Vegan Chocolate Orange Brownie

Ingredients:

250g plain flour

350g demerara sugar

65g cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

250ml water

250ml vegetable oil

12 drops of orange essential oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. In a bowl mix together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder & salt.
3. Pour in water, vegetable oil & orange essential oil & mix well.
4. Spread into a baking tin.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
6. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Vegan Mint Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:

250g plain flour

350g demerara sugar

65g cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

250ml water

250ml vegetable oil

6 drops of peppermint essential oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. In a bowl mix together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder & salt.
3. Pour in water, vegetable oil & peppermint essential oil & mix well.
4. Spread into a baking tin.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
6. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Decadent Chocolate & Banana Tart

Ingredients:

Base:
225g ginger nut biscuits, crushed
125g butter, melted

Filling:
4 bananas
150g dark chocolate
280ml double cream
50g butter
2 large tbsps nutella

Method:

Base:

1. Crush biscuits finely. I used my pestle & mortar, which worked really well.
2. Melt the butter on a low heat.
3. Add the butter to the ginger biscuits and mix well.
4. Spoon into a loose bottomed cake tin & press into the base & sides to create a tart base.
5. Leave to cool in the fridge for 30 mins.

Filling:

1. Heat double cream til gently simmering, remove from the heat.
2. Add the chocolate & butter to the cream, stirring continuously until melted & smooth.
3. Whisk in the nutella until smooth.
4. Pour into the cooled biscuit & refrigerate for a minimum of 30 mins.
5. Before serving slice the bananas & gently press into the surface.

Optional: sprinkle the top with some icing sugar or top with whipped cream.

Serve as a dessert by itself or with some cream or ice cream.

PACMAN Birthday!

For my husband's birthday & with very little time this year I had the challenge of making a cake with a computer game theme. My husband loves his space games especially Elite Dangerous, so an easy but retro idea came to mind....

Helicopter Cake

When your toddler is helicopter mad & constantly asks for a helicopter cake for his birthday, you have to step up to the mark! So here was my attempt at a helicopter cake using a chocolate orange vegan cake recipe.

Thanksgiving Dedication & 30th Birthday Cakes

Both myself and my husband are 30 this year which feels like a significant milestone, so we chose to celebrate combining a dedication ceremony of thanksgiving for our son and a big party with family and friends. But every party needs a cake... 

Here are the efforts of my first fruit cake using a good old traditional recipe from the Be-Ro cookery book, iced with marzipan and ready to roll icing. The leaves, writing and other details are piped on using royal icing of different autumnal colours. Very impressed with the final outcome, now just hope everyone loves it, from it's appearance to it's taste!

Celebration cake

Yesterday we were celebrating with family & friends a year with our little one, who adores "doggies" so here is the cake we made. 

Homemade Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients:

For truffles:

50g butter

300ml cream

300g chocolate

1/4 tsp vanilla essence

For coating:

Chopped nuts

Icing sugar

Cocoa

Method:

1. Place the butter & cream in a pan on a low heat, until the butter has melted and the cream is simmering.
2. Break the chocolate into pieces and place into a bowl with the vanilla essence.
3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate & stir until smooth.
4. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours (or overnight).
5. Rub some sunflower oil onto your hands & roll teaspoon sized balls of the mix into balls.
6. Roll the balls in the coatings as above to cover them & place into small paper cases.

Can be wrapped up as a lovely homemade gift for someone.

Snowman Soup

I do love a bit of Christmas Creativities :)

Snowman Soup

You need:

Snowman chocolate mould (each mould needs to hold approximately 25g chocolate)
Small plastic cellophane bags
Lollipop sticks
Pre-wrapped candy canes
The Snowman Soup Poem

Ingredients:

150g cooking chocolate

50g mini marshmallows

a sprinkling of cinnamon

Method:

1. Boil a pan of water.
2. Break chocolate into a glass bowl.
3. Sit the glass bowl over the pan of boiling water.
4. Stir the chocolate until it has melted and is smooth.
5. Spoon the chocolate into plastic mould until full.
6. Push the mini marshmallows & lollipop sticks into the melted chocolate.
7. Place in the fridge for a few hours for it to set.
8. Turn out the chocolate snowmen from the mould and place in a small cellophane bag with a candy cane and tie.
9. Attach the Snowman Soup poem and give to your friends and family.

Snowman Poem

If you're in need of a festive cheer

Cos it's cold outside have no fear

Heat one cup of milk, good sir

Dunk your snowman, have a stir

As you watch the snowman drown

You will see the milk turn brown

This might make you stop and think

Perhaps I'll go and have a drink

As you slurp your snowman soup

You might find your eyelids droop

As you're nicely warmed inside

Snuggle in your duvet and hide

Then the chill will be no more

You will be warmed to your core

Lots of love from ??

Attached snowman poem

Snowman Soup

      

Rocky Road Fudge

Condensed Milk

Ingredients:

400g dark/milk chocolate

400g can of condensed milk

30g butter

110g icing sugar

200g chopped glace cherries

150g mini marshmallows

Melt chocolate, butter and
condensed milk together in a pan

Method:

1. Break chocolate into pieces.
2. Melt chocolate, butter and condensed milk together over a low heat in a pan, stirring until smooth.
3. Add icing sugar, whilst stirring.
4. Add in the 2/3rds of the chopped cherries and mini marshmallows and mix in well.
5. Line a tin with greaseproof paper and press the mixture into it.
6. Scatter over the leftover marshmallows and cherries and press into the surface.
7. Leave in the fridge to cool and set for a few hours.
8. Slice into small pieces.

