Going Bananas...

... for mini muffins!!! A couple of days ago I started to notice that my bananas we going to that horrible sludgy brown colour, so obviously I had to get my baking booty into shape and make some delicious banana and cinnamon mini muffins! Now I'm calling them mini muffins as I ran out of muffin cases and had to use your average joe cupcake cases, but this made them more like a lovely light and spongy biscuit - perfect for a cheeky dunk in your cuppa! The best bit of this adjustment to cupcake cases meant that instead of making 12 muffins I actually made a whopping 36 mini muffins! More to pass round I say! And that is exactly what I did...

There is no way I can eat 36 mini muffins, actually that's a lie, I could easily sit down and munch my way through all of these mini treats, but that wouldn't be fair to all my friends who like to get their taste buds on my creations. I kept a small section for myself and put the rest in my tin and took them on my merry way to work. Apart from the fact that I couldn't spell cinnamon when writing a little note to the ol' colleagues, my little muffins were practically gone before my first break, and I made a little profit towards my baking fund for next time!

Oh, and If you were wondering from my previous post, I've decided to make a selection of peppermint creams for valentines day. Not only will they be different shapes, sizes and colours but they might not just be peppermint... On that note I shall leave you for today and my next post will reveal all!

Getting Inspired for Valentines Day...

Valentines is coming up again, and like last year I want to get my creative on and bake some lovingly scrumptious valentines treats. Last year I made chocolate chip and vanilla heart shaped cupcakes with pink vanilla frosting. I based the recipe from one from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook, which was my first and the one I will always refer to compare to other recipes. Anyway... the way I made them heart shaped is by using heart shaped silicone cases, and although they looked pretty it was such a mess and such a hassle to eat them. Because they are made of rubber, you have to sort of pop the whole cupcake out, which, if you're as clumsy as me means a lot of icing everywhere. I'm a sucker for traditional paper cases, so I can just rip into it and get my munch on.

So this year, as much as I lke to make cupcakes, I want to experiment... (let's just hope my boyfriend doesn't read this post or else he'll be ruining the possible surprise). 

I'm torn to bake some delicious biscuits like these, which I spotted on the best little website I've found recently, HelloGiggles. I first looked on this website, because it is co-founded by my celebrity crush Zooey Deschanel, and then I saw these... I bought an icing set in the January sales and haven't used it yet, so making biscuits like these would not only be amazingly tasty but I could practise my icing skills. However, I can see a very big downside to making these. I haven't really iced anything before using a piping bag and I know that if I can't ice the biscuits as nicely as these I would sulk and that would defeat the point of valentines day a bit...

I first saw these amazing peppermint button shaped treats in my friends Australian magazine Frankie and I was inspired immediately! This would be so much hard work, and there is no way mine would look anything like these as these were probably made with molds. But what I love about these are the different colours and shapes, and I could definitely incorporate some heart shaped ones in there. Plus I've already made peppermint creams in the past, they are so simple to make and just enough of a sugary treat, when handed round a group of work colleagues!

My last teeny tiny idea, is based on left over candy canes from Christmas... I was thinking, yes back to the cupcakes again, that I could made red velvet cupcakes with crushed up candy canes on the top. They are still the Valentines colours after all...

Give me your thoughts... what do you think I should bake for the very lucky man :)



Biscuit Bedlam and Muffin Madness

Hi guys! I am so sorry for my absence over the past month, I would go on about how busy I have been in work and all that jazz, but I am going to skip over all that boring stuff and instead fill you in on my recent baking achievements!

My first bake of the new year was some very stressful butter biscuits. I was attempting to make them into the children's character the Gruffalo, with a cookie cutter which I got from work. I was doing this because I run a pre-school book club in work and the weeks theme was surprise, surprise, the Gruffalo. However, it was so much harder than I had thought. My plan was come home from work, have tea, bake for a bit and then sit down and watch a little bit of t.v., but that didn't happen. Instead I was baking these annoying biscuits until 10.30 at night and ended up very stressed. If you can't tell already this was my first attempt of making butter biscuits and although they turned out ok, I doubt I will be making them again for a very long time. I was a little naive as I didn't really contemplate how wet the mixture would be because of the butter, and I just couldn't use the mixture. I couldn't roll it without it sticking to the rolling pin and I couldn't cut it with the Gruffalo cutter. I kept having to add more and more flour, as well as changing to a simple round pastry cutter. At this point I was very upset, so with a flash of inspiration and perhaps a little desperation I tweeted this years winner of the Great British Bake Off, Joanne Wheatley, with a cry of help and guess what... SHE REPLIED! Within 10 minutes of my tweet, she replied back with two very helpful pieces of advice: first to try chilling the mixture and then rolling it in some parchment paper, and thankfully it worked! I can't put into words how happy I was that she replied and with such great advice! I can fully understand why she won the Great British Bake Off and I would highly recommend you all follow her on twitter and to go on her website, Jo's Blue AGA, and see all the great things shes doing and baking!
I suppose the best way to end this little rant, is that although they weren't Gruffalo shaped, the biscuits went down well, in fact one of the little boys I was reading to had two at the same time and still wanted more!

