Orange biscuits

Sundays bake was Orange biscuits, these biscuits are extremely quick and easy to make and not to mention delicious!

*Cream 55g of caster sugar with 125g of butter until light and fluffy
*Add 180g of plain flour
*Zest two oranges and add to the mixture along with a few drops of Orange essence
*The mixture will turn into a soft dough
* Remove the dough from the mixture and place on a well floured surface
* Roll out the dough and cut into 12 shapes
* Place in the oven at 190c and cook for 10minutes, try and catch the biscuits before they brown

Easy!

Red velvet cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese icing!

Red Velvet always reminds me of my dad he makes the best red velvet cake!. I decided to make red velvet cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese icing to make the cupcakes that little bit more indulgent.

For the sponge I used this recipe:

120g (4oz) unsalted butter, softened

300g (10½oz) caster sugar

2 large eggs

20g (¾oz) cocoa powder

40ml (1½fl oz) red food colouring (such as Dr Oetker)

1 tsp vanilla essence

300g (10½oz) plain flour

1 tsp salt

240ml (8½fl oz) buttermilk

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the icing:

100g (3½oz) unsalted butter, softened

600g (1lb 5oz) icing sugar

250g (9oz) full-fat cream

cheese (such as Philadelphia)

Coloured sprinkles, to decorate (optional)

One or two 12-hole deep muffin tins

100-200g white chocolate this really depends on how rich you want the icing to be!

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F), Gas mark 5, and line a muffin tin with muffin cases.

2. Using a hand-held electric whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Break in the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition and mixing in the scrapings from the sides of the bowl.

3. In a separate, small bowl, stir together the cocoa powder, food colouring( in the recipe food colouring liquid is used i perosnally use the concentrated gel as the colour comes out a lot darker using gel)and vanilla essence to form a paste. Add the paste to the batter, mixing thoroughly until the paste is completely incorporated.

4. Sift together the flour and salt in another bowl, then add the flour to the batter in two batches, alternating with the buttermilk and mixing thoroughly after each addition. Lastly, in another bowl, mix the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda together by hand and add it to the cake batter, mixing it in until it is fully incorporated.

5. Spoon the batter into the paper cases, so that they are two-thirds full, using any remaining batter to fill up to four more cases in another tin. Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when lightly pressed. Allow the cupcakes to cool for a short while in the tin, then place on a wire rack to cool completely before you frost them.

6. Using the electric whisk or freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment, and mixing on a low speed, beat the butter and icing sugar together until no large lumps of butter remain and the mixture is sandy in texture. Add the cream cheese and mix together slowly until everything is incorporated, then increase the speed to medium and beat the frosting until it is soft and fluffy.Melt the chocolate and add slowly to the mixture mix thoroughly.

7. Cover all the cupcakes with the icing I like to use a open star nozzle to pipe the icing on but its up to you!

8 Finally decorate with sprinkle and eat, preferably with a nice cup of tea
Enjoy!

Top 5 baking tips

I saw this on Twitter and thought it was really helpful!

Taken from Lily Vanilli's twitter. Lily Vanilli is a incredible artisan baker she owns her own bakery in Shoreditch " Lily Vanilli Bakery" ,she is also the author of a Zombie ate my cupcake and new book Sweet tooth!

Check out here blog for more information

http://www.lily-vanilli.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

Lily Vanilli’s top five baking tips

- Don’t skip the science bit – read up on how baking works, understanding why a particular method is in place will make you a much more intuitive baker.

- Practice makes perfect – I train my staff in the style of Mr Miyagi from the Karate Kid – study the basics over and over until you master them – then you can go on to do anything.

- Always check that you have the right pan size. People spend time and money getting the ingredients and method right, then tip the batter into any old pan they have and the cake has no chance.

- Mind the temperatures of your ingredients, it might seem like a minor detail in the recipe but in fact its crucial to getting a good bake – stick to the recipe’s advice – cold butter for pastry, room temperature for cakes and so on.

