Nothing ever goes easily in this house of mine! I threw this mixture together, got it all in my piping bag and managed to pipe 8 rounds before my piping bag exploded! If you decide that you want to make piped biscuits like these can I heartily recommend acquiring a piping ball like this one as it’s less fragile than a bag. I got mine years ago from a Tupperware catalogue but I’ve lent it to Kirsty so I ended up just placing teaspoonfuls spread well apart on a baking sheet. It meant these were slightly less pretty but still very yum!

I also cheated as I made these at 11pm the night before we left to go on holiday so instead of using the ganache to sandwich the biscuits together, I used chocolate spread which worked wonderfully.

You will need:

225g butter, softened
60g icing sugar
25g dark chocolate, melted
170g plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp rice flour
2 tbsp icing sugar for dusting

for the filling:
225g unsalted butter, softened
180g icing sugar
25g dark chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 180C/Gas 4. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy then stir in melted chocolate. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and rice flour and stir into the creamed mixture.
Pipe the mixture using your largest fluted nozzle into 2 inch rosettes spaced 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

For the filling: Beat butter and icing sugar, then stir in the chocolate. Spread the filling onto the bottom half of the cookies, and then sandwich together with the other halves

Dust with the icing sugar.

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It’s turning into a bit of a baking blog here! I do feel a bit guilty because I don’t really do well with pretty cakes – I’m a necessity baker rather than a pretty baker – but I haven’t really managed to complete much else recently so you’re being overloaded with recipes just now! Normal service will resume soon (when the children have grown up, stopped fighting and keeping me up all night…)

Flapjacks are the first thing I ever baked by myself. I’ve mentioned before that my Nana the person who encouraged me to bake, knit and sew and I can remember standing in her kitchen making these in a baking tin that is probably older than I am! They’re so easy to make and my kids go mad for them. This is the recipe I’ve developed over my flapjack making years but it’s very easy to swap ingredients in and out.

You will need:

90g butter
90g light brown sugar
100g ground almonds
190g porridge oats
Generous handful of raisins

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4. Melt the butter and sugar together then add the rest of the ingredients. Mix thoroughly before dumping into a greased square baking tin. Bake for about 20 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes before marking out your fingers then leave to cool completely (preferably overnight). These flapjacks are quite squidgy – if you like yours a bit more crunchy then use a little less butter.

Yum yum!

Posted under baking, recipes

I’ve seen these glorious things of beauty on so many blogs over the last few months. In a multitude of colours too, they just scream EAT ME! So when I came across this apparently simple recipe I decided to have a go for myself. My first attempt wasn’t so good – we didn’t make it to the sandwiching stage this time – but apparently once you’ve mastered them you’ll want them all the time.

Firstly, you’ll notice that my macarons are a bit lumpy. The reason for this is that my ground almonds were not fine enough – it’s not enough to pass it through a sieve, ideally you want to have these mixing in a food processor with the icing sugar and cocoa. Alas, avid fans may remember my food processor had a bit of an accident and I haven’t been able to replace it yet. I have subsequently been told that this is the definitive recipe for chocolate macarons but it’s slightly different to what I did.

You may have noticed that my photo quality has been – well, abysmal lately. Unfortunately I’m relying on my mobile phone just now until I get my camera sorted so please bear with me!

You will need:
3 egg whites
50g granulated sugar
200g icing sugar
110g ground almonds
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Preheat your oven to 150C/Gas 2. Combine the icing sugar, ground almonds and cocoa powder and put them in a food processor to get rid of any lumps. In a glass or metal bowl, beat the egg whites until they begin to hold a shape then and slowly add the sugar. Beat until they are stiff then fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites half at a time. Pipe them on baking trays lined with greaseproof paper and bake them at 150C for 12 to 15 minutes. Sandwich them together with a chocolate ganache or if (like me) you’re a bit lazy, get some nutella on the go.

Let me know if you’ve made these and have had better success than I did!

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Firstly I apologise PROFUSELY for the terrible photo here. I took this quick snap with my mobile phone and it’s just as well I did because the entire loaf was gone within a few hours! Fruit loaf or cake is not something I make with great regularity because I have it in my head that Bob doesn’t like it but he tells me that Mr Kipling’s Country Slice is his favourite so clearly I just don’t know my husband’s likes and dislikes well enough!

