On baking along with GBBO

Baking has been one of my favourite hobbies for as long as I can remember. As soon as I knew how to make a basic sponge cake or fairy cake/buns that was me hooked! Whilst I was at University the first time, it was my favourite stress reliever which I think my housemates were also thankful for! It was also a bit of a saviour during lockdown last year and it gave me chance to try out recipes that I'd always wanted to attempt. 
This year I decided to bake along with the Great British Bake Off which has been a really fun challenge! As there's only one week left, I thought I'd share the selection of recipes I've tried out in case you'd like to have a go. Most of them have been fairly basic as life has gotten a lot busier so I didn't have the same amount of time each week to squeeze a bake in! 
Cake Week 
This was the only week I cheated because we had just come back from our holiday and I'd been looking everywhere for this Guinea Pig cake and finally found it! We have two very pampered Guinea Pigs so these days I go mad for anything that has piggies on it! I'll make up for cake week for the Final!

Biscuit Week 
At the time of biscuit week, we were exploring becoming Gluten Free as we thought one of us seemed to be having a reaction to it so this was my first ever GF bake. They were really tasty and I'd make them again! The recipe didn't call for dipping them in chocolate but my heart did so I melted some dark chocolate and dunked them all. They had a really nice buttery texture just as normal shortbread would! 
Here is the recipe from My Gluten Free Guide: https://www.mygfguide.com/gluten-free-shortbread-biscuits/ 

Bread Week I started experimenting with bread during lockdown and came across a few simple recipes that have become a bit of a staple for us! I love cooking as well and we have home cooked meals just about every night and the following recipe usually accompanies homemade curry. It's very easy and only takes about 15 minutes to make. The dough can be pretty sticky so it's a little messy but they're so tasty! 

Pinch of Nom Naan Breads - this recipe isn't available online but is in their cookbook - https://pinchofnom.com/recipes/simple-naan-bread/ 

I'd really recommend this book, it's got lots of tasty low fat recipes in - many of which have become staples in our kitchen. As an idea - these breads only require a few ingredients including Greek Yogurt and Self-Raising Flour. They get a lovely rise and sometimes create a bit of a pocket, almost like a pita bread. I'm not sure how I've managed to do that though!! 

Dessert Week 
This was my favourite week I think! I spent a while trying to think of 

what I could just do a small amount of and came across a recipe for individual cheesecakes. I set them in whatever jars I have - we seem to have a few of these glass ramekins sitting around (not because we sometimes buy the GU pots or anything 😉) so they were perfect for this. I landed on vanilla and white chocolate and very loosely based it on this recipe from Jane's Patisserie - https://www.janespatisserie.com/2021/03/06/mini-easter-cheesecakes/  

I say loosely because you can't really go wrong with a cheesecake recipe that doesn't require any baking I don't think! I used hobnobs as the biscuit base (YUM) and used melted Milkybar Chocolate and vanilla bean paste which is just an absolute game changer in my opinion! I use the Dr Oetker one (this is what it looks like). I crushed up a few Milkybar buttons and popped them on top! They were delicious. 

German Week

This was an interesting theme and one that was slightly tricky. I absolutely LOVE Black Forest flavours, chocolate and cherry is my ultimate combination and I love apple strudel too with a bit of cream or custard but unfortunately, I'm the only one in the house who does, so they were out the window!

Instead, I found a recipe for Lebkuchen! I've made gingerbread cookies before but these ones are made with honey and are a lot more cake-y than crunchy like our gingerbread might be. The recipe made so many so I'd recommend doing half measures if you wanted a smaller batch. I also made some little stars that we dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with edible glitter!  I used this recipe: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/user/831133/recipe/german-gingerbread-lebkuchen 

I realised just before making these that I didn't have the right cutter and checked out my local charity shop who just so happened to have 2 new Gingerbread cutters and a bunch of others so it's always worth checking, you never know what you might find! 

