Back to Blogging

So I haven't been on here for a long time because I've been super busy with college work and university interviews, but I got an offer and will be beginning my Midwifery degree in September, yay!

Here's some pictures of what i've been cooking over the past few months! I'll hopefully put some recipes and new stuff on here in the next couple of weeks.

 This is a birthday cake I made for my best friend. It was a chocolate fudge base and vanilla top covered in white chocolate buttercream and retro icing.

These I made from the wonderful Lilly Vanilli cookbook. They are Raspberry Frangipane Tarts with Almond Buttercream, topped with toasted almonds and a fresh raspberry.

They were so tasty with a lovely fresh raspberry coulis in the middle, homemade sweet pastry and sweet frangipane on top- yum yum!

These Apple Tarte Tatin made with sour granny smith apples with a rich, sweet caramel were wonderful! I made them on my new Rangemaster 900 in my new kitchen- baking has never been so easy!

I got myself a fancy edible ink pen and tried my hand at recreating Garfield cupcakes which i've seen on a few other sites. Pretty pleased with the way they turned out, and the maple-vanilla cupcakes with maple buttercream were lush.

 These Hazelnut Pralines i made for Easter were my first ever attempt at homemade chocolates. I was covered in melted chocolate by the end and feeling a little sick from eating leftovers, but they went down so well as Easter gifts!

Alongside the pralines I made Salted Caramel filled Chocolates and with the leftover caramel I did Salted Caramel Pennys. Everyone agreed that these tasted like little soft Daim Bars- but no-one was complaining!















Emily x

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Sometimes, you just want chocolate cake.

When I was younger, we had this old recipe book, inside was possibly the best chocolate fudge cake recipe that has ever existed. It was this thick brown book without a cover, with pages falling out all over the place, but this one recipe, we used every time.

During a big clear out, this book tragically got lost, and my family had been mourning it ever since (ha, ha). I've looked everywhere on the internet but it seems that we won't get the recipe back. All I can remember is that this cake had buttermilk in it, because I was always fascinated by my sister making milk curdle before adding it to a cake! (Thats buttermilk, if you didn't know!)

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup with Paprika Halloumi Croutons

I love butternut squash, and I love halloumi.. so when I found both in my fridge I decided to make something using both. This soup is lovely- the smoked paprika and chilli complement the rich flavour of the roasted butternut squash and the grilled halloumi works surprisingly well!

I love autumn, how the seasonal vegetables are vibrant and orange, and how the leaves all follow suit- its lovely. This soup has a nice kick from the chilli to warm you up on a cold autumnal day, and is heart enough to fill you up, too.

The only thing is, the croutons are so moreish that they probably won't last as long as the soup!

Hallowe'en Post

Nothing to do with cooking, but I left buying pumpkins too late this year and had to go on a pumpkin hunt! I finally found two little ones in a green grocers and carved them while watching The Lost Boys.. festive, right?

Here's how they turned out!

Emily! :) x

10 Minute Tasty Superfood Dinner

I'm not sure how healthy this actually is, but based on how much I love it, how quick it is, and that a few of the ingredients are healthy- i've talked myself into believing that its the healthiest thing that has ever existed!

The bacon (i know, not healthy) adds saltiness, whilst the lemon cuts through it with a sharp addition and the tomatoes bring sweetness. The kale reduces a lot so you eat more good stuff without realising and.. cheese is just awesome. It's a balanced meal that includes two of your 5-a-day, protein, fibre and calcium. You should definitely try this whether you agree that its healthy or not. You can choose which cheese to use, I've tried this with mozzarella, brie and camembert. Camembert is my favourite, but always with parmesan sprinkled on top!

Butterscotch Cookies

So here's another recipe with my new favourite ingredient- burnt butter!

A lot of the stuff I bake ends up at work- because there aren't enough people in my house to eat it all- but a friend of mine from work is fussy and doesn't like chocolate so I asked him what I could bake that he would eat and enjoy. He came up with butterscotch cookies.