This was super quick to throw together and is a lovely, moist cake. I’m actually surprised how moist it is because of how little milk goes into it – I’m so used to chipping cold solidified weetabix from my plates/table/windows/cats that I expected this to need a lot more liquid when in fact it was spot on.

You will need:
Two weetabix (or own-brand variations. I actually used Sainsbury’s cheapy version)
150g sugar (granulated will be fine if you have no caster, brown sugar will give depth to the flavour)
150g raisins
200g self raising flour
250ml milk

Preheat your oven to 180C/Gas 4 then grease & line a loaf tin (I used a 2lb tin). Crush the weetabix between your hands to make crumbs then add in the sieved flour, sugar and raisins. Give it a little stir to mix it together then add the milk and mix well until it’s all combined and there’s no dry flour around the bowl. Spoon it into your tin and bake for an hour until the top is golden brown.

Let it cool for ten minutes after removing from the oven then turn out to a wire rack.

Posted under baking

I used to love English and Drama at school and I remember my teacher telling me that background actors in TV shows are mouthing the word, “rhubarb” over and over again. Isn’t it funny the things your brain suddenly kicks in with when your mind is wandering?!

ANYWAY! As I showed everyone in my attempted self-sufficiency blog post the rhubarb I’m growing in my garden might feed a couple of gnomes, but it’s not really up to feeding a family of six! Luckily, my wee Nana has an abundance of rhubarb in her garden which she actively encourages me to half-inch as she doesn’t use it.

I’d collected some when I was last over to visit but hadn’t used it yet. For me, rhubarb is one of those ingredients that I could use every day. I was raised on rhubarb crumble, rhubarb sponge, rhubarb jam etc and I love it. In fact, I think rhubarb was the first thing I ever cooked on my own with my Nana when she taught me how to stew it! Problem is, I haven’t been terribly adventurous when cooking with it and this batch was going to end up in the bin if I didn’t use it.

So! I had read this entry on Laura’s blog where she’d used rhubarb in cupcakes. Sounded excellent, but I’ve “sampled” so many cupcakes over this last week between Bob and I’s bake swap practice runs that I couldn’t face anything too sweet. This was my compromise.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that these don’t look like much, but they really hit the spot. Not achingly sweet but enough to curb a craving. I was quite surprised when both Bob and Findlay ate these too and declared them delicious – definitely a recipe I’ll use again.

You will need:
300g rhubarb
3tbsp caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract

300g plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
200ml milk
100g butter, melted
Brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 180C/Gas 4. Chop your rhubarb up into reasonably thin slices (I’d say no more than 0.5cm thick) and place in a baking tin (I used a 20cm square tin but any tin will do). Sprinkle your rhubarb with the caster sugar and vanilla and pop the tin into the oven.

Sieve the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl then add the sugar. In a jug whisk together the milk, butter and eggs. This will hopefully have taken you around ten minutes by which time your rhubarb should be nicely softened. Scoop the rhubarb into the dry ingredients bowl, trying to hold back the liquid if you can as you don’t want your mixture to be too wet. Pour the jug contents into the bowl too then stir until just combined – with muffins, you want the mixture to stay a bit lumpy.

Split the mixture between 12 muffin cases, sprinkle with the brown sugar and pop into the oven for roughly half an hour (mine took around 35 minutes and my cooking times are notoriously dodgy so just keep an eye on them raising and looking golden brown). These are amazing warm and I can imagine them being glorious with some warm custard.

Let me know if you try them!

Posted under baking, recipes

I’m not sure what to call this post! The cake wot I made has so many different identites that I know – millionaire’s shortbread, caramel shortcake, caramel cake to name but a few – that you will probably all call this something different. Whatever you call it, I found an old recipe that my Mum used to use and decided that I’d try this out. I must admit that I’m not a big fan of caramel cake so I only had a little bit of this, but Bob and my Nana liked it so I must be doing something right!

Now, being the kind soul that I am I’m going to give you two alternative recipes for the caramel. I misread the recipe from the side of the condensed milk can and ended up with a treacley caramel which made more of an adult cake. My Mum’s is a lighter caramel.

You will need for the base:
100g butter
50g caster sugar
150g self raising flour

Preheat your oven to 200C/Gas 6. Cream together the butter & sugar then add the flour. Spread into a greased & lined 20cm square tin and bake for 20 mins. Allow to cool.

