tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43100818130115857672024-03-19T04:12:14.741+00:00A sweet treat or twoLeannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-21531479226518915952011-03-31T22:02:00.000+01:002011-03-31T22:02:15.682+01:00Mint Aero Cupcakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3q8rgEKlPCpebt_YBVXievF5x4fwvWjkuovBo2xPTNu67u1p2wks15TquO38NpkUKBkXKiRIsk-0-dmZzHwPo21OMr02ebhu72MirWSmyjBBwvuJ3N9twlLnocwfp8NW1cwD_llxtH7mx/s1600/Mint+Aero+cupcakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3q8rgEKlPCpebt_YBVXievF5x4fwvWjkuovBo2xPTNu67u1p2wks15TquO38NpkUKBkXKiRIsk-0-dmZzHwPo21OMr02ebhu72MirWSmyjBBwvuJ3N9twlLnocwfp8NW1cwD_llxtH7mx/s1600/Mint+Aero+cupcakes.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I just had to share these with you. I made them with my Nephew the other week and they are just amazing. The flavour is incredible. I took my Nephew for a walk round to the local shop one morning in search of your normal-nothing-special mint chocolate bars to put into some cupcakes. Yet I couldn't find any anywhere and just as we were about to head back I spotted the Aero's hiding on one of the shelves. I grabbed a couple, not sure if they'd work or not and headed home.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Turns out that chopped up mint Aero's in a cupcake are one of the most amazing things ever. It's rather strange how they cooked and I wish I'd taken a photo of the inside of one but the delicious bubbly inside of the Aero's completely disappeared. All that was left was a tiny hole and a pale green colouring to the sponge where it had once been. However the mint chocolate flavour had somehow infused through the whole cupcake.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">A recipe really isn't needed here, just add a few chopped up mint Aero bars to your favourite vanilla cupcake mix and once cooked top with vanilla buttercream and a chunk of mint Aero.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Enjoy!</span></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-40815867858319334992011-03-19T17:20:00.000+00:002011-03-19T17:20:20.003+00:00Red Nose Cake Balls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHLgMUIc0HEduriy_jkY2u8uMcxGI1oPQqs9Z0rr-8ZUX2RqINYFXrzB1md1Pvg4B9Pv6OUw4I3xQONLGzi6Gaqf_EZ_eyME39EXPXdS_HWmHKxD4kLIOqpS8V8GRH8cZtnrOtwudSX7lB/s1600/Red+Nose+Cake+Balls+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHLgMUIc0HEduriy_jkY2u8uMcxGI1oPQqs9Z0rr-8ZUX2RqINYFXrzB1md1Pvg4B9Pv6OUw4I3xQONLGzi6Gaqf_EZ_eyME39EXPXdS_HWmHKxD4kLIOqpS8V8GRH8cZtnrOtwudSX7lB/s1600/Red+Nose+Cake+Balls+5.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm really sorry for posting this late, I know its not Red Nose Day anymore but I still wanted to share these with you. Yesterday ended up being far busier than I expected and I only had time to take the photo's. So for anyone who doesn't know, it was </span><a href="http://www.rednoseday.com/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Red Nose Day</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> yesterday for Comic Relief where they try and raise as much money as possible for vulnerable people here in the UK and in Africa. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr1b_r-T_oTcx9jKRtiQr0P9ARTqreLXXIvjwBkgaY9VW7t8yDSMNf2avrWw96V9KoMG6T2uJ-omn4Ydrobg_XtLyJXPwEJ60U8qj8wZ9LYBblPdSq1p_8wbIwO7ydxpUOGS70XTv8g2if/s1600/Red+Nose+Cake+Balls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr1b_r-T_oTcx9jKRtiQr0P9ARTqreLXXIvjwBkgaY9VW7t8yDSMNf2avrWw96V9KoMG6T2uJ-omn4Ydrobg_XtLyJXPwEJ60U8qj8wZ9LYBblPdSq1p_8wbIwO7ydxpUOGS70XTv8g2if/s1600/Red+Nose+Cake+Balls.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I just so happened to be going to a little house warming party last night with my Mum and decided that some kind of Red Nose themed cake was needed. So, inspired by the lovely </span><a href="http://www.bakerella.com/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bakerella</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, I decided to make some cake balls since I didn't have any lollypop sticks needed for Cake Pops. I wanted them to be roughly the same size as the actual red nose's that you buy in the shops, so they were pretty big. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhWwecu_tRkcUpRyKqoG_OdtbwNLC_dTihscMnzTiP939p8uHtEKl69uhyg6PshomK2EBp-kq2BeKtNficy7mCFfvzPuRxmTJWzNENkIpp8dD2MZIgbt1g9MJ3ohVWjycdI5jkj4aY9jD/s1600/Red+Nose+Cake+Balls+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhWwecu_tRkcUpRyKqoG_OdtbwNLC_dTihscMnzTiP939p8uHtEKl69uhyg6PshomK2EBp-kq2BeKtNficy7mCFfvzPuRxmTJWzNENkIpp8dD2MZIgbt1g9MJ3ohVWjycdI5jkj4aY9jD/s1600/Red+Nose+Cake+Balls+2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyways my idea didn't really go to plan as you can probably tell, they didn't end up like I wanted looks wise but they taste amazing. Who knew that just by mixing sponge cake and buttercream together that you'd get such an incredible tasting cake! I will definately be trying to make them again, my only problem is covering them with melted chocolate. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, anytime I try and do anything with melted chocolate I end up in a right mess. Chocolate everywhere, nothing looking how I wanted and the chocolate always starts to harden before I've had chance to do anything! But I won't give in, I <strong>am</strong> going to master working with melted chocolate...one day...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW8uLW-gie931HI96y3zFd8gJiU2UWqhp3LRB50OmylxaqQLh4TScK3e2Ba_wPewkUuUpDnbapoRD6SpO8uuTefTVLdLeLc9HmZeXr39MzDuoDVUlDEj2NmVRgjXGPgga20i3foyg65H0h/s1600/Red+Nose+Cake+Balls+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW8uLW-gie931HI96y3zFd8gJiU2UWqhp3LRB50OmylxaqQLh4TScK3e2Ba_wPewkUuUpDnbapoRD6SpO8uuTefTVLdLeLc9HmZeXr39MzDuoDVUlDEj2NmVRgjXGPgga20i3foyg65H0h/s1600/Red+Nose+Cake+Balls+3.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the chocolate cake and buttercream I used the same recipe as I did </span><a href="http://asweettreatortwo.blogspot.com/2010/11/mint-choc-chip-cupcakes.html"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> for my Mint Choc Chip cupcakes just without the chocolate chunks and peppermint essence. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They are really simple to make, just crumble up your chocolate cake into a bowl and add in the buttercream. Give it a good stir to mix it all together and once combined you can take out spoonfuls and shape into balls. Place the cake balls onto a tray covered with greaseproof paper and chill in the fridge for a few hours. Finally you can cover them with melted chocolate (I used white chocolate with red food colouring) and decorate however you wish. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My plan was to try and make them look just like the Red Nose's that I'd bought but after the mess I had with the melted chocolate I gave up and covered them in edible glitter instead!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBRPD_TljHKb1VCG37GrNdM-t8lAMs1VzYonP16p1nF5PX-yT-_zO4nrinGmLx5uI27H5_WJZethV4KbiDAhCnPgyLzjqygUt5vPHqJHqvX7qqRSiB7PCvG32p95dEuuDFf-pZ1Mkim83t/s1600/Red+Nose+Cake+Balls+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBRPD_TljHKb1VCG37GrNdM-t8lAMs1VzYonP16p1nF5PX-yT-_zO4nrinGmLx5uI27H5_WJZethV4KbiDAhCnPgyLzjqygUt5vPHqJHqvX7qqRSiB7PCvG32p95dEuuDFf-pZ1Mkim83t/s1600/Red+Nose+Cake+Balls+4.jpg" /></a></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-65956117936290979132011-03-16T17:31:00.004+00:002011-03-16T19:28:29.846+00:00Lime and Coconut Cupcakes<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKSNipjvC6ht_ral1cOUPhvoFvWa2Y2Ts26dXPnB64iZ9Xq_VGOUrVL3Hk5Le_gnbJRs_5CSyM44xSfcuP7rwtvHeShxYKVV3DDMH7LiERtnkfwS-gA93nBZCUmKg-cKAejPyKLT9lyxaO/s1600/Lime+and+Coconut+cupcakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKSNipjvC6ht_ral1cOUPhvoFvWa2Y2Ts26dXPnB64iZ9Xq_VGOUrVL3Hk5Le_gnbJRs_5CSyM44xSfcuP7rwtvHeShxYKVV3DDMH7LiERtnkfwS-gA93nBZCUmKg-cKAejPyKLT9lyxaO/s1600/Lime+and+Coconut+cupcakes.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Apologies for the slowness of posts lately, I don't always get the chance to take photo's when I'm baking. Just lately I'm baking a lot with my little Nephew which is incredibly fun as he sings along when he's helping me but I don't get much chance to take photo's and when I do it's usually of him!</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A few weeks ago I made these lime and coconut cupcakes, I had the idea because my Mum came home from work one day atfer discussing my baking with a friend and the friend told her how her boyfriend made the most amazing lime and coconut cake. Lime and coconut is not a flavour that I've experimented with before, so I was up for giving it a go.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_Sk3XS63DPb5mev5GBwLlSfVb2Xtn9heDdHxM7iGkzDgbN1UWWSRRtAOMLbhmRN4dCv4jUgfCdgKH7RWreyBq39B0w7eBercIwKpt9ZsU-O_AF7CeJGYTQde9i8DGT-glzP8Zmgo5ZMj/s1600/Lime+and+Coconut+cupcakes+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_Sk3XS63DPb5mev5GBwLlSfVb2Xtn9heDdHxM7iGkzDgbN1UWWSRRtAOMLbhmRN4dCv4jUgfCdgKH7RWreyBq39B0w7eBercIwKpt9ZsU-O_AF7CeJGYTQde9i8DGT-glzP8Zmgo5ZMj/s1600/Lime+and+Coconut+cupcakes+3.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The cake mix is slightly adapted from my Cupcakes, Cheesecakes and Cookies book whilst the buttercream is of my own making. At first bite I wasn't too impressed by them, I thought the cake a little on the dry side but after the next mouthfull and the next I couldn't get enough. The more I ate the more I wanted, I think I definately ate more of them than anyone else in the house!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVtB6BQZkPEGqZjUWFS6GOH88k8dLI-2d4DlA7Avm71hwyr0Ma2JmleTOLUKVaqMPaEAiUBXGusz7fVd7RRJHIbzmXevp1xZ_tpfgPyLOVUmfYuqc_5TW-xvkPoTQfeH4MxZ7kEajdItwj/s1600/Lime+and+Coconut+cupcakes+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVtB6BQZkPEGqZjUWFS6GOH88k8dLI-2d4DlA7Avm71hwyr0Ma2JmleTOLUKVaqMPaEAiUBXGusz7fVd7RRJHIbzmXevp1xZ_tpfgPyLOVUmfYuqc_5TW-xvkPoTQfeH4MxZ7kEajdItwj/s1600/Lime+and+Coconut+cupcakes+4.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Lime and Coconut Cupcakes</strong> - Slightly adapted from The Complete Book of Cupcakes, Cheesecakes and Cookies</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">125g margarine</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">1 tsp vanilla extract</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Finely grated zest of 1 lime</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">145g caster sugar</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">2 eggs</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">80ml milk</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">60g desiccated coconut</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">188g self raising flour</span><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Verdana;">1. Preheat the oven to 180c and line your pan with cupcake cases.