Chocolate Caramel Muffins

It's a wet miserable day up here in Scotland (typical of the summer holidays!) so deiced to do some baking with the kids. My daughter picked this delicious summer recipe from the bakingmad website. It was a really easy recipe to follow, my 11 year old daughter did most of it herself. They also tasted amazing! I will make these again, for picnics or packed lunch boxes. It would be easy to swap the chocolate caramel drops for other ingredients too.

Makes 10 large muffins

110g butter or marg, softened
100g golden caster sugar
150 ml milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
100g pack of chocolate caramel drops (silver spoon brand)

Preheat your oven to 180c. Line a muffin tray with muffin cases.

Cream the sugar & butter together. Add the eggs, mix again. Add the milk a drop at a time & combine. Add the flour & baking powder & mix again. Gently stir through the chocolate drops & then add a large dollop of mixture to each muffin case.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until firm to the touch & golden in colour.

Eggs in Clouds

This is a really fun & cute idea for cooking eggs that kids will love! It is almost like a savoury breakfast meringue. You can chuck in all sorts to flavour it - spring onion, cooked chorizo, grated cheese, etc. In this version I just use some parmesan and served them with bacon & mushrooms for a hearty brunch. Use an electric hand whisk, if you have one, to save time. Beat the eggs until white & fluffy.

Allow 1 or 2 eggs per person.

Eggs
Parmesan (or any other ingredient you would like to add, such as spring onion, grated cheese etc)
Salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 200c.

Start by carefully separating the egg whites & yolks. Keep the yolks intact! Whisk the egg whites until they are thick, white & fluffy. Add a teaspoon of permesan per egg and carefully fold in into the mixture. Season & spoon onto a baking sheet. Divide the mixture into equal parts totalling the amount of eggs you used. Make a small well in the top of each mound, and carefully add back the yolk. Place into the oven on the middle shelf for 5 minutes. If you like runnier yolk, cook the whites for 3 minutes before adding the yolks & returning to the oven.

Red Nose Day Cookies - Cheese & Tomato!

Red Nose Day is 25 years old this year! In celebration of that, Sainsburys Family Bloggers network challenged me to make a Red Nose Day cookie. As I have given up sugar for lent (go me!), I decided to make a more interesting savoury cookie, using tomatoes for red noses. They turned out looking great and tasting amazing! They are so easy for kids to make too, my 4 year old had great fun helping me mix & flatten the cookies. He also devoured 2 for his lunch, with a big glass of milk. Yum!

Ingredients -

75g plain flour
Pinch of paprika or chives
20g soft butter
20g grated mature cheddar
1 spring onion, chopped
2 tablespoon passatta
3 cherry tomatoes, halved

Preheat the oven to 190c. Rub the flour, herbs or spices and butter together in a bowl, until all combined. Add the cheese, chopped onion & the passatta and mix until you have a dough like consistency. Add a drop more passatta if it is too dry. Shape into 6 equal sized balls, then flatten on greaseproof paper on a baking sheet. Place a slice of cherry tomato on top & gently squeeze in.
Pop in the oven for 15 minutes. remove & allow to cool & harden.

Scotch Pancakes

It was Pancake day a few days ago, so of course we made pancakes! My 4 year old son helped me to make these, and asked for golden syrup ones. These were so easy to whip up, and the Wee Man had a lot of fun mixing the batter. The trick is to use a dry but hot (not too hot though!) frying pan. Spoon the batter into the pan, then flip when lots of bubbles appear in the batter.

½ teaspoon white wine vinegar 
150 ml milk 
110 g Plain flour 
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 
1 medium egg 
1 tablespoon Vegetable oil 
1 tablespoon Golden syrup

 Mix the oil, milk, vinegar and golden syrup in a bowl. Add the egg & mix. Tip in the flour & bicarb. soda and combine thoroughly. Its ok if very small lumps remain.

Heat a large frying pan, and spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into the pan. Repeat 3 more times until you have 4 pancakes in the pan. Flip over when bubbles appear on top. Cook for another minute on the other side then remove to a warm plate. repeat until there is no remaining batter.

Can be eaten warm or cold.

Melting Moments

I love watching MasterChef Australia and one of the contestants made these amazing looking biscuits that the judges loved. I have used her recipe here, minus the jam-making (I used ready made). These are delicious! They do indeed melt in the mouth, and are light & so sweet. I was surprised at how easy there were to make too. Definitely make these if you want to impress guests at a coffee morning.

