Classic and comforting...who doesn't enjoy apple crumble?

The crisp fresh inviting aroma as you chop the apples. Add the warm comforting cinnamon and it's just the perfect ingredients for a delicious dessert. Warm sweet and sour apples with cinnamon, topped with a crunchy buttery oaty topping, served with lashings of custard. Yum!

This recipe is great fun with the kids. I made it with my 3yr old son who loved the chopping of the apples and eating them too ofcourse!

The recipe is easy. Chop 2 cooking apples and place in a dish with 2tbsp of sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. Mix. 

The crumble topping is made with 4heaped tbsp of plain flour, 4tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp oats, 2heaped tbsp of butter, all rubbed together to resemble a breadcrumb texture.

Tip the crumble ontop of the apples evenly but don't press in. 

Bake till golden brown at gas mark 5. Serve with custard or icecream or cream....whatever gives you that delicious hug is what you deserve. 

Enjoy.

Creamy coconut custard. Easy, simple, stunning.

I am a fan of anything like baked custards, creme brules, panacottas. Creamy desserts are always a hit for me, they seem to make me feel pampered, indulged and special. Theres something magical when you turn out a baked custard and what you see is a smooth dessert with a slight wobble telling you 'eat me'. Then the pleasure of taking a spoonful and seeing how smooth it is (and that it hasn't curdled into a scrambled egg mix!).

The recipe I'm sharing with you is really easy and simple. The coconut milk gives it a rich nutty back note but is definitely not overpowering. It gives this dessert a bit of a tropical twist which I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

You could serve it without turning it out but a ramekin would be better than the mould I've used. You could also do a crunchy caramel top by sprinkling brown sugar and caramelising with a blow torch.

You'll need: 4 eggs, 1tsp vanilla bean extract, 250ml coconut milk 250ml milk 1oz sugar.

Method: Beat eggs and sugar together in a large bowl. Heat the vanilla milk and coconut milk in a pan till just boiling. Add the milk mixture to the eggs slowly, mixing all the while. Strain through a sieve and pour into 6 ramekin or moulds.

Bake in a ban Marie for 20-25 min at gas mark 4/5 till slightly golden on top. Allow to cool completely, refrigerate and serve with berries. 

Enjoy.

Ever tried a banana tart??

The pastry is light and crumbly, the filling, a sweet, sticky morish banana jam with treacle and caramel notes. Perfect served with tea or as a dessert with whipped cream or served warm with custard.

 

It's quite simple. Shortcrust pastry (if your buying, make sure it's all butter) lines the case and also gives it a decorative top. The filling I'm afraid you can't buy but not to worry, it's simple.

You'll need 4tbsp dark brown unrefined sugar and 4 ripe bananas chopped into chunks and a nonstick pan. On a low heat cook the banana and sugar till it becomes dark brown thick and sticky. It will take a while from being really watery till thick so do give it time. Allow it to cool and fill your cases before baking. 

Glaze the top of your tarts with egg wash and bake till golden at gas mark 4 and dust with icing sugar. 

Serve. Enjoy.

It's the simplest things we die for! Chocolate coffee cupcakes.

The pleasure of creamy sweet milk chocolate and the hit of roasted coffee bitterness all in a single cupcake. Not heavy with any frosting, just a few shavings of chocolate.

This cupcake is a modest one. It's not  fancy or decorated but is exactly what you need when you want a cupcake which is comforting, flavourful and not too sweet.

The recipe is an all in method and is perfect served warm. You'll need:

4oz butter

4oz caster sugar

2 eggs

3oz self raising flour

1oz cocoa powder

1tbsp of very strong espresso  

The method is simply adding all the ingredients in a bowl and beating till incorporated and creamy. Spoon into cases and bake. When done, allow cupcakes to cool a little and add a few shavings of chocolate on top. 

Enjoy!

Who doesn't enjoy pancakes for breakfast?!

Why not treat yourself with these super fluffy and satisfying pancakes! 

The recipe is really easy...get 2 cups self raising flour with a tsp of baking powder and 2 tbsp sugar in a bowl.

Crack two eggs in a jug and mix with a tsp of vanilla extract and 300ml of milk. 

Make a well in the flour mix and add the liquids in mixing gradually. 

Finally add a tbsp of melted butter in the batter. 

Cook a few small pancakes at a time or a big one if you want, just remember to flip it over once you see bubbles forming on the top otherwise you'll end up with pancake mix all over your cooker (don't even ask how I know!!).