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">2. Beat margarine, vanilla, zest, sugar and eggs until combined.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">3. Stir in the milk and coconut. - <em>I'm not going to lie, at this stage the mixture looked pretty gross so I was very surprised when it all came out ok!</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">4. Then stir in the sifted flour until combined.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">5. Divide mixture amongst cases and cook for about 25 minutes.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>Lime buttercream</strong> - my own recipe</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">75g margarine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">150 - 200g sifted icing sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Finely grated zest of 1 lime</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Juice of half to 1 lime</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Green food colouring - <em>I just added a little for a nice pastel green shade</em></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">1. Beat margarine until soft.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">2. Add in a few tablespoons of icing sugar at a time and beat until combined, leaving about 50g icing sugar left.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">3. Beat in zest and half of lime juice.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">4. At this stage its completely upto you what you do next, try the buttercream and see if you like the lime taste. Add more if you need to. Also tip the bowl on its side, if the buttercream drops quickly then add more icing sugar and beat again until the consistency gets a bit thicker. If you plan on just spreading the buttercream on top of the cupcakes with a knife like I have then it doesn't need to be as thick as it would if you were piping.</span><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Lastly add the buttercream to the tops of your cupcakes and cover with more desiccated coconut. To make this easier you can pour the coconut into a cup and just dunk each cupcake upside down into it and tap off any excess.</span><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQCiHV-bcFwd5V_92_LK-MW26X2xDMdrSuMPuCaCEPh2-m4W69ibS0k4OTjjD1G-ixlZw2dZFZ-eUDDBMgcsMPgTm7uurhgX-kEr7Q_BA5oYOkwx7IPWFYsDcnbFPN0Oe4aeNIaqPBsd9/s1600/Lime+and+Coconut+cupcakes+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQCiHV-bcFwd5V_92_LK-MW26X2xDMdrSuMPuCaCEPh2-m4W69ibS0k4OTjjD1G-ixlZw2dZFZ-eUDDBMgcsMPgTm7uurhgX-kEr7Q_BA5oYOkwx7IPWFYsDcnbFPN0Oe4aeNIaqPBsd9/s1600/Lime+and+Coconut+cupcakes+2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As it's Red Nose Day on Friday I have a few idea's which I'm rather excited about. So pop back Friday and as long as I don't have any major disasters I should have something fun to share!</span></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-54504020170493124922011-03-04T22:44:00.000+00:002011-03-04T22:44:08.832+00:00Chocolate Fudge Brownie Cake<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitpq21XdGG0VE3-DQBIbOJUgmCezHBVdspKPdEFqA9yFlcB0yQcmNRIfao4TURTwed6Hrxe2v9tDTsOiCXQkkv7GjtJCHoLsSaJol-6bCzLWI_7Ki1MPGg_icwXK2dZlAarcCzJ2IZ6wma/s1600/Chocolate+fudge+brownie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitpq21XdGG0VE3-DQBIbOJUgmCezHBVdspKPdEFqA9yFlcB0yQcmNRIfao4TURTwed6Hrxe2v9tDTsOiCXQkkv7GjtJCHoLsSaJol-6bCzLWI_7Ki1MPGg_icwXK2dZlAarcCzJ2IZ6wma/s1600/Chocolate+fudge+brownie.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm pretty certain I've found my go-to brownie recipe. I know only a while ago I was saying how I had yet to find that elusive perfect brownie recipe, and all the while the recipe was sat on my desk waiting for me to use it. I had printed it out months ago and put it in my recipe book amongst all the other print outs that are waiting for me to stick in or throw out. A friend had mentioned how great this recipe was and I made a mental note to hurry up and bake them, but I guess that mental note got lost, along with the things that I needed for the shop... </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anywho a couple of weeks ago I realised I still had not made them so I went ahead and did it, and oh my, they are amazing. A lovely crusty top, perfectly gooey in the middle and a deliciously chewy bottom. Everything I ever wanted in a brownie. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The recipe itself comes straight from the <a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3431/chocolate-brownie-cake">BBC</a>, only I added some left over clotted cream fudge that I had lying around.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>Chocolate Fudge Brownie Cake</strong> - from the BBC</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">100g margarine </span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">175g caster sugar </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">75g brown or muscovado sugar </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">125g chocolate (plain or milk) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tbsp golden syrup </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 eggs </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tsp vanilla extract </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">100g plain flour </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">½ tsp baking powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 tbsp cocoa powder </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">100g fudge - optional</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">1. Heat oven to 180c, grease and line a 20cm cake tin.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">2. Gently melt the butter, sugars, chocolate and golden syrup in a pan until smooth. Remove from the heat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">3. Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk until light and frothy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">4. Add the eggs and the remaining ingredients into the chocolate mix and stir well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">5. Pour the mixture into the tin and cook for about 30 minutes.</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Enjoy!</span></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-30025038555878610992011-01-26T20:47:00.001+00:002011-01-27T00:11:00.327+00:00Flapjack<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXlHhFqyHD5KQtOzG1ZiCmGe2HFxBXDRNu5BoY3onKWIjJHRuzFs_SNpY50DtBv49CPZLijCnthwoABqbfCfWIOPnfZ0F1bn2wYxkjKhn3oEuoqpgDJHkb33C8fR63fSTJktpyA8n8EnD/s1600/Flapjack+-+BBC+recipe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXlHhFqyHD5KQtOzG1ZiCmGe2HFxBXDRNu5BoY3onKWIjJHRuzFs_SNpY50DtBv49CPZLijCnthwoABqbfCfWIOPnfZ0F1bn2wYxkjKhn3oEuoqpgDJHkb33C8fR63fSTJktpyA8n8EnD/s1600/Flapjack+-+BBC+recipe.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So at first I wasn't going to post this, I mean flapjack isn't the most exciting thing to find on a baking blog but sometimes you need something simple and classic which is exactly what flapjack is.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have always, and still do, hate shop bought flapjack. I can't stand the stuff. It tastes of cardboard, smells like cardboard and looks like cardboard. Theres only one shop bought flapjack that I've ever kind of liked. I'm lucky to have a great little bakery only two minutes away which we often frequent, and they do an amazing flapjack which is half covered in chocolate. This is the only flapjack I've eaten in years, aside from my Mums occasional homemade version. Whilst my Mums is great, it has a tendancy to break your teeth if it's left longer than a day.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">And so my mission to find a truely great flapjack begins. I think anyone keen on cooking or baking has a few different recipes that they are always in search of improving and finding the best of. With a lot of baking bloggers it seems to be the elusive perfect brownie. Of which I am still looking for. For me I want to find a really good flapjack recipe, as I don't think you can go wrong with good basic recipes.</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglg7l9buiY_CceAt2jIVrUfhuCOT_oleTbCpaUJpSO7iwxkG542tlmaF1-ClFcsckf64kIdwT-pJEw1Hc6mxdcaf-CzVcROTZoj8rYSBIMyOh8IhtGG25jPYFTBV6P8JXHGUml1XXGJa6O/s1600/Flapjack+-+BBC+recipe+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglg7l9buiY_CceAt2jIVrUfhuCOT_oleTbCpaUJpSO7iwxkG542tlmaF1-ClFcsckf64kIdwT-pJEw1Hc6mxdcaf-CzVcROTZoj8rYSBIMyOh8IhtGG25jPYFTBV6P8JXHGUml1XXGJa6O/s1600/Flapjack+-+BBC+recipe+2.jpg" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This particular flapjack recipe I found when watching the BBC's new baking programme 'Baking Made Easy' presented by model turned baker Lorraine Pascale. I'm enjoying the programme so far, the recipes are really simple and easy to follow and she's covered some good basic's as well.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">You can find the recipe <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/flapjacks_86993">here</a>. As for my verdict on the flapjack? Its lovely and soft and chewy, a great flavour too. But for me its just not sweet enough, I do agree with the recipe that it would be great as a quick breakfast. Though maybe mix in some dried fruits at least. Definately one to try if you don't like your flapjack too sweet.</span></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-86732959826025296292011-01-23T21:40:00.000+00:002011-01-23T21:40:58.860+00:00New Year<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I apologise for the lack of any posts these past few months, I just haven't felt like blogging at all. I've still been baking plenty but I've just not wanted to post anything. So I'm sorry for the quiet but I am back and in the right frame of mind. This is just a quick update to show that I'm still here and still baking and there are lots of treats that I want to share with you.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Here's a sample of what I have made these past few months...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jQ-SWpxVVZjOeNrsLqteIEAIoJlLg_90PGvwNjbNcdC2r8lzvhmNxrnOjis5zmhMACnhLDHhLC1UvxvStHL0sJa8HTO5VL94bCbwDedb3QU1wj7a4FtI__OiZixjLqu02zX9IACpLBxa/s1600/Thomas+Cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jQ-SWpxVVZjOeNrsLqteIEAIoJlLg_90PGvwNjbNcdC2r8lzvhmNxrnOjis5zmhMACnhLDHhLC1UvxvStHL0sJa8HTO5VL94bCbwDedb3QU1wj7a4FtI__OiZixjLqu02zX9IACpLBxa/s1600/Thomas+Cake.