Pastry Week

I remember seeing a bit of a trend of these pastry trees a few years ago and had always wanted to try one! These are SO easy to make and make a great 'tear and share' dessert. This recipe includes Biscoff spread which seems to be as popular as ever and you can melt a little extra to use as a dip for your pastry branches. This only took about 15-20 mins to do and came out of the oven literally 1 minute before the episode started! It's not my neatest make but I was in a bit of a rush to get it finished so we didn't miss the start of the show. 
I used this recipe:  https://www.amytreasure.com/biscoff-christmas-tree/ 
I think it's a perfect Christmas Treat, served straight from the oven whilst it's still warm and gooey! You can so easily experiment with the flavours too. It's a very cheap and easy showstopper! 

Caramel Week 

I remember the first time I made these duringlockdown and wasn't expecting them to be as well received as they were! I'm still on the journey to perfecting the caramel but each time I think I'm getting a little closer to knowing when to take it off the heat and spread it on the base. As soon as we knew it was caramel week, this was the perfect excuse to make them again! This recipe makes quite a big piece of Shortbread so this one got share around 😀

I used this recipe:

 https://www.janespatisserie.com/2020/04/22/millionaires-shortbread-2/

I would really recommend Jane's Patisserie recipes - I have already used so many of them including her NYC Cookies which have been my favourite experiment so far! She has released her own cookbook too - a great one for your Christmas list! 






Free From Week 

It took me quite a while to land on a recipe for this one as it's not something I'd usually need to do. The idea was Gluten Free / Dairy Free / Vegan and I landed on a fairly basic recipe that produced some tasty treats. Although the recipe I used wasn't vegan, I did use a dairy alternative butter to make them and dark chocolate. You can easily make substitues in this recipe because it is no bake!

Here's the recipe I used for these Peanut Butter Truffles: 

https://www.sweetestmenu.com/easy-peanut-butter-balls/ 

Patisserie Week 

The week leading up to this episode was a busy one for me so I knew I didn't have time to come up with anything too fancy. I decided instead to give Madeleins a go! 

They actually were pretty tasty even though they weren't as light and fluffy as they're supposed to be! You use fresh lemon in this which gives them such a nice zesty flavour and they should definitely be served fresh from the oven. I'd like to give them another go to see if I can get them to have more air so they rise better but I was pleased with them as a first attempt. They're perfect with a cup of Earl Grey Tea!

I've never really trusted silicone bakeware because I worry about getting things out of the mould but I didn't want to make too much of an investment in the cake pan in case it wasn't used many times. I just bought a very basic silicone mould with 9 slots for this recipe and it cost less than £5. 

I used this recipe for the Madeleins:

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/madeleine_15211

The video was very helpful! 

Final 

I am well aware that the final hasn't happened yet but as that week is a bit of a free-for-all, we decided very quickly what we would be enjoying whilst watching it! I first made this Guinness Cake on a whim the night of St Patrick's Day and didn't expect T to love it as much as he did. I remember trying this at University many years ago and it was one of the most memorable desserts I've ever had! I can't believe it took me so long to try it for myself. The cake is so dense and not too sweet but is balanced perfectly with the sweet cream cheese frosting. I also love a pint of the black stuff so it's a total dream cake for me on every level. 

T absolutely loves this cake too and requested it for his birthday! He requests it quite often actually 😂 After I missed cake week, I agreed I'd make this for us to enjoy whilst watching the finale! I'll be making this on Monday evening and am under strict instructions that we are NOT to share ANY of this cake!!!! 
I use this recipe which is taken from one of my all time favourite bakeries: https://hummingbirdbakery.com/blogs/hummingbird-bakery-blog/st-patrick-s-day-2018  
I used to make their vanilla cupcakes all the time as my go to cupcake recipe - the batter is really runny but they are so fluffy and vanilla-y if that's a word! 



And that's a wrap! It has been the most fun to bake along with the show and test out new recipes. I'll miss having our little Tuesday nights sat watching GBBO with something yummy but it's been a lovely season. I hope you've enjoyed it too and that you can test out some of the recipes I've tried! Let me know if you do, I'd love to hear! 