Biscuits 
180g unsalted butter 
60g icing sugar, sifted 
60g custard powder 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
180g plain flour

Buttercream 
100g butter, softened 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cupicing sugar, sifted

Plus your favourite jam for the filling.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line two oven trays with baking paper.
For biscuits, cream butter for two minutes in an electric mixer with paddle attachment. Add icing sugar and custard powder and mix until combined. Sift the baking powder and flour together then add to the dough and mix well. Roll dough into 40g balls, place on a baking paper lined baking tray and press each ball with a fork to leave an indent. Bake biscuits for 16-18 minutes or until light golden. Stand on trays 5 minutes to cool then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For buttercream, whisk butter and vanilla until smooth. Add icing sugar and beat until mixture forms a paste, the consistency of thick icing. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a small star nozzle.
 To assemble, place a spoonful of cooled jam on the base of half the biscuits. Pipe buttercream in a circle onto the base of the other half of the biscuits. Gently press one of each biscuit together to form a melting moment. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes

These look a bit messy, but taste fantastic! I know where I went wrong, I am an impatient baker & I didn't allow the caramel to cool slightly before topping the cakes. I then made the same mistake with the chocolate! Luckily this does not impact on the taste at all. The kids called these "Twix cupcakes" as the topping resembled the top layers of a Twix bar. This is the first time I have made caramel, so it wasn't bad for a first attempt. Kids can help with the cupcakes & chocolate, but it would need an adult to make the caramel as it gets very hot.


Cake mixture -

125g butter (softened)
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
150g self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons orange juice

Topping -

125g caster sugar
50ml water
100ml double cream
40g butter
100g dark chocolate


Preheat the oven to 180c. Get a 12 hole cake tray ready with 12 cupcake cases.
Cream the butter & sugar together in a bowl then drop in the eggs & beat. Add the flour & cocoa powder then mix until combined. Tip in the juice & mix thoroughly.
Spoon the mixture into the 12 cake cases then put into your oven for 12-15 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Tip the sugar  into a heavy bottomed pan and add the water. Allow to simmer until it turns golden, them remove from the heat. Add the cream & mix until combined and has stopped bubbling, then return to the heat for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat completely, allow to cool slightly then add the butter & mix through. Allow to cool some more before topping the cakes.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a simmering pan of water. Stir until smooth. Allow to cool slightly before adding a dollop to the top of each cake.

Cool in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Stained-glass biscuits

This is a lovely recipe that was sent to me by Whitworths along with their baking sugars, and I was eager to try it out! These both tasted lovely and looked stunning, I think these will be perfect at Christmas. You can add a loop of ribbon to hang them up! The cinnamon taste adds another Christmassy edge. These were so simple to make, and my wee boy loved helping out.  


220g butter, softened
200g Whitworths for Baking Light Soft Brown Sugar
350g plain flour
1 tsp ground ginger or cinnamon
50g Whitworths for Baking Crunchy Demerara Sugar
A selection of fruit flavoured boiled sweets in various colours


Preheat the oven to 180c. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper. 
Separate the boiled sweets into colours and place in separate plastic food bags and use a rolling pin to crush into pieces approx 1cm and set aside.
Beat the butter & soft brown sugar in a bowl, until pale and creamy. Sift the flour and spice into the mixture; add enough milk to make a workable dough. Use your hands to make a smooth dough. Wrap in clingfilm  & refrigerate for 30 mins.
Sprinkle a little flour over the work surface, divide the mixture into 2 pieces and roll it out so that is 1/2 cm thick. Using biscuit cutters, cut out shapes. Using a smaller cutter, cut out the middle of each biscuit and sprinkle the biscuits with some crunchy demerara sugar. 
Carefully transfer the biscuits to the baking trays using a fish slice. Place one or two pieces of broken sweet into the middle of each biscuit hole.
Bake for 10 minutes or until the biscuits are just golden. Make sure the middle has set before moving the biscuits from the baking tray. 


Disclosure: I'm working with Whitworths Sugar, whose www.whitworths-sugar.co.uk site includes ideas and recipes for baking with sugar. Follow the conversation on Twitter with the #bakingS0S hash tag and @WhitworthsSugar.

Yummy Carrot Cake

The lovely people at Whitworths sent me a box of their new sugars to try out - so I decided to make this yummy carrot cake! It was so moist, and had a great flavour. This is the first time that I have made a carrot cake and I was thrilled with how it turned out! I will certainly be making it again. It has vegetables in it - it counts as one of your 5 a day, right?

