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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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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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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Banana and Chocolate Chip Goodness.

So, tomorrow is my good friend's birthday BBQ in this wonderful rainy weather. I asked her what she would like me to bring, and banana cake was requested. Luckily, I have this really great recipe that I found in some random magazine and thought it sounded exciting. So I tore it out and gave it a whirl! The original recipe is iced with an incredible passionfruit icing, (which I could eat all day) but it was requested that this time it was plain. I did some playing around with the recipe anyway so it became...


Banana and Chocolate Chip Slices with Dark Chocolate Drizzle


Equipment: 


- Mixing Bowl
- Weighing Scales
- Wooden Spoon/Electric Whisk
- 20cm Round Cake Tin


Ingredients:


- 160g of Unsalted Butter
- 165g of Light Brown Soft Sugar
- 2 Free Range Eggs
- 350g of Mashed Banana (about 3 1/2 bananas)
- 150g of Plain Flour (sifted)
- 100g of Self Raising Flour (sifted) 
- 1 tsp of Bicarbonate of Soda
- 2 tbsp of Hot Milk
- 1tsp of Vanilla Essence
- 80g of Dark Chocolate Chips (I do realise they come in 100g bags, but refuse to say where the other 20g went.....sometimes I snack when I bake.....)


For the Topping:


- I used this bad boy, which you simply place in a bowl of hot water until it melts, split the edge of the bag and drizzle over your cake - so easy! 

Method: 


1) Heat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180oC. Grease a 20cm round cake tin and line with greaseproof paper. Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl (use a wooden spoon or electric whisk) until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add in the mashed banana.


2) Combine the bicarbonate of soda and milk in a small jug and stir into the banana mixture. Stir in the flours, in 2 batches. Lastly, add the chocolate chips and vanilla essence and pour into the tin. 


3) Bake for about 45 minutes and then place on a rack to cool.


4) I then sliced the cake, and added the drizzle - but you can leave the cake whole if you wish. 


5) Should you wish to try it with the passionfruit icing (SO YUM) simply mix 160g of Icing Sugar with 2 tbsps of passionfruit pulp and pour over the cake. 


Here they are:

Much Love xxx

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Warning: Chocolate Overload.

So, tomorrow evening I am going to our Church women's meeting and since I haven't been in a while I decided it was the perfect opportunity to bake. Again. One of my all time, never lets me down, amazing cupcakes guaranteed cookbooks is from this bakery. In London, I love visiting here - it's worth the train fair just for their vanilla frosting. I whipped the book back out and went straight for the Chocolate Cupcake recipe. I've used it and tweaked it once before and the women loved them, (and so did their husbands) I am responsible for causing everyone else's diets to stumble but if my hips are growing then it's only fair that theirs should too. So here it is:


The Hummingbird Bakery's Chocolate Cupcakes


Equipment:


- 2 X Mixing Bowls
- Measuring Jug
- Wooden Spoon
- Electric Mixer
- 12 Hole Muffin Tin
- Cupcake Cases
- Weighing Scales


Ingredients:


For the Sponge
- 80g of Unsalted Butter
- 280g of Caster Sugar
- 200g of Plain Flour
- 40g of Cocoa Powder
- 1 tbsp of Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp of Salt
- 240ml of Whole Milk
- 2 Large Eggs


For the (very rich and very yummy) Frosting
- 400g of Icing Sugar
- 100g of Cocoa Powder
- 160g of Unsalted Butter
- 50ml of Whole Milk 
- Sprinkles to decorate


Method:


1) Preheat the oven to 190oC/Gas Mark 5 and line a muffin tin with cases.


2) Using an electric mixer/whisk, beat together the butter, sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt on a low speed until the ingredients are well mixed and resemble fine breadcrumbs.


3) Pour the milk into a jug and whisk in the eggs. Pour 3/4's into the dry mixture and beat on a low speed to combine. Raise the speed to medium and mix until the mixture is smooth and and thick. Then pour in the remaining milk mixture on a medium speed until the batter is once again smooth.


4) Spoon the batter into the cases until they are 2/3s full. Put into the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes until the sponge is light and springy to touch. I usually test the sponge with a bamboo skewer to see if it comes out clean. Wait until the cakes are completely cool before decorating.


5) To make the frosting: whisk the icing sugar, cocoa powder and butter on a low speed until the mixture is sandy in consistency. Pour in the milk and whisk on a high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy.


6) At this stage, a cut out a piece of the cupcake and filled it with raspberry jam, replacing the cake lid and then piled on the icing on top of that! Use a palette knife to apply the icing, and add sprinkles to the top.


7) Do not consume more than one of these in a day...I have absolutely no idea how many calories must be in one but ignorance is bliss, as are these cupcakes. 

The Chocolate Beauties

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Confession: I cheated at baking.

So I decided it was time to try my hand at Cake Pop making. Last week I purchased a really cute book (check it out here) telling me all about it, and everyone I had spoken to had told me they were ridiculously easy to make. After I read through said book, I began to think they were a lot more fiddly than I first thought.

