My Mum's Christmas Cake

I have made several Christmas cakes but still didn’t have a favourite recipe so I searched for a new one, with ‘easy’ as one of the keywords. I used one called 'Simmer-and-Stir Christmas Cake' and it is now the one I will use in future years (although next year I will remember to buy some nuts!).

I made a round cake and a very small taster cake in a loaf tin with the spare mixture, so I already knew it was going to be a good one. I made my own almond marzipan (and chocolate coated marzipan sweets with the spare) and topped it with a soft royal icing as I don’t like the stuff that breaks teeth! Then, knowing the limits of my artistic icing skills, I just decorated it with 4 chocolate stars and a ribbon.

Gingerbread House and Biscuits

It's become a tradition in my house to make a gingerbread house just before Christmas every year, and smother it in icing, chocolate and sweets.

This year we made lots of mixture and made an extra 60 star biscuits too! I can't claim to have made this house unfortunately - my mum made the mixture and my little sisters decorated it. However I did help, and definitely helped eat it...

 Look out for a guest post from my mum with her home-made Christmas cake soon!

Christmas Cupcakes

For the last few Christmases I have succeeded in stressing myself out making chocolate logs (the weighing scales didn't work, the sponge splits when I rolls it, the chocolate doesn't melt...) so I decided this year I would make stress-free cupcakes!

I assembled Christmas-themed cupcake cases, giant chocolate stars, silver balls and holly. I made several small cupcake mixes using a standard recipe for each (2oz butter, 2oz sugar, 1 egg, 2oz flour and 1 tsp baking powder) and added different flavours.

Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe is from The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook which I absolutely love, everything I've baked has been so tasty, probably due to the high sugar and butter quantities, but one must rebel once in a while...

The is my attempt at food photography and an exact (attempted) copy of the photo in the book.

They use crunchy peanut butter and even have chocolate chips in for that extra level of decadence. They are delish with a cold glass of milk for a late-night supper (yes I'm still a child).

First preheat the oven to Gas 3. Whisk 225g butter with 200g caster sugar and 200g light brown sugar (I decreased the sugar quantities slightly) until light and fluffy, add 2 eggs, one by one. Beat in ½ tsp vanilla escence and 240g crunchy peanut butter. Add 340g plain flour, 2½ tsp bicarb and ½ tsp salt. Finally stir in 75g of chopped dark chocolate.

Arrange equal amounts of cookie dough on lined baking trays, make sure the cookies are spaced apart to allow for spreading while baking. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges and quite flat. The cookies should be soft and chewy.

I tend to make half mixtures of new recipes, and this mix worked fine with half quantities.

Very Quick Chocolate Cake

I'm not sure about you, but I sometimes have a craving for chocolate cake that almost sends me out to the local shop at 10pm at night in the cold and rain. This recipes is perfect for those moments, as all of the ingredients are standard store-cupboard staples. This recipes has been a real life-saver on those dark cake-craved evenings...

A standard Starbucks mug is the perfect size for this recipe, but any large coffee cup will do.
Simply mix 2 tbsp plain flour with 2 tbsp caster sugar and 1 tbsp cocoa powder. Add 1½ tbsp milk, 1½ tbsp sunflower oil, a small egg and a splash of vanilla essence.

Pour into a large mug and put in the microwave for 3 minutes. And that's it, instant cake!! Don't be alarmed if the cake rises over the top of the mug, it just give is a slightly top-hat look.

It's not the moistest cake so I usually eat it with my favourite food in the world – custard.

Smarties Cookies

I've had it in my head to make Smarties cookies for a while now, who knows why! I found a couple of recipes on the internet, and adapted them to make my own.

I creamed together 5oz of butter with 4oz sugar (you could get away with another ½oz of sugar if you like particularly sweet treats). Next, beat in a small egg and a couple of drops of vanilla. Add 6oz self-raising flour and ¼ tsp of baking powder. It should form a stiff dough, if it's too sticky add a little flour, or if it doesn't come together add a tbsp of milk.

Brooklyn Blackout Cake

I received the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook for Christmas last year, and the pictures are yummy enough to eat.
I've spoken to a few people who have had bad experiences baking from this book with regards to the quantities of the ingredients. I haven't had any problems really, and the ones I did have I'm pretty sure were down to my cooking rather than the recipes!