The second thing I've baked this month is Lemon and Blueberry Muffins! Now I have baked several cupcakes and muffins before so this was a doddle. But what I really loved was the fact I was making this particular type of muffins, because blueberry muffins are my favourite! The recipe I found though was lemon and blueberry and I must admit I was a bit dubious about the combination, but I can very proudly say that I loved them! Especially the lemon glaze that I put on the top!! The only change I would do would be to have a muffin tray instead of a cupcake tray. The best part of making the muffins was that I could use my new two tiered display set, which I got for Christmas from my boyfriend parents! Which you can see from the picture above!

On that note I will say adieu for now, but I promise I will not wait so long to add another baking post! In fact as I'm following everyone else on the January health kick, you might see a few recipes of a healthier kind!

Those Last Minute Stocking Fillers...

Here I am, after a excruciatingly long period of time since I last posted anything, listening to Michael Bubles Christmas album and getting very festive. Although I haven't baked anything since my epic Children In Need cake, I thought I would write a little post on a few things that I've seen or read which you could put on your last minute Christmas list...

The first thing I want to rave about is Eric Lanlard's show I've been watching on 4od. I have been meaning to write about this for ages, but unfortunately I just kept watching it instead. A couple of months ago I got a bit fed up of all the rubbish on T.V. so my lovely boyfriend suggests looking at all the food shows on 4od, and low and behold I found this little treasure. Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard has kept me quietly entertained for a few weeks now and I highly recommend it to any avid baking group or those of you who have more of a creative flair. I had never really heard of Eric Lanlard before, but since watching this I've had a good look in work and found two very good cook books by him: Cox Cookies and Cakes and Home Bake. Now, I'm still very new to this baking malarkey, so I personally would buy the book Home Bake, it seems a little more friendly and with a selection I could attempt. However, the Cox Cookies and Cakes would be my guilty pleasure because the food looks incredible! You can tell just by looking at the front cover! I will definitely be keeping a beady eye out for anything with this man's name on it.

My second recommendation for Christmas would be Harry Eastwoods' Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache. I was first told about this amazing book by my good friend Caroline, and she has since let me borrow it and I have unsurprisingly fell in love with it.  Harry Eastwood is well known from her assistance in the TV series Cook Yourself Thin, alongside one of my other favourite bakers and chiefs Gizzi Erskine. Considering that I've just told you that she was on Cook Yourself Thin, you might have already guessed that Harry has put a few twists and turns in her sumptuous recipes. Yes, ladies and gents, Harry Eastwood has created this fabulous book filled to the brim with the most tantalisingly delicious treats, but without the guilt of eating millions of calories.

It is clear from the very first page that Harry is a true lover of cake, but has made me and a lot of other people out there very happy, as she has adapted and created lots of lovely recipes to make them waistband friendly by substituting a few of those naughty ingredients for, wait for it.... vegetables! For awhile now I have heard about the use of courgettes in cupcakes, as they keep them nice and moist, but I must admit I struggled to see how other vegetables could work. Harry Eastwood has opened my eyes. If I get any money for Christmas it is going into buy this book! I can't wait to try and make Parmesan and Paprika Scones, that uses butternut squash, or, Forbidden Chocolate Brownies, which includes beetroot, but I am most excited about making the Caramel Swiss Roll with Passionfruit Cream! Scrumptious!

If it wasn't clear from this rant I think I now have another baker to add to my list of favourites!

