PROJECT #5
This is a traditional Scottish recipe which we had for pudding on Burn's night.
Here's a link to the recipe which I used http://www.scottishrecipes.co.uk/clootiedumpling.htm
It feels a little strange when you make as you need to put a large sheet of muslin in boiling water and then spread it out on the worktop you then dredge it with flour and push the flour into the cloth with long sweeps. This creates the barrier to encase the dumpling in.
The dumpling does still get a bit wet during the cooking process so I dried it out in a hot oven for 10-20minutes as recommended in another recipe for clootie dumpling.
I was so busy that I forgot to take any photos of the cooking process or the finished dumpling. There are some left overs in the fridge which I'll take a snap of later!
Sunday, 29 January 2012
EASY PEASY CROISSANTS
This is a quick way to make croissants for a weekend treat taken from Nigella's express book.
Ready rolled puff pastry
100g dark chocolate or milk chocolate if you prefer
1 egg,beaten
Spread the sheet of pastry and cut into 6 squares, cut each square diagonally to create 12 small triangles.
Cut each square of chocolate in half and lie the two pieces end to end along the longest side of the triangle.
Roll up the triangle from the longest side and seal together when you reach the point.
Pop onto a baking tray and brush the croissants with a beaten egg.
Bake for 10-15mins at 220degrees C.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
STICKY GINGERBREAD
I was so pleased with myself for getting ahead and baking some goodies to enjoy over Christmas. The recipe I used was from Nigella's Christmas and as it was a recipe that froze well it was perfect.
Well Christmas came and went and I cant believe I forgot all about it until I opened the bottom freezer drawer to put away the recently bought frozen peas.
So while the weathers rubbish outside I'm enjoying a piece of spicy goodness along with a cup of tea before little one's nap time is over and it's back to reality!
And I can vouch for the fact that they do freeze well!
Well Christmas came and went and I cant believe I forgot all about it until I opened the bottom freezer drawer to put away the recently bought frozen peas.
So while the weathers rubbish outside I'm enjoying a piece of spicy goodness along with a cup of tea before little one's nap time is over and it's back to reality!
And I can vouch for the fact that they do freeze well!
Monday, 23 January 2012
FLAPJACKS
PROJECT #4
I am now on a flapjack quest!!
I can never seem to get the balance quite right and I know I over baked these slightly.
The recipe I used had dried fruit in which made a lovely addition to the oats but I prefer them a little bit chewy rather than crunchy. I will definitely be trying these again and taking them out of the oven and leaving to firm up a little next time.
I am now on a flapjack quest!!
I can never seem to get the balance quite right and I know I over baked these slightly.
The recipe I used had dried fruit in which made a lovely addition to the oats but I prefer them a little bit chewy rather than crunchy. I will definitely be trying these again and taking them out of the oven and leaving to firm up a little next time.
- 175g butter
- 175g oats
- 75g brown sugar
- 2 large heaped tbsp golden syrup
- 150g sultanas
Melt the butter, sugar and syrup together in a pan on a low heat.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the oats and sultanas.
Grease a square tin or dish with butter and put the mixture into the tin pushing it to the edges.
Bake for 30 mins at 140 degrees C until its golden brown.
Bake for 30 mins at 140 degrees C until its golden brown.
Leave the flapjacks to cool slightly and then mark them into slices with a sharp knife.
Once it has cooled properly cut the flapjacks into squares.
Sunday, 22 January 2012
MARMALADE CAKE
PROJECT #3
I received Mary Berry's Baking Bible for Christmas. What a brilliant book it is too, with so many lovely and not too challenging things inside I was spoilt for choice about what to bake first.
After surveying the contents of the baking cupboard there appeared to be a lot of remnants from the Christmas baking so I decided on the Marmalade cake to use up these said items.
Now I was a little nervous of this cake as I was having visions of the Marmalade cake in series one of the Great British Bake Off which sunk in the middle. However, Mary's book gives you tips at the beginning and throughout the recipe so I felt in safe hands.
It was a relatively easy recipe which everything was combined in the bowl and mixed before putting into a prepared loaf tin.Once it was cool some warmed marmalade was spooned over the top.
I received Mary Berry's Baking Bible for Christmas. What a brilliant book it is too, with so many lovely and not too challenging things inside I was spoilt for choice about what to bake first.
After surveying the contents of the baking cupboard there appeared to be a lot of remnants from the Christmas baking so I decided on the Marmalade cake to use up these said items.
Now I was a little nervous of this cake as I was having visions of the Marmalade cake in series one of the Great British Bake Off which sunk in the middle. However, Mary's book gives you tips at the beginning and throughout the recipe so I felt in safe hands.
It was a relatively easy recipe which everything was combined in the bowl and mixed before putting into a prepared loaf tin.Once it was cool some warmed marmalade was spooned over the top.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
NEW BABY CUPCAKE BOX
PROJECT #2
A friend of mine brought her little baby girl home from the neonatal unit last week so I baked some cupcakes to take around when we visited on Thursday.
The basic cupcake recipe was used and baked in a silver muffin case.
FOOTPRINT - using white sugarpaste cut out a circle about the same size as the top of the cupcake using a cookie cutter. Spread the top of the cake with a little buttercream and smooth it down. place the white circle ontop of the cake and smooth it gently so it lies flat.