You will need for my Mum’s filling:
100g caster sugar
100g butter
1 tbsp golden syrup
400g tin condensed milk

Place all ingredients into a pan, bring to the boil stirring constantly. Boil for 4 minutes then spread over your cake base and leave to cool.

OR, you will need for the filling I used:
25g butter
150g dark brown soft sugar
400g can condensed milk

Place the butter and sugar in a pan and stir over a medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar has mostly dissolved. Add the condensed milk stirring continuously until the first bubbles appear on the surface. Remove from the heat and spread over the base.

Once your caramel has set, melt 200g chocolate (I used 100g milk and 100g dark) and spread over your caramel. Leave it for 15 minutes to cool and if your chocolate has semi set, lightly mark out the squares on the surface before leaving in the fridge to set properly.

Posted under baking, recipes

I have no idea where this recipe originated or why it’s named so but this for me is a true taste of my childhood. My Mum was a sporadic baker at best but any time she did bake, this is what she made. I have a feeling the recipe came from my Auntie Anne and now I am blessing the greater internet with it. This stuff is amazing.

You will need:
150g butter
75g brown sugar
100g desiccated coconut
150g self-raising flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder

100g chocolate (I used milk)

Preheat your oven to 350F/180C/Gas 4. Melt the butter and add the sugar, coconut, flour and cocoa powder. Mix well and place in a well greased & lined square tin. Bake for 15/20 minutes then leave to cool. When it’s cooled, melt the chocolate and spread evenly over the top. Leave until starting to set then quickly mark out the bars before leaving the set completely.

I also added a wee funsize smartie to the top of each bar because I think it looks cute and I’m daft like that

Let me know if you try it!

Posted under baking

Bob and I seem to have started a wee tradition of baking a cake for our nearest and dearest when they celebrate a birthday. Bob’s Mum turned 21 (allegedly!) yesterday and I made this:

It’s just a sponge with 4 tablespoons of homemade lemon curd added to the batter. Once baked, I whipped 150ml double cream with another few tablespoons of the lemon curd and sandwiched the cake with it before dredging the surface with icing sugar. It was really refreshing, not overpoweringly lemony but just nice on a hot summer afternoon

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So, the third and final cake that was baked at the weekend for Fathers day! Loyal readers may remember the cream and jam-laden confection surprise that I made my Dad for his birthday. What you may not remember is that my Dad ate maybe half a slice before discreetly handing his plate over to one of my siblings because he’s really not a sweet tooth. And yet, I still made him a cake! My poor wee Dad is awfy awfy thin and I’m determined to fatten him up a little so he was given a Nigella Chocolate Guinness cake. Luckily he works on a building site so at the very least his workmen will have had a tasty treat with their tea!

Before icing:

After icing:

You will need:
250 ml Guinness
250 g unsalted butter
75 g cocoa
400 g caster sugar
142 ml sour cream
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
275 g plain flour
2 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the icing, I used a third of this icing recipe and it was plenty enough to cover the cake.

1) Preheat the oven to gas 4/180C, butter and line a 23 cm springform or loose-bottomed tin
2) Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter gradually and heat until the butter has melted. At which time, whisk in the cocoa and sugar.
3) Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and pour into the pan before whisking in the bicarb and flour.
4) Pour the cake batter into the greased, lined tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour (actually, I had to leave it for nearer 1h 20m). Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack.
5) Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of a pint, or like me smooth the icing across the sides and top of the cake. Devour with a good cuppa.

Posted under baking, recipes

Yet another offering from Fathers day for me – this time, the carrot cake I made for Bob’s Dad. David kindly shared his cake with us and although it was really tasty, for me it was a little too nutty. I’d make it again purely because it turned out so well!

You will need:
150g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
150g caster sugar
250g carrots, grated
100g shelled walnuts, finely chopped
150ml vegetable oil
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence

1) Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Grease and line an 18cm diameter round cake tin.
2) Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cinnamon powder into a mixing bowl. Stir in the caster sugar, carrots and walnuts.
3) Pour in the corn oil, and add the eggs and vanilla essence. Stir to mix and keep stirring for a minute to let the egg mixture pull everything together.
4) Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin and bake in the centre of an oven for about 30-35 minutes, or until risen and firm to the touch. Remove the cake from the oven, leave to cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Leave to cool completely.
5) To frost the cake, I used a third of the icing from this recipe. Using a spatula, smooth a thin layer of the frosting across the sides and top of your cake to catch any crumbs before icing the cake to your taste.

Posted under baking, recipes