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Cakes & Lasers

Well, things have been busy as usual over in Wilmington! All of a sudden, we seem to have an explosion of kids coming to the Center which hopefully means we are doing something right. We were able to do our first fundraiser a couple of weeks ago, for which we hosted a Bake Sale right outside the Center.
For me, it was doubly good because
I love baking and I really miss being
able to do it regularly!
The fundraiser was a real success and the kids really enjoyed helping us out. It was good for us to be able to meet people in our neighbourhood and I was personally blown away by their support of the center. One of the Churches that supports us also allowed us to sell the rest of our cakes and they were so generous. In the end, we managed to raise:

$265.70!!

As a well done to the kids, we used some of the money to take them to Laser Tag at a place called Boomers in Pennsylvania. It was nice for them to go have fun and get out of the Center. There weren't enough seats in the car for me so I just sulked at home and washed the dishes. Not really. Well, I did wash the dishes. Because no-one else does. Not really. Anywho...they loved it! 

Look at their little faces.

As a team, we decided this weekend that we should spend some time exploring a bit more of our surroundings too. The guys wanted it to be free seeing as though I suggested a museum and we came up with the Air Mobility Command Museum in Dover - Delaware's capital city. It was quite a trek and not the best idea I've had since it was raining and the majority of the fun stuff there is outside but I didn't step on my plane without a raincoat and umbrella so I was sorted. We enjoyed a packed lunch in the car and then had a wander around the museum. It was actually pretty fun, we got to go in the control tower and look out at the other planes and I flew a plane (simulator) but still it was pretty scary and I felt like a real life pilot. 

Here I am with Bill & Hillary's old ride. Aka Air Force 1. 

This is what I have to live with. Not the plane.

This leads me to the exciting part! Following our fundraiser, I got to book tickets for the 4 of us plus NINE kids to travel to The Big Apple this weekend!!We are going all day Saturday, so it will probably be quite tiring, but Ican't imagine a more exciting way to get my first experience of NYC than with a bunch of our kids! We are planning on seeing as much as we can in the hours that we have.

Last week, I said my goodbyes to the wonderful Urban Promise Wilmington which was an emotional moment but also a lovely one. The kids were asked to give me words of encouragement, which boy oh boy they did! They thanked me for teaching them to say please, thank you and you're welcome and one of them said I had a strong faith that encouraged them! They sent me away with a few tears in my eyes, kind words and PG Tips. However, it's not all over - I saw them the next day in Chick-fil-A at their fundraiser! Phew.

 

The final thing I would love you all to look at is our Wishlist. We have already received art supplies, games and other fun things from it and love getting to open these surprise packages in our morning meetings. If you feel like you can support our work, even in a small, anonymous way - it could make a huge difference to our kids. We get to tell them that people who don't even know them want to send them gifts, which for them - is an alien concept. We would LOVE to take them on more trips, even just to the movies or to a restaurant as well as provide them with creative/sports/community based projects from our Center. 
Follow this link and see how you can help us! 

Thank you ALL for reading this, I love knowing that you can keep up with my journey and seeing our work here develop. As always, if you're the praying type - please send a few up for us, that we will find time to rest as well as work and that what we do now has a long-lasting impact for these kids! 

                        "This is the day that The Lord has brought about. We will rejoice and be glad in it!"

Psalm 118:24

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Oh, Night Divine!

I can't believe it's Christmas eve again..where has this year gone?! It's taken much longer this year for me to feel as festive as I normally do. One year whilst I was at University, I secretly decorated my entire bedroom, tree and all - my housemates only found out one by one if they knocked on my door and I let them in. That was a great October. Ha! Alas, this year I was lucky enough to experience Thanksgiving too so I will have had my fair share of turkey by the end of 2013. 

I have just gotten round to the aforementioned sugar cookies, but didn't really have enough time to but 100% effort into the decorating stage. I chose the lovely Gooseberry Patch Recipe as I had the same cutter as the one they used, and I just think their recipes are too darned CUTE. I accidentally made about 1 million cookies but hey ho - it's Christmas! One of them tragically broke in half so I was forced to try it and it was pretty yummy. 

