Creme Egg Mousse

Happy Easter!!

So, last Sunday I was at the garage with my other half, when I spotted a pack of 6 Creme Eggs on offer for £1.50. When I picked them up, Ali gave me a look which said "seriously, a week before Easter and you're buying MORE chocolate?", so I explained, "I want to make something Eastery for my blog." And we left it at that.

Later that same day, I was browsing some recipe books looking for something for dessert, when I came across a recipe for Mars Bar Mousse in Good Food's 101 Tempting Desserts. That gave me an idea - what if I made Creme Egg mousse, instead!? So, I did, and they turned out pretty tasty. The end result is a light, fluffy mousse, sitting on top of a layer of chocolate sauce. And guess what? IT ACTUALLY TASTES OF CREME EGG!

You can thank me later.

Ingredients:
2 Creme Eggs
30ml milk
1tbsp cocoa powder
1tsp cornflour
1 egg white
Chocolate stars, to decorate

Prep time: 15 mins
Set time: at least 2 hours
Serves: 2

1. Okay, so you start with the tricky part. Chop your creme eggs into smallish chunks, without losing too much creme. Pop this in a small saucepan with the milk and cocoa powder.
2. Put the pan on a low heat and stir continuously with a whisk until the chocolate has melted. Add the cornflour and continue to whisk for a further 3 minutes. You want the mixture to get hot so that it thickens, but you don't want to let it boil or you may spoil the chocolate. Remove from the heat and set to one side.
3. Put your egg white into a glass bowl, and rest this over a pan of gently simmering water. Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks, being very careful not to get any water into the bowl. Once the egg whites have reached stiff peaks remove from the bain marie.
4. Carefully fold the chocolate sauce into the egg whites, until fully combined. Pour this into two serving dishes, and pop in the fridge for at least two hours to set.
5. Get a spoon, tuck in, and enjoy the chocolate overload. After all, it is Easter!

Happy Thoughts
x

Cake'n'Bake Club: Beetroot and Goat's Cheese Brownies

This month's theme for Cake'n'Bake was "Mad March", and I wanted to bake something a little on the unusual side. When I saw a photo of "goat's cheese brownies" on buzzfeed, I knew that had to be it. The only problem was that it ended up turning out that goat's cheese brownies were not that mad at all... when I searched for recipes 100's came up! Apparently goat's cheese brownies are pretty big in the USA! So, how could I make my brownies even madder? By adding beetroot. Yummy, lovely beetroot.

This is a brownie of three layers. I used my usual brownie recipe for the chocolate layer, and took inspiration for the goat's cheese layer and the beetroot layer here and here (respectively). I started mine with the chocolate layer, then goat's cheese, and then beetroot. Next time I make them, I'll do the beetroot layer first, as that batter is much thicker than the other two and needed spreading with a spoon, whereas the chocolate and cheese layers could just be poured. I've typed the instructions below as if the beetroot layer went in first, because I think you'll find it much easier to do that way! These brownies do take a bit of time and effort, but they are seriously worth it...

I've provided below all of the ingredients you need to make all three layers, so this will work as a sort of shopping list. But, to make it easier to read and to tell what goes where, I've split ingredients by layer in the method below. I hope this makes sense!

Ingredients

175g cooked beetroot

35ml vegetable oil

100g dark chocolate

3 medium eggs

50g caster sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

100g self raising flour

50g cocoa powder

150g soft goat's cheese

30g honey

55g margarine

110g muscovado sugar

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Makes: 25 brownies

• Preheat the oven to 180 and line a brownie tin with baking paper
• Start with the beetroot layer: 

For the beetroot layer:

175g cooked beetroot

35ml vegetable oil

100g dark chocolate

1 egg

50g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

45g self raising flour

25g cocoa powder

• Put the beetroot and the oil into a blender and blend to a fine paste. Add the chocolate and blend until the chocolate is in very small chunks. Put this mixture to one side.
• Pop the egg, sugar and vanilla extract into a mixing bowl and whisk until pale and foamy. Add the beetroot mixture, flour and cocoa powder to the bowl and fold into the eggs until all combined.
• Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and spread level with the back of a spoon. Pop the brownie tin to one side whilst you prepare the cheese layer:

For the cheese layer:

150g soft goat's cheese

1 egg

30g honey

20g self raising flour

• Put all of the ingredients into a bowl and whisk until smooth. Carefully pour the mixture over the beetroot layer and put to one side.
• Prepare your chocolate layer:

For the chocolate layer:

55g margarine

25g cocoa powder

1 egg

110g muscovado sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

35g self raising flour

• Melt the margarine, either in the microwave or in a pan over a low heat. Stir in the cocoa powder, and put this to one side to cool for a few minutes.
• Put the egg, sugar and vanilla extract into a mixing bowl and whisk until pale and foamy. You'd be surprised - even brown sugar goes pale when whisked!
• Fold in the cocoa mixture and the flour until this combines to a smooth, runny batter.
• Pour the batter very carefully over the goats cheese layer in the brownie tin, making sure to cover all of the goats cheese mixture.
• Pop the brownies into the over for 40 minutes. The brownies should feel "set" when you press them likely - that's how you know they will be cooked but still fudgey.
• Allow the brownies to cool in the tin before turning out onto a chopping board and cutting into 25 squares.
• Eat one, and be amazed at the marvellous combination of taste and texture!

Happy Thoughts
x

Super Simple Gluten Free Chocolate Brownies

Two weeks in a row... not bad going, right? ;-)

These brownies are lovely, rich and chocolatey, and with a few cheeky ingredients swaps, not as bad for you as you might think!!

It seems to have become a recent habit of mine to find a recipe, decide to try it, and then change it around a bit in the process of making it. This particular recipe started it's life as a 37-calorie brownie recipe, which Joy posted to the Cake'n'Bake club Facebook wall. My version is about 64 calories, as I used sugar instead of sweetener, and added some chocolate chips. They went down well in my office! (Note - the calorie content will change depending on the brands you use... I make no promises!) I'd also recommend using milk chocolate chips, as I found these injected a bit of sweetness into the rich chocolate brownie which just MADE them.

Ingredients:
50g rolled oats
175g low-fat natural yogurt (I actually used a soy yogurt which worked just as well)
50ml milk
70g cocoa
30g caster sugar
1 medium egg
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
50g milk chocolate chips

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 12-15 minutes
Makes 16 brownies

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and grease and line a square brownie tin.
2. Pop your oats into a blender and whizz to a fine flour - don't worry if there are a couple of bigger bits, as long and it's mostly ground.
3. Tip all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix together to form a thick batter. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 12-15 minutes, until springy to touch.
4. Allow the brownies to cool in the pan before turning out onto a chopping board and slicing into 16 squares.
5. Enjoy with a cup of tea, completely guilt free!!

Happy Thoughts
x

Celebration Brownies

Ho ho ho!

I said I'd be back with Christmas bakes... and here we are!

Growing up, it was an absolute guarantee in my house that we'd have enough tins of chocolate to open up our own shop. My mum would always buy in some tins for when we had visitors, and the visitors would always bring along a tin so as not to come empty handed. We always had enough Roses, Quality Street, Celebrations and Heroes to last us well into the New Year, so that's my inspiration for this festive bake. I took these into work last week, and my colleagues loved them. Especially trying to figure out which chocolates appeared in their brownie - there was a good 10 minutes worth of "I think it's a Milky Way," "I had a Snickers", and "Oh my god there was a whole piece of Galaxy in that bite!" :-D

Prep time: 15 mins
Bake time: 40-45 mins
Makes 16 brownies

Ingredients:
225g margarine
75g cocoa powder
4 medium eggs
300g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
150g self raising flour
Half a box of Celebrations (around 20 sweets)