I tried making butterscotch chips to go in the butterscotch cookies, but they never fully set; when chilled it was like toffee, but when heated it melted again! In the end, I made butterscotch flavour cookies, make a hole in the middle and put a lump of butterscotch in there, then rolled them up and baked them like that. This kind of worked! But, they tasted great either way!

Risotto alla Milanese

The first time I had this wonderful saffron and parmesan risotto was earlier this year when we took my mum on a surprise birthday treat to Milan. Milan is a beautiful city, however, in order to visit this stylish city, you must pack only your best clothes. We spent far too long getting ready and dressed up each day- even if we were just going shopping or sight seeing. Everyone, everywhere, is immaculate. It really puts London to shame!

We saw an opera at the world famous Tetro alla Scala, went to countless art galleries including seeing Da Vinci's Last Supper, saw the incredible Duomo and, of course, we window shopped at all the fancy designer shops. One of the best parts of Milan, however, is the food (no surprises there!) with Gelato cafes on each corner, we ate Italian ice cream for breakfast lunch and dinner, as well as the amazing fresh pasta and breads, then gorged on aperitifs and cocktails in swanky bars in the evenings.

One of the aperitifs we had was Risotto Milanese. It's so simple- with only two main flavours- yet so tasty! It's normally a wonderful bright yellow colour, however my saffron wasn't the most expensive, hence the paler colouring. I recommend using a high quality extra strong parmesan and good quality saffron- powdered if possible in this recipe to get the true Italian flavours.

Khao Niew Mamuang - Sticky Rice with Mango

I spent part of this summer in Thailand with my family. I love to travel, but this really was a once in a lifetime experience and I would recommend everybody to jump on the next plane and see all the incredible sights before they disappear into a tourist crazy oblivion.

Thai is my favourite cuisine (well, it was before I over-indulged on it in Thailand) so I jumped at the chance to complete a Thai cookery class at the multi award-winning Boathouse restaurant in Phuket. We cooked and ate and cooked some more all day, it was delightful. I digress.

Coconut sticky rice, served still warm with ripe mango and coconut ice cream. Doesn't that sound nice? Yes is the answer. Especially with this recipe fresh from Thailand.

Bodeans

One word. Bodeans.

This food is the reason obesity is a problem in America. Eating here is the closest I have (shamefully) ever come to being sick through over eating.. but i'd do it again tomorrow.

Bodeans is a BBQ smokehouse with four restaurants dotted around London. Think American portions, American beer, American sports on the TV screens and proper American meat! The place itself has a great feel to it, with bar stool type seating in the top area with sport on the big screens and then proper table seating downstairs.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cookie Dough Filling and Toasted Marshmallow Frosting

The first thing I was told when I presented these to my family was 'I resent you for not discovering these sooner'. These are really that good. You almost feel guilty with every bite, but the sickly moreish-ness of these cupcakes diminish any sense of guilt you may feel.. even after you've gone back for a few more.

These aren't the easiest cupcakes to make, but they are oh so worth it. I would give you the speech about saving them for a special occasion, but, I made them on a Friday- I always spend my weekdays looking forward to Friday's (TGIF!), so I class each one as a special occasion and baked these in accordance. I love how the whole house fills with the wintery smell of toasted marshmallows when making these. As you can see, I made half of mine vanilla, but everyone agreed that the chocolate ones were best, so that's the recipe i've given!

Today is a Good Day

Today is a good day. Today I get to use my blowtorch. That makes today a good day. I've missed my blowtorch.


Take a look later for the outcome

Emily :) x

Chocolate Hazelnut Crêpe Cake

You think it sounds wrong, but its not. This cake is so right. My sister lives off of nutella crêpes every time we go to on holiday, I thought it would be fitting to make her one for her birthday this year. I layered each crêpe with three fillings- a dark chocolate ganache, a hazelnut milk chocolate cream and sprinkling of chopped hazelnuts.

This was amazing with chopped strawberries piled on top and vanilla ice cream or fresh double cream poured over. Needless to say, it didn't last long in my house full of chocolate lovers.

Pretty Nutty Cake

Maple and pecan is my favourite flavour combo like, ever. I've never had it in a cake before, so when I wanted to try out my new colour pastes and piping nozzles and found maple syrup and pecans in my cupboard, I thought i'd give it a go! The vanilla and maple syrup in the icing give it an amazing flavour, too.