I continued my research and struck gold in the form of this beauty:

Here it is, the cake pop maker. It boasted that it would create perfectly round cake pops in under four minutes, no messing. Does it work, I hear you cry? Big fat YES it does. Usually, I choose to do everything the hard way when baking, I hate using microwaves and pre-packaged flavourings and much prefer making everything from scratch. I quite like feeling the burn of my biceps when creaming my butter and sugar together. So this badboy was a big step for me. 

I have promised a set of cake pops to my friend who is running a Charity Clothes Swapping party so I tried not to use up a lot of the nice sprinkles I have with my practice batch, but here they are:

I used a Chocolate Batter, and added 'Simply Melt' White Chocolate.

Now that I know the machine works, and works very well, my next batch will be on sticks as they are supposed to be and I will experiment a bit more with the decoration. I would highly recommend this product to anyone who loves baking! I'm sure it would work well if you are baking with children too.

P.s. they taste pretty nice too!

Much Love xxx

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Easy Peasy Lemon (Drizzle) Squeezy!

This week we invested in Paul Hollywood's new book titled 'How to Bake,' (copy and paste this link - it's got some lovely recipes: look here.


Anyway, I was flicking through it in the supermarket and quickly spotted my first challenge. It was so easy and delicious (and very fast at disappearing) so I thought this should be the next recipe I should share. 

'Mrs Post's Lemon Drizzle Cake'

 Equipment Needed: 

 - Mixing Bowl 
- Wooden Spoon (OR electric whisk) 
- Weighing Scales 
- 1Kg Loaf Tin 

 Ingredients: 

 - 75g of Softened Unsalted Butter - plus extra for greasing 
- 125g of Caster Sugar 
- 150g of Self Raising Flour 
- 1 tsp Baking Powder (which wasn't in my cupboards, o-oh!)
 - 2 Medium Eggs1 
- 1 tbsp of Lemon Curd (I used a bit more to make it extra lemony!)
- 2 1/2 tbsp of full fat milk

 For the (yummy) drizzle: 

 - Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
 - 2 tbsp of granulated sugar 

 Method: 

 1. Heat the oven to 180oC. Butter a 1kg loaf tin and line it with baking parchment. 

 2. Beat the butter and caster sugar together in a large bowl, either with an electric whisk or with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is light and fluffy, which may take upto ten minutes. Slowly add the flour, baking powder, eggs, lemon curd and milk, mixing all the time, until they are thoroughly combined. 

 3. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. 

 4. Meanwhile, for the drizzle, mix the lemon zest and juice with the granulated sugar. Pour the lemon drizzle over the HOT cake in the tin. Leave to cool completely.

5. Put the kettle on.

The Finished Cake

Ready for a slice!

Much love xxx

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Recipe of the moment: Fruit Cobbler

One thing I may not have mentioned is that I am a kitchen dweller. I love cooking and baking and am always on the hunt for good recipes to experiment with. I think everything tastes better when it's homemade, so I thought I would share a few of my favourite recipes that I pick up as I go.

Baking is so much easier than people think it is - there usually isn't much prep for simple cakes and once it's in the oven you have time to put your feet up and drink a cuppa, so it's the perfect past time! Whilst I was in America, I was introduced to The Pioneer Woman (check out her blog/website -http://thepioneerwoman.com/) and was kindly given one of her recipe books. I also had a bit of time to try out one of her dishes which is one of the easiest and tastiest desserts I've ever made!

So here it is (slightly adapted from the original!):

Raspberry and Blueberry Cobbler


You can use any fruit you wish, the original was blackberry. I've also made a raspberry and blackberry which was rather tasty!


As this recipe is American - the measurments are all in cups, not grams. For this I have a cute solution:

These are my measuring cups - that look like Russian Dolls, you can get them from Amazon, they are so handy and don't take up much room in the cupboards!

Equipment:

- Ceramic baking dish, round or rectangular

- Mixing Bowl

- Whisk

Ingredients:

- 1 Stick of Butter - equivalent to 4ounces or approx 110g

- 1 1/4 cup of Sugar

- 1 cup of Self-Raising Flour

- 1 cup of Milk

- 2 cups of Blackberries (or a mixture of whatever fruit you are using!)

Method:

1. Melt the butter either in a pan or in a microwavable dish. 

2. Pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in the milk.

3. Then, pour the butter into the mixture and whisk it all together.

4. Lightly grease your baking dish.

5. Wash and dry the fruit.

6. Pour the batter into your baking dish and sprinkle the fruit onto the top, distributing evenly. 

7. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar on the top. (For this, I used brown sugar which gave it a darker and crispier texture)

8. Cook in the oven on Gas Mark 4/180oC for one hour, or until golden brown.

9. About ten minutes before the cobbler is cooked, sprinkle on a little extra sugar if desired!

Before going in the oven:

The finished product! Serve with cream or ice-cream :)

Much Love xxx

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