• 175g Whitworths light brown sugar
• 175ml sunflower oil
• 3 large eggs , lightly beaten
• 140g grated carrots (about 3 medium)
• 100g raisins
• grated zest of 1 large orange
• 175g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp grated nutmeg
  
  Frosting - 
  
  75g Whitworths superfine icing sugar 
  2 tablespoons orange juice
  
  
  Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/fan 160C. Oil and line the base and sides of an 18cm square cake tin with baking parchment.
  
   Tip the sugar into a large mixing bowl, pour in the oil and add the eggs. Lightly mix with a wooden spoon. Stir in the grated carrots, raisins and orange rind.
    
  Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices, then sift into the bowl. Lightly mix all the ingredients - when everything is evenly amalgamated stop mixing. The mixture will be fairly soft and almost runny. 
  
  Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40- 45 minutes, until it feels firm and springy when you press it in the centre. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn it out, peel off the paper and cool on a wire rack. (You can freeze the cake at this point.) 
  
  Beat together the frosting ingredients in a small bowl until smooth - you want the icing about as runny as single cream. Set the cake on a serving plate and boldly drizzle the icing back and forth in diagonal lines over the top, letting it drip down the sides.
  
• 
  Disclosure: I'm working with Whitworths Sugar, whose www.whitworths-sugar.co.uk site includes ideas and recipes for baking with sugar. Follow the conversation on Twitter with the #bakingS0S hash tag and @WhitworthsSugar.
  

Peanut Butter Squares

Another Lorraine Pascale treat! I was sad to see the end of her TV show last night, I have really enjoyed it. She makes cooking seem so easy & effortless. Last night we saw her make these peanut butter squares, which looked amazing! The Wee man had a friend round this afternoon, so thought we would get stuck in & make these. They are very tasty, if a little sweet for my taste. The kids wolfed them down though! These would be nice to share at a coffee morning or school bake sale.

150g butter
200g dark or milk chocolate,(I used a mix of both)
250g digestive biscuits
200g light brown sugar
300g peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line a deep baking tray with greaseproof paper, allowing some overhang to make it easy to remove later.

Melt the butter in a saucepan on a low heat. Crush/whizz up the digestive biscuits until you have fine crumbs. Add the sugar. Melt the chocolate in either a banne marie or in the microwave. Mix the melted butter to the digestive/sugar mix, then add the vanilla extract. Mix in the peanut butter and then spoon into your baking tray. Smooth over and then pour the melted chocolate over the top. Allow to set in the fridge for at least an hour. remove & chop into squares.

Calzone & Pizza

I used some of my no-knead bread dough to make calzone for the childrens lunch. They didn't turn out quite as I expected! I think I rolled the dough too thin, so they split open. The kids still devoured them though! You could fill them with any sort of fillings that you would use on a pizza - we had sliced chorizo, tomato sauce & mozzarella. After seeing how the calzone came out, I made just flat bread pizzas (using the same dough) for our lunch. I love how many uses the dough has, while it just sits in my fridge! I have enough left for another loaf of bread or some rolls before I whip up another batch.

To make the calzone, roll out a handful of the no-knead fridge dough into a circle, Spread with pizza sauce, and top with your filling on one side only. Fold the empty side over the filling, and crimp the edges with your fingers. Pop onto a baking tray and put into a preheated oven (200) for 15 minutes. For pizza, roll out the dough and top with sauce & toppings. Also cook on a baking tray for 15 minutes.

No-Knead Bread

I stumbled across this very simple idea for no-knead bread. It takes just a few minutes to actually mix, the the rest is just resting time - perfect for the likes of me :D No kneading, no hard work. I made my first batch a couple of days ago, and we have already enjoyed a loaf of fresh bread from it. Today I am going to make calzones for lunch using the same batch. You don't get fluffy even bread (like shop bought) from this dough but you do get lovely, rustic "artisan" bread from this. My first loaf had a sort-of ciabatta texture to it, but it comes out slightly different every time. The dough will keep for up to 14 days in the fridge, just pull out a lump each time you want to make something.

A few tips & help before you start ...

1. You will need a BIG bowl for this! It makes enough for 4 loaves of bread, and it will really grow during the first rise! I suggest at least a 4 litre container.

2. Use a shower cap as a cover! If you don't have one, use a clean carrier bag instead.

3. You don't need to wash your container out between batches! It actually improves the flavour to use the "used" bowl to mix up a new batch, a bit like a sourdough starter.