I'm also ready for my annual Christmas Eve tradition of opening my gifts from friends at midnight that usually live under our Christmas Tree. I fought long and hard for the right to do them separately and I won. I am ready for it once again:

Last night, one of my best friends and I enjoyed a wonderful 3 course meal with a free bottle of Prosecco as part of my early Birthday celebrations. I am travelling down south on the day so I am dragging out the festivities as long as physically possible.

Thankyou, Italy and goodnight. 

We also like cocktails.

                                   

Cheers, to being another year older!

As for the rest of today, we are going to 'stay classy' and go see Anchorman 2 - before heading home for a midnight tipple and the chance to dive in to round one of my presents. I don't care how old I get, Christmas always makes me feel like it did when I was 6!! 

So, I would like to wish all of my L-O-V-E-L-Y readers the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest of New Years! Be sure to check back here in 2014 as I blog my American Adventures. I think 2014 is going to be my most exciting one yet and I can't WAIT to share it with you all! 

Much Love xxx

P.s. I may or may not have opened the tree presents from my friends over an hour early. I simply could not wait any longer.

P.p.s. Someone PLEASE take this box of twilight mints away from me.

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'It's like the 4th of July with no apple pie!'

So I am a little late with this one, my apologies! I can't think of the last time I logged in to blog because my mind has been elsewhere! Anyway, I thought I would share my British 4th July party photos with y'all. I am British, so we don't celebrate this holiday however I love parties and America so it felt rude not to.

I feel like I did well with the theme, considering that there aren't really any red, white and blue items in our shops because they all sold out for the Jubilee last year. I did a party for that too and it was great fun!

We had:

- BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
- Hot Dogs
- Key Lime Pie
- Jello
- Chocolate Brownies

Snacks:

- Beef Jerky
- Oreos
- Junior Mints
- Popcorn

Drinks:

- Root Beer
- Diet Coke

Most of the food actually lasted until the weekend for a birthday BBQ we had so that was handy! I also made this cake:

For this, I combined 2 recipes; the first was this Martha Stewart classic - I have made this before as a cherry sheet cake & it is lovely and light. I didn't add in the cherries this time so just did it as vanilla and baked it in a swiss roll tin. For the frosting, I used the joy of baking vanilla cupcake recipe that I often use, and doubled the quantity so it would spread across the cake. I added fresh blueberries and quartered the strawberries. It was delicious though we were too full to eat much of it on the night!

We listened to the American National Anthem and the declaration of independence in true party spirit and did a bit o'flag waving. I already had an American playlist on Spotify so that served us well! We also watched friends, because why wouldn't you. Then we remembered there were some old fireworks in the garage so we had a mini firework display to finish off the night:

We had a great time celebrating! Thanks America for being you. 

Those flags are now decorating my bedroom.

Thankyou to Alison for my beloved cowboy apron that I wear each time I bake!

P.s. the title of this post is a Friends quote - we actually didn't have apple pie, a rookie mistake. Who knows, I might be celebrating the next one in America...a girl can dream!

Much Love xxx

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Blueberry & Lemon Cake.

By now you may have guessed that I love lemon. I never used to, it is a relatively new phenomenon so I guess you could say I'm making up for lost time. Whilst you're here, feel free to browse a couple of my other lemon recipes - Cheesecakes, Cupcakes and Drizzle Cake are just a few of my favourites. This one is even NICER as it's packed full with fresh blueberries which go all gooey when it's cooked. So, without further ado....