- Invest in an oven mitt!

Easter Mint chocolate cupcakes

Ingredients
For the cake:

80g plain flour
40g mint hot chocolate
140g caster sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
40g unsalted butter, at room temperature
120ml whole milk
1 egg
¼tsp vanilla extract


For the vanilla frosting:
250g icing sugar, sifted
80g unsalted butter, at room temperature
25ml whole milk
2 tbsp of Mint hot chocolate
a couple of drops of vanilla extract

Usual method, combine all dry ingredient with the butter mix until sand like texture, mix the egg with the milk and vanilla essence pour in slowly until a even batter texture is formed. Fill 12 cupcake cases 2/3 full, bake for around 12 minutes.

Once completely cooled ice.
Mix the butter and icing sugar together until sand like texture is formed add the mint hot chocolate followed by the milk and vanilla essence, mix on full speed for 5 whole minutes this makes the icing really light and fluffy.

Decorate with mini eggs or what ever takes your fancy
Enjoy!

Birthday Cake

The Man in my life turned 27 so of course a cake was in order!

Traditional occasion cake, rich Victoria sponge filled with strawberry jam and butter cream covered in fondant icing

Home made chocolates

For Valentines day I made milk chocolate truffles rolled in pistachio and coco. I also made white and dark chocolates.

I strongly recommend making truffles so easy and so delicious :)

Ms Cupcake interview

A few weeks ago I had a interview with Ms Cupcake, Ms Cupcake is based in Brixton it's a entirely Vegan bakery. Over 300 hundred people applied for the job of "bakery assistant " I got down to one of 12 and then finally the top 3 , unfortunately I didn't get the job but this experience has definitely raised my confidence and pushed me to continue to make my passion a career!


The night before the interview I tried some Vegan baking for myself! Not being vegan myself it was certainly different and challenging.

I made Coconut and Raspberry cupcakes, I found a recipe online after getting very confused.

They didn't turn out too bad but next time I will be extremely careful about how much bicarbonate of soda I used as there was a slight after taste!

Fondant cupcakes

It's been a while since I used fondant to decorate cakes so I thought I'd get some practice in!
All pretty basic but fun none the less.

Vanilla cupcakes filled with fluff and finished with a chocolate ganache

I wanted to see if I could put the fluff into cakes - so here it is.

1. Use a simple vanilla sponge recipe (any one will do as long as its for 12 cupcakes) and cook the cupcakes as normal.

2. Take them out of the oven and let them cool completely.

3. Put some fluff into a piping bag, each cupcake needs to have a small hole in the centre for the fluff to go, pipe the fluff into each cake only a small amount should over flow.

4. Once this is complete put the cupcakes to one side and start the ganache...

A ganache is a rich chocolate covering made with double cream.
250g of milk or dark chocolate
250ml double cream
1 tsp of coffee granules

5. Melt all the ganache ingredients together over a Bain Marie ( a glass bowl over a saucepan filled with boiling water)

6. Once all mixed together smoothly leave to cool slightly.

7. Once cooled, cover each cupcake. I personally find it easier to dip the cupcake into the mixture as it makes for a better coverage!

8. Decorate as you wish

Lady Muck's marshmallow fluff

Looking through whoppie pie recipes, I saw that a lot of them were filled with marshmallow fluff. The problem being that the fluff is American and even though I live in London I couldn't seem to find it anywhere so I found a recipe instead - So ridiculously simple!

3 egg whites
250 ml of Corn syrup which us English tend to call Golden syrup
1/2 tsp of salt
260g icing sugar

Whisk the whites with the syrup on full speed until the mixture is stiff and holds its own. Add the salt and the icing sugar until completely mixed through.

Done, so easy!

The mixture makes enough to fill about 3 or 4 jam jars.

Banna milkshake cupcakes

This Sundays bake was banana milkshake cupcakes, shock horror I used a Humming bird recipe again, however I changed it slightly as I decided to use slightly bigger cases. The recipe was for 12 cupcakes but I added a third of the recipe on top to make them a bit bigger.