4. You can make all sorts with this dough - bread, naan, rolls, pitta, pizza, flat breads, dough balls and much more!

5. You can flavour your dough with sun-dried tomatoes, seeds, nuts, cheese etc. Add to the mix or just sprinkle on top.


1lb strong white flour
1lb plain flour/wholemeal flour (you can use either depending on what you like)
1 tablespoon dried yeast (or 2 sachets)
1 tablespoon fine sea salt (use less if you are using table salt)
750ml hand-warm water

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Pour in the water, and allow it to soak into the flour. Mix gently with a wooden spoon, until there is no more dry flour, then stop. Over mixing this dough is not good! It may appear a bit sticky, but that is ok.
Cover the bowl (with a shower cap or plastic bag) and place in a warm area for at least 2 hours.
 The dough will really rise during this time! Bubble & holes may appear, this is normal. 
After this rise, the dough is ready! You could use it straight away, but I really recommend refrigerating it first - it makes it much easier t use and makes better bread. Keep in the fridge for an hour at least before using. It will keep up for 14 days.

When you are ready to use, take out the amount you want (a quarter for a loaf of bread). Gently & quickly form into a "boule" shape (round loaf shape) and place on a floured baking tray or place into a loaf tin. Allow to rise again for an hour. Preheat your oven to 220c. Place a roasting tray at the bottom of our oven, and pour i a cup of hot/just boiled water to create steam. This will give the bread a lovely crust! Place the bread into the oven and cook for around 35 minutes. Tap the bottom of your loaf, if it sounds hollow then its cooked! Allow to cool to room temperature. Cutting into the bread too soon will make it gummy, so resist the temptation!

No-knead bread update

Used as a pizza base

Bramley Apple Puffs

Again, another idea pinched from Lorraine Pascale! These are small, delicious apple puff pastry pies with a lovely cinnamon flavour. It was soup & pudding night in our house, and had French onion soup to start, but I needed a simple & easy pudding. These are made with shop-bought apple sauce, but you can make your own if you like. I also used ready rolled puff pastry for extra time saving. You can serve them with custard, whipped cream or ice cream.

Makes 8 pies

800g Bramley apple sauce (I used Tescos own, it was perfect)
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger

500g puff pastry
Brown sugar or icing sugar to dust
1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Preheat the oven to 200c.

Add the lemon zest, cinnamon and ginger to the apple sauce and mix thoroughly. Roll out your pastry on a floured surface, and roll it quite thin.  Cut into quarters, then each of the quarters into halves so that you have 8 rectangular pieces. Brush beaten egg round the edges.Divide the apple mixture between all 8 squares, dolloping it on just one half of the pastry. Fold the pastry over the sauce, and crimp the edges with your fingers. Brush the top with the beaten egg, sprinkle with brown sugar and pop ont a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Cook for 25 minutes, until all golden & puffed up.

Soda Bread

As mentioned in my other post, I was watching River Cottage reruns, and caught the episode all about bread. Hugh made a fantastic looking loaf of soda bread, that took all of about 5 minutes to make! My kind of baking. As there is no yeast, there is no prooving time either. You can literally knock this up in mere minutes. It was divine, just out of the oven with butter & jam on.

500g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp fine salt
400ml buttermilk (or natural plain yogurt)

Preheat the oven to 200c.

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the bicarbonate of soda and salt. Make a well in the middle and add the buttermilk. Combine all together until you get a stickyish dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead gently for just a few minutes. Place on a floured baking tray and get into the oven as quick as possible. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, it will sound hollow when you tap the bottom when it is done. Allow to cool, then serve up while warm.

M&M's Cake

I offered to make a cake for my friends son. I warned her that it wouldn't be anything fancy, but that this M&Ms cake was perfect. It was easy to make & decorate, and I really hope he enjoys it!

I made a victoria sponge using this recipe here at Good Food. I then coated all of it in buttercream, arranged chocolate finger biscuits arounf the outside, pressed into teh butter cream and topped with a large bag of M&M's. Voila, easy peasy birthday cake!

Gingerbread Pancakes

Surprise surprise, another Lorraine Pascal recipe from the TV show Fast, Fresh & Easy food! I am loving her recipes just now, they all taste fabulous. This was no exception! I drizzled mine in maple syrup, though Lorraine adds crisp parma ham to hers too. The recipes makes loads, you can feed at least 5 people with them. I will probably halve the recipe next time, as there will definitely be a next time very soon!

225g/8oz self-raising flour

3 tbsp soft light brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

pinch salt

couple of drops of vanilla extract (optional)

300ml/½ pint semi-skimmed milk

1 medium egg

4 tbsp sunflower oil

 Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt into a large bowl, give them a quick mix and make a well in the centre. Add the vanilla extract.Then gradually pour the milk in bit by bit, stirring all the time to give a smooth mixture. Then beat the egg in well and set aside. 