Blueberry & Lemon Drizzle Cake

Equipment Needed:

- Mixing Bowl
- Wooden Spoon
- Weighing Scales
- 2lb Loaf Tin
- Small Bowl

Ingredients:

- 125g Butter/Margarine
- 125g Caster Sugar
- 3 Medium free range eggs
- 175g Self-Raising/Rising Flour + 1tbsp extra
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- 100g Blueberries

For the syrup:

- 50g Caster sugar
- 4tbsp Lemon juice

For the icing:

- 125g Icing/Confectioners sugar
- 1tsp Blueberry conserve/syrup - I used natural blueberry sauce bought from a health food store

Method:

1) Preheat your oven to GM3/170C. Grease/Line (I use loaf tin liners) your 2lb loaf tin. In a large bowl/mixer - whisk together the butter & sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, flour and zest a bit at a time and mix for 3-4 minutes. Toss in the blueberries with the extra 1tbsp flour and FOLD in. Spoon into the tin and cook for around 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

2) Whilst baking, gently heat the sugar and lemon juice & bring to a boil. Leave to boil for about 2 minutes and set aside.

3) Spoon the syrup over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven and leave to cool for 30 minutes. Remove from the tin and leave to cool completely.

4) If you are using conserve, press it through a sieve & scrape off the underside. Mix this with the icing and a little water or lemon juice until it is just runny. I used water, but will try lemon juice next time! Drizzle it over the cake and leave to set.

5) Eat, Drink and Be Merry.

I edited this with the 'Beautiful Mess' app - it's cute, check it out!

The cake is really soft, moist and fruity and is perfect for summer's day. I enjoyed a slice of mine in the garden with a glass of Pimm's and a book about The Wild West (that is supposed to be for children but I am loving it.) 

Hope you enjoy it!


Much Love xxx

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When Life Hands You Lemons...Make No Bake Lemon Cheesecakes.

I've been wanting to experiment with cheesecake for quite a while, so I have been searching for an easy recipe to get me started. Up until recently, I never liked the taste of lemon but something has changed in a massive way! It's such a light and refreshing flavour, and it's a little taste of spring in spite of the snow that is still falling in our garden. (I'm not best pleased about it as you might be able to tell.) Anyway, I recently came across a blog post written by one of the contestants of a past series of The Great British Bake Off for 'Quick Lemon Cheesecake.' Read it here.

I slightly adapted it to suit what was in our fridge, and it tasted just as yummy as if I'd done it properly I'm sure! Now, I did completely guess all of my quantities so feel free to use a bit of artistic license with this to suit the taste you want! They really are so, so easy to make and were done in about 5 minutes (minus the cooling time.) They are so fresh and not too heavy, a perfect dinner party dessert.

Individual No-Bake Lemon Cheesecakes

Equipment

- Small pan
- Wooden Spoon
- Mixing Bowl
- 5 Small dessert bowls

Ingredients

For the base:

- 1/2 pack - 200g of Digestive Biscuits
- 50g Butter (I used margarine)

For the topping:

- 200g Philadelphia Light Cream Cheese
- Approx 50g Icing Sugar/Confectioners Sugar
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1/2 lemon

Method:

1) Crush the digestive biscuits in a bag using a small rolling pin until they are a fine crumb.

2) Melt the butter in a pan and add in the crushed biscuits.

3) Spoon the biscuit mixture into your individual bowls and press down using a teaspoon until firm. Leave to set in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

4) Whilst the bases are cooling, put the cream cheese into the mixing bowl and give it a quick mix with the wooden spoon.

5) Add in the icing sugar, the zest of the lemon and a bit of juice at a time until it is as sweet or as lemony as you would like.

6) Lick the spoon.

7) Then, take the bowls out of the fridge and spoon the mixture onto the top of the bases and put back in the fridge for a further 30 minutes to set (if you can wait that long.)

8) Decorate as you please! I chose blueberries. Yum.

Much Love xxx

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Recipes I've 'Pinned' and Tried.

Due to my recent string of success through finding recipes that actually worked on Pintrest, I thought it was about time I shared a few of them. It seems that whatever craving one might have, there is a recipe for it somewhere in the depths of these virtual pin boards. I love having great recipes that I haven't gotten round to writing down anywhere yet all stored in one place where they can't get lost (or covered in cake mixture as usually happens.)