This cake would look just as good without all the fancy icing, maybe just covered in buttercream with a handful of pecans in the middle. I made this a while back so the icing isn't great- but the taste was! I promise!

Cake Ingredients
755g caster sugar
150g brown sugar
225g softened butter
4 eggs
225g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
1-2 tbs maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
200g pecan nuts, chopped

Maple Buttercream Ingredients
140g soft butter
280g sifted icing sugar
1-2tbs maple syrup (depending on consistency required)
1/2tsp vanilla

Method
(preheat oven to 180 Celsius, line a deep sandwich tin)

1. Cream together butter and sugar
2. Whisk in eggs one by one, then vanilla 1tbs maple syrup
3. Gradually sift in flour and baking powder
4. Add second tbs of maple syrup if needed for consistency
5. Stir in pecan nuts
6. Pour into baking tin and bake for 18-20 minutes or until pick comes out clean
7. Leave to cool in tin for 10 minutes
8. Meanwhile, blend together all buttercream ingredients
9. Remove cake from tin and leave to fully cool
10. Ice cake with buttercream and serve with cups of tea!

Enjoy! :) x

Burnt Butter Blueberry Muffins

These muffins are the one. I was a little apprehensive about burning my butter, but omg, these taste so good! The burnt butter creates a smokey wintery taste to the muffin and with the sharp blueberries make a great combo! This recipe is taken from Joy the Baker, one of my favourite bakers and bloggers. I love her style or writing and her recipes are divine!

I have changed the measurements from American to English as I always spend ages converting them in all the recipes I use from America.

Ingredients
100g unsalted butter
80ml whole milk
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
190g plain flour
150g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla
1/ 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4tsp salt

300g fresh blueberries

For Topping

40g butter (cubed)

64g plain flour

45g caster sugar

Method

(preheat the oven to 190 Celsius, line a muffin tin with 12 cases)

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Keep an eye on the butter.  Melt and cook down the butter until little brown bits appear in the pan.  The crackling will subside and butter will begin to brown fairly quickly after that.  Keep a close eye.  Remove from heat.
2. Whisk milk, egg, yolk and vanilla until combined.  Add the brown butter and stir to combine.
3. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl  Add milk and butter mixture all at one and stir gently to combine.  Gently but thoroughly fold in the blueberries.
4. Divide mix between the 12 cases and make the topping my combining the 3 ingredients in a bowl then crumble over muffins
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes then cool in pan for 15 minutes before serving

Enjoy! :) x

Rainbow cake #2

So, after the 'success' of my first rainbow cake, my best friends niece chose to have one for her birthday, too, and as it was a joint party- the calling was for two!

Although I would never make 2-6-level cakes in one day again, the girls were over the moon which made up for my rather stressful day! And the cakes were infinitely better than my first attempt!

The thing I struggled with is the colouring: growing up, we had those liquid food colours that would dye anything any colour with just a few drops (think cakes, icing, clothes, fingers...) however, now- probably because of all this e number fuss- these have been discontinued and replaced with gel food colouring- which takes about half a tube to colour one cake, and begins to change the flavour!

So what I have found are these colour pastes from the wonderful Cake Craft World. They're a little more expensive, but you only need the tiniest amount so they last for ages- plus, they give a really nice rich colour rather than the slightly fake colours from the dyes.


Each layer of cake is just less than half of a victoria sponge mix, but I trimmed all of the edges off after baking to help them to sit flatter. I also use baking butter for the cakes, but real butter for the buttercream. I used 3 of each colour sugar paste to cover the cakes, which left me with plenty for decorations and a bit left over.

Proper Cheese Straws

So.. I've decided to give food blogging another go after obsessing over The Great British Bake Off for weeks on end (and being completely gutted when the beautiful James didn't win!) and what better way to revamp a food blog than with the best food item ever? CHEESE!

Before last week it had never occurred to me to bake my own cheese straws because the ones from m&s are just so tasty! But I was feeling lazy, craving cheese and had the ingredients so I thought I would give them a go- and they turned out good!