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Thomas the Tank Engine cake for my Nephew's 3rd Birthday party. My first time at attempting any kind of theme, let alone such a well known character! I also made chocolate and vanilla fairy cakes with Thomas the Tank Engine cake toppers.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My first attempt at making Sorbet, a wonderful orange flavour but a bit too icey compared with sorbet's I love in restaurants.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">And finally Triple Chocolate fairy cakes for a party that my Mum held.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Thats it for now but I'll be back in a day or two with flapjack!</span></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-65628494025590113012010-11-21T13:08:00.000+00:002010-11-21T13:08:14.111+00:00Tiffin/Refridgerator Cake<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFmcTErAyd3D63T1_OShfp8L7hWt5uhcqLkva0dqeHTBBstodFSMAlPsOvCLTB2GoCXriP9rMkVs6Sv9KKa4s1LzSaC9nixCZpd9mmRu-gOozQk1CFdGvDPNQJ2FT8QrqiIwR0OWnSS57/s1600/IMG_3977+c%252Cr%252Cs+for+b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFmcTErAyd3D63T1_OShfp8L7hWt5uhcqLkva0dqeHTBBstodFSMAlPsOvCLTB2GoCXriP9rMkVs6Sv9KKa4s1LzSaC9nixCZpd9mmRu-gOozQk1CFdGvDPNQJ2FT8QrqiIwR0OWnSS57/s1600/IMG_3977+c%252Cr%252Cs+for+b.jpg" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tiffin or Refridgerator Cake, whatever you want to call it, is one of those things that you can make quickly without too much hassle and without worrying about weighing everything perfectly. All you need to do is chuck a load of things into some melted chocolate, butter and golden syrup and you're nearly done. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IdUjn7D1uSYDQ7SCWc50cDkNhFBJbnvl5roNKxpApk8KKUybFg8BWAvUWM0Qq9lxP-k7oBxEicgT3YzTZewpDH-qWFPyzPgjaB4JS3W5guJSCKh7NsVsEQcGpL0B1M_aFw0skb4PmW11/s1600/IMG_3938+e%252Cr%252Cs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IdUjn7D1uSYDQ7SCWc50cDkNhFBJbnvl5roNKxpApk8KKUybFg8BWAvUWM0Qq9lxP-k7oBxEicgT3YzTZewpDH-qWFPyzPgjaB4JS3W5guJSCKh7NsVsEQcGpL0B1M_aFw0skb4PmW11/s1600/IMG_3938+e%252Cr%252Cs.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This ease and no fuss style is represented by my Mums recipe for Tiffin, well if you can call it a recipe that is. It's a small scrap of paper on which is written "biscuits, choc, golden syrup, sultana's, cherries, 2oz marg". Thats it. Only one actual measurement, no step by step instructions, no faffing about. Just simple and straight to the point.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gcY_ubEAFXO3rx7s946IPgDJTa2Z-3bQlqm9D3x5-Bj4ea1BVCkHQxIDLobf-txVTQITDQIDzzDvd-3fkOcMCVkADAy87W7-OoHqKIZoPgx9phVRg37aqT0poDHsfQ63b8_V2On5uGXw/s1600/175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gcY_ubEAFXO3rx7s946IPgDJTa2Z-3bQlqm9D3x5-Bj4ea1BVCkHQxIDLobf-txVTQITDQIDzzDvd-3fkOcMCVkADAy87W7-OoHqKIZoPgx9phVRg37aqT0poDHsfQ63b8_V2On5uGXw/s200/175.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So when I decided to whip some up a few days ago, I combined this list with a recipe I found in Cupcakes, Muffins & More by Love Food. My Mum got me this recipe book a few months ago and I've not got round to using it much yet. The first thing I made from it was some melt in the middle chocolate cupcakes which you serve warm and they were very successful, apart from the fact that my camera broke whilst taking photo's of them!</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I made these I slightly underestimated how much chocolate I needed as I didn't really have a lot in the house, so I just went ahead anyway. It wasn't a disaster but I did end up with one half of the tray not having any chocolate topping! I also had a minor problem when I was melting some chocolate, I did it the way you are supposed to i.e. in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Yet it did not turn out, I seem to be incapable of melting chocolate this way. Which is why I tend to just stick the bowl in the microwave for 10 second bursts until its all melted! </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mishaps aside, it turned out ok in the end, it even looked pretty good once I cut it all up.</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF2RoraFjhhtkKLpJJNB6_sQRo290ZXsUwPqfetBhn0WOBzwL8mN3Bs-PWO0JALQbptAWYQ8gc89LEadl0MULgB-mmDn7EPeqGYNgUGilFpr7acAwU08y9fgnfmGGZ4d2zhmxHsgkxCtCG/s1600/IMG_3942+e%252Cr%252Cs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF2RoraFjhhtkKLpJJNB6_sQRo290ZXsUwPqfetBhn0WOBzwL8mN3Bs-PWO0JALQbptAWYQ8gc89LEadl0MULgB-mmDn7EPeqGYNgUGilFpr7acAwU08y9fgnfmGGZ4d2zhmxHsgkxCtCG/s1600/IMG_3942+e%252Cr%252Cs.jpg" /></a> <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Tiffin/Refridgerator Cake</strong> - Adapted from a few different recipes</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">75g margarine</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">3 tsbp golden syrup</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">350g chocolate, roughly chopped (I used a mix of milk and dark)</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">175g digestive biscuits, roughly broken</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">70g glace cherries</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">80g raisins</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">For the Topping:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">35g margarine</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">250g milk chocolate</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Decoration (optional):</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">50g white chocolate, melted</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">1. Grease a cake tin of your choice, deep or shallow depending on how you thick you want your cake. I used a tin that was about 27x18cm.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">2. Put the chocolate, margarine and golden syrup in a small pan and heat gently until melted. </span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">3. Bash up the biscuits and add to the chocolate mix, along with the cherries and raisins. Stir until combined.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">4. Pour into the tin and roughly level the surface. Chill in the fridge for about an hour.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">5. Melt the milk chocolate and butter, then pour over the chilled mix. Put back into the fridge until set.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">6. Melt the melt chocolate and roughly flick over the top of the cake with a spoon. Put back in the fridge and let it set.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBkeOU-YIFY3TUPMa4EZsh8ARhEKzLDToLuKA78JM8YMgIgHvQhupBs5piMiBMF9Rb0DyJ2CvnET0q43j8Q9yvWvPh22EOJsKQQCGMlan70cV5NN4YhyphenhypheneG9oMTRFK1GRGQm3Lm-b47JqR/s1600/IMG_3972+r%252Cs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBkeOU-YIFY3TUPMa4EZsh8ARhEKzLDToLuKA78JM8YMgIgHvQhupBs5piMiBMF9Rb0DyJ2CvnET0q43j8Q9yvWvPh22EOJsKQQCGMlan70cV5NN4YhyphenhypheneG9oMTRFK1GRGQm3Lm-b47JqR/s1600/IMG_3972+r%252Cs.jpg" /></a></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-91051301813036783742010-11-03T18:25:00.000+00:002010-11-03T18:25:43.126+00:00Mint Choc Chip Cupcakes<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmSLeqDdIjbZb9WScZKcJwIMUECHD9NjoY8NWkS4SJnq-fj9_Ku9t_CeBuBYIqBwzpKxtZkdAldfJgv2eRTruzpz-kSMEkO6yxsJN6D2rroUOeluG4ohdccMOFtrCRbOgcYQIqU1_x_gG/s1600/IMG_3044+r,s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmSLeqDdIjbZb9WScZKcJwIMUECHD9NjoY8NWkS4SJnq-fj9_Ku9t_CeBuBYIqBwzpKxtZkdAldfJgv2eRTruzpz-kSMEkO6yxsJN6D2rroUOeluG4ohdccMOFtrCRbOgcYQIqU1_x_gG/s1600/IMG_3044+r,s.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My favorite flavour combination is and always has been Mint Choc Chip, I can't get enough of it. I love mints and I love chocolate, so the two together is just heaven to me. I'm not a big ice cream eater but I could eat Mint Choc Chip ice cream by the bucket full. I found a little ice cream parlour near the edge of Lake Windermere (Lake District, Cumbria) one holiday a few years back which did the most amazing Mint Choc Chip ice cream, I've never found anywhere thats come close.</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmkIDca_uFx55LB2QZ07avDPDhBLaZ-u0VOCpFAJu4C5jFIPEdJBcg9mA8BKNYUF6N0In5W8QJ32XvznV7eIfL2dqaITBrRT8NHweZgTUg7qAAfvvYyTkTBpqOzz4wZPCN0i20YH_PnV9u/s1600/IMG_3048+r,s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmkIDca_uFx55LB2QZ07avDPDhBLaZ-u0VOCpFAJu4C5jFIPEdJBcg9mA8BKNYUF6N0In5W8QJ32XvznV7eIfL2dqaITBrRT8NHweZgTUg7qAAfvvYyTkTBpqOzz4wZPCN0i20YH_PnV9u/s1600/IMG_3048+r,s.jpg" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, enough rambling about ice cream and onto the cupcakes. I've been meaning to make these for a while but kept forgetting or not having the time when I did remember. Then someone else made some and it reminded me. </span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had the recipe in mind, I was going to use my favourite victoria sandwich recipe but with cocoa powder and chocolate chunks and then my favorite buttercream but adapted to be mint chocolate. Pretty simple I thought. I made the cakes no problem but then came the time to make the buttercream, I had the butter and half the icing sugar mixed nicley when my whisk suddenly stopped.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thinking it may have just got a little hot I turned it off and unplugged it for a few minutes. Then I plugged it back in and tried again, this time it made a painful whirring sound and tried its best to work. No such luck. There was no way it was about to work. So my only option was to finish it by hand, I know, I know, nothing wrong with that, unless you have problems with your muscles like I do. To cut a long story short I eventually finished the buttercream, it took me probably 30 minutes longer than it does with the whisk. As for the taste? Its without a doubt the nicest buttercream I've ever made. So creamy, soft and fluffy, I had to add milk to make it a little easier to beat, which I never usually do and the taste was so much better for it. </span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Verdict? Having very painful, dead arms for over 4 days afterwards was totally worth it.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYpJDu-lXGr5euYOimJQ_gNJ6YDyUNSvESk9lVHP1CeR9PA13beL__la8Z-iptBBQoenieg-iA0Jo0c-84Jj495_1CWtRri-MY8uHvacEevTuVLFqouELtB8pr287abGGHkvjBnfoMIQNM/s1600/IMG_3059+r,s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYpJDu-lXGr5euYOimJQ_gNJ6YDyUNSvESk9lVHP1CeR9PA13beL__la8Z-iptBBQoenieg-iA0Jo0c-84Jj495_1CWtRri-MY8uHvacEevTuVLFqouELtB8pr287abGGHkvjBnfoMIQNM/s1600/IMG_3059+r,s.