You can enjoy these American style pancakes with whatever you enjoy (usually mine is strawberries cream and Nutella) but I tried to be a bit healthier this    time with yogurt, banana and honey.

 Yum yum!

Zesty lime cupcake with a sugar crunch top.

Lime has a vibrant refreshing taste that really reminds me of summer days and holidays. In a cupcake, it's perfect. Sweet comforting light morish sponge with a zingy fresh flavour of lime, it'll keep  makeing you reach out for 'just one more'.

The recipe and method couldn't be simpler. It's just a matter of adding all the ingredients in a bowl, giving it a good mix and spooning them into the cases to bake.

What you'll need is: 4oz unsalted butter,4oz caster sugar, 4 oz selfraising flour, 2eggs, 1 tsp lime juice, zest of one lime, 1 tbsp milk.

Once those ingredients are mixed and in cases, bake at gas mark 4 till cooked (about 10 to 15 min). Leave to cool for 5 min and brush on a little lime juice on each cupcake and sprinkle on caster sugar. Decorate with lime zest and enjoy!

I love the crunch of sugar ontop but if you prefer, a lime sugar syrup works well too. You could change the recipe to orange, lemon or any other citrus flavour. Why not let me know how it goes. I would love to hear from all you foodies out there...

Individual mocha desserts, using up the last bits of chocolate cake.

If you've ever wondered what you could make with the last few pieces of chocolate cake to feed some extra mouths (or simply oneself ofcourse), I have a solution. It started off as a bit of an experiment and turned out quite morish. All you need is those few bits of chocolate cake, some black coffee, sweetened whipped cream (just add icing sugar) and cocoa powder.

First break up the cake into chunks and layer in ramekins. Use a tablespoon to spoon over a bit of coffee till the sponge is moist but not soaking!

Now sprinkle with a bit of cocoa powder for chocolatey hit and then spoon over the whipped cream. 

Chill to allow the flavours to mingle. Dust with more cocoa powder and enjoy. A lovely mocha dessert, perfect as individual servings in ramekins or great for sharing in a trifle bowl too. You could even add a bit of a crunch with roasted toasted chopped hazelnuts. I think I may try that next time!!

Cute 3D duck cookies, let me hear you say Aaaah!

I fell in love with a picture of these adorable duck cookies on the net and had to make them for a baby shower. I've just finished making them and just know they'll be a hit with adults and kids alike.

The biscuit is light and buttery with a hint of lemon and the icing has a dash of lemon too. It's a happy cookie, sure to make you smile :)

The recipe is quite easy. All that's needed is 225g butter and 225g caster sugar is beaten till creamy in the mixer. Then you beat in one egg and lemon zest. Lastly add the 375g plain flour and mix till a ball of dough is formed. Chill for about half an hour, roll to 1/4 inch thickness and bake for 10 minutes at gas mark 4 (till edges go slightly golden).

For these duck cookies, I made a rectangle shape for the duck to sit on and four wheels. 

The tricky part is the icing. I used fondant icing sugar so didn't have to add egg white but I did add a squeeze of lemon for flavour. The icing initially has to be thick to pipe lines around the shapes and then thinned down to fill the shape as seen in the picture below.

It takes a little while to dry and when done, assemble the duck on top of the rectangle and two wheels on each side. Use the icing as glue and allow to dry before enjoying... Quack quack!

Sweet shop nostalgia Swiss roll, a delightful dessert.

The pink and cream stripes make this Swiss roll look playful and conjure up all those delightful feelings of summer days and corner shop bought penny sweets.

I have to admit I'm a Bake Off fan, so when I watched the masterclass of the Black and white liquorish and blackberry swissroll, I really wanted to give it a go. 

It just so happened that I had a dinner party last night so I decided it was my chance to give it a go, ( I bought a tub of icecream for back up just in case!)

The recipe for Paul's cake and method is on the following link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/blackcurrant_and_96079 but I did make some changes.

Do you like liquorish? I quite enjoy the deep rich strong flavour of liquorish but for a dinner party I didn't think the flavour would be to everyone's taste. Instead, I coloured my stripes pink flavoured with almond essence and the filling I changed to whipped cream and raspberries. 

The result and the verdict: a delicious swissroll and looks stunning. The only part I found a bit tricky was the flipping out and rolling up of the swissroll. 

Not the best pic but here's me taking a quick photo of my plate of dessert and yes, I ended up serving the icecream too.

I'm happy to share...but don't be greedy and eat it all!

So I got a recipe request...I didn't think anyone would read my blog so this time didn't put it up. It turns out, lovely people do take their precious minutes in the day to read my blog and for that, I'm incredibly grateful! 