 I made these whilst sitting in front of the TV which really proves how simple they are! They're a great way to use up eggs and the last bits of whatever cheese you have lying around! I used parmesan and extra strong cheddar in mine with some cayenne pepper, paprika and black pepper for a kick :)


 Ingredients 
200g self raising flour 
125g cold butter (diced) 
2 eggs (one of them separated) 
50g grated parmesan cheese 
75g finely grated cheddar (plus extra for sprinkling) 
pinch of cayenne pepper 
pinch of paprika 
sesame seeds 
salt and pepper 

Method
 1. In a bowl, rub the flour, butter and spices together until they resemble breadcrumbs. Mix in both cheeses
2. Add one whole egg and the second egg yolk, keeping the spare white to one side. Mix until everything is incorporated
3. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes, then turn on the oven (180 degrees) and tip mixture onto a floured surface
4. Roll dough out until roughly 9x12" then cut into 24 straws. They may shrink slightly when cut so you can roll them again, separately if needed. Twist each straw once at each end, brush with the left over egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds and left over cheese, then arrange them on greased baking sheets
5. Bake! I only cooked mine for 15 minutes but if they look pale you can leave them for an extra few minutes! These are a must have straight from the oven when they're still warm, possibly dipped in more cheese (unless that's going too far?) and definitely with a glass of white wine. Enjoy :) x

Lilac French Macaroons with Raspberry Buttercream Filling

When I was in France last year, I loved staring through the windows of all the posh patisseries, marvelling at the stacks of beautifully coloured macaroons.

The reason I was staring through the windows? They are so expensive!!

For a lovely pack of 6 mini macaroons it can cost up to €20! As much as I would have loved to, I could not justify spending that and so when I was reminded of them last week, I had to give them a go!

Next time, mine would be smaller than they are here- I was under the impression that the mix would stay where I piped it (like a meringue) - wrong! It spreads!


Recipe to follow!


Emily :)

Individual Lemon Meringue Pies

I made a batch of these and a proper sized lemon meringue pie at the same time and talked my mum so far into believing that the large quantity of eggs and lemons in these pies make them pretty much healthy that she ate the whole full sized pie in one evening! 
What do they say? The proof is in the pudding pie?
These came about in a two-fold way: Firstly, I love anything miniature. Secondly, I really wanted to try out my meringue piping skills!!


The orange juice in the filling subtracts the tartness from the lemons which is why these pies are so lovely. I also made the pastry myself, which I don't normally do and managed to convert myself to making my own pastry from now on!


Pastry Ingredients
200g plain flour
100g cold butter, cut into cubes
2 egg yolks (save whites for meringue)
1tbs icing sugar
A little milk to loosen
You will also need tin foil and baking beans, or some heavy dried pulses such as pinto beans
Filling Ingredients
2 level tbs corn flour
100g caster sugar
2 lemons grated finely
125ml lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
Juice of 1 orange
85g butter, cubed
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
Meringue Ingredients
4 egg whites
200g caster sugar
1 heaped tsp cornflour


Method
(preheat oven to 180, have a 12 hole cupcake tin greased, or 6 mini fluted flan tins)

1. Put all of the pastry ingredients into a food processor and blend until pastry is formed, add a little milk (no more than 1tbs) to loosen
2.  Roll out pastry onto a lightly floured surface. I like a very thin pastry, around 2mm. With a cutter, or a cup if you don't have the right size. 
3. Cut out your 12 pastry rounds and press into cupcake holes. Prick all over with a fork and chill for 15 minutes
4. Cut out 12 tin foil squares and place them, shiny side down onto the cases. Pour baking beans or pulses into each one and place in the oven and bake blind for 5 minutes before turning the oven down to 160, removing the foil and beans and baking for a further 5 minutes or until a light golden brown
5. While the pastry bakes, prepare the filling: mix the cornflour, sugar and lemon zest in a medium saucepan. Strain and stir in the lemon juice gradually. Make orange juice up to 200ml with water and strain into the pan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth. Once the mixture bubbles, remove from the heat and beat in the butter until melted. 
6. In a cup, whisk the egg yolks and whole egg together with a fork, stir them into the pan and return to a medium heat. Keep stirring vigorously for a few minutes, until the mixture thickens and plops from the spoon. (It will bubble, but doesn't curdle.) Take off the heat and set aside while you make the meringue.
7. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl till they form soft peaks then begin adding the sugar, spoonful by spoonful. Half way through, add the cornflour, all the time, whisking until thick.
8. Spoon lemon filling into pie cases- make them level with pastry.
9. Attach a large round nozzle to your piping bag and spoon meringue into it. Pipe meringue onto your pies, beginning at the edge before curling into the middle
10. Put pies back into the oven and bake for around 10 minutes or until meringue has colour to it and is slightly crisp.
11. Remove from oven and leave in the tins for 10 minutes before removing from tins and leaving for a further hour.