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Mint Choc Chip Cupcakes</strong> - My own recipe</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the chocolate chip cupcakes:</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">100g caster sugar</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">100g margarine</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">75g self raising flour</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">25g cocoa powder</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 eggs</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">100g milk chocolate, roughly chopped</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 or 2 tbsp milk (its upto you how much, but generally if the mix is quite thick then add a spoonful or two)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the mint chocolate buttercream:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">75g margarine</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">150g icing sugar</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">40g cocoa powder</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 tbsp milk</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tsp peppermint essence (roughly)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Cream the margarine and sugar together until light and fluffly.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Add one egg and a spoonful of flour, beat until just combined. Repeat with the second egg.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Fold in the rest of the flour and cocoa powder, one spoonful at a time until you have a little bit of flour left.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Fold in the milk and finally the last of the flour until it has just combined.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. Add in the chocolate chucks and stir as little as possible to mix them in.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6. Spoon the mixture into muffin cases until 3/4 full.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">7. Cook on 180c for about 15 to 20 minutes until a cocktail stick inserted comes out clean (bar any melted chocolate). Put on wire rack to cool.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">8. Now to make the buttercream. Beat the butter until it is nice and soft and fluffy, then slowly add the icing sugar.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9. Add about half the cocoa powder and beat, then put in a spoonful of milk and mix. Repeat with the remaining cocoa powder and milk.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">10. Add the peppermint essence a few drops at a time. Keep tasting until you are happy with the flavour.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">11. Pipe the buttercream onto your cupcakes or spread with a knife.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next time I need some After Eight mints to decorate them with!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9jiFKyEW9i30GV-Ur7VkpWMl1NmJN-Z8N7i2fGu3y3JJgNqBuA76G7F9CmYhwdaXU-sOs8SIDH3l89hb5B7Eqvw0UGwOhiuoCy8ut2bm4lOZl64kHcYWEN9XdB-o1fepu7gA1fj-sC7_/s1600/IMG_3078+e,r,s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9jiFKyEW9i30GV-Ur7VkpWMl1NmJN-Z8N7i2fGu3y3JJgNqBuA76G7F9CmYhwdaXU-sOs8SIDH3l89hb5B7Eqvw0UGwOhiuoCy8ut2bm4lOZl64kHcYWEN9XdB-o1fepu7gA1fj-sC7_/s1600/IMG_3078+e,r,s.jpg" /></a></div></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-10005341781732182892010-10-27T12:57:00.001+01:002010-10-27T12:59:42.363+01:00Coconut Cherry Cupcakes<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Mmm cherries and chocolate, my 2 favorite things to find in a cake!</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm such a bad blogger at the moment, sorry! I had a busy week or so sorting out an exciting new work/business thing (sadly not food related), and then I was ill yet again. I know, I know, thats all I've said lately and I promise it won't be said at all in my next post! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIseVWDrc9cVcGb1gSg4vaAvJKWrPYrmzrFovv2TOM2XVCsXgNQ0sY1p0f0jKcMG62uiXoGi4voV5Ns-FS8NTe479XiiUpOrO90LPh7LWF0PeQicA62zfLBbKbibcjUs680q-dSeAjh1xh/s1600/IMG_2153+r,s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIseVWDrc9cVcGb1gSg4vaAvJKWrPYrmzrFovv2TOM2XVCsXgNQ0sY1p0f0jKcMG62uiXoGi4voV5Ns-FS8NTe479XiiUpOrO90LPh7LWF0PeQicA62zfLBbKbibcjUs680q-dSeAjh1xh/s1600/IMG_2153+r,s.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, moving on to the food. I've made a few new recipes lately, all of which I promise to upload over the next week or two. The first of which was these coconut cherry cupcakes with added chocolate chunks, complete with milk chocolate ganache and white chocolate decorations. Why I've never made chocolate ganache before I have no idea but it is amazing, I am converted. Then I made iced marshmallow coconut cookies, which were a bit of a disaster looks wise but tasted great. Then a few days ago I finally got round to making brownies, from a recipe I found on the BBCs website which had great reviews, and it definatly lived up to its hype. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finally today I've made more lemon cupcakes, I had to make sure my finished recipe was still good and not just a first time fluke. I scooped out the middle and added a dollop of lemon curd and then topped with lemon buttercream and decorated with lemon zest. Well if you're going to go lemon then you might as well use as much as possible!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii5LUEV4r3T3j7-tzFSl-qQSkJWD2I9VeL2rCLGUvCHDR5XYdx_x6upoLAa06b6QIqwLTEtzVvMD1Pnagt0zpSdj-nMfJ4ndxCLOd5DdGy-MCu2iWcwZFL8HtBjQNyvtOlUnzM75wuiV7K/s1600/IMG_2154+r,s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii5LUEV4r3T3j7-tzFSl-qQSkJWD2I9VeL2rCLGUvCHDR5XYdx_x6upoLAa06b6QIqwLTEtzVvMD1Pnagt0zpSdj-nMfJ4ndxCLOd5DdGy-MCu2iWcwZFL8HtBjQNyvtOlUnzM75wuiV7K/s1600/IMG_2154+r,s.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As well as it being my first time making a ganache, it was also the first time I've ever piped chocolate. I've kind of avoided it before, thinking it would be too fiddly and messy, that the chocolate would cool and harden before I'd even done anything. My hands can also go quite shakey when I'm trying to do anything that requires a steady hand! But it was surprisingly easy and the chocolate stayed melted in the bag. I'll be the first to admit that the decorations aren't anything special but I'm pretty pleased for my first try.</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPdt_49W750ITd6sDyN3Zh1SkLLj24lZpAMD4a7HBb6wt2oIwjugqlnlIH8n_FOQ7ViEP8cFXAa-9StlEMB2VvuRDMr3VRQ7juG7iLtAEKHWDIjCWxQOiesvTDq6OVymEI4dOWCX5JFDV-/s1600/IMG_2169+r,s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPdt_49W750ITd6sDyN3Zh1SkLLj24lZpAMD4a7HBb6wt2oIwjugqlnlIH8n_FOQ7ViEP8cFXAa-9StlEMB2VvuRDMr3VRQ7juG7iLtAEKHWDIjCWxQOiesvTDq6OVymEI4dOWCX5JFDV-/s1600/IMG_2169+r,s.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>Coconut Cherry Cupcakes</strong> from The Complete Book of Cupcakes, Cheesecakes and Cookies</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">For the cake:</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">125g butter, softened</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">1/2 tsp coconut essence</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">150g caster sugar</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">2 eggs</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">80ml milk</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">40g desiccated coconut</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">70g glace cherries, roughly chopped</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana;">50g dark chocolate, roughly chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">150g self raising flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">35g plain flour</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">For the ganache:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">60ml cream</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">100g milk chocolate, roughly chopped</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">For the decorations:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">150g white chocolate buttons</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Desiccated coconut to sprinkle</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">1. Preheat your oven to 180c (160c fan forced) and line a muffin pan with paper cases. <em>I got 12 cupcakes out of this recipe using muffin size cases.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">2. Beat butter, essence, sugar and eggs in a small bowl until combined.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">3. Stir in the milk, coconut, cherries and chocolate. Then stir in the sifted flours.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">4. Divide amongst cases, smoothing the surface of each. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cocktail stick inserted into the cake comes out clean (bar any melted chocolate).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">5. Make the ganache. Bring the cream to the boil in a small pan, then pour oven the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. Cover the bowl and allow to stand at room temperature until it is of a spreadable consistency.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">6. Melt the white chocolate (either in the microwave at 10 second bursts, or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water) and spoon into a piping bag.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">7. Pipe different sized hearts (or any other shape you want) onto a tray covered with a sheet of baking paper. Pop the tray into the fridge until the chocolate has set.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">8. Spread each cupcake with ganache and decorate with your chocolate hearts, sprinkle with a little coconut.</span> <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Coconut Cherry Cupcakes</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-67771956960165097372010-09-26T17:45:00.000+01:002010-09-26T17:45:41.675+01:00Lemon Drizzle Cake <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lemon Drizzle Cake</span></td></tr>