The recipe was really simple and fast. All in one method for the cake. Add in a bowl the following ingredients and beat till smooth and creamy for 2 minutes: 

4oz butter 

4oz caster sugar 

4oz selfraising flour 

2 eggs 

1 tsp of vanilla extract 

1 tbsp of milk 

Bake at gas mark 5 in a 6inch square tin till done. When cooled, split in 3 layers and layer with strawberry jam and creamy vanilla buttercream (if you're stuck, I've got the recipe for creamy luscious buttercream in an older post).

Someone commented it's just like a Victoria sponge cake and I wholeheartedly agree. It's the same recipe but presented differently. The flavours are simple and traditional, tried and tested...and they work.

There's just something special about seeing the different layers. I love the feel of my fork cutting through each layer, it somehow feels like one of those desserts you like to eat in privacy, taking your time and allowing yourself to enjoy every mouthful

So the proof will be in the eating, hence I  dare you to make it...you'll gain a few pounds that's for sure!

Yes, I'm mad, I think having cheesecake for breakfast is fabulous!

Which is best? Baked or cold set? Unsurprisingly I love them both...cheesecakes are just simple and make a great unpretentious treat or dessert. Ever tried a proper homemade baked cheesecake? The recipe I'm about to give you will have you grinning in sheer delight. Luscious creamy softly set with a crumbly base and tangy sweet fruity top.

I made these baked cheesecakes in little rings and they were a great little dessert for my dinner party.

So my recipe is for an 8inch ring mould and should be baked for 40min at gas mark 1/2 in a preheated oven. I've adjusted my timings because my cheesecakes were in small ring moulds but the key is it'll go lightly golden on top when done and will still have a slight wobble.

For the base: the fun bit which I like to call stress reliever...smash 200g digestive biscuits and then stir in 100g of melted butter and press into the tin.

The cheesy bit couldn't be simpler, add vanilla essence/ bean paste to the cream cheese and beat then add in all the other ingredients and with an electric mixer, beat till smooth.

 Here are the ingredients:

500g cream cheese 

1/2 lemon (juice only)

3 eggs

56g flour

75ml double cream

197g caster sugar

Vanilla essence

Once the cheesecakes are baked, add a thin layer of smooth jam and place your chosen fruit on top. 

Delicious!!

Can meringues be creative? Of course!!

Let you inner child shine! From the moment the egg whites are whipped up to a fluffy cloud and then change to become glossy thick and velvety when you gradually tip in the sugar...the transformation is for me, simply amazing.

  

The rest is playful art but edible. I loved painting the piping bag with different colours and delighting myself with a surprise. You never quite know how the meringue will come out. 

It's fun, I promise. You can even get creative with flavours, add zest or an essense or better still frozen dried berries ground to a powder. It'll give the meringue flavour and make it a bit more interesting.

All you need is 4 egg whites and 200g caster sugar. Whip up the egg whites and add the sugar in a tablespoon at a time till glossy. Pipe onto a lined tray and bake at gas mark1 for an hour and then gas mark 1/2 for 30 min. Dry on a rack and enjoy. 

Get creative!

Shouldn't light homemade scones with jam and cream be an everyday treat?!

Scones are absolutely delicious and simple to make. The bought ones never have that lightness of touch and pleasure. Why? Because the pleasure you get from making scones starts right at the beginning...from the therapeutic mixing to rolling out and cutting little rounds, to smelling the delicious comforting aromas till ofcourse it's time to devour the little beauties. 

I like to cut my scones in miniature. They are so much easier to serve at tea parties and look so much prettier.

Ingredients

- 225g/8oz self raising flour

- pinch of salt

- 55g/2oz butter

- 25g/1oz caster sugar

- 150ml/5fl oz of 1 egg beaten with milk to make that amount or use just milk

- 1 egg, beaten, to glaze (alternatively use a little milk)

All you have to do is rub the butter into the flour till it resembles breadcrumbs. Then add in the sugar and salt. Then add in the milk (or milk and egg mixture; the combination of egg and milk makes the scone richer in texture). Now bring to a ball and don't mix it too much. Cut out and place on a tray and brush with egg. Bake at gas mark 4-5 till golden. It makes about 8 regular sized scones or 12 dainty ones.

Add in lashings of cream and don't skimp on the jam...Enjoy!!

A take on a classic, bakewell cake!

It's one of those flavours that make you feel like your wrapped up, sung and warm under your cosy duvet on a cold blustery day. A Bakewell...with it's alimondy aroma, soft melting texture, zingy jam and pleasing crunch of toasted almonds on top.