1. pre-heat the oven to 180 and line a square brownie tin with greaseproof paper
2. melt the margarine in the microwave for 30 seconds, then stir in the cocoa powder. Place this to one side to cool. (You might want to start unwrapping the sweets at this point!)
3. in a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla until pale and foamy. Whisk in the cooled cocoa mixture until well combined.
4. sift half of the flour into the bowl and fold into the mixture. Sift the other half of the flour into the bowl, then add the sweets before folding in until all combined.
5. pour your mixture into the prepared brownie tin and level with the back of a spoon. Pop this in the oven for 35-40mins - when done the brownies should be springy to touch but still a little gooey in the centre
6. remove from the oven and allow the brownies to cool in the tin. Once cool, take out of the pan and cut into 16 pieces.

Maltesers Tiffin

As I write this post, I'm having a tiffin party for one! For father’s day this year, I decided to make my dads a tiffin selection box each. Thing is, a selection box requires a selection, and so three different tiffins were made: malteser, Cadbury's fruit and nut, and (everyone’s favourite) white chocolate macadamia. I'm going to try to stagger the recipes so that I don't need to rename this blog "The Princess and the Tiffin", but here's the first of the three!

Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Chill time: 1 hour
Makes 20 pieces

Ingredients :
400g milk chocolate
90g butter
3tbsp golden syrup
200g malted milk biscuits
100g Maltesers

1. Start by lining a square brownie tin (20x20cm) with clingfilm or greaseproof paper.
2. Break the chocolate into chunks, then pop 200g into a large microwavable bowl. Add the butter and golden syrup, and microwave on a medium heat in 20 second blasts, stirring between each blast, until the ingredients have melted together to form warm, gooey, chocolately loveliness. Pop this to one side to cool slightly.
3. Put your biscuits into a food processor and wizz until they are mostly crumbs (a few small biscuity lumps is fine!!)
4. Add the biscuit crumbs and the maltesers to the melted chocolate mixture, and stir until everything is coated.
5. Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and flatten down with the back of a spoon. Pop this in the fridge to chill for 5 minutes, and then move on to the topping.
6. Melt the remaining chocolate, and then carefully pour over the tiffin. Use the back of a clean spoon to spread this evenly over the tiffin, then return the tin to the fridge to set for at least 1 hour.
7. Once set, turn the tiffin out of the pan onto a chopping board and cut into 20 squares.
8. Taste one, and come up with a sneaky plan to hide them from everyone else :-)

Easy Chocolate Cream Cake

It's no secret that when it comes to chocolate cake, my preferred (and go-to) sponge recipe is the devils food cake sponge I used for my Chocolate Fudge Cake (and Rapunzel's Tower, and Creme Egg Cupcakes...), however that one is very, VERY chocolaty. But sometimes, you fancy something a little lighter, and that's where this recipe comes in. It's not as rich, or as dense as the devils food cake sponge, and coupled with whipped cream it makes a lovely light dessert.

Not only that, but it's quick and easy to make, too! (And has much less washing up ;-) )

Ingredients:
200g margarine
200g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
2 tbsp almond milk
40g cocoa powder
160g self raising flour
double cream, or Elmlea
100g milk chocolate, to decorate (optional)
20g white chocolate, to decorate (optional)

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Makes 8 slices

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 and grease ad line two 6 inch cake tins.
2. Beat the margarine and caster sugar together until smooth and creamy, then beat in the eggs and milk until the mixture is light and fluffy. 
3. Gently fold in the cocoa powder and self raising flour, then pour the batter into the prepared cake tins. Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops of the cakes are cool to touch. Leave to cool in the tins for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire wrack to cool completely.
4. Once the cakes have cooled, whip the cream until thick and billowy, then use this to sandwich the two cakes.
5. Melt the milk chocolate and leave to one side to cool slightly whilst you melt the white chocolate. (The cooler the chocolate is when you pour it onto your cakes, the less likely it is to run down the sides!) Spread the milk chocolate over the top of the cake, then put the white chocolate into a piping bag and pipe circles onto the milk chocolate. Before the chocolate sets, gently drag a cocktail stick though the chocolate to create a decorative pattern. (I alternated going from the centre to the edge, then back from the edge into the centre.)
6. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Happy Thoughts
x

Choco-Nana Cookies

Be still my beating heart, these cookies are AMAZING!

I'm not overly fond of fruit, but I do love bananas, so bananas are my "go-to" fruit of choice. I always buy a big bunch of bananas on my way to work on a Monday and keep them in my desk drawer for snacking on throughout the week, but this means that by Friday I often have one or two leftover bananas that I need to use up. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about this - just an explanation for the sheer number of banana recipes that turn up on this blog!

Here, have another photo of the cookies:

Anyway, my leftover bananas usually go into making my favourite Banana Oat Muffins, which I wrap, freeze, and use for pack-up during the week. However, this time I fancied a change. I really, really fancied cookies. I don't often bake cookies and biscuits, so I decided to scour the Internet for recipes to use. Originally I was looking at healthier banana and oat cookies, but then I came across this recipe for Nutella Banana Cookies. Nutella. Banana. Cookies. What more could a girl ask for on a rainy Saturday afternoon? After baking though, I think I'd describe these more as a drop-cake, rather than a cookie, as they have a deliciously spongy texture. (I'm eating one RIGHT NOW. It is amazing.) Maybe they should be called cakies? I haven't changed the original recipe too much, so all credit for this goes to Chef in Training. I did make a couple of tweaks to the method, and made the measurements UK friendly :-)

Ingredients:
2 medium, ripe bananas
1 medium egg
200g plain flour
175g light brown sugar
125g rolled oats
1tsp baking powder
75g slightly salted butter
75g vegetable shortening (Trex)
2 tbsp Nutella

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 - 12 minutes
Makes 18 cookies

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6 and line a baking tray with grease-proof paper.
2. Break the bananas into a bowl, then mash with a fork. Beat in the egg, and put this to one side.
3. Tip the flour, sugar, oats and baking powder into a bowl and mix. Add the butter and shortening, in cubes, to the bowl, and then rub in until the mixture resembles a coarse crumble. 
4. Stir the banana and egg into the dry mixture until they combine to form a sloppy dough. Plop the Nutella into the middle of the bowl and then swirl through the mixture with knife to create a marble pattern.
5. Dollop the mixture onto the prepare baking tray in tablespoon sized blobs, leaving enough space in between each blob for the cookies to expand slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are golden brown all over and firm to touch. 
6. Allow to cool on a wire rack, if you can resist the banana, chocolate, nutty goodness.

Happy Thoughts
x

Nutella Ice Cream

It's ice cream Sunday! I'm going to start by apologising if there are a few more spelling,  grammatical and formatting errors than usual on this post. This is the first post I'm sending from my phone! Ironically, I'm currently away at a Fitness Fiesta weekend, and didn't have time to type this recipe before I left so I'm doing it on my phone between classes! 

My little sister bought me an ice cream maker for my birthday, and as means of thanks I told her I would make any flavour ice cream she wanted. Her favourite ever ice cream was a Nutella ice cream, complete with hazelnut pieces, which she had in Las Vegas a  year ago... so that's what I set out to recreate! Thank fully,  my version got the seal of approval from Ray - it was delicious, and very easy to make!

I've given the times below as an indication, but each machine is different so please refer to the instructions on your ice cream machine. 

Ingredients:
350g Nutella
410ml evaporated milk
3tbsp chopped hazlenuts

Prep time: 45 minutes
Serves: 6 - 8

1. Make sure your ice cream maker is ready in advance... for me this means putting the bowl in the freezer the night before.
2. Tip the Nutella and the evaporated milk  into a bowl and whisk until the  Nutella dissolves into the milk to form a smooth, silky mixture. Pop this in the fridge for 15 or so minutes to chill.
3. Get your ice cream machine ready, set it going then carefully pour your nutella milk into the machine. Leabe it going for around 10 minutes, then add the chopped hazlenuts. Allow the machine to run until the ice cream is at a soft serve consistency (for me this was around another 10 minutes)
4. Serve, smile, and try to convince your friends/family that they *really* wouldn't like it! (More for you!)

Happy thoughts x

Creme Egg Ice Cream

Happy Easter!

With Ice Cream Sunday this month falling on Easter Sunday, I felt that I should draw my inspiration for this month's ice cream flavour from the true meaning on the season: chocolate eggs! :-P

This ice cream tastes far too good, especially when you consider how easy it is to make. No machine, no raw egg; just 4 ingredients to make the creamiest ice cream I've made yet!

Ingredients:
4 cadbury creme eggs 
150g dark chocolate
150ml sweetened condensed milk
500ml double cream


Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 4-5 hours
Serves: 6 - 8

1. Pop your Creme Eggs in the freezer. It will make them easier to handle later on!
2. Break the chocolate into chunks and pop this into a large microwavable bowl with the condensed milk. Microwave for 30 seconds - 1 minute, then stir until the chocolate has melted and the ingredients come together to form a fudgey sauce. Pop this to one side.
3. Take your creme eggs from the freezer, unwrap them, and chop them into chunks. Put this to one side.
4. Whip you cream to stiff peaks. Mix half of the cream into the chocolate fudge until well combined, then stir in 3/4 of the creme egg pieces.
5. Fold the remaining creme into the chocolate mixture very gently so as not to loose too much of the air - until the mixture combines to form a rich chocolaty mousse. Pour this into a freezer tub, level with the back of a spoon, then sprinkle the remaining creme egg pieces over the top. Place the lid on this and then freeze for 4-5 hours before serving.
6. Marvel at the deliciousness of you creation, and debate with yourself on whether or not you should share.

Happy Thoughts
x

Lindt Lindor Cupcakes

These might be my favourite cupcakes ever. I know that's a lofty claim, but man alive, do these taste good! They are rich, decadent, and taste of the most amazing chocolate in the world. (Although they are a little messy to eat!)

I had a big box of Lindor leftover after Christmas, and the birthday of a friend coming up, so I decided to turn those gorgeous little truffles into gorgeous little cakes. My friend Dale described them as "an amazing little chocolate bomb" - I'd say he's not far off! I used a variety box of Lindor, so ended up with 4 different flavours of cupcake, but you could just as easily use the instructions below to make just one flavour :-)

Ingredients:
65g Cocoa powder
100g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
60 ml water
60ml milk
75g butter
150g granulated sugar
1 medium egg
24 Lindor truffles (I had 6 each of the Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, White Chocolate and Hazelnut varieties)
150g unsalted butter
300g icing sugar

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Makes 12 cupcakes (3 of each flavour)

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 and line a bun tray with cupcake cases.
2. Sift the cocoa powder, flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder together into a bowl and put to one side. In a second bowl or jug, mix together the water and milk.
3. Beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy, then add the egg and beat until combined.
4. Stir half of the dry ingredients mixture into the butter and sugar, then add the milk and water, followed by the remaining dry ingredients, beating until combined between each addition.
5. Spoon 1tsp of the mixture into each cupcake case, then gently press in a truffle. Spoon another 2 tsp of the cake batter over the truffle to cover it completely, then bake for 15 minutes until firm around the edges (you'll notice the middle sinks slightly where the truffle has melted, don't worry, this will be filled with delicious buttercream!) Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan.
6. Whilst the cakes are cooling, prepare the butter cream topping. You should have three of each flavour truffle leftover - melt these in the microwave in 10 second bursts, stirring between each stint in the microwave to ensure they don't burn, then put them to one side to cool.
7. Beat the butter until smooth and creamy, then stir in the icing sugar a little at a time until combined. Divide the butter cream equally between your bowls of melted chocolate, and stir int quickly to combined.
8. Once the cakes have cooled, spread the butter cream over them (if you're making different varieties like I did, make sure the flavour of the butter cream corresponds with the truffle inside the cake!)
9. Stuff one in your mouth and try not to faint from the chocolaty goodness!

 

Happy Thoughts
x

Cake'n'Bake Wednesday: Valentine's Cake Pops

Valentines was the theme for our February 2012 meeting, but I had already decided what I wanted to bake. My Mum got me this wonderful Cake Pop recipe book for Christmas, and since then I really wanted to try them. However, I'd had my heart set on making Macaroons in January, so the Cake Pops got pushed back a month and ended up being my Valentines themed bake instead. (Stick hearts and flowers on anything and it's automatically Valentines themed ;-P) I was also lucky enough to have this recipe feature in Macmillan Cancer Care's Little Book of Treats 2012 - the Cake'n'Bake Club voted for this as their favourite recipe for a "luxury treat" and so this was the recipe we submitted. Proud doesn't even cover how I felt when I was able to buy a copy in M&S!

Cake Pops are, in theory, really simple to make. In practise; well it was a little bit of trial and error, and the recipe in the book (in my opinion) used way too much icing which made the mixture difficult to handle. What I would say is if you want to give Cake Pops a go then just do it! They are great fun to make and even when decorated simply they look fantastic! I've amended the original recipe and directions below to add in some of the hints and tips I learnt in the process. I used chocolate cake with vanilla icing, white chocolate and pink candy melts, however you could use pretty much any flavour (or combination of flavours of) cake, icing, chocolate, candy melts, you name it! One idea I toyed with, but didn't try this time was melting some fondant to coat the cake balls and having fondant fancy inspired pops... Just a thought!

Prep time: Around 2 hours
Make 20 Cake Pops

Ingredients:
125g margarine
125g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
125g self raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
50g cream cheese
100g icing sugar
150g white chocolate buttons or white candy melts
300g pink chocolate buttons or pink candy melts
3-4 tsps vegetable oil, as required
love heart shaped sprinkles
8 fondant roses

You will also need some lollipop sticks, and a block of polystyrene to stand you cake pops in as they set!

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4, and grease and line a baking tin.
2. Beat the margarine and sugar together until creamy, then add one of the eggs and beat til fluffy. Fold in half of the flour and the cocoa. Beat in the second egg, and then fold in the remaining flour. 
3. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 25-30 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
4. Whilst your cake is cooling, it's a good idea to make your sugar roses, and clear some space in your freezer! You can also get the cream cheese icing ready, by beating together the cream cheese and icing sugar until creamy.
5. Once the cake is completely cool, break it into pieces. You want to turn your cake into crumbs and the easiest way to do this is to stick the pieces in a blender and give them a quick whizz, however if you don't have a blender you could always use a cheese grater and crumb you cake by hand, but this takes much longer. 
6. Once your cake is sufficiently crumbed, mix in half of the cream cheese icing. Add more icing as needed to bind the crumbs together, but be careful not to add to much or it may make your mixture too sloppy to work with. 
7. Measure 30g blobs of the cake pop mixture, and roll these into balls. Place the balls onto a lined baking tray and into the freezer for at least 20 minutes. (Gives you a chance to wash up some of those dishes... this recipe uses a lot of dishes!)
8. Once the cake balls are solid, melt your chocolate/candy melts, either in the microwave or over a pan of hot water. A few tips here - as I was only making a few cake pops, but still needed the chocolate/candy melts to be deep enough for dipping, I found it helpful to melt mine in a mug. It was wide enough for me to dip my pops into, but not so wide that the chocolate lacked the depth required. Secondly, it helps to add a tsp of vegetable oil to your mug of melted chocolate/candy melts. Yes, I know it seems weird to do so, but this thins down the chocolate/candy melts just enough to make them much more suitable for dipping!
9. I started with the white chocolate... to begin with, dip each lollipop stick around 1cm into your melted chocolate, and then push that end into a cake ball. (apparently this helps the stick the cake to the lollipop stick!) Once that chocolate has set (which won't take long since you cake balls are very cold!) Dip 8 of your cake pops, one at a time, into the white chocolate. Gently tap the cake pops on the side of the mug to discard the excess chocolate, then stick the pop upright into your polystyrene block to set. Repeat the process using the melted pink candy melts for the remaining 12 cakes pops. However, this time sprinkle a few of your heart shaped sprinkles over each cake pop as the candy begins to set. 
10. Place any leftover pink candy into a piping bag fitted with a very fine nozzle. Go back to you white cake pops, and pipe vertical stripes onto each. Use some melted candy to secure a sugar rose on the top of each of these cake pops.
11. Hey presto, you're all done! The cake pops are best stored wrapped in cellophane bags in the fridge, and will keep for up to a week (if they last that long!!)

Happy Thoughts
x

Healthier Than Usual Brownies

It would be a lie to say this recipe was healthy, but with a few changes (and the help of an unexpected ingredient!) these brownies are much healthier than their traditional counterparts.

This recipe is based heavily on this recipe I found on BBC Good Food (I LOVE GOOD FOOD!), with a few extra changes to make the brownies even lighter! My dodgy old maths skills tell me that per brownie, there are approximately 104 calories and 3.5g fat - not too shabby for a chocolatey treat! I think this is my favourite of the healthier recipes I've posted this month, and even though I don't think the brownies tasted quite as good as normal full-fat full-sugar lots of chocolate brownies, they were still better than most store-bought brownies I've ever tried! I will definitely be coming back to this recipe again.

Ingredients:
50g dark chocoalte
75g dark brown sugar
3tbsp stevia
1tsp vanilla extract
40g (2tbsp) buttermilk
1 medium egg
120g extra light mayonnaise
85g plain flour
pinch of salt
40g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Makes 12 brownies

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 and line a square baking tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Melt the chocolate, either in the microwave on short bursts or in a bowl over hot water, then pop this to one side to cool slightly.
3. Stir the sugar, stevia, vanilla extract and buttermilk into the cooled chocolate until all combined. Beat the egg into the chocolate mixture, followed by the mayonnaise. The mixture should now be smooth and glossy.
4. Sift the flour, salt, cocoa powder and baking powder into the chocolate mixture and gently fold in until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes, until firm but still a little sticky on top. 
5. Allow the brownies to cool in the tin, then turn them out, cut into 12 and enjoy the relatively guilt-free chocolatey goodness!

Happy Thoughts
x

Cake'n'Bake Wednesday: Chocolate and Pistachio Macaroons

Happy New Year folks!

Hope you all enjoyed the festive period, and that you've fully recovered from yesterday's wine-flu!

In January 2012 Cake'n'Bake Club decided to welcome in the New Year by baking something "new", that is, something we'd never baked before. I'd wanted to have a go at making macaroons since watching them be made on The Great British Bake Off the summer before, so I thought I'd use the opportunity to try them now!

Making macaroons for the first time was a lot of fun, and even though I only made two batches I feel I learnt a lot about them, so I wanted to share some feedback/tips before the recipe. Originally, I had planned to make 4 varieties of macaroon: Vanilla, Raspberry, Chocolate and Pistachio; and I attempted the vanilla/raspberry batch first. The first thing I learnt was that ABSOLUTELY UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should liquid flavouring and colouring be added to the batter at the end of the process - all liquid colours and flavouring should be added to the egg white/meringue BEFORE the dry ingredients are mixed in. If you decide to add, for example, raspberry syrup and pink food colouring to your batter AFTER the dry ingredients have been mixed in this will complete ruin the consistency of the batter and make it un-usable.