Christmas Eve Cooking

Baking at the last minute? Or just want to make something festive at this time of year? Here is the blog's rundown of festive recipes!

 Stained Glass Cookies

 Christmas Tree Cupcakes

 Killer Snow Woman Cupcakes

Yeti Cupcakes

Snow Day Cupcakes



Yule Log Cake

Banoffee Cupcakes

 Chocolate Orange Tart

Salted Butter Toffees

 

So that's my Christmas baking list! Have a really great Christmas eve, a merry Christmas and I'll see you on Boxing Day with Fat Friday!

Merry Christmas

 

 

 

Fat Friday #21 Salted Buttered Toffees

Christmas is fast approaching. Have you finished that shopping yet? Better get a move on. If you planning to make some small gifts to give out to friends and work colleagues may I suggest these buttery soft toffees? They want to be caramels but are more toffee like. Or are they more caramels who wants to be more like a toffee? Either way, they make great gifts once you've wrapped them up in cellophane bags with a cute little ribbon plus a cute little tag (thanks Chloe!) and they are extremely addictive. Be warned...addictive!!



 

Recipe: Makes 40 soft toffees (depending on how big you cut the pieces) (Recipe adapted from Sweet Things by Annie Rigg) 

Ingredients:

·       150g Demerara sugar

·       125g golden syrup

·       100g unsalted butter, diced

·       250ml double cream

·       150g caster sugar

·       ½ teaspoon of sea salt, plus a little extra for garnish

·       ½ vanilla pod seeds

Equipment:

·       Baking tray greased with sunflower oil and lined with silicone

·       Sugar thermometer

·       Small saucepan

·       Rubber spatula

·       2 litre saucepan

·       Knife

·       Extra baking paper

·       Airtight container

Method

1.    Grease the tin with sunflower oil and line the tin with silicone paper.
2.    Put the Demerara sugar, golden syrup, butter, double cream in a small pan and place over a low heat.
3.    Stir the mixture until smooth and once the mixture is hot, remove the pan from the heat.
4.    Place the caster sugar in a 2 litre pan with the 2 tablespoons of water and place over a low heat. Don’t stir the mixture but swirl the pan from time to time. Continue to cook until the mixture turns an amber colour.
5.    Slide the pan off the heat and really carefully pour the hot cream mixture into the caramel mixture. It will hiss and spit so do be careful. Return the pan to a medium heat and place a sugar thermometer into the mixture and cook in 121c/250f.
6.    As quick as you can add the vanilla seeds and sea salt and stir briefly to combine and pour into the prepared tin.
7.    Leave to cool completely for at least for 4 hours or overnight.
8.    Cut into little pieces with a hot knife, sprinkle with a little sea salt and wrap in silicone paper in cute twists and store in an airtight jar.

 

Merry Christmas and Banoffee Cupcakes Recipe

2 days before Christmas and I'm watching the London news as I type and the weather is not looking good. 
90 mph winds and heavy rain, not the best start to Christmas. You want to snuggle up inside with a blanket with a good Christmas film- I'm watching this, which I got for my secret santa gift at work:

Because I'm very very lucky in saying that I'm ahead with my university work! Which means I can take a little break at the festive season. Thank goodness I need a break from the work. 

I'm back in the big smoke aka London, so I've got some time to have coffee with friends, dinner with my family and to do some baking! I wanted to make something a little different. I made banana cupcakes with a caramel buttercream-so banoffee cupcakes! Very yum. 
If you've never heard of banoffee, its an English dessert which has a crumbly biscuit base or pastry base with toffee made from condensed milk, sliced banana and whipped cream. It's a little old school but very tasty!

Banoffee Cupcakes Makes 24 cupcakes (Recipe inspired by The Primrose Bakery Book)

• 250g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 500g golden caster sugar
• 4 large lightly beaten
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 baking powder
• 8 ripe bananas, mashed with fork or broken into small pieces (riper the better)

Caramel buttercream:

• 90g unsalted butter
• 135ml/9 tbsp semi skimmed milk
• 360g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Christmas sprinkles and glitter

Equipment:

• Sieve
• Muffin tins lined with 12 cupcake wrappersx 2
• Heavy based saucepan
• Wooden spoon
• Piping bag fitted with a star nozzle
• Electric hand mixer/ worktop mixer (which I used this time)
• bowl x 2
• Masher
• tablespoon
• teaspoon

For the cupcakes:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180c/Gas mark. Line muffin tin with muffin cases

   

   Step 2. Creamed butter and sugar

2. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl with electric whisk until pale and smooth.

   

   Step 3 The batter with all the eggs added

3. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing briefly after each addition.
4. Add vanilla extract and beat again.

   

   Step 5. The Cake batter with the flour added

5. Gradually add the flour and baking powder and beat until well combined.

   

   Step 6. Mashed banana

   

   Step 6. The finished batter

6. Mash the bananas up and add them to the mixture and beat until all combined.
7. Divide the mixture evenly between the cupcake cases, filling about 3/4 of the way full. 
8. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 minutes.
9. Turn out onto a wire rack and wait for them to be completely cold before icing.

To make the buttercream:

Step 1. Butter, milk and sugar

1. Combine the butter, milk and brown sugar in a heavy-based saucepan and put on the hob over a high heat. 
2. Stirring continuously, bring the mixture to a boil.

   

   Step 3. Allow to boil

3. Allow it to boil for 1 minute then remove from heat and stir in half of the icing sugar

   

   Step 4. Add the rest of the icing sugar

4. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, then add the rest of the icing sugar and vanilla extract.

   

   Step 5. Thick and runny icing
5. Stir until thick and slightly runny. (if it starts to set, put in a microwavable bowl and put on for a few seconds until runny and beat a little. If you need to add a little milk)

Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you in 2014!