Flour, Cake and Pastry

Once again, it's been a while hasn't it? Apologies for the lack of posts in the last couple of weeks, life just gets pretty crazy sometimes doesn't it? But here we are, March 2016, and we're halfway already. March brings new life; it's the height of lambing season here in the UK, and as we look towards Easter, most of us are starting to enjoy some nice sunny, Spring weather. Since it's almost Easter, I thought I would share with you some of my favourite-and essential-Easter recipes, you really can't go wrong with an Easter treat. 1) Simnel Cake I love love love any type of fruit cake, and I also love marzipan so this cake is literally heaven for me! Simnel Cake is a fruit sponge, just like Christmas Cake, but the main and vital difference is that Simnel Cake has a layer of marzipan in the centre of the cake, and there's no whit icing, just a circle of marzipan to cover the top which is then topped with 11 marzipan balls, which represent the 11 Disc...

So here we are, pinch, punch, first of the month. Who'd have thought the first two months of the year would have gone so fast? In the Allison household, we are preparing for Easter in the only way we know how, by baking. And what better way to prepare than by making the traditional simnel cake...it's like Christmas all over again, which lets face it, we all would love to have again. Simnel cake is a lighter version of the Christmas fruit cake, with two layers of almond paste or marzipan, one in the centre of the sponge and one on top which is then toasted to leave the marzipan golden brown. In the UK, Ireland and some other European Countries, it is traditionally eaten around the Easter period, and in the medieval period it was often given to mothers as a gift on mothering Sunday. Traditionally, eleven marzipan balls are used to decorate the cake, which represent the twelve apostles, minus Judas. This tradition developed late in the Victorian era, altering the mid Victoria...

Happy Valentine's Day to all you lovely people! Today's long awaited recipe is for Vanilla Cupcakes with a yummy chocolate topping...does it really get any better? Ingredients: 250g Self Raising Flour 250g Butter 250g Caster Sugar 5 Eggs 1tsp Vanilla Essence 150g Chocolate (its up to you whether you use white, milk or dark chocolate) Cupcake Cases Method: Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. C ream together the butter and sugar and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then fold in the flour and mix well, ensuring that the batter has formed properly, there shouldn't be any flour left at the bottom of the bowl. Next add your vanilla essence and give the mix another good beat. All you have to do now is simply spoon the mix into your cases, until they're approximately three-quarters full, this will ensure that the cakes do not over flow when they're cooking. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a cake ske...

So today celebrates the wonderful world of Nutella-and to be quite honest I didn't actually know World Nutella Day existed until this morning when I checked my social media accounts. People like to make a day for everything don't they. But as a baker and chocolate lover, I'm not complaining. So I thought I would share with you guys some yummy ways to get Nutella into your bakes, there are so many out there, you're spoilt for choice! Keep reading for my top 5 Nutella Treats! 1) Nutella Cupcakes This recipe is essentially a Nutella lovers heaven. A moist Nutella cupcake with a creamy Nutella buttercream, you really can't go wrong. Check out the recipe over on the Chef In Training website here: http://www.chef-in-training.com/2012/09/nutella-cupcakes-with-nutella-buttercream/ 2) Nutella Banana Bread Everyone knows chocolate and banana go well together, in fact most fruits go well with chocolate, there's just something about it! Banana bread is one of my f...

It's not even February but the shops already have Easter goodies on their shelves, urging you to grab a bargain before the prices shoot up in a few weeks time. So I decided since the shops are ready for Easter, I should probably get in the seasonal spirit the only way I know how, by baking. My take on Crème Egg Brownies went down a storm last year so I thought I would try and perfect them this year. So here's the recipe to this yummy chocolate treat, and the best thing is you can use the brownie batter recipe and turn it into any flavour brownie you'd like! I'll leave some of my favourite suggestions at the end of the recipe, and if you have any delicious inventive ideas of flavours then definitely leave me a comment! I'd love to hear some of your suggestions! Ingredients: 1 85g unsalted butter 185g dark chocolate 85g plain flour 40g cocoa powder 275g caster sugar 3 eggs Crème Eggs (I use 8 mini crème eggs) Method: Pre-heat your oven to 160 degrees Celsi...

So Monday morning I had a sudden urge to bake, which to be fair, happens quite a lot when you're a baker. However we didn't have a lot of ingredients in the house so I thought I'd try a bit of an experiment; the outcome? This rather yummy Chocolate Crisp. We still had a lot of biscuits left from Christmas so I thought I would use them up in this lush recipe. Granted, not the healthiest of recipes, but where's the fun in a healthy cake? Ingredients: 50g margarine 50g caster sugar 1 tbsp. cocoa powder (plus extra for dusting) 2 tbsp. golden syrup 100g Rich Tea biscuits-crushed 70g Digestive biscuits-crushed Method: Place all the ingredients in the pan except the biscuits. Heat gently until the fat melts and sugar dissolves. Stir in the Rich Tea biscuit crumbs and mix well. Press mixture into a square 15cm tin. Sprinkle over the crushed Digestive biscuits, ensuring the top of the chocolate base is fully covered. Dust the top with a thick cov...

There's no doubt about it, January has been a cold one. With temperatures rarely reaching above 0 last week here in the UK, feel-good food was necessary. There's nothing better than coming home on a cold winter's night to a huge bowl of homemade soup, freshly made bread or a big fat slice of cake. There's nothing better. So today's recipe will warm up the coldest of colds, and will satisfy your sweet tooth at the same time. Golden Syrup Sponge Cake-yum! Ingredients: 110g Golden Syrup 175g Butter 125g (4½oz) Caster Sugar 3 eggs 175g Self-Raising Flour 4 tbsp milk 4-5 tbsp Golden Syrup, to serve Method: Pour 55g of the Golden Syrup into the base of your pudding basin and set aside. Beat the remaining 55g of the Golden Syrup, the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs and then the flour, along with the milk until it resembles a cake batter. Spoon the mixture into your well-buttered pudding basin (don't fill it to the top...