I also wanted to see if I could use a butter substitute ,butter can be extremely fattening and pricey at times! I opted for Stork in the margarine form!

I also changed the recipe from strawberry milkshake to banana - by using banana Nesquik powder.

To find this recipe search for "The Humming Bird strawberry milkshake cupcakes" please remember to add a third to the recipe if your using muffin cases, if not stick to the regular recipe and of course Stork is used where butter is meant to be.

Flower pot cupcakes

I received this kit as a Christmas present, possibly one of the best presents to date!

The kit comes with a chocolate mix and an icing mix, the kit also contains 6 terra cotta pots.

I'm not one for packet mixes but I decided to use it!

I stupidly forgot to grease the pots lesson learnt for the next time!

Check out their website, they have loads of lovely products I haven't seen anything like Rabbit Creek before!

http://www.rabbitcreekgourmet.com/

I'll be honest you could tell the cupcakes were from a packet and not homemade but as far as packet mixes go this wasn't too bad!

Below is a photo of how the gift pack looked and below that is my version!

Coconut and chocolate stripey cake

This cake was made for my mums birthday, I first saw it on Fiona Cairns fabulous cakes, she was the lady that created the Royal wedding cake. I personally think she comes across as really patronizing but she sure knows a lot about baking!

For the cake:
350g unsalted butter, really soft, diced, plus more for the tins
2tbsp cocoa powder
350g self-raising flour
2tsp baking powder
6 eggs, lightly beaten
350g golden caster sugar
2tsp vanilla extract
90g creamed coconut, grated, or grated fresh coconut

For the coconut frosting:
300g cream cheese
150g icing sugar
45g creamed coconut, grated, or grated fresh coconut
1tsp vanilla extract
For the buttercream:

150g 70% cocoa solids chocolate
225g unsalted butter, softened
300g icing sugar, sifted
1tsp vanilla extract

Bit of a lengthy one but worth it!

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Butter two 20cm round sandwich tins and line the bases with baking parchment. Make an 8cm high collar of baking parchment for each tin too. Mix the cocoa powder with 12 tbsp boiling water, and set aside to cool.

Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl, add the butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla. Beat until well blended, taking care not to over-mix. Remove half the batter to another bowl.
Gently stir the coconut into one bowl and scrape into one of the tins.
Add the cocoa paste to the other, stir and scrape into the other tin.
Bake both cakes for 30,40 minutes, or until a skewer emerges clean.

Remove from the oven and leave the cakes for a minute or two, then run a knife around each to loosen it from the tin. Turn out on to a couple of wire racks. Remove the papers and leave to cool completely.
Meanwhile, to make the coconut frosting, place the cream cheese in a bowl. Sift over the icing sugar and whisk until well blended.

Add the coconut and vanilla and mix well. To make the chocolate buttercream, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Set aside to cool.

Beat the butter until really pale and fluffy, then add the icing sugar and vanilla.
Beat for five minutes until light and creamy. Add the chocolate and beat again. Take a few spoonfuls and, with a palette knife, place into the icing bag. Only half-fill the bag, or it will make a mess.

Level the tops of the cakes, turn upside down and place on a work surface.(I cut each cake it half length way,as I was aiming for a checked effect) Cut the cakes into 2cm strips; each should make 10 strips. Alternate them so each cake has 10 strips of the two flavours (do this with both cake but alternate with the second eg if the first starts with coconut then chocolate start the other stripe chocolate then coconut!,

Using half the coconut frosting, sandwich together the strips of cake put the cake together and spread the rest over the top and sides. Rest in the fridge for an hour to firm up.

To decorate the cake, place it on to an upturned 15cm cake tin.
Pipe chocolate roses of varying sizes, from the inside outwards. Practice first on a small plate and scrape the buttercream back into the bag to re-use. Lift gently on to a serving plate.