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</div><div align="left" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sorry for the lack of updates, I meant to post this sooner but I've been pretty ill the past week.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyways, Lemon Drizzle cake has got to be one of my all time favourite cakes. A good one is delicously moist, has a lovely lemon flavour that isn't too tangy or barely there and has the most amazing hard lemon sugar topping. So why on earth I've never tried making one before is beyond me. A quick search on the internet a couple of weeks ago found me a recipe that looked pretty simple, and a few extra ingredients on the supermarket shopping list a couple of days later got me everything that I needed. And so all that was left to do was bake it.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfw4Ay9zqJIHKrgSp-Pv4VS3s2XLn5cTKQ7mU7hSsey2PMn1N-4XTFAFqNjR6Si5xC9hlnX3BDGrAOHIONDG4BYUX1Yn1vdYRP9AhvKXLOygjpGWcI-IChqRY0WZRpnWHekgwaAFm3Gmip/s1600/IMG_1601+r,+sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfw4Ay9zqJIHKrgSp-Pv4VS3s2XLn5cTKQ7mU7hSsey2PMn1N-4XTFAFqNjR6Si5xC9hlnX3BDGrAOHIONDG4BYUX1Yn1vdYRP9AhvKXLOygjpGWcI-IChqRY0WZRpnWHekgwaAFm3Gmip/s1600/IMG_1601+r,+sig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The recipe that I've used was literally the first entry from my google search, its from the <a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4942/lemon-drizzle-cake">BBC's Good Food website</a> and is by Tana Ramsay. I'll definately be using it again, in fact I've already had requests to make it for other people. The sponge is incredibly moist and the lemon flavour certainly comes through. Though next time I might be tempted to add a little more zest to the mixture and possible a teaspoon or two of lemon juice.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNFaaKQkYRVRhzYZdBEpMVDYIwDU-sLtI_Hh7kG6aKW14lpEM4HMNC464UbSsO_vknUfiyoLlonXx8kUDHDm_19A-jtmxNswm36vD_LWdNpLPkiri2XeEMZWm1WOtnrhJqSQkdFMhVkZ9v/s1600/IMG_1617+r,+sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNFaaKQkYRVRhzYZdBEpMVDYIwDU-sLtI_Hh7kG6aKW14lpEM4HMNC464UbSsO_vknUfiyoLlonXx8kUDHDm_19A-jtmxNswm36vD_LWdNpLPkiri2XeEMZWm1WOtnrhJqSQkdFMhVkZ9v/s1600/IMG_1617+r,+sig.jpg" /></a></div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You need a loaf tin to make drizzle cake (though I'm sure you could use a normal round cake tin if you don't have one), the recipe says to use a 8x21cm tin however I don't have a tin that size. I ended up using a tin about 12x19cm which was a good size for the amount of mix. Don't forget it will rise up a fair bit whilst cooking. This tin made a good sized cake but next time I will probably use two smaller (9x19cm) tins.</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjDjiUvF1vYWRMsXno-BarVzphWjqhcMxyATkbk9H1uHc86bK_WUnkIjA_iMluvM3R1JaZs5X8orOhnQxAL_qsf9mfy2G9_QQ0k7x4z_bk2PrA-xA5tM5zBsQKnEXVbiw013AohAcY5UGX/s1600/IMG_1630+r,+sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjDjiUvF1vYWRMsXno-BarVzphWjqhcMxyATkbk9H1uHc86bK_WUnkIjA_iMluvM3R1JaZs5X8orOhnQxAL_qsf9mfy2G9_QQ0k7x4z_bk2PrA-xA5tM5zBsQKnEXVbiw013AohAcY5UGX/s1600/IMG_1630+r,+sig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As you'll see in a minute, my drizzle topping didn't exactly turn out according to plan. I think I made a couple of mistakes! Firstly I probably put about 10 too many holes in the top of my cake, and secondly I doubled the amount of lemon juice for the drizzle without bothering to double the sugar too. Therefore it was runnier (is that a word!? Oh well it is now!) than what it should have been, also the sugar had more liquid to dissolve into. </span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Oh well at least I know what to do for next time! You never know if you don't try right.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZcNYIJpkLacdIRWgKL3xnJEJHnXbydpsaV9F-dGjSe4beGIStVywZRidre8m2CRL-xGC1UoMhtgLBmv5OXj2xNNS_uwZhWrNFjhEY7nMCqqFL_CN-SBzQ-Ari8qw2h5q84EIo_wRXZq_/s1600/IMG_1636+r,+sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZcNYIJpkLacdIRWgKL3xnJEJHnXbydpsaV9F-dGjSe4beGIStVywZRidre8m2CRL-xGC1UoMhtgLBmv5OXj2xNNS_uwZhWrNFjhEY7nMCqqFL_CN-SBzQ-Ari8qw2h5q84EIo_wRXZq_/s1600/IMG_1636+r,+sig.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So the recipe, as I said, you can find it here at the <a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4942/lemon-drizzle-cake">BBC's Good Food</a> website. The cake itself will keep pretty well in an airtight container, it will stay fresh for about 4 days or so. But we still had some left after 8 days and although you could tell it wasn't fresh it was still moist and tasted good too.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZFYZrLv0K1APxIVluKKYke2ITolOz8JwPbwSNmMUTCo-pEzQpotHXAERhvTr-oK7yLITmqIIAcNJnuBPrEGS5tWE-Tfu2P4YXY2HuerL4W7oPZRWpflDRYJWw-5kc-fDAeU6lIe4EOPpk/s1600/IMG_1675+r,+sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZFYZrLv0K1APxIVluKKYke2ITolOz8JwPbwSNmMUTCo-pEzQpotHXAERhvTr-oK7yLITmqIIAcNJnuBPrEGS5tWE-Tfu2P4YXY2HuerL4W7oPZRWpflDRYJWw-5kc-fDAeU6lIe4EOPpk/s1600/IMG_1675+r,+sig.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Enjoy!</span></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-79458944191914832622010-09-20T18:25:00.000+01:002010-09-20T18:25:06.609+01:00Chocolate Coconut Slices<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEFtpAUp2SqGv1dY7aF16XyWq5ItnUtzQhe3HQEWfnzEWnrc9SVIJs8vtpGMdhPvOYOmO6IoPt2ZaRamm47oWqyAYhnQd166OH8yX2xW9BH_corZtsp5PCdmQ5NMepCj-Zv9bs5FqRFcy8/s1600/205.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518293683179117746" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEFtpAUp2SqGv1dY7aF16XyWq5ItnUtzQhe3HQEWfnzEWnrc9SVIJs8vtpGMdhPvOYOmO6IoPt2ZaRamm47oWqyAYhnQd166OH8yX2xW9BH_corZtsp5PCdmQ5NMepCj-Zv9bs5FqRFcy8/s400/205.JPG" style="display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> I have grown up eating these Chocolate Coconut slices, its one of the things I can always remember my Mum baking. The recipe comes from my Grandma (my Mum's Mum) who I sadly never got to meet but judging by the recipe book of hers that this came out of she knew how to make some amazing things.</span><br />
<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIpLIWvbNc-6uDx_JG8LgI2A6-T43w9EcL_QP9u6BfMgCENPU0ZFfX7Zgu6jshzoGhsufK-rt-VagYfSZ0gbIaBKRfteBU3i4qudwXCaOPdzPFMtxTno6OACYwTqBOfvaHfrq6JXDVZbT/s1600/P7230336.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518293675528154162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIpLIWvbNc-6uDx_JG8LgI2A6-T43w9EcL_QP9u6BfMgCENPU0ZFfX7Zgu6jshzoGhsufK-rt-VagYfSZ0gbIaBKRfteBU3i4qudwXCaOPdzPFMtxTno6OACYwTqBOfvaHfrq6JXDVZbT/s400/P7230336.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><strong><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Chocolate Coconut Slices</span></strong></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
8oz coconut<br />
6oz sugar<br />
2 eggs (well beaten)<br />
4oz margarine<br />
4oz chopped cherries<br />
5 – 8oz cooking chocolate<br />
<br />
1. Line a swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper<br />
2. Melt chocolate and pour into tin, leave to set <em>(use more chocolate if you want a thicker layer)</em><br />
3. Beat margarine, coconut, sugar and eggs until combined<br />
4. Stir in cherries<br />
5. Spread mix over chocolate<br />
6. Bake in moderate oven, Gas mark 3/ 160c until set and golden brown. This takes roughly 30 minutes depending on the oven</span><br />
<div><span style="font-family: verdana;">7. When cool cut into slices</span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyRabBkRXE9qB8yOuYsZOXSRrakJPUjKXIGqb9SP6d92xE6VHuWOXUpLV80Nurpf4vIv9KE2pzo0CwOQcSXIJrPSkvojpu4TzBA7Z_cBGulvzJwuXRTSb9wmP-TUjZ2BYUM1AHNGdMTRuA/s1600/P7240343.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518293669560587794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyRabBkRXE9qB8yOuYsZOXSRrakJPUjKXIGqb9SP6d92xE6VHuWOXUpLV80Nurpf4vIv9KE2pzo0CwOQcSXIJrPSkvojpu4TzBA7Z_cBGulvzJwuXRTSb9wmP-TUjZ2BYUM1AHNGdMTRuA/s400/P7240343.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></div></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-50575449754052952002010-09-17T21:38:00.003+01:002010-09-18T17:30:44.178+01:00Top Five: Cake stands<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVI4dv_feW5_Fxq_o3YjGKf6qsYp0V4v1Acug6v7N2J2Ndly_MvBCSz3thS5gstMpFbV_RnJFlRPwbD_JgSI9kmwTEx499cHggzrUFUbt_y-5k_dCyyEWt2rOmwQ_Hzm7mizRDG0IKhWdy/s1600/248.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518012336604575586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVI4dv_feW5_Fxq_o3YjGKf6qsYp0V4v1Acug6v7N2J2Ndly_MvBCSz3thS5gstMpFbV_RnJFlRPwbD_JgSI9kmwTEx499cHggzrUFUbt_y-5k_dCyyEWt2rOmwQ_Hzm7mizRDG0IKhWdy/s400/248.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"> My new stand from Tesco</span></div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Having just got myself a new cake stand (or rather after my lovely Mum bought me one) I can't stop myself looking for more. There's something charming and homely about cake stands that I just can't help but love. However until I have a place of my own or my bedroom miraculously triples in size I have no free space to store them.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">So if you like this is my little wish list.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><a href="http://www.cookwarebycsn.co.uk/Creative-Tops-CAKE1542-IAL1008.html"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Victoria and Albert two tier cake stand</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I love this, its so fancy and proper. It looks like it should only be brought out at very fancy dinner parties.<br /><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002AMW36U/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001CB5ZY2&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=04EWSYYY6E5XKANAZMN5"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Wire Cupcake tree</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Now these are amazing, I think they are great and such fun. If I had one of these I'd want it permanently on show filled with cupcakes...that actually sounds like a good life!</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.208-5521.aspx">Time for Tea cake stand</a></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">When I chose the stand above it was a toss between that and this Time for Tea stand, I love both but the Poppy stand won. </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><a href="http://www.dotcomgiftshop.com/retro-spot-cake-stand">Retro Spot stand</a></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">I love all things spotty and retro, and red just happens to be my all time favourite colour therefore this stand couldn't be any more perfect!</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><a href="http://www.dotcomgiftshop.com/white-metal-3-plate-cake-stand">Vintage 3 tier basket stand</a></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">This wire basket stand is incredible, I've not seen anything like it before. The vintage charmit has would be great for a tea party.