 Heat the oil in a frying pan, on a medium heat. Then spoon in four dollops of the pancake mix (to spread to about 10cm/3¼in wide). Leave to cook for about 1-2 minutes until golden, then flip them over and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Slide them onto a baking tray and put in the oven to keep warm. 

To serve, drizzle with maple syrup.

Red Onion & Rosemary Foccacia

I have made foccacia before, in this post here. I used a very similar recipe, but added some lightly fried red onions to the top before baking in the oven. Delicious!

Flapjacks

I found this tasty recipe on Mumsnet, a user called SoupDragon posted the "ultimate" flapjack recipe. Of course, I had to try it! I have a few friends & their kids coming over tomorrow afternoon for tea & cakes. I made these flapjacks, some chocolate cripie cakes and some toffee crispie cakes. The toffee version doesnt seem to have worked too well - smells burnt :( Will have to wait and see what they taste like. These flapjacks on the other hand, smell and taste great! I haven't used condensed milk in them before, but it was a great addition! No need for sugar in this recipe.

250g porridge oats (the cheap type, not large ones),
150g Butter,
2 generous table spoons Golden Syrup
half a tin condensed milk, (half a 376g tin)
baking tin, no bigger than about 18cm x 28cm

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees c
2. Line the baking tin with baking parchment.
3. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the sugar and syrup. Keep gently heating and stirring until all is melted and mixed. If it starts to boil take it off the heat!
4. Add the condensed milk and mix. Bring to the boil for about a minute.
5. Remove from the heat and gradually add the oats, folding them in. All the oats should be coated, and the mixture quite dense, but still sticky. Don't add so many oats that the mixture becomes dry.
6. Pour the mixture into the tins and spread about so that it lines the tin to a depth of 2-3cm. Don't squash the mixture in, just spread it evenly.
7. Bake in the oven for about 15mins. You should take them out when they just start to go brown round the edges, don't leave longer than this. If they're still squidgy in the middle that's fine, they set on cooking.

Lemon Curd Muffins

I was watching old episodes of the River Cottage Every Day tv series, and saw Hugh make these amazing looking muffins. I had to try them myself! I made lemon curd ones that were shown, but also cherry jam & blueberry curd ones too. You could even add a dollop of nutella if you wanted - that is what I am going to try next time. These were very easy to make, and tasted lovely & light. You have to mix the ingredients gently, as over-mixing can make the muffins too "cakey".

Makes 12
225g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
A good pinch of sea salt
100g caster sugar
1 medium egg
 125g plain yoghurt
125ml whole milk
75g unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
150g lemon curd ( iused 50g lemon curd for 4 muffins, 50g blueberry curd for 4 muffins and 50g cherry jam for the final 4)

1. Put 12 large paper cases into a muffin tray. Put the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar in a large bowl and whisk lightly..
2. Mix the egg, yoghurt, milk and melted butter together in a jug. Pour them into the dry ingredients and mix lightly, stopping as soon as everything is combined – it’s essential not to over-mix or you’ll get dense muffins.
3. Spoon a some mixture into each muffin case and top with a generous ½ teaspoonful of lemon curd. Add a final spoonful of muffin mixture to encase the lemon curd and three-quarters fill the cases.
4. Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C/gas mark 4 for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Eat on the day you bake them, ideally while still slightly warm.

Mad Hatters Tea Party!

Today I held a Mad Hatters Tea Party for my two daughters. I think they had great fun! The cake was a little bit fiddly, but I got there in the end. The party favours were very easy to make, as was the bunting & signposts. I loved all the childrens hats - one boy dressed up as the mad Hatter himself. I made Heart shaped sandwiches, a red sponge cake, chocolate topped cupcakes and the usual party fare. There was no food left afterwards :D

Strawberry Chocolate Cheesecake

It was my girls birthday this week, and seeing as their big Mad Hatters Tea Party would be at the weekend (including their birthday cake), I let them pick another special dessert for their birthday tea. Both love this cheesecake! With strawberries in season just now, it tastes amazing. You could also use raspberries and swap the milk chocolate for white or dark. I am a bit of a messy cheesecake-maker, but it still tastes just as good.

150g fresh strawberries, sliced
300g cream cheese
200ml double cream
75g sugar
75g melted butter
180g digestive crumbs
100g milk chocolate, melted

Mix the digestive crumbs with the melted butter, and press into a loose-bottomed cake tin. Melt the chocolate, and poor over the biscuit base.

Combine the cream cheese, cream and sugar until thoroughly mixed, then stir in the chopped strawberries. Pile on top of the base, and smoooth down. Allow to chill for at least 2 hours in the fridge.