Brooklyn Blackout Cake is seriously a chocolate lover's heaven! The filling and frosting on top are made from an eggless chocolate custard, and the top is covered with crumbled chocolate sponge.


Here is a condensed version of Hummingbird's recipe:


Cream 100g butter with 260g caster sugar. Add 2 eggs, and beat in ¼ tsp vanilla extract, 45g cocoa powder, ¾ tsp baking powder, ¾ tsp bicarb and a pinch of salt.
Add half the flour (170g plain flour), then 160ml whole milk, followed by the rest of the flour. Pour the mixture into 3 lined 20cm cake tins, and bake in a 170°C preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.

Macaroons

I have wanted to make macaroons for a while, and at the local school's Christmas bazaar on Saturday I  bought one - however it turned out to be a plain biscuit! I was ever-so disappointed so I went home and made some.

I used a standard recipe and they took hardly any time to prepare. Separate 2 eggs, set aside the yolks and whisk the whites into stiff peaks. Add 100g caster sugar a spoonful at a time until smooth and glossy. Mix in 125g ground almonds, and add a drop of almond essence. And that's it!

You can pipe the mixture onto baking trays, but spooning dollops on works fine. They should be the size of an apricot. To finish off put half a blanched almond on top of each - I used flaked as I didn't have any blanched. Cook in the oven at gas mark 4 for 15-20 minutes until just firm.
Delicious! I think next time I will spread the mixture out a bit more and make thinner, flatter ones, to see if that makes them 'lighter than air'.

I have displayed them on a cake stand, which I know isn't intended for macaroons! However, it was a leaving present from work and so pretty that I wanted to use it straight away.

Apple and almond crumble slice

Described on the BBC website as ‘moderately easy’, I’m not sure I agree. This cake requires 3 separate bakes in the oven with different components added each time. If it tasted amazing at the end it would be worth it, but I’m not sure it did. I think, however, it would be quite a lot easier if you own a food processor. The recipe uses plums, however I used cooking apples, which work just as well.

If you tend to find long recipes boring skip the next two paragraphs…

Chocolate brownie cupcakes

Continuing on the cupcake theme (the boyfriend gave me a cupcake recipe book for my birthday), yesterday I made chocolate brownie cupcakes. They are actually for his birthday so it is quite apt.

The idea is to make lots of mini cupcakes and put a candle in each. I didn't have mini cupcake cases, or a mini cupcake baking tray, so I made regular cupcakes...woo. I made double the recipe as I wasn't sure how many regular-sized cupcakes it would make, and it worked fine.

First melt 150g of butter and 100g of dark chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. (I didn't have dark chocolate, so I used milk and added a dessertspoonful of cocoa powder to give some added chocolate).
Allow to cool slightly, and then mix with 150g of sugar and beat in 2 eggs. Stir in 50g of flour (this didn't seem quite enough so I added a little more), and finally 100g of chopped nuts, I used brazil nuts and cashews, but I think any would be fine. You can either coarsely chopped the nuts for a thicker texture or finely chop if that's your thing.

Line a baking tray with cupcake cases, I used a heart-shaped cupcake tray for added love...
Bake them in the oven at 180°C for about 20 minutes or until they are cracking on the top, don't overbake as you want that nice moist centre.

Eat warm with a nice glass of milk, or cooled with a lovely cup of tea.

Chocolate and pear cake

I bought The Fairtrade Cookbook last week. The first recipe that caught my eye was a 'cookie pizza' complete with chocolate spread, peanut butter, marshmallows, and chocolate eggs. A chocoholics feast, however I decided to go for the slightly more modest 'Chocolate and pear cake'.

All set to make the cake, I'd creamed my butter and sugar, added the eggs, chopped up the pears, weighed the flour, and took the baking powder out of the cupboard... Empty. Not even a little bit left. It was wet and cold outside so I dash to the shops wasn't very appealing. I took the easier option and knocked on our (elderly) neighbour's door. After a quick explanation I was presented with a tub of baking powder, and sent on my way. The parting words being 'it's quite old'. Quite old it was. All I know is that it cost 23p - (it's about 75p nowadays).