</span></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-45510266827297323402010-09-12T17:47:00.006+01:002010-10-30T18:25:33.350+01:00Cheesecake Brownies<div align="justify"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516073366841695378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6z_yomVcqpZWwCRM0YLUAcLBDQ2TJGUst3UKpH3CewdzDkF5i5AlehdGG3ldLzjJmaLBOx8DVpB4_iRmZb4JnV01tSUjV0bFigrl9pZxVDuGCaOAOijO7vjElCCo_qiR_3UjHyRkH-F5/s400/P6060113.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sorry for not posting this sooner, I had planned to share this recipe at the start of the week but I’ve been quite unwell this past week. </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I’ve only ever made cheesecake about 3 times in my life, despite having eaten a hell of a lot of it! The first time I made it, it tasted amazing but collapsed the second it came out of the tin. The second seemed to have great potential but just didn’t live up to it. And the third was incredible. Quite honestly one of the tastiest cheesecakes I’ve ever eaten, and I’m not just saying that because I made it! My family loved it, my Mum and I were quite disappointed when it came to an end! And the best bit about it? It’s so very simple. I’ve read recipes for cheesecakes that have had hundreds of steps, you have to do this followed by that and then a bit more of this, they can be never-ending.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516073377793602610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnL13mK3n2lKk203DOjZV3btj-T36q9W0RKbgfNZV4KcLBGr41fCJbMyruOeewZXFYarjAPHton1_DmmDkCPkaihU1T7rSh2apLDbp8efxtywBa8Vh9XaF2vxuxzErbXGAFweYhGPnxkF8/s400/P6050104.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /> <br />
<div align="justify"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I’m definitely going to be making these again, when they are so quick and easy it would be a shame not to. Though I might have to make double the recipe as an attempt to make it last longer!</span></div><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCP16mxHtD6CFT48Mm5XP2KE8d25sUQ0AV0WlCgJVmDW7NlWHXY0UnYrDO2ATk2OzVEgxDWDz-vwpKzxv8E7apjcxBH2WQjHUw8VcC83wk-4Mr00MF2Jlzex82WbvQQaNx-kykryT4zsgb/s1600/P6050107.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516073383689475170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCP16mxHtD6CFT48Mm5XP2KE8d25sUQ0AV0WlCgJVmDW7NlWHXY0UnYrDO2ATk2OzVEgxDWDz-vwpKzxv8E7apjcxBH2WQjHUw8VcC83wk-4Mr00MF2Jlzex82WbvQQaNx-kykryT4zsgb/s400/P6050107.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a> <span style="font-family: verdana;"><strong>Cheesecake Brownies</strong> - from The Complete Book of Cupcakes, Cheesecake and Cookies</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: verdana;">For the brownie base:<br />
125g butter, chopped<br />
150g dark eating chocolate, roughly chopped<br />
1 egg<br />
150g caster sugar<br />
110g plain flour<br />
35g self raising flour<br />
<br />
For the cheesecake topping:<br />
250g cream cheese, softened<br />
1tsp vanilla extract<br />
75g caster sugar<br />
1 egg<br />
125ml cream<br />
<br />
1. Preheat the oven to 180c.<br />
2. Grease a deep 19cm square cake tin and line with baking paper.<br />
3. Combine the butter and chocolate in a small pan, stir over a low heat until smooth. Allow to cool.<br />
4. Beat the egg and sugar in a small bowl with electric mixer until thick and creamy.<br />
5. Stir in chocolate mixture and sifted flours.<br />
6. Spread mixture into pan and bake for 10 minutes.<br />
<em>Whilst that is cooking you can the cheesecake topping:</em><br />
7. Beat the cheese, vanilla extract, sugar and egg in a small bowl until smooth. Then beat in the cream.<br />
8. Pour the topping mix over the brownie base and return to the oven for about 15 minutes.<br />
9. Leave in the oven to cool, with door ajar.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: verdana;">10. Once cool refrigerate for at least 3 hours.</span></div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516073401025666594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi92TQBVuT7TwaVMc67-LXOxcon3bA55yL3E0CVJZib_gC5dMDSaUpYm32ekW4kh8idtw38wQUuc5V1h2WFSsU1nxsRw4SG6oVtQcEYeylxOHGXHof0IhAkmNywQb7hb-XKrN0m_IcN9EDy/s400/P6060122.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /> <br />
<div align="justify"><span style="font-family: verdana;">They suggest serving with fresh raspberries but I didn't have any, so I served with fresh strawberries and grated dark chocolate.</span></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-10554950196517460752010-09-03T20:03:00.005+01:002010-09-12T17:47:18.636+01:00Top Five: Recipe Books<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I've decided to try and do a regular feature, something to keep me occupied and to give me something useful to search for on the internet. Also something to make me remember to keep updating! Therefore every other Saturday I will try and post up a Top Five list, a list of things I want, things I read or just simply things I find interesting or inspiring. </span></div><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The first list today is Recipe books, personally I love them. From simply flicking through one and staring at the photographs to finding that one recipe that really tickles your taste buds. I think they are great. So here are five recipe books that I've had my eye on lately.</span><br /></div><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cupcakes-Primrose-Bakery-Martha-Swift/dp/1856268470/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283197502&sr=1-1"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery</span></a><br /></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Primrose Bakery has such a reputation for amazing cakes that it would hard not to want to try some. Yet since I live so far away I guess making my own is the closest I'm going to get for the time being. </span><br /></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Domestic-Goddess-Comfort-Cooking/dp/0701171081/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283199160&sr=1-4"><span style="font-family:verdana;">How to be a Domestic Goddess</span></a><br /></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Ahh Nigella, the queen of cookery programmes and books. I've heard great things about this book, so surely Nigella can do no wrong?</span></div><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bake-Rachel-Allen/dp/0007259700/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_a">Bake</a> </span><br /></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Theres something about Rachel Allen that makes me watch and listen. I've watched her cookery programmes for a while now and I love the Bake series.</span></div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cupcakes-Susannah-Blake/dp/184597378X/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3PZZAICT9VDAC&colid=1DQM8DUCY53AI"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Cupcakes</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span><br /></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Any book solely dedicated to cupcakes has to be good, right!</span></div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cakes-Inspire-Desire-Mini-Cakes-Delights/dp/0715324977/ref=sr_1_19?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283198723&sr=1-19"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Cakes to Inspire and Desire </span></a><br /></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">As I've mentioned before, decorating cakes has always been my weak point. Therefore cakes like these inspire me so much, I only wish I could create a cake half as good as some of the examples in this book. I could spend ages staring at this book wishing I was able to do that.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Since I probably won't be getting any of these anytime soon I will have to stick with the ones I've got and the internet for inspiration. </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Oh and for a little sneak preview, the next recipe I'll be sharing is for Cheesecake Brownies!</span></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-19987100052100933262010-08-28T21:18:00.011+01:002010-08-28T21:56:10.923+01:00Chocolate Fudge Brownie Cookies<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The past week has been filled with baking, I don’t think I’ve ever baked so much in one week before. I started with chocolate cornflake buns on Saturday with the help of my 2 year old nephew JT, I wanted to bake but wasn’t feeling too good so needed something quick and easy, and that JT could help with. Turns out he’s not too fond of the hob so ran away to play with his train set, however he returned just in time to lick the pan clean. Something which he enjoyed quite a lot!</span></div><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhl7ISDC3byZEVIjBMn7sdpsUvkerNiYkJmMirDCKolHZB5siAe9FEKcdDMzlax6S-M7KrQX25jRwMSk2JLkaHG2fhCQyaBrESeIPEP3Dx6tVm0TYO3spz7tdHN_vf2PrPOyUx4ugfyZ5y/s1600/P4280668.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510564707085578258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhl7ISDC3byZEVIjBMn7sdpsUvkerNiYkJmMirDCKolHZB5siAe9FEKcdDMzlax6S-M7KrQX25jRwMSk2JLkaHG2fhCQyaBrESeIPEP3Dx6tVm0TYO3spz7tdHN_vf2PrPOyUx4ugfyZ5y/s320/P4280668.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">Then on Tuesday I made rock buns using my Mums old recipe she got from school. Rock buns, if you’ve never heard of them before, are a cross between cake and scone mix with a bit of cinnamon thrown in. They also, quite conveniently, come out of the oven looking like rocks!<br />Wednesday came the day I’ve been waiting for, I made warm chocolate melt in the middle cupcakes. I’ve been wanting to make these for a few weeks but as they really need to be eaten warm, I needed the whole family to be here to eat them. And so finally on Wednesday everyone was here, including JT and my Mums crazy friend C (who expects there to be fresh baked goods every time she comes round!) and I had my chance to make them. They were so so good, however in the middle of taking photos of them my camera broke. As someone who takes photo’s every single day and loves her camera to bits you can imagine how upset I am. However I do have a new camera on order, the Canon 550D, which should be here sometime in the next week. In the mean time I have to use a combination of my phone, my old Kodak compact and my mums little Panasonic, to try and get some passable pictures.