Flour, Cake and Pastry

Happy Monday...its Halloween! Which also means its the end of October, which I'm a little sad about! There's nothing more autumnal than gingerbread; I love the smell of it when it's cooking-it makes everything seem so festive! So to get in the mood for the festive season which is fast approaching, and to wave a fond farewell to October, here's my recipe for some yummy gingerbread. Ingredients: 300g self raising flour Pinch of salt 3tsp ground ginger 100g caster sugar 50g margarine 3tbsp golden syrup 4tbsp milk Method: Heat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius, grease a baking tray. Place the flour, salt and ginger in a bowl. Warm together the margarine, sugar and golden syrup, and add to the dry ingredients-mix well. Add the milk and mix to a firm consistency. Knead the dough lightly with your hands. Roll out and cut out shapes or people, and place them on the baking tray. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly then carefully lift onto a wire ra...

Chocolate orange is one of those flavour combinations that really can't go wrong. And for me, there's nothing more delicious than a Terry's Chocolate Orange; they are my favourite sweet treat of all time. So I thought I'd combined the classic Christmas snack with one of my favourite bakes-marble cake. Chocolate orange marble sponge, sandwiched together with a smooth, creamy buttercream, and topped with 12 segments of Terry's Chocolate Orange. Does it really get much better? Ingredients: 10oz Self Raising Flour 10oz Butter, softened 10oz Caster Sugar Pinch of Baking Powder 5 Eggs 1.5oz Cocoa Powder Zest and Juice of one Orange To decorate: 1 x 500g pot of Betty Crocker Vanilla Icing (I cheated this week and didn't make my own buttercream, but sometimes it has to be done) 1 Terry's Chocolate Orange *2 8inch circle cake tins, greased and lined* Method: Combine the flour, butter, sugar, baking powder and eggs in a mixing bowl, and beat we...

Over the last few years, the human population has grown, and with that growth comes an increase in food choices and dietary requirements. It's now also become common for people to choose to eat gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian or vegan. It's amazing to think we now live in a world where we aren't limited to what we can eat, or where we can get our food from. The world of food has come a long way, and with it brings a whole host of new directions we can take our diets down. Today I'm going to be sharing some Vegan dishes. One of my friends is soon to be going Vegan, and so I thought I'd help her out by sharing some yummy alternatives to some of her favourite snacks. Just because you're limited to what you eat, it doesn't mean you can't have fun playing around with new ideas, opening your eyes to new dishes, and new cultures. Veganism is a lifestyle that avoids all animal foods including meat, dairy, eggs and honey; all animal derived products such ...

Rocky Road is a delightful dessert. It always goes down a treat at parties, coffee mornings, at home with the family-pretty much anywhere to be honest. My favourite recipe for Rocky Road has got to be by The Hummingbird Bakery. It's absolutely gorgeous, and it's such a quick and easy recipe. It also makes 12 generous portions so there's no need to fiddle on with multiplying the recipe to make sure it serves everyone. Great right? So without further a do, here's the recipe! Ingredients: 1.4KG milk chocolate, roughly chopped 8 regular sized chewy, filled chocolate bars of your choice (such as Snickers or Mars), roughly chopped 100g marshmallows 180g maltesers 100g dried apricots, roughly chopped 100g raisins 100g cornflakes 100g chocolate vermicelli *You will also need a 33x23x5 cm baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper* Method: Put the milk chocolate into a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the base of the bowl touch the ...

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...