Baking Bo

This week was Pastry Week again on The Great British Bake Off. I decided not to obey the theme while planning my contribution. I stumbled across a recipe for Tropical Chocolate Shards in the October Issue of the Sainsbury's Magazine, which I decided to adapt. It's a nutty, fruity, boozy, chocolatey delight and went down a treat with some vanilla ice cream! INGREDIENTS  100g sultanas 2 tbsp dark rum 100g hazelnuts, roughly chopped 100g unsalted butter 2 tbsp clear honey 100g unsulphured dried apricots, chopped 100g coconut cookies, crushed  100g milk chocolate, chopped 300g dark chocolate, chopped  METHOD 1. Preheat the oven to 170 fan. Put the sultanas and rum in a small bowl and leave to soak. Put the hazelnuts on a baking tray. Toast them in the oven for 10 minutes and then leave them to cool. 2. Put the butter, honey and chocolate in a bowl and set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until melted together. Mix in the cookies, apricots, toasted nuts, sult...

I hope you all love the new look, I know I do!  I wanted to say HUGE thank you to my insanely talented friend Stephanie Moir who designed this beautiful new theme for the blog.  We recently had a Great British Bake Off catch up afternoon and I made Audra Fullerton's Gooey Cinnamon Roll Cake!  Ingredients  For the dough 3/4 cup of milk 1/4 cup of butter 3 1/4 cup of white bread flour 7g yeast 1/4 cup of caster sugar 1/2 teaspoon of salt 1/4 cup of water 1 egg For the filling 1 cup of dark brown sugar 1 tablespoon of cinnamon 1/4 cup of butter 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste For the icing 4 tablespoons of butter 1 cup of icing sugar 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste a few drops of milk Method  1. In a small pan, warm the milk and butter together over a low heat until the butter has melted. 2. Mix together 2 cups of the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the milk mixture, egg and water and mix until combined. The dough will be...

So, now that The Great British Bake Off is back on (HOORAY) expect a lot more baking posts! Some of my friends and I had a watching party, we all made biscuits and I made these!  Ingredients for cookies 125g soft unsalted butter 75g caster sugar 75g golden caster sugar 150g peanut butter 1 egg 175g self raising flour For frosting 1156g butter 115g peanut butter 250g icing sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla  1 tablespoon milk Method 1. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 160.  2. Cream together the butter and sugars. Add the peanut butter and egg. 3. Add the flour to make a dough. 4. Divide the dough into 6. Roll into a ball and then flatten into a large disc shape. 5. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.  6. Cream the butter and peanut butter together. Add the icing sugar, vanilla and milk until it reaches the right consistency.  7. Once the cookies have cooled, slather them in frosting!  ...

To celebrate my 21st birthday, my friend Rosy & I went to NYC! It was an incredible experience. Jam-packed with sight seeing, Broadway shows and delicious food. One of the places on the top of my list to visit was Schmackary's cookie shop on West 45th & 9th Ave! I would have tried every flavour if I could! But instead I just sampled a Fluffer Nutter (which inspired these cookies of mine... Fluffer Nutter Recipe) and a Schmackary's favourite... a Maple Bacon cookie. Now I'm home and missing New York. I decided to try to recreate this cookie on my own!    Maple Bacon Cookies Ingredients 2 rashers of bacon 1 tbsp maple syrup 140g plain flour 1/4 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp salt 60g unsalted butter 50g granulated sugar 40g dark muscavado sugar 1 small egg 45ml maple syrup 85g milk chocolate chips Method 1. Preheat the grill. Place the bacon in a dish and cover with 1 tbsp of maple syrup. Grill for 1...

Last night, my friends Gail, Kitty & I did a seven mile walk, at Midnight to raise money for St Catherine's Hospice. Needless to say afterwards we were very tired and went straight to bed after. This morning, I woke up to a lovely family brunch with coffee and this brioche my Dad made for me.  Ingredients for the brioche 250g white bread flour 5g salt 30g caster sugar 7g yeast 150g egg (about 3) 20ml milk 125g unsalted butter For the filling 5 tbsp smooth peanut butter 4 tbsp apricot jam 100g milk chocolate, finely chopped 1 egg yolk Method 1. Place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast into the bowl of a freestanding mixer and mix together. Beat the eggs with the milk, add to the bowl. Knead for 15 minutes, until the dough becomes stretchy.  2. Slowly add the butter piece by piece, mixing still on medium. This should take about 5 minutes. When done, allow the mixer to continue for another 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth, silky and very strechy. Place the ...

Today I baked my version of The Baker Chick's Raspberry Swirled Lemon Cheesecake bars! You can find her original recipe here: http://www.the-baker-chick.com/2014/02/raspberry-swirled-lemon-cheesecake-bars/  Ingredients for the base 165g crushed digestive biscuits 100g very soft butter For the filling 450g cream cheese 100g caster sugar 2 tbsp lemon juice zest of a lemon 4 tbsp milk 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract For the topping 120g raspberries 30g caster sugar Method 1. Preheat the oven to 160 fan. Line an 8x8inch tray with baking paper. 2. Mix the digestives and butter together. Pour into the prepared tin and press down. Bake for 10-15 minutes until set around the edge. 3. Meanwhile, beat the sugar and cream cheese together. Add the lemon juice, zest, milk, eggs and vanilla. Spread over the baked base. 4. Blend the raspberries and press through a sieve. Stir in the sugar.  5. Drizzle the raspberry mix over the filling and use a skewer to swirl or feat...

As you may have seen, I have been posting smoothie recipes lately. I recently borrowed Dale Pinnock's cook book, 'The Medicinal Chef' from my local library and he has some excellent smoothie recipes. This one has a very special ingredient... CACAO!  Cacao is the botanical name for the nut from which chocolate is made. It is one of the most nutrient-rich foods on the planet. In it's raw, unprocessed form it has over 1500 beneficial compounds. Once processed into ordinary cocoa powder, only FIVE remain, the main one being caffeine!  Cacao is very high in mineral magnesium which encourages relaxation. It has two powerful compounds that can effect mind and mood and it is a stimulant but has less of a "burn out" effect than caffeine.  Ingredients 250ml milk  1 banana 2 tablespoons cacao (or cocoa powder if you can't find cacao!) 2 teaspoons honey Method 1. Put all the ingredients in a blender and process to make a thick, chocolaty smoothie and enjo...