Flapjack Frenzy!

I had a bit of a flapjack craving! I've tried to make them healthy (ish) by adding lots of fruit and seeds. (If you want something a bit naughtier, just leave the fruit and seeds out)

I got both the basic recipes from 'Healthy Lunchboxes for Kids' by Amanda Grant - she has LOADS of brilliant healthy (ish) recipes like muesli cookies, sultana traybake and garlic crisps! :)

Apple and Sultana Flapjacks

Ingredients

• 80g light soft brown sugar
• 180g butter
• 150g golden syrup
• 300g porridge oats
• 3 small apples
• 5 handfuls of sultanas

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Heat butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan until dissolved.
3. Take pan off heat and add oats and fruit. Mix well.
4. Tip into a lined tin (1 used a 19cm tin) and smooth.
5. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown.
6. Remove from oven and cool for 5 mins
7. Cut into 8/12/16 pieces (depends how greedy/virtuous you are feeling!)
8. Leave to cool in the tin

Cranberry and Seed Flapjack - v. virtuous

Ingredients

• 100ml sunflower oil
• 30g soft light brown sugar
• 150 ml golden syrup
• 250g oats
• 100g seeds (I uses sunflower and pumpkin)
• 60g dried fruit (I used cranberry but you can use anything)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Heat oil, sugar and syrup in a saucepan until dissolved.
3. Remove from heat and add the rest of the ingredients.
4. Pour into greased and lined tin ( I used 20cm tin)
5. Bake for 15-18 mins until golden.
6. Leave to cool for 10 mins and cut into 16 pieces.
7. Leave to cool in tin

Christmas!

I went OVERBOARD for Christmas!

Cherry Blondies for my brother, Rocky Road billionnaire's shortbread for my dad and my first ever Christmas Cake.

I adapted the cherry blondies and the rocky road billionnaire's from 'Baking Magic' by Kate Shirazi. I would defo recommend it, its brilliant!

CHERRY BLONDIES

• 110g unsalted butter
• 250g white chocolate
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 50g caster sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 125g plain flour
• 100g milk choc chips
• 100g grams cranberries and glace cherries (chopped) - my addition

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin.
2. Melt butter and half the white chocolate. When melted, remove from heat and add the rest of the white choc. Keep stirring and the residual heat will melt the rest.
3. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. Add the choc and butter mix, the vanilla and the flour and beat thoroughly but quickly.
4. add choc chips and fruit and stir until evenly mixed
5. Pour into tin and smooth top. Bake for 30 mins until golden and squidgy.
6. Cool in tin then cut into squares.

ROCKY ROAD BILLIONAIRES

For the Shortbread

• 250g unsalted butter
• 50g caster sugar
• 250g plain flour
• 125g cornflour

For the Caramel

• I cheated and used a tin of dulce de leche!

For the topping

• 350g milk choc
• 100g chopped nuts
• 100g glace cherries and cranberries
• 100g mini marshmellows

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and line a 28 x 20cm tin
2. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy
3. Stir in the flour and cornflour and combine
4. Press mixture into tin, squishing to the edges and smoothing
5. Prick with fork and bake for 20 mins until golden.
6. When cool, pour dulce de leche over the top and smooth
7. Melt the choc and pour over caramel and smooth
8. Sprinkle nuts, fruit and marshmellows over top

CHRISTMAS CAKE

I used the recipe from here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/christmascake_2359

Chocolate Crispy Cakes

Awesome and easy peasy to make...

CATCH UP

For Dan's birthday in November, I made his favourite Chocolate Cornflake Cakes (or as he calls them, chocolate crack!)

INGREDIENTS

300g dark choc

150g unsalted butter

250g golden syrup

100g chopped nuts

200g cornflakes

METHOD

1. melt chocolate butter and golden syrup in a pan.
2. remove from heat and add nuts and cornflakes. stir til combined
3. spoon mixture into cupcake cases and leave to cool

Yummy and easy!

Lorraine Pascale

Lorraine Pascale is my new baking crush. I made her oreo brownies and they were DELISH! Can't wait to see what comes up on new series!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/cookies_and_cream_fudge_48648

Bonfire Night

CATCH UP

For Bonfire night I made my first foray into the world of cake pops!

Toffee Apple Cake Pops

I did the full recipe and ended up with LOADS so if you only want a few, half this recipe!

INGREDIENTS

100g unsalted butter (melted and cooled)

300g SR flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

200g light muscavado sugar

3 dessert apples

3 eggs (beaten)

100ml whole milk

30 lollipop sticks

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

175g unsalted butter (softened)

225g icing sugar (sifted)

FOR THE TOFFEE COVERING

160g caster sugar

200ml double cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 170C
2. Grease and line 23cm square tin
3. sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and then stir in sugar
4. peel, core and grate apples. drain and squeeze out excess juice.
5. make a well in centre of dry ingredients and add apples, eggs, melted butter and milk. stir until just combined
6. tip into tin and bake for 35 - 40 mins. cool
7. BUTTERCREAM - beat butter until pale and fluffy. add icing sugar and beat for 5 mins
8. POPS - crumble cake into large bowl. mix in buttercream until it holds together. roll into balls and cool overnight
9. TOFFEE - place sugar and 60ml water in a pan and heat gently. when sugar is dissolved, bring to boil. when it thickens and turns golden remove from heat. add cream and vanilla and stir until smooth. Place each lollystick into toffee, then into a cake pop, then into caramel. stick in block with holes (cardboard or polystyrene your choice) and cool

YUM!

I also served some in petit four cases because I didn't have enough sticks

Halloween Cupcakes

CATCH UP

I made these back in October, they were very easy to make! Used basic double chocolate cupcake mix...

150 g unsalted butter (I always use butter it gives better results than marg)

150g caster sugar

150g self raising flour

25g cocoa powder

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100g chocolate chips

1. Cream butter and sugar

2. Add beaten eggs

3. Add flour and cocoa powder and choc chips and vanilla essence

4 Beat til smooth then bake at 180C for 15-20 mins

Then when they were cool I made some basic buttercream (150g unsalted butter, 250g icing sugar, beat together then add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 teaspoons hot water and beat til smooth)

I spread a spoonful of strawberry jam on top (to stop crumbs getting into the icing) then piped the buttercream on top and decorated

Spiders

pipe a thin line of black icing in a spiral (morrisons has little piping tubes which are brill!) and use a cocktail stick to go from centre to edge to make web. Roll 1 small ball and 1 tiny ball from black fondant icing to make a spider

Pumpkins

Use a circular cutter to cut circle from orange ready made icing (I mixed red and yellow icing to make orange) then use a cocktail stick to score curves down the circle (to look like a pumpkin). I cut eyes and mouths out of black ready to roll icing and piped leaves on top with a morrisons green icing tube

Bats

free hand cut a bat from black ready to roll icing an put on top

Sorry!

I have been very very lazy about blogging! I have no real excuse, just work and play taking up a lot of my time lol! I have been baking, just forgot to blog it!

Let me use today to catch up...