Enjoy! x

Millionaires Shortbread with Sea Salted Caramel

I made up this recipe myself, it's a mixture of 3 amazing things combined into one; shortbread, salted caramel and white chocolate. Salted caramel seems to be the new 'in thing' and I am so on board with this; it's amazing. I first had it around christmas time in ice cream form at a West End show and it was like heaven (if not, slightly over priced). 
The white chocolate addition was a bit of a trial but I think it worked really nicely. It's really your choice which chocolate you use to top them, or be greedy like me and use both!
I also made a very large mix of them so i'm going to post my recipe, halved!


Shortbread ingredients
175g butter (room temp)
75g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
225g plain flour
Salted caramel ingredients
1 397g can of sweetened condensed milk (i used carnation)
175g butter
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbs golden syrup
To top
400g Either milk or white chocolate- depending on how adventurous you're feeling!


Method
(preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius, grease a square cake tin)

1. Put all of the shortbread ingredients into a large bowl and using your fingers, form a rough dough
2. Press the dough into your cake tin and prick all over with a fork
3. Place in the oven for 5 minutes, then turn the heat down to 150 and cook for a further 35-40 minutes
4. Meanwhile, place all of the caramel ingredients into a big saucepan, stir on a medium heat until the butter is melted then bring to the boil for 10 minutes, stirring
5. When the shortbread is out, pour the caramel over and place in the fridge until the caramel is cooled and slightly firm
6. Melt the chocolate, pour over and leave to set, once again
7. Cut into squares

Enjoy! x

Butter Cookies.. with no butter!

Okay, so these cookies taste and almost look like something out of a packet  which is a nice change from post things I bake which have that 'home-made' look about them. I came across the idea of using an American ingredient called 'Butter Crisco' to replace butter in baking and thought it was a terrible idea but the next day I happened to come across an American food section in a farm shop which I love and there, right in front of me was this big tub of Butter flavour Crisco and, I couldn't resist!


It smells and looks so processed and fake 
(I know, i'm really not selling this recipe to you) 
but I used it anyway and the cookies turned out really well, however, if you don't want to use this odd ingredient, or, can't get hold of it- just use the same amount of butter!!


Ingredients
240g butter flavour Crisco (or, butter!)
200g caster sugar
90g brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tbs water
1tsp vanilla
350g plain flour, sifted
1tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt


Method
(preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius, line 3 baking sheets with greaseproof paper, this recipe makes loads and they do spread out)

1.  In a large bowl, beat together Crisco, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, water and vanilla until fully mixed, get everything off the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix again
2. Sieve in the flour, baking soda and salt and mix well
3. Make the mixture into a ball in the mixing bowl and cover with cling film, then put it in the fridge for around half an hour (if you're too impatient to wait, leave for 10..)
4. Now, remove from the fridge, and begin forming 1-inch balls with the mixture by rolling them in your hands.
5. You can make them more like biscuits by making smaller balls, or big cookies by making them slightly bigger
6. Place them, spread widely apart on your baking sheets and slightly flatten the balls
7. Put in the oven for 8-10 minutes, till light brown. They should still look slightly undercooked when you remove them from the oven, this keeps them chewy as they will keep cooking after you have removed them from the oven

Enjoy! x