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Today is apple day and we are celebrating it in the mad house, by apple printing and eating delicious apple pie and the last two apples from our tree. When we moved in to our new build home 7 years ago one of the first things we did was plant an apple tree and a […]
I have recently been tested for celiacs, but thankfully this came back negative, however, on doctors orders I have been reducing my intake of gluten. One of the flours that my body can deal with is spelt. As a family we love baking and the boys both adore banana bread, so here is my take on banana bread made with spelt flour.
Banana Bread with Spelt Flour: A Healthy and Delicious Recipe Read More »
It has become something of a tradition that Maxi always has a chocolate smartie cake for his birthday. This year I decided to try and do something a little more eye catching. I love baking, but find icing larger cakes something of a chore. So this cake is very forgiving.
Cake Ingredients
6 oz of butter or marg
6 oz caster sugar
5 oz of self raising flour
1 oz of coco powder
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 eggs
half teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 tablespoons of milk
Method.
Cream together the marg/butter and sugar. Then add the rest of the ingredients in and mix well!
Put in two 7 inch cake tins (I line the tins with parchment and grease) and place in to a preheated oven of 180 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. You can tell if the cakes are cooked if when you press the top it gives slightly but springs back.
Remove from oven and leave for 2 minutes before removing from tins and placing on to a wire rack to cool.
Icing Ingredients:
1 block of butter (250gm of 10 oz)
450 grams icing sugar
50 gms of coco powder
half teaspoon of vanilla extract
4 tablespoons of milk
Method
Soften the butter in a mixer before adding the other ingredients. Make sure you start mixing very slowly so you do not get icing sugar everywhere. If your mixer does not have a splatter guard then cover with a tea towel.
Assembling the cake
Sandwich together your two cakes with icing and then apply the remaining icing around and on top of the cake. You are going to use the using around the cake to stick the chocolate fingers to the cake, so make sure you have enough at the sides.
I applied the fingers and then refrigerated the cake overnight, before covering the top with smarties the following day.
Ingredients
225g icing sugar, sifted
115g Condensed Milk
peppermint extract
Food colouring
Dark Chocolate
Method
Gradually mix the icing sugar together with the condensed milk. We used the mixer for this on slow.
Add peppermint extract to taste and knead until smooth.
Dust a clean surface with icing sugar and roll out the mixture to 5mm thickness. Cut into shapes with small cutter (the boys chose hearts and bells).
Leave in a cool place to dry for two to three hours.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water.
3. Drizzle the peppermint creams with the melted chocolate
Allow to set.
This keeps refrigerated for up to three weeks.
I’m loving this series of The Great British Bake Off, as are most of you guys judging by the #GBBO chat on Twitter every Tuesday night. Did you know that you can now also get the Great British Bake Off App which features lots of easy-to-find, easy-to-follow recipes from Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood. You can
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Cool on a wire rack.
Hints and tips from the first time maker.
I put far too much sauce in and it bubbled out making the muffins rather sticky to eat, but they are delicious. Next time I will put less batter in the bottom and then less sauce and more batter on top.
If your kids love the idea of gingerbread but not the fiery spice, this Not-So-Gingery Gingerbread recipe is for you! These cookies are sweet, buttery, and gently spiced — the perfect Christmas bake for little ones who prefer a milder flavour. They hold their shape beautifully for gingerbread men, reindeer, or even Christmas tree decorations
Not Too Gingery Gingerbread: Fun and Kid-Friendly Recipe Read More »
