Flour, Cake and Pastry

Happy new year from Flour, Cake and Pastry! Here's our first recipe of 2018,and it's to die for! Lemons, cream and chocolate... Does it get any better? Ingredients 10oz self raising flour 10oz butter, softened 10oz caster sugar 5 large eggs Zest and juice of 2 lemons 800ml double cream 2-3tbsp sieved icing sugar (to taste) Lemon curd 200g milk chocolate Method Preheat your oven to 180C, and grease and line 3 8inch cake tins. Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly add in the flour and mix well before adding in the lemon. Mix again until combined. Split the cake batter between the three tins and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted to the centre comes out clean. Once cooked, cool in the tins for 10 minutes before tipping out onto a cake wire to cool completely. Meanwhile, whip the cream until it reaches soft peaks. Stir in some sieved ic...

Welcome back to our Christmas Bakes Series! If you missed our last post for Cranberry & Orange Chelsea Bun Trees, check it out here! So here is my second recipe, and to be honest you can't go wrong with these beauties. I LOVE brownies, and these will not disappoint. Packed full of chocolate truffles, amaretti biscuits and a couple of edible Christmas twists, they really do sell themselves... Christmas Brownies Ingredients 200g butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing 100g dark chocolate, chopped 100g milk chocolate, chopped 3 large eggs 300g golden caster sugar 100g plain flour 50g cocoa powder ½ tsp mixed spice To decorate 9 glacé cherries 1 egg white 2 tbsp caster sugar 9 chocolate truffles E dible gold spray 1-2 tsp icing sugar for dusting Chocolate buttons E dible silver balls Method Grease and line a 20cm x 20cm brownie tin. Heat your oven to 180C. Put the butter and both types of chocolate in a heat proof bowl and set ove...

In case you haven't realised, Christmas is like two weeks away...how crazy! Across the world families are decorating their homes, schools are practicing their nativities and soon thousands will visit their local theatres to watch a good old panto. But the best thing about the build up to Christmas? THE BAKING! Last year I shared a few of my favourite recipes, and this year is no different. Over the next two weeks I'll be sharing 4 delicious and unique recipes, some of which I've baked before and some I'll be trying out for myself this year! So without further a do, here is recipe number one... Cranberry and Orange Chelsea Bun Tree This recipe comes from the BBC Good Food website , and is delicious! I love Cranberry and Orange Chelsea Buns, so was incredibly happy to find this sweet tutorial on how to make a mini edible Christmas tree! Ingredients 275ml full-fat milk 50g cubed butter 450g strong white bread flour 7g sachet fast-action ...

H E L L O  D E C E M B E R ! Where has this year gone, it seems to be over in the blink of an eye! Last weekend I had the pleasure of making a cute guitar themed birthday cake which was vegan-friendly. And it was super fun to make! Here's my step by step guide on how to bake a delicious egg and dairy free sponge as well as decorating it for a perfect music theme! Ingredients 3.5 cups self raising flour 2 cups sugar 2tsp baking powder 0.5tsp salt 2tsp white wine vinegar 2tbsp vanilla essence 2/3 cup vegetable oil 2 cups cold water Icing 1 tub of Betty Crocker vanilla frosting Food colouring of your choice (I used blue) Black ready-to-roll icing Method Grease and line 2x8inch baking tins. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Add all the wet ingredients to the bowl and mix well until all the lumps of flour have gone. Split the batter into the two tins, and bake in a pre-heated oven (180C), for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted...

So I have a new found love of Granola. Served with vanilla yoghurt and some fresh berries, you can't really get a better breakfast in my opinion. The only downside is that supermarket bought Granola is RIDICULOULY EXPENSIVE. Like seriously. So here's my recipe for an incredibly quick homemade granola, that doesn't break the bank. In fact, you yield about four times as much in this recipe as you would with just buying a bag from the supermarket, and at just a fraction of the cost! Ingredients 3 cups of porridge oats 3tbsp. light brown sugar 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp. salt 1/3 cup honey 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp. vanilla essence Optional Ingredients 1/2 cup small-dice dried fruit 1/2 cup coarsely chopped raw or toasted nuts or seeds Method Pre-heat your oven to 150C, and place a shelf in the middle of the oven. Mix together the oats, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the honey, vegetable oil and vanilla essence, ...

I was recently asked to make an egg-free chocolate cake, which can sometimes be a difficult task. I surfed the internet trying to find a recipe that left me with a moist chocolate cake, and eventually I found one! There are a million and one recipes out there, but not all of them will always work first time, but this one served me well, and it tasted delicious! You couldn't even tell it was missing eggs! Ingredients 280 grams plain flour 300 grams caster sugar 60 grams cocoa powder 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt 240 ml milk 240 ml water 120 ml vegetable oil 2 tbsp. vinegar 1 tsp vanilla extract Method Preheat your oven to 180C. Grease and line two 7 inch round cake tins. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt.) Add the wet ingredients (water  milk, oil, vanilla and vinegar). Whisk until smooth. Immediately divide the mix between your two tins and bake for 25 to 35 minutes until the top springs b...

Red Velvet Cake has quickly become a firm favourite in the UK, and it's not hard to see why...a moist, flavoursome chocolate sponge, with a lightly whipped sweet cream cheese filling and topping, what's not to like? So for a cake that really needs no introduction, here's the recipe (adapted from The Hummingbird's Bakery cupcake recipe)! I decorated mine with a dark chocolate cage too, which makes it look really cool! Ingredients 120g softened butter 300g caster sugar  2 eggs  40g cocoa powder 6-8 tbsp. red food colouring (depending on the strength of the colouring 1 tsp vanilla extract  240 ml buttermilk  300 g plain flour  1 tsp bicarbonate of soda  3 tsp white vinegar  600g ...