Flour, Cake and Pastry

Autumn has arrived, Halloween is on the way, and Winter will soon be here. That means only one thing; comfort food will soon be becoming an everyday dish. You can't go wrong with a hot bowl of crumble, pie or sponge. There's something typically British about it. I was recently given a load of apples by a friend, so I did what I do best and baked. I made an apple crumble and it cheered us right up. After a really rubbish weekend, comfort food was just what we needed, and crumble hit the nail on the head. It tasted even better with fresh apples picked right form the garden. Crumble is such a cheap sweet treat, and if you're lucky enough to have an apple tree, rhubarb bush or berry bush in your garden, then you really can make it for next to nothing. All you need is fruit, sugar, water, flour and butter. Most of these are ingredients you already have on your shelf, so there's rarely any need to pop to the shop either! Ingredients: 4-5 bramley cooking apples (or h...

So this week is National Cupcake Week, and bakers up and down the country are getting their bake on, and coming up with brand new cupcake recipes all for you lovely people to make, bake and taste (or you probably could cut out the middle man and go straight to a café and enjoy some cakey goodness). This week I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite cupcake recipes, to excite your tastebuds on this dreary Wednesday afternoon. Cupcakes are one of those easy peasy recipes that you used to make with your mum when you were a kid. They are so versatile, you really can't go wrong with a good cupcake. So to start off, here is a basic cupcake recipe which you can edit and add any flavourings to, the choice is yours. Basic Cupcake Recipe Ingredients: 110g self raising flour, sieved 110g caster sugar 2 large eggs 110g softened butter 120g softened butter 250g icing sugar, sieved 1tbsp milk 1tsp vanilla essence Method: Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius and l...

Happy Monday! So the end of September is fast approaching, and dare I say it, Christmas is actually just around the corner. Shops are getting ready for the festive season, stacking their shelves with chocolate and Christmas cards. Absolutely crazy! The one good thing about Christmas coming is Ferrero Rocher being back on the shelves. I absolutely love them, and of course, love to bake with them. So I was over the moon to find this scrummy recipe on the BBC Good Food website, for Hazelnut Brownies, filled with that Ferrero Rocher goodness! It honestly doesn't get much better-it's literally Christmas on a plate. Ingredients: Box of 16 Ferrero Rocher chocolates 250g pack salted butter, plus a little extra for greasing 250g caster sugar 225g light muscovado sugar 100g cocoa powder 4 eggs 100g self-raising flour 85g chopped hazelnuts 4 tbsp. Frangelico or Fratello hazelnut liqueur (optional) Method: Unwrap the chocolates and place on a tray. Pop them in the freeze...

So tonight sees a brand new baking challenge in The Great British Bake Off; and for the first time ever, the bakers are faced with all things batter. I'm extremely excited to see how the remaining bakers react to this brand new batch of challenges! Time will tell! So in honour of batter week, I thought I'd share with you guys my favourite pancake recipe! I mean, can you really go wrong with pancakes? No! Ingredients: 135g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt 2 tbsp sugar 130ml milk 1 large egg, beaten 2 tbsp melted butter(allowed to cool slightly) or olive oil, plus extra for cooking Method: Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing. Let the batter stan...