1) My first success of late has been the 'cookie in a cup.' Normally, I'm not a fan of microwaves and hardly ever use them unless i'm quickly reheating a dessert or something, but on this occasion I quite fancied a cookie but didn't have much time to bake one. I found a few pins that would make 2 cookies but then the link below it caught my eye:
Here is the recipe I used.
It turned out surprisingly tasty and was ready in under a minute. I couldn't finish it all because it was actually quite big in the cup so I saved some for later. It tastes best when it's warm though!

Here is my cookie in the cup!

2) Though I do generally swear by The Hummingbird Bakery vanilla cupcake recipe, I found another website that I liked the look of and tried their version. The joy of baking is a great website that has lots of great video tutorials and tips for making great cake! I highly recommend this recipe, though I still think the Hummingbird Bakery's frosting is the best on earth.

3) The next find comes from Martha Stewart, one of my all round heros. I've baked quite a few of her recipes including this one that I added to pintrest. It was such an easy and rather yummy cake, but I didn't add any frosting. 

4) My favourite find has to be 'Sally's Baking Addiction.' Though this American concept of using 'ready made mixture' as a valid ingredient when baking cakes is something completely alien to me - a lot of her recipes look really fun. The first one I've tried has been Dark Chocolate, Banana and Raspberry Bread. This cake disappeared in about the time it took to bake it. I did find that it was really hard to tell if it was baked or not due to all the melty ingredients but thankfully, it wasn't raw in the middle. I took half of it on a trip to see my old University buddy and it went down very well there too. I will be making it again for sure!

Apologies for the bad quality photos! My banana bread!

5) This website also has some great tips, after I saw the sauce drizzling one, I put some of those bottles on my Christmas list and can't wait to use them! Much neater and easier than using piping bags and such like.

6) Of course my board is also full of pins from The Pioneer Woman. She has made some amazing looking Sheet Cakes but before I can start on those, I need to find a cake pan big enough! That is next on my kitchen 'to buy' list.

7) A while ago, I bought a Bundt Cake tin and have been busy collecting recipes to make for that. I'd like that to be my next experiment - i'm thinking blueberry would be a nice place to start so i'm swaying towards this recipe: Blueberry Almond.

If you'd like to see my ever growing 'Cakies and Bakies' board - check it out right here.

Much Love xxx

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Lemon & Poppyseed Cupcakes.

I've been testing out a few recipes recently from the books I have acquired since Christmas. Lots of them have been fruity and yummy. Anyhoodle, I bought a packet of poppyseeds AGES ago but hadn't found a purpose for them until today. This recipe is really quick and easy, with minimal mess. I do have a mixer but tend to make everything by hand if i'm baking to relax.

Lemon and Poppyseed Cupcakes.

Equipment Needed:

- Mixing Bowl
- Weighing Scales
- Wooden Spoon
- Small holed grater
- 12 Hole Muffin Tin
- Small Sieve

Ingredients:

- 115g (4oz) Softened Butter
- 115g (4oz) Caster Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 115g (4oz) Self-raising/rising Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder/Soda
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 4 Tbsps Sour Cream
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 Tbsp Poppy Seeds
- Icing/Confectioners Sugar for dusting

Method:

1) Preheat your oven to GM4/180oC/350oF and add your cupcake cases to the muffin tin.

2) Cream together butter & sugar in a mixing bowl until light & fluffy. Add in a little at a time, the flour and whisked eggs until smooth.

3) Add in the baking powder and lemon zest.

4) Fold in the lemon juice with the sour cream & poppy seeds and mix to a soft consistency.

5) Divide the mixture equally in the cases and bake for about 25 minutes, until risen and golden brown.

6) Using the sieve, dust lightly with the icing sugar to finish.

They are really fluffy and the sour cream gives them quite a creamy flavour (as it would.) Next time, I plan on using my fancy injector to put some lemon curd into the middle. It's also nice to eat a cupcake that isn't topped with a stick of butter.

They are quite patriotic. 

I'll be having one tomorrow with a cup of tea.

Much Love xxx

P.s. if you're not following me on Pintrest - find me here. I'm obsessed. 

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