<br />And so to finish off my baking week, I did some late night baking yesterday to try and ease my boredom. I made chocolate and vanilla marble cupcakes, which have been decorated today with a chocolate buttercream frosting and chunks of clotted cream fudge that I picked up a couple of weeks ago on my holiday to North Wales.</span><br /><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9Qh3GDaZigXC4ZZCh8MqYRLaB5iBs0v18bqjX_TkoLOKObADPyP9ydnWkIg4W0RvOV3WaZDbz5-RlaDGXkunSwyp1oNokFy-SBIbEZfP-6AP6KpKBNeFJvOYsMZWOMp3OxSMc1_LY4mX/s1600/P6270206.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510564433060185026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9Qh3GDaZigXC4ZZCh8MqYRLaB5iBs0v18bqjX_TkoLOKObADPyP9ydnWkIg4W0RvOV3WaZDbz5-RlaDGXkunSwyp1oNokFy-SBIbEZfP-6AP6KpKBNeFJvOYsMZWOMp3OxSMc1_LY4mX/s320/P6270206.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">Onto today’s recipe, these cookies are completely delicious. I made them a couple of months back and have since handed the recipe out to quite a few people, all of whom agree that they are delicious. I’m a big fan of cookies and as far as I’m concerned the more chocolate the better. So when I came across this recipe in ‘The Complete Book of Cupcakes, Cheesecakes and Cookies’ and saw it had 3 lots of chocolate in it, I knew it had to be good. I wasn’t disappointed.</span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYyGkuj7UthZ97E1sFrMc6obX-4yQ54CCRpb7gv3hr_ArEkmgxlSA2PNhN4LuvT_FaeNYheXrkBDzklg72Hmt2OQC87EUNlfthGLJI9PMZWMJIflA453RwvYuIjFSwXQhNiKbfLp614lcE/s1600/P6270207.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510564224093010786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYyGkuj7UthZ97E1sFrMc6obX-4yQ54CCRpb7gv3hr_ArEkmgxlSA2PNhN4LuvT_FaeNYheXrkBDzklg72Hmt2OQC87EUNlfthGLJI9PMZWMJIflA453RwvYuIjFSwXQhNiKbfLp614lcE/s320/P6270207.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">The book calls them chocolate fudge brownie and to be honest I’m really not sure where the fudge brownie part comes in, aside from the chocolate and nuts. But I don’t really care what they call them especially as they are so tasty. I’m not a fan of nuts so I just left them out which worked fine.<br /></span><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LsbVZVT53eiiTAZF61rCGea-r-leZE342rV1icRFI9VaMGzSEL_qCKYAQTYi_amDKUhmsBPJN6CUlzVP772gSHIrfVNI8ERJ8R77Dx8YkfkqkonBKoGoW6wi795nSc34_S-YMWGCboK6/s1600/P4280675.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510563381042768866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LsbVZVT53eiiTAZF61rCGea-r-leZE342rV1icRFI9VaMGzSEL_qCKYAQTYi_amDKUhmsBPJN6CUlzVP772gSHIrfVNI8ERJ8R77Dx8YkfkqkonBKoGoW6wi795nSc34_S-YMWGCboK6/s320/P4280675.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Chocolate Fudge Brownie Cookies<br /></strong><br />250g butter, softened</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">1 tsp vanilla extract</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">165g caster sugar</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">165g brown sugar</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">1 egg</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">300g plain flour</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">25g cocoa powder</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">1 tsp bicarbonate of soda</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">45g finely chopped roasted hazelnuts</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">120g coarsely chopped dark eating chocolate</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">120g coarsely chopped milk eating chocolate</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">120g coarsely chopped white eating chocolate</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">1. Preheat oven to 180°c (160°c fan forced).</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">2. Grease baking trays, line with baking paper.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">3. Beat butter and sugars in a small bowl, add extract and egg and beat until light and fluffy.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">4. Transfer to large bowl.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">5. Stir in sifted flour, cocoa and soda in two batches. Then stir in the nuts and chocolate.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">6. Roll level tablespoons of dough into balls and place 5cm apart on baking trays.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">7. Bake for about 12 minutes.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">8. Leave to cool on trays.<br /><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">They say you can make about 48 small cookies out of this mix, the first time I made them I got 25 large ones and then the second time I got about 35 medium sized ones. </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">A couple of tips with this recipe, firstly make sure you keep the dough balls well spaced out on your baking trays as they spread a lot. Secondly don’t be tempted to flatten your dough balls out a bit, I did this the first time I made them and because they spread out so much whilst cooking they became a bit too thin.</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnq2SFxT3kseNt2jMAWKzXl2TP4IPJUY_N325rc-Ds9AqeuDOQrhonKNOHwncS4YmpZ5fU7rFbOIABz1yGHXSDtkUFiG6FG8_78qzM4K_xoPd6RSCgOvoEBG_M_v6XhN9thACIFefZ0Fox/s1600/P4280700.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510562992597969650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnq2SFxT3kseNt2jMAWKzXl2TP4IPJUY_N325rc-Ds9AqeuDOQrhonKNOHwncS4YmpZ5fU7rFbOIABz1yGHXSDtkUFiG6FG8_78qzM4K_xoPd6RSCgOvoEBG_M_v6XhN9thACIFefZ0Fox/s320/P4280700.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">Hope you enjoy them!</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Oh and apologies for the rubbish photos, I don’t know if it was me, the camera or the cookies but I just couldn’t get a decent photograph of them. I’ll make them again once I get my new camera.</span></div></div></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-11235843008897057852010-08-17T16:32:00.011+01:002010-08-28T21:54:54.894+01:00Heavenly cupcakes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNI0tw_dl5ijOdVHChWxMpgNmf59fcw835eEifjBpIEeXG53_4Z-CTV7DVmCb2JptSOgvg1VOQ_W__ZSBNtrMP4l2XBn2dfkhIhnJe449kOXQdvJjpVXtXcQ9epGAM_Qoz5aZE3bcmZac/s1600/Cupcakes%2520for%2520Bookworms.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506413245246110338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNI0tw_dl5ijOdVHChWxMpgNmf59fcw835eEifjBpIEeXG53_4Z-CTV7DVmCb2JptSOgvg1VOQ_W__ZSBNtrMP4l2XBn2dfkhIhnJe449kOXQdvJjpVXtXcQ9epGAM_Qoz5aZE3bcmZac/s320/Cupcakes%2520for%2520Bookworms.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">Cupcakes for Bookworms, Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.heavenisacupcake.net/">Heaven is a Cupcake</a></span></div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I often am in awe of anyone who can make truely amazing looking cakes, its something I can only aspire to do. Decoration has always been my weak point, so I love seeing other people's creations. One such person is Lucy of </span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.heavenisacupcake.net/">Heaven is a Cupcake</a>, her cupcakes always look impeccable and the themes are so fun. Unfortunately I live too far away from her to sample them in person but I have been told they taste just as good as they look.</span></div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh297mv_tMgg4FAHTeTdkxHoGN1umGCC3l1AB5LL4G4Wss-fJmjZfPixIMEBje2dUOqe6Mth8dlrl5Szp_rchDcKDN57KkcJXxSVmNYWkbaeto8iuK8dBXivuTm-VUC4i0e4wJwLVFMEgzL/s1600/somewhere%2520over%2520the%2520rainbow.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506413110769134370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh297mv_tMgg4FAHTeTdkxHoGN1umGCC3l1AB5LL4G4Wss-fJmjZfPixIMEBje2dUOqe6Mth8dlrl5Szp_rchDcKDN57KkcJXxSVmNYWkbaeto8iuK8dBXivuTm-VUC4i0e4wJwLVFMEgzL/s320/somewhere%2520over%2520the%2520rainbow.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">Somewhere Over the Rainbow Cupcake, photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.heavenisacupcake.net/">Heaven is a Cupcake</a></span></div><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">So when Lucy shared her recipe for Vanilla Cupcakes I just had to have a go and bake them. The first thing I have to say is that it's the easiest recipe I've ever followed for cake mix. Everything just goes in the bowl and you mix. Simple. They are incredibly tasty too. I made a mix of large and smaller cupcakes, and I think I need to be more generous with the buttercream!</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">If you want to have a go you can find Lucy's recipe <a href="http://heavenisacupcake.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-guest-post-for-touching-from.html">here</a>. It's very easy to follow, so don't worry if you haven't really made any cakes before.<br /><br /></div></span><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjuXjLunyH8jgwEsbBbDQFo0Nn91neSVJ2q0b364MI0-Mz3qlCLs6Safg6W9abEGgldllE58a2BvqN-ge4jx0PSiVsUo7AhZ5b8oO7GfliNpY_gb8MKTHGKM4N7jEPese_FK-xMGHRzbR/s1600/P7270397.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506412947212447202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjuXjLunyH8jgwEsbBbDQFo0Nn91neSVJ2q0b364MI0-Mz3qlCLs6Safg6W9abEGgldllE58a2BvqN-ge4jx0PSiVsUo7AhZ5b8oO7GfliNpY_gb8MKTHGKM4N7jEPese_FK-xMGHRzbR/s320/P7270397.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">This is how my cakes turned out, they don't look nearly as good as Lucy's but practice makes perfect! My arms nearly dropped off mixing the food colouring into the buttercream, I added over half a bottle and they still weren't as pink as I wanted. I'm going to have to find some gel food colours. </span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfhbsrZ_v1z8F-yVzOOTs7cfizrz5NIokIfVgUmFJC9lLnPxAyXZpiVtzvHsV2dKfqGLe3LpLpSBTSo66pFiSw-UUfM8fJS29TnkLoSqNxDZTd1YHm-tQcMKUg4n3WFDxXAuGH_xoWrS8Y/s1600/P7270432.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506412714120362338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfhbsrZ_v1z8F-yVzOOTs7cfizrz5NIokIfVgUmFJC9lLnPxAyXZpiVtzvHsV2dKfqGLe3LpLpSBTSo66pFiSw-UUfM8fJS29TnkLoSqNxDZTd1YHm-tQcMKUg4n3WFDxXAuGH_xoWrS8Y/s320/P7270432.