Have you had a go at making this classic tart? For me, I found, it was way too complicated.

Leave out the hard work of pastry making and blind baking and opt for this cake instead. You still get the almondy yummyness with jam and crunch of fragrant toasted almonds on top but with less of the fuss. It's great with a cuppa and just as good as a warm dessert with either custard or icecream.

I had found the recipe online but substituted the fresh raspberries for jam. Sometimes I find that raspberries are a bit tart for me but I'm not stopping you if you like it that way! 

Here's the link, I promise you, you won't regret trying it out http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/11695/raspberry-bakewell-cake

Happy baking...and eating ;)

Have you been touched by the buzz??

Light airy sponge wearing its own paper wrapper, beautifully adorned with a crowning glory of soft, morish, comforting vanilla buttercream. It's got that childish excitement of unwrapping a gift, that feeling of this is personal, it's for me, Only me, thats exactly what a cupcake does!

Cake, I love it. But for some reason, or maybe due to the surge of cupcakes on programmes and in shop windows, sold and bought, I lost interest in them, that sparkle....until today!

I had a few friends coming for tea and wondered what I was planning to serve with a good cuppa (I'm sure you know the feeling), and thought I'd give them (the cupcakes) a chance. Good vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. Simple. My only dread was dry tasteless cake and a heavy buttercream. But it turned out better than I had expected. 

The secret..it's in the batter and how quickly it's baked. Most people bake the cakes in the middle shelf. I bake them on the top..why? It's so they don't dry out but beware, they bake super quick and can colour really fast too. As for the batter, make sure it's not too dry. I use the normal 4oz of everything but also add  about 2-3 tbsp of milk to loosen it up. It does the trick! No more dry cardboard sponge, I promise you. 

I added a little drop of jam in the centres for a tasty tangy surprise...

All I can say, give these little pleasures a go. Yummm...

A Wedding cake...chocolate with layers of dark ganache and lemon cake filled with a luscious custardy and raspberry filling!

It was a relief...everyone enjoyed the cake. Cake can sound pretty simple but it was the first time I was making everything by myself. The cake had to be scrumptious and the finish had to be impeccable! It was for my darling cousin!!

This was the finished result at the wedding reception hall.

This a close up of the sugar flowers.

3 tier cakes are great. Not too small, not too big, not too showy and not too shy! I had made the bottom and top tier a deliciously dark, moist and chocolatey cake with layers of melt in the mouth ganache. The middle tier was a light lemony sponge with layers of tangy rasberry jam and buttercream with creme patisserie lightly whipped. 

Each was covered in marzipan as I hadn't tried covering with buttercream before. I've now learnt buttercream is what you should cover the cakes with before you cover it with fondant! But it tasted delicious, so no harm done there....except that it was a more expensive route!

A lovely covering of mint coloured fondant

On with cream lace decoration and gold ribbon.

Add the sugar flowers. 

The end result was a really pretty vintage looking cake which thankfully tasted great too. My belief is, if it doesn't taste nice, my hen what's the point!!

My babies, my red velvets, all finished and ready to be gifted away...I don't want to let you go...follow me day 4

That's quite some emotional attachment to a few cakes. 'My babies'?Seriously??!! 

It may sound a bit pathetic but I don't want to give the cakes away, I don't want anyone to cut them or eat them...look but don't touch!!

 Ok,ok, I am still going to gift them as intended but the work that goes into making these beauties is a true labour of love. And they look so pretty too. I'm sure they'll be appreciated and enjoyed too...so heres what I was up to.

The last time, I made the sugar flowers, so all I needed to do was cover the cakes with fondant, add ribbon to the cakes and put the flowers on top...and that's exactly what I did.

Here I've rolled out the fondant to 4mm in thickness

It's time to cover and smooth the fondant over the cakes...must take your time and not rush

The mini cakes finished off with cream ribbon and flowers on top

And here they are all ready and wrapped up. A lovely little pre wedding gift. I wonder if any one would buy these...it might be a new buisness venture...who am I kidding ;-)...

I hope you enjoyed following my journey making these mini cakes.

 

The luscious vanilla buttercream and a cosy crumbcoat...day 2

It always looks so easy on tv. In moments the cake is covered in a thin layer of buttercream, chilled, then given another layer of buttercream to even it all out. 

It isn't easy! That was the shock. You couldn't even put the buttercream on without the cakes wanted to either topple over or wobble side to side. It was a long and tedious task that truly felt like a labour of love!