My last little Christmas present idea is one I stumbled across in Boots, also with my friend Caroline, (we are becoming a right little baking pair). It is a Joules Baking Hamper. For just £40 the hamper is stocked to the brim with everything a starting baker would need, from a ceramic mixing bowl, icing shaker, cupcake cases, spatula, reusable icing bag... the list goes on. I can hear a few keen bakers out there tutting with disapproval. Yes, I would advise shopping around for some of these items and perhaps getting a more trusted and traditional baking brand, but, I think this is a brilliant idea for anyone, young or old, who are just starting out. Think of the fun you have on Christmas day, making lots of cookies or cakes!

Now, if you've read all of this, first of all thank you it was a bit of a rant, but secondly I hope it's given a few of you a little help for any last minute gift ideas. However, I now need your help. I am stuck for what to make next, either Christmas cupcakes, or nice warm bread. I am slightly edging towards bread as I have never made it before, but cupcakes would be a nice little pudding on Christmas day, especially if I get a cupcake display set, which I've asked for.

The choice is yours. Please vote by either leaving a comment below or replying to the link on my Facebook or Twitter!

Thanks!

Children In Need Bake Sale

Sorry it's been such a long time since I posted anything new, but at least I have kept you waiting for something good! Last week was of course Children In Need and for the first time ever I decided to get creative and try and raise some money for the charity. I asked round in work if people would be interested in having a bake sale all week and I got a brilliant response! Quite a few people were keen on baking something, while a majority were unsurprisingly happy to eat the treats and donate. And no one was left disappointed!

On the first day I brought in gingerbread men, cut with my new gingerbread men cutters which I got for my birthday. I loved how they looked but unfortunately a few things went a little wrong. I made baking error 101 - I got distracted by the X Factor results and I let my second batch of biscuits burn slightly. Then my raisins, which I used to make the buttons didn't stay in place, and last but not least I tried to make a piping bag to ice the biscuits but instead I pressed it too hard and it exploded all over the place, leaving my gingerbread men a little naked and a little boring. So, as you can tell I was a little disappointed by the outcome. However, they seemed to go down quite well in work so as long as the charity gained that is all that mattered!

Now, I can't take all the credit for raising lots of money for Children In Need, lots of lovely people from work put in the elbow grease and got baking. On the first day, not only did I provide gingerbread biscuits but my colleague Ed made scrummy banana and fudge biscuits from the Dan Lepard book which went down very very well! On Tuesday another lovely colleague Kat, made chocolate brownies, and although I wasn't in work on the day to try them, my boyfriend had one and thought they were delicious! And so the week continued... Caroline made heavenly lavender cupcakes, Joel made amazing Portuguese custard tarts, Helen made adorable teeny tiny mini cupcakes and Charlotte made a loaf of very tasty bread!

When I first came up with the Children In Need bake sale the first baking idea I had was that I wanted to bake a cake. I had recently bought some cake tins, which obviously needed using, and I had also never attempted to bake a cake before, so this was my best opportunity. And I was over the moon with what I made!

It was a traditional Victoria sponge cake from the Great British Bake Off book I got for my birthday with a little Pudsey twist! I won't bore you with too many details but I can't describe how happy I was when I made it! From making the sponges to the raspberry filling and finally the Pudsey design of icing, thankfully nothing went wrong! The whole process took 4 long hours but hopefully you will agree from the picture that it was worth it! The sponge was nice and light, the icing didn't dry out and most of all my creativity actually worked!! The only issue I had with it at work was that I think people didn't want to cut a slice of cake, because they didn't want to ruin Pudsey's face!

In the end, with all the bakers contributions and all the other lovely friends from work digging deep into their pockets and eating all the treats, I am very happy to announce that we made £68. 48 for Children In Need!! I am so grateful for everyones hard work and I am ecstatic for the money we raised for such a good cause!

You too can still donate by clicking on any part of this blog that says Children In Need as it will take you to the charity's donating page!

Birthday Baking Bonanza!

What a week I have had! I warn you in advance this will be a long post as it will be filled to the brim with birthday news and baking fun! Yes, this week I turned 22 and it is no surprise that with my recent and growing passion for baking I received a lot of baking themed presents, including the cards! I never knew how many cupcakes cards there were, and what's more they are all so pretty! Well, not to boast but I was very spoilt, I got a cupcake charm for my bracelet from my Dad, The Great British Bake Off book from my boyfriend, polka dot cupcakes cases from my friend Hannah, gingerbread men cutters from my boyfriends sister and brother in law (I think they might have seen my previous blog) and last but not least I got a traditional Masons mixing bowl and a flexible spatula from my boyfriends parents! I can't wait to get back into the kitchen!