Put a few drops of pink food colouring onto some white sugarpaste and gently fold over the sugarpaste, repeat until you have worked the colour through and the sugarpaste is an even pink colour. Roll out the sugarpaste to 0.5cm thick. Use a cocktail stick to mark out the main shape of a foot. Cut out the shape with a sharp knife. Using a fine paintbrush dab a little water into the centre of the covered cupcake and place the foot ontop. To make the toes roll a small amount of sugarpaste into a ball and flatten slightly with your fingers. Repeat s4 times decreasing the size of the ball each time Dab some water where you want each toe and gently place on.
You can sprinkle some pink edible glitter over the foot to give it a bit of sparkle.
ROSE SWIRL - using a 1C wilton nozzle start piping from the centre of the cake outwards slightly overlapping the icing as you go. This looks good as a two tone icing. To do this put some coloured paste in the icing bag and press the bag together, use your hands to smooth the paste along the inside of the bag until the inside is coated with colour. Fill the icing bag with buttercream and squeeze out a little on a plate until the coloured edged icing comes through.
WHIPPY STYLE - Using a wilton 1M pipe a ring of buttercream ontop of the cake, stop piping then start again in the opposite direction ontop of the circle already piped bringing the icing to a point. decorate with sprinkles and glitter.
You could make a variety of sugar paste topped cakes to go into the box or stick to one type to fill a cupcake box. Buttons, bottles, bibs etc would all look good as would initials of a baby's name. Wish I'd had a bit more time to get creative however my 10 week old is having one of those refusing to sleep weeks!
A friend of mine brought her little baby girl home from the neonatal unit last week so I baked some cupcakes to take around when we visited on Thursday.
The basic cupcake recipe was used and baked in a silver muffin case.
FOOTPRINT - using white sugarpaste cut out a circle about the same size as the top of the cupcake using a cookie cutter. Spread the top of the cake with a little buttercream and smooth it down. place the white circle ontop of the cake and smooth it gently so it lies flat.
Put a few drops of pink food colouring onto some white sugarpaste and gently fold over the sugarpaste, repeat until you have worked the colour through and the sugarpaste is an even pink colour. Roll out the sugarpaste to 0.5cm thick. Use a cocktail stick to mark out the main shape of a foot. Cut out the shape with a sharp knife. Using a fine paintbrush dab a little water into the centre of the covered cupcake and place the foot ontop. To make the toes roll a small amount of sugarpaste into a ball and flatten slightly with your fingers. Repeat s4 times decreasing the size of the ball each time Dab some water where you want each toe and gently place on.
You can sprinkle some pink edible glitter over the foot to give it a bit of sparkle.
ROSE SWIRL - using a 1C wilton nozzle start piping from the centre of the cake outwards slightly overlapping the icing as you go. This looks good as a two tone icing. To do this put some coloured paste in the icing bag and press the bag together, use your hands to smooth the paste along the inside of the bag until the inside is coated with colour. Fill the icing bag with buttercream and squeeze out a little on a plate until the coloured edged icing comes through.
WHIPPY STYLE - Using a wilton 1M pipe a ring of buttercream ontop of the cake, stop piping then start again in the opposite direction ontop of the circle already piped bringing the icing to a point. decorate with sprinkles and glitter.
You could make a variety of sugar paste topped cakes to go into the box or stick to one type to fill a cupcake box. Buttons, bottles, bibs etc would all look good as would initials of a baby's name. Wish I'd had a bit more time to get creative however my 10 week old is having one of those refusing to sleep weeks!
Thursday, 5 January 2012
CROCHET AWAY
PROJECT #1
This is hopefully going to be my new hobby! I've been wanting to try crochet for a while now but wasn't sure where to start so I asked for a book for Christmas to give me something to work from.
This project is going to be a bit on an ongoing one though as after an evening of sitting having a go I've still not mastered the basics.
The book is good at giving you instructions about what to do but I still had to you tube the techniques to make sure I was doing it right.
There are some simple projects to make in the book starting with a blanket (of course!) and bunting.
Last night I made the beginning of a blanket but wasn't happy with it or the wool I used. So I'll be off to the shops to stock up on some new wool.
More to come after a lot of practise!!
This is hopefully going to be my new hobby! I've been wanting to try crochet for a while now but wasn't sure where to start so I asked for a book for Christmas to give me something to work from.
This project is going to be a bit on an ongoing one though as after an evening of sitting having a go I've still not mastered the basics.
The book is good at giving you instructions about what to do but I still had to you tube the techniques to make sure I was doing it right.
There are some simple projects to make in the book starting with a blanket (of course!) and bunting.
Last night I made the beginning of a blanket but wasn't happy with it or the wool I used. So I'll be off to the shops to stock up on some new wool.
More to come after a lot of practise!!
Monday, 2 January 2012
QUICK UPDATE - PROJECT 52
Firstly a happy belated new year. I have sadly neglected this blog in the last few months. I have a good excuse!! We welcomed our newest arrival Finlay on 1st November and since then everything has been a bit of a whirlwind!
However, I have promised myself that I will make much more of an effort in the new year to keep up with making new things in the new year in the precious little time I have.
Hence Project 52 - (although it's not going so well at the moment is it!)
Project 52 is inspired from other bloggers and I am going to try and make or bake something new for every week of the year. This may be a little ambitious considering I don't tend to have a minute to myself in the average day but hey, I like a challenge.
I have been busy making and I will get up to date with the blog soon!
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