric hand whisk. Slowly pour in the oil, a little at a time, beating well after each addition, repeat this process with the sour cream and vanilla extract, making sure that everything is well combined. Add the orange zest once everything is well combined.
3. Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl and then add to the batter and beat well. Finally, fold in the cranberries.
4. Spoon batter into cupcake papers, filling cups about 2/3 full. Bake for 25 minutes or until tester inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool.
5. To make the frosting place all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat well until well combined and the icing is smooth and pale.

My Boyfriend came up with a story for the snowman on these cakes: "This is a single snowman all on his own and no one to talk too."

 "Next he meets a lovely snow-woman called Penny and they fall in love."
"Awww That's sweet."
"Not for long. The snowman is beginning to annoy the snow-woman. He keeps messing up the cupcake decorations and weighing out the ingredients...."

"So she kills him for messing up her cupcakes."

 "To celebrate her cupcakes no longer getting messed up. She has a Lush bath. THE END!"

I stood there in an annoyed silence with which he stroked my arm and said:
"LOVE YOU!" and he turned back to decorating cupcakes with a silly smile on his face. 

 <<<<<<Something like this<<<<<<
So sweetie, you wanted a mention on the blog and here it is! That's what you get for saying:
"It's only cupcakes, Penny"
Well too baking mad people like me, its not just cupcakes. Its bite sized cups of heaven. 

Bake on and Merry Christmas! (And you have been warned in boyfriend baking)

Penny 

Christmas Tree Cupcakes Inspired by a Real Christmas Tree

From a real Christmas tree, lovingly decorated by me and mum to a baked and decorated cupcake by me! 

The cupcake sponge in this recipe is very easy to make as it is an 'all in one bowl' recipe. The butter-cream is simple to make and you can really go crazy with the decorations! Glitter, silver balls, stars, snowflakes and whatever you feel is Christmasy. 

Recipe: Cupcakes  

•        2 Eggs
•        110g/4oz self raising flour, sieved 
•        50g/1 ½ of ground almonds
•        110g/4oz unsalted butter
•        1tsp baking powder
•        110g/4oz caster sugar
•        1 tsp vanilla extract
•        1 tbsp whole milk

Equipment:

•        Sieve
•        Bowl
•        Mixer
•        12 hole Muffin tin with cupcake cases in them.

1.    Preheat oven to 190c/Gas Mark 5. Place 12 cupcake cases into the muffin tray.

2.    Put all of the cupcake ingredients into a bowl and beat well until smooth.

3.    Spoon the mixture into the cases and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Recipe: Buttercream

•        120g/4oz unsalted butter diced
•        225g/8oz icing sugar
•        ½ tsp vanilla extract
•        Green food colouring paste. (I used gooseberry green)
•        Christmas decorations of your choice. Including glitter (because its Christmas. Glitter is a must)

Equipment:

•        Sieve
•        Knife
•        Mixer
•        Palette knife
•        Piping bag
•        Spoon
•        Bowl x2

1.    Beat the butter in a bowl until creamy. Gradually add the icing sugar, beat constantly. Stir in the vanilla extract.

2.    Put 2/3 of the buttercream into a separate bowl and add the food colouring.

3.    Spread the uncoloured buttercream into each cake using a palette knife. (This will be the snow covered ground.)

4.    Spoon the green colouring into a piping bag. Pipe short lengths on top of each other in round layers to create a Christmas tree shape. (Criss-crossing over one another.)

5.    Add your decorations and sprinkle with glitter. 

Christmas Tree Cupcakes and Stained Glass Cookies.

Bake On and Merry Christmas!!
Penny