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />The lovely Lucy is also holding a giveaway on her blog at the moment. Courtesy of CSN stores, you can win £40 worth of vouchers to spend on their online stores. So if you want to stock up on more baking equipment head on over to <a href="http://heavenisacupcake.blogspot.com/2010/08/giveaway.html">Lucy's blog</a> and enter! </span></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-70517353394739896532010-08-01T16:26:00.012+01:002010-08-28T21:56:50.882+01:00Rocky Road cupcakes<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">So I'm just going to admit to it straight away, I'm not a neat baker...and by that I mean I'm messy, I take up most of the work tops in the kitchen and I have been known to use every spoon in the house (like this recipe for example, we have a lot of teaspoons, and I mean a lot. But I ran out about half way through!). Just the other week when I was making buttercream I managed to cover most of the kitchen in icing sugar dust. I had to clean inside cups, around the kettle and the fronts of the cupboard doors. I know icing sugar can just erupt with dust, but never have I had to clean most of the kitchen before, everything was covered in what looked like a very fine layer of snow.</span> </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4SXXp2j1YSMD8wPNK-dqx-stnDD6ydz4P9ns28SS4hLvKO3lvALdZ7SOuZgBggN-E0UIcWnO6W9VPbozpEpe0JjIHuAK_fw9y6K8euGNZz8Uh5vSGbEaiaL8OB5FaWWEsIyjUGBwhFuU/s1600/P4080041+resized.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500471529205024018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4SXXp2j1YSMD8wPNK-dqx-stnDD6ydz4P9ns28SS4hLvKO3lvALdZ7SOuZgBggN-E0UIcWnO6W9VPbozpEpe0JjIHuAK_fw9y6K8euGNZz8Uh5vSGbEaiaL8OB5FaWWEsIyjUGBwhFuU/s320/P4080041+resized.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I guess the reason why I'm saying this is just to let you know, my photo's are not perfect, there will be lumps of dropped cake mix dotted around. You have been warned!<br />And so, back to the baking. For my birthday this year my great friend, F, bought me an amazing recipe book, its got some fantastic looking cupcakes in it and I couldn't wait to test them out. I can't actually find a link to it, but its called The Complete Book of Cupcakes, Cheesecakes and Cookies.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500471655369030690" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqkR7mDeTFJRuK7kO7Rc1Pr9MYcggCdnkOsy6ty2l18-KtcHxYNmRHNKLMJymMGkkHEuMWEtF8XVWfbzHMIXwXtuOJ1TYFGsn6wwceJdcmBu3Ptv-GG0h4Lj8q2huWgsyGJaVevIei7M5a/s320/P3110230+cropped,+resized.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I must have spent hours flicking through it admiring all the photographs, reading the recipes, seeing what ingredients I have and getting hungrier and hungrier as I flicked through each page. I decided to start with the Rocky Road cupcakes (as seen in my header), firstly because they looked so incredibly delicious and secondly, well I can't really refuse anything that involves chocolate.<br />The cupcake itself is a marble cake of 3 layers, vanilla, chocolate and pink vanilla. When I make them again I'm going to miss out the pink layer as it didn't really show through as much as the others, and it didn't really bring another flavour.<br /><br /></div></span><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6OcLSDlR5wwINarApKlpzLGghPdGYQR5NAVSV413VrqoUcxtwF30bHOLlqd5bv5oo5xCJjosKdwp7RGz7UoAjGbDyucMxaJRK6eaRR57nBtPS27HxQfMgyOgFN2T7369UA27hg-Z8RS_Q/s1600/Step+by+step.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500471396804310802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 241px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6OcLSDlR5wwINarApKlpzLGghPdGYQR5NAVSV413VrqoUcxtwF30bHOLlqd5bv5oo5xCJjosKdwp7RGz7UoAjGbDyucMxaJRK6eaRR57nBtPS27HxQfMgyOgFN2T7369UA27hg-Z8RS_Q/s320/Step+by+step.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">When beating together the cake mix, it looked as if it was about to separate and curdle, but don't worry as long as it doesn't actually curdle then once it's cooked it'll be fine. I wouldn't be surprised if this only happened with me though, it wouldn't be the first time!<br /></span><br /><br /><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLV8c3bKaCbOOdV_TLfGeWFUY7LFhwYHD_DCIlu6tGXVjag_lkHhaKx_YpXUYzlb1Ib3l1Z-XE6e3Bt2R6lj0Mqyk6G3uWAyOm6KFmuxbmsc8AvnthI3EHLmO-nijMupZJQ5obtUEe04l/s1600/P4080050+cropped+resized.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500471228570511090" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 169px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLV8c3bKaCbOOdV_TLfGeWFUY7LFhwYHD_DCIlu6tGXVjag_lkHhaKx_YpXUYzlb1Ib3l1Z-XE6e3Bt2R6lj0Mqyk6G3uWAyOm6KFmuxbmsc8AvnthI3EHLmO-nijMupZJQ5obtUEe04l/s320/P4080050+cropped+resized.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I must say, despite a few worries along the way, was quite scrumptious. The cake was very tasty and I was impressed at how well the marble effect showed through. The topping was by far the best bit, generally I can't eat much rocky road mix as it can be incredibly sickly but this was just the perfect amount. </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">They will definately be made again.</span> </div><div align="justify"><br /><br /></div><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhef4ef5oiw7mwatrahVY3TKWrA98MiUVOeHXidiAevUsZnr-EhSrJ1CfZnyLWci6rN-m8ZY4H6r_1dHzxz1ugm3EIuIzhQE5Qz1hB16-xzc2uPXRkGuuE6oo7k1Gf8vh97j-QPHntzSMDv/s1600/P4080085-+reszied.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500470972641726706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhef4ef5oiw7mwatrahVY3TKWrA98MiUVOeHXidiAevUsZnr-EhSrJ1CfZnyLWci6rN-m8ZY4H6r_1dHzxz1ugm3EIuIzhQE5Qz1hB16-xzc2uPXRkGuuE6oo7k1Gf8vh97j-QPHntzSMDv/s320/P4080085-+reszied.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">And so to the recipe, as that is what you must be waiting for.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong><br /></strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong>For the marble cake</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">125g butter, softened</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">½ teaspoon vanilla extract</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">150g caster sugar</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">2 eggs</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">185g self raising flour</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">80ml milk</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Pink food colouring</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">1 tablespoon cocoa powder</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">2 teaspoons milk, extra</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong>For the topping</strong> <em>(you can double this if you want extra!)</em></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">35g unsalted roasted peanuts <em>(these can be left out, as I did)</em></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">100g halved red glacé cherries</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">50g pink and white marshmallows, roughly chopped</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">25g flaked or dessicated coconut, toasted</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">100g milk chocolate, melted</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong>Decoration</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">50g Cadbury dairy milk buttons, melted</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">1. Preheat your oven to 180°c and line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper cases <em>(I used smaller 'fairy' cases as I didn't have any muffin cases)</em></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">2. Beat butter, extract, sugar and eggs in a small bowl until light and fluffy</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">3. Stir in sifted flour and milk in two batches</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">4. Divide the mixture equally into 3 bowls. Tint one bowl pink. Blend the sifted cocoa with the extra milk in a cup and then add to another bowl. Leave the third bowl plain.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">5. Drop alternate spoonfuls of each mixture into the cases. Then pull a skewer or toothpick back and forth through the mixtures to create the marble effect. Smooth the surface.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">6. Bake for about 20 minutes, or 30 if using large cases. <em>To check if they are ready, insert a toothpick into the cake, if it comes out clean then its ready.</em></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">7. Leave on a wire rack to cool.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">8. Put all the topping ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine. <em>For decoration purposes you may want to hold back a small amount of each of the topping ingredients so that they can be added on top, as once they go in the bowl they will get covered in chocolate!</em></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><em>At this point you might want to cut the tops off some of your cupcakes to create a flatter surface for the rocky road mix. Feel free to eat the cut offs as you go along, you deserve it!</em></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">9. Place spoonfuls of the topping onto each cupcake. <em>You may need to slightly pile it on to stop if from falling off, and add some of your held back topping so that you can actually tell what's in it!</em></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">10. Lastly drizzle each cupcake with the melted chocolate buttons.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Enjoy!</span></div></div>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4310081813011585767.post-27121807877601518462010-07-31T18:00:00.001+01:002010-07-31T18:20:27.181+01:00Sweet Treats<p align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Growing up in a house where some sort of pudding was always on offer after each meal (bar breakfast of course!) it’s no surprise that I love anything sweet. I’ve grown up with baking, my Mum bakes, although not as much as I do now and she has made some great things over the years (think pink castles and tropical island birthday cakes).<br /><br />I’ve always done the odd bit of baking here and there, starting with things like gingerbread men for Christmas, chocolate cakes for birthdays and the odd biscuit here and there. Over the past year or so my baking has increased dramatically, cupcakes, cakes, biscuits, cheesecakes, cookies, there’s always something on my mind that I want to bake. So I thought it would be nice to have somewhere to put it all, a place to keep all my photo’s and share a recipe or two. And so we have A Sweet Treat or Two, to store anything I think is worth sharing.<br /><br />Some sweet treats to look forward to…<br />Rocky road cupcakes<br />Cheesecake brownies<br />Lemon cake<br />Vanilla cupcakes<br />Chocolate coconut slices<br />And much much more.</span></p>Leannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05242151901699786265noreply@blogger.com2