But...the buttercream was luscious. It was really easy to make with 5oz really soft unsalted butter beaten with 10oz of icing sugar added gradually till it becomes really light airy and fluffy. I also added about 2tbsp of milk to loosen it up a little and a 1tsp of vanilla bean paste for flavour. 

That's the cakes chilling in the fridge with the first coat of buttercream.

Here they are, with their second layer of buttercream.

Now my next task are the gorgeous sugar flowers. Delicate and really pretty.

Sugar flowers for my red velvets...to eat or not to eat...follow me day 3

They look pretty and delicate and absolutely stunning. They taste sweet. Too sweet. Some people enjoy eating them but I'm one of those that prefer looking and appreciating its beauty than eating it.

For the cakes, I wanted to try and make a range of different flowers in peach and so I had to colour the fondant with yellow and pink to get a deep peachy colour for the centre. I used a Peggy Porchen book to make the flowers, and although not exactly the same, they look to be turning out pretty well.

First you have to make the centres and leave them on wire to harden. The next day is when you start making the petals and assembling the flower.

You initially need to have a few tools and correct cutters which is a bit of an investment, but, what you really need is time.

Another trick is to improvise when you don't have all the tools. Here I used heart cookie cutter to make this flower as I didn't have the correct Camillia lace flower cutter.

All the flowers turned out really pretty and I was quite pleased with them. Which one do you like??

Now, the finishing touches ie. the flowers are made...the mini cakes need to be covered in fondant and simply finished off. 

Hope you're enjoying this journey with me...

Gifting mini cakes,a deep red hummingbird velvet, follow me..day 1

Weddings are wonderful and a time when giving gifts at pre wedding events is both wonderful yet irritatingly impersonal or just frustrating. So Ive come up the solution, I'm going to make a few small cakes, decorate and present. It'll be a sweet and special gesture of my love and support for the couple.

I'm going to take you through this journey with me...and if it goes horribly wrong, then I'll abandon this plan and buy a lovely box of chocs for them instead.

I've decided the colour that I'm going for. A pretty and elegant peach. 

Today is the most important part. I'll be making the cakes and the buttercream. 

Like the many of you, I typed in red velvet cake recipe on Google and went for this one. I must admit that I was a little nervous as the ingredients and quantities are quite different from a standard sponge. Here's the link for the light yet delicious red velvet cake: http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/475341/Red-velvet-cupcakes

Ok, so they didn't turn out as red as I hoped but they had a shade of red to them and they did taste delicious. The recipe makes 12 cupcakes so I used 6 ring moulds. The cakes turned out tall and light and I only made half the cream cheese frosting recipe and gave those cakes a good layer of filling.

Next, my task is to start on some decoration. I'll be making sugar flowers to go on the top so I've made different sized cones /balls of fondant on wire to make the flowers on. 

Here's a picture of the dome that I plan to give the cakes in. I'm trying to make it look professional...eek!

That's all I had time for today...tomorrow I'll have to make the buttercream.....yum yum!

Chocolate fondant is now easy...I promise!

The thought of a rich warm chocolatey cake with an oozy deep chocolatey centre makes me feel all giddy and warm. It sounds comforting but indulgent. Wicked yet soft. Promising yet daring....

Ok so I watch lots of cookery programmes...and yes, like the many of you, it's the one dessert that gets me drooling but it's the one that always makes me a bit nervous to try and make. But, having started this blog, I thought I'd try and make it. If it all went well for me, I know you can have a go at making it too. (I know I sound a bit pompous, but I'd like to think I inspired someone...even if it's to feed my own ego..)

Here it is. I wasn't patient enough and put a huge scoop of icecream ontop, squashed my fondant a bit.

So here goes. You'll need two ramekins greased and dusted with cocoa powder and preheat the oven to gas mark 4/5

Ingredients:

50g butter

150g good quality dark chocolate

1 egg

1 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp plain flour

Method:

1)Melt the butter and chocolate over boiling water ( or microwave but be careful not to burn the chocolate)

2)Add the sugar 

3)Add the egg and mix it in quickly

4)Add in the flour 

5) Pour into the moulds and bake for 15 to 18 min and turn out to enjoy!

Tip: put a small circle of greaseproof paper in the bottom of mould. It makes it so much 'safer' and easier to turn out!

 

So yes it's that simple. I made 2, one for me and one for my husband. One was great and the other one stuck at the top...hence my tip for the grease proof. That one oozed a bit before I cut it...but...it tasted great and definitely worth the nail biting moments while coaxing it out of the mould. Enjoy!!!