With certain trepidation I put it in the oven anyway. The resulting cake was very chocolatly, and nice and moist, the pears levelled the chocolate and made sure it wasn't too rich. However, it was decidedly flat, I fear the baking powder wasn't quite what it used to be.

Sorry about the picture it was quite hard to get a good shot of it!

Bonfire Cake

Continuing the themed cakes, I decided to celebrate bonfire night with some 'Firework cupcakes'. However, when I looked at the recipe it had no eggs or butter, and white wine vinegar and sunflower oil instead. Didn't sounds all that appetizing. Besides which I couldn't find any mini sparklers to put in each cupcake.

So I opted for Plan B (otherwise known as the wise words of my mother), and made a big cake, hence 'Bonfire cake'. What on earth - I hear you ask - is a 'Bonfire cake'? Well, it is a big round stack of yummy chocolate cake, with melted chocolate poured on top, decorated with silver balls and a sparkler.

I used my own easy-peasy recipe for the cake, 6oz butter and 6oz sugar creamed together, add 6oz plain flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp cocoa, and 3 eggs. Mix it all together put it in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Simples...

I then melted a bar of Green & Black's milk chocolate, poured it over the cake and covered the top with silver balls. Finally I added a sparkler, turned out all the lights, lit the end and watch in awe. The cake didn't last much past bonfire night so it must have been tasty!

Halloween Cupcakes

I spent weeks trying to track down Halloween-themed cupcake cases but found none, so plain paper cases it was. I hope the spider web icing makes up for it!
These cupcakes use pumpkin or butternut squash, sunflower oil, and cinnamon, giving a sweet, spicy flavour. The mixture looked very runny, and my mum was convinced they wouldn't cook properly, so I hastily added a bit more flour. For once I was the one to say 'I told you so'...as they cooked well, and were a nice golden-brown.

However, when it came to icing them the cakes were quite moist and the icing didn't stick too well, so I iced some vanilla cupcakes that I had made instead. The spider-web icing is definitly the trickiest part. First make some white icing (or you can use melted white chocolate), make sure it is quite thick, and cover each cupcake. Once you have iced all of the cakes, melt 25-50g of milk or dark chocolate. Spoon the chocolate into an icing bag. Pipe a dot of chocolate in the centre of each cake, and draw 2 or 3 concentric circles around the outside. Next take a cocktail stick or skewer and draw a line from the central dot to the outside edge of the cake, and repeat about 8 times around the cake to create the spider-web effect.

And for a bit of Halloween fear have a look at my scary pumpkins...

Chocolate Egyptian Cake

I made this cake when my 7-year-old sister studied Ancient Egypt. (I had made one about 15 years earlier when I was studying it.) It's a very simple cake, chocolate sponge, with melted chocolate icing on the top. The tricky bit comes when accurately mapping out the geography of Egypt. Now, apparently I didn't get it quite right, but who's really checking?

To make it yourself simply buy a Toblerone and break it into chunks to form the pyramids, make up some cream-cheese icing and add some blue food colouring and pipe away!

Lemon tart

This is a variation on a MasterChef recipe from this year's Celebrity series, Christine Hamilton made a 'Citrus Meringue Tart'. The thought of meringue on top of a sweet tart was a bit too much for me so I just stuck to the tart itself. Christine put lime in hers, but having only lemons to hand I went with them. The pastry base was delicious, it uses mostly ground almonds with just a little flour. It is moist and crumbly all at the same time, and with a little lemon zest to bring out the flavour I was pleasantly surprised. The filling is simple too, double cream, eggs, and lemon juice. It isn't too sickly so you can eat a nice hearty slice of it, and it works wonderfully as a light dessert. The only thing I would fault is it doesn't look too special, perhaps why Christine put a meringue on top of hers!

Jam thumb-prints

I made these after winning a copy of 'The Great British Book Of Baking'. They are a cakey-biscuit, and have a thumb-print full of (my homemade) jam in the centre. They are easy to make and taste great with a cup of tea. My tip for the future would be to make the thumb-prints slightly bigger so there is more room for tasty jam!

Hello

Hello, this is my brand new blog where I will be sharing my baking success (and disaster) stories with you. I hope you enjoy it.