Suggestions:

Add biscuits pieces or nuts to the mix.

Place in an empty jar with a decorated label or ribbon to give to someone as a present especially at Christmas.

Flapjack & Chocolate Nibbles

Ingredients:

110g margarine

150g soft brown sugar

1 tbsp golden syrup

110g self raising flour

300g oats

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 egg

100g chocolate

Method:

1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4 or 180C.
2. Over a gentle heat melt the margarine, sugar and syrup in a small pan.
3. Add to melted mix to the dry ingredients and add the egg, then mix well until it forms a sticky mixture (it can take a while of mixing for it to gain the correct consistency).
4. In your hand pick up a small ball of the mix and form into a ball.
5. Place on a baking tray and bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown.
6. Cool on a wire cooling rack.
7. Melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a pan of boiling water.
8. Stir the chocolate until it has all melted.
9. Using a spoon, spoon the melted chocolate over one half of the nibbles.
10. Place on a piece of greaseproof paper to cool and set.

Midnight Cookies

Ingredients:

125g butter

175g caster sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

125g plain flour

35g cocoa powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Balls of cookie mix about to go in the oven

Method:

1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4 or 180C.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat the egg and vanilla essence together and then add to the butter & sugar mixture. Mix well until smooth.
4. Mix together the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda.
5. Add the dry mix slowly to the wet mix, constantly mixing until all the dry ingredients are added and it is well combined.
6. Make small walnut sized balls in your hands and place onto a baking sheet, well spaced out.
7. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes.
8. Cool on the baking tray before moving to a wire rack to cool.

Milk Chocolate & Nut (Egg Yolk) Cookies

This recipe is ideal to make with those left over egg yolks when you have made meringues...

Large Cookies

Ingredients:

225g butter

400g granulated sugar

3 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla essence

100g milk chocolate, broken in small pieces

50g chopped nuts

320g plain flour

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp bicarbonate soda

half tsp salt

Mix the dough together

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C or Gas Mark 4.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl.
3. Beat together the 3 egg yolks and beat into the mix.
4. Mix in the vanilla essence, lemon juice, chocolate pieces and nuts.
5. Fold in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt to form a soft dough.
6. Take a spoonful of dough and mould into a ball in your hands.
7. Place on a greased baking tray and flatten with your fingers. Place the cookies about 3cm apart as they spread a lot in the oven.
8. Place in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until the edges crisp.



The cookies spread on the tray

9. Leave on the tray to cool before removing to a cooling rack.

ENJOY with a good cuppa!

Place on a baking tray

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake

Cake:

55g margarine

225g soft light brown sugar

115g crunchy peanut butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

225g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

100ml milk

chocolate spread

Icing:

100g butter

200g icing sugar

1-2 tbsps milk

2-3 tbsps peanut butter (or more as required)

Method:

Cake:

Add half a tsp of chocolate spread

1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4 or 180C.
2. Beat well together the butter, sugar and peanut butter.
3. Gradually beat in the already lightly beaten eggs and add the vanilla extract.
4. Add the flour and baking powder and fold into the mix gently whilst adding the milk slowly.
5. Spoon 1 tsp of the mixture into each of the paper bun cases and make a small well in the mix.
6. Add half a tsp of chocolate spread into the centre of each bun and top with another tsp of the cake mixture.
7. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Allow to cool.

Icing:

Cool the cakes before icing

1. Put icing sugar and butter together in a bowl and add the milk very slowly whilst mixing very well until it is a thick consistency.
2. Add the peanut butter and continue to mix well.
3. With the back of a spoon spread the icing onto the tops of the cooled cakes.

R2D2 cake special

R2D2 with birthday boy!

Ok, this is a few weeks late and many of you will have already seen the photos of Luke's birthday cake, which I made this year. He challenged me to make him a Star Wars cake and not being the slight-ist bit knowledgable about Star Wars I had to do some research.

Whilst researching I stumbled across this blog post, a Star Wars birthday cake by Nest of Posies. It was perfect to help me conquer the challenge my husband had set me :)

I started by making 4 cakes, 2x 8 inch round (Vegan Chocolate Orange Cake, which I will share the recipe for sometime soon!) and 2x 8 inch square (Victoria sponge). Once the cakes were cool, the Chocolate Orange cakes were placed on top of one another with a chocolate spread filling and the Victoria sponge were placed on top of one another with a jam filling. 

After this I followed a Nest of Posies instructions to cut out the shape of R2D2.

Shape of R2D2 by cutting out the cakes

Next began the fun bit icing. I made glace icing using icing sugar and adding a tbsp of boiling water at a time until the consistency was thick but spreadable.

R2D2's body and legs were iced first and then I added a few drops of black food colouring to make grey icing for his head, unfortunately I made the grey icing a bit too thin so it ran quite a bit.

An iced R2D2

R2D2 was then left for the icing to set (I put him in the fridge for a few hours) before I added the detail.

For this I needed a photo of R2D2 which I found online and using some ready made blue piping icing I added the blue detail.

The finished product

I was very pleased with how he turned out, he wasn't perfect but I thought he looked pretty good for a first attempt...I don't know whether I'll beat this next year.

Chocolate fudge cake with the help of Carnation!

If you are an avid follower of my FOODY FRIDAY blog posts you may remember me raving about Carnation Caramel?

Well, I thought that I would try another recipe from the Carnation website.

Carnation Chocolate Fudge Cake

For the full recipe click the link above to go to the Carnation webpage.

This was the result of my cake...

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Perhaps my icing could have been a bit neater...

...but it tasted fab!!!!!