In terms of a birthday cake, I received the biggest slice of chocolate cake from my friend Kat from Patisserie Valerie in Bath. It was so big it had a whole profiterole on the top and it was amazing! Nice light filling and delicious chocolate icing! Heavenly!

However, this week was not only my birthday but my boyfriends twin nephews first birthday! They are so adorable I thought I would add to the presents that we already bought them by baking a selection of vanilla cupcakes! I woke up nice and early on the day we were travelling and baked right up until half an hour before we had to leave! As it was a special birthday I decided to get a little creative and make the icing three different colours, cream, light blue and light green, and filled with chocolate chips, perfect for two very cute boys! However I didn't stop there. I used the idea from the polka dot cupcake cases that my friend got me for my birthday and topped the cupcakes with multi coloured sugar balls! I was so proud they looked perfect! Well, for a little while at least...

I had to take the cupcakes by hand to the party via the train, so when I popped into Boots to get a sandwich the most annoying and disappointing thing happened. I put my tin on the counter which had all my nicely decorated cupcakes inside and the man behind the till thought it was a Boots product and turned it upside down to find a price. Sad face. I yelled at him to put them down and after what seemed like a million minutes he did, but the cheeky git went one step further and asked for one as it was "his birthday". Not impressed.

I was very lucky that not all of them were ruined and I managed to salvage the rest, but best of all everyone at the twins birthday party seemed really enjoy them, especially the younger children who ranked them first 7 out of 10 and then 10 out of 10, but then again one child in particular did just keep asking for the sugar balls on top!

On a final note, I got talking to my boyfriends parents about baking and think the next thing I want to make is bread, especially now as I have my brand new bowl! I was recommended a recipe from River Cottage so here is the link and video of the recipe so you can enjoy too!

Sorry for the ramble! x

Peaches and Cream Heaven!

Yes here I am again, although this week I have been in my tiny kitchen so I can tell you all about my own baking delights instead of commenting on other peoples! This week I settled down for the afternoon to look at my growing selection of baking books and pulled out one of my favourites, The Hummingbird Bakery! What a surprise, I picked a recipe and spent a nice afternoon making it, and yes it was the scrumptious Peaches and Cream Cupcakes!

Everything started off really well. I had all the ingredients, everything was set up, everything mixed well, but then I had to add the peaches to the cream. I made a rookie mistake and didn't read the recipe before I started and simply presumed that I would be making the peaches into a sort of jam or liquid centre, but no, I just had to place sliced peaches to the base of the cupcake containers and pour the cupcake mixture over the top. This caused a few small problems. First of all the peaches were very slippery in their juices so a few peaches were whizzing around the kitchen, second of all, and most importantly was that the juices from the peaches seeped into the cupcake containers making them very sticky and wouldn't dry.

Then I made the silliest mistake of all... I forgot the icing sugar to make my lovely vanilla frosting. Thankfully my lovely boyfriend stopped off at the shops on his way home from work so I could complete my 26 delicious cupcakes! All in a days work!

Well as the famous saying goes the proof is in the pudding, or is that tasting, either way, I couldn't truly blog about my baking accomplishments without having a bite, and I am extremely pleased with the outcome! The cupcake was moist, the icing was heavenly and the texture and flavour of the peach at the end was amazing! Now I couldn't be greedy and eat all of them, so today I took most of them into work, ( I say most I had to keep some for me and Ash). I am very very happy to say that they went down a storm! I think they went better than my gingerbread biscuits. I got a nice little donation from all those who ate some, so I'm sure it won't be too long before I'm spending another day off in the kitchen! I've already concocted a great Halloween selection in my head, I'm just deciding what I can do for the Children In Need bake off that I'm starting in work! So yes, don't worry there are lots more baking blogs from me still to come!

Results

Presentation..................... 7/10 (They look tasty but I think I would like to decorate them in something to show that they have peaches inside... I will have to get my thinking cap on )

Taste.................................9/10 (Scrummy, but I would like to try it with a peach jam)

Value for Money..............8/10 (I've got no real complaints here!)

Would I make it again....... Yes but I think it will be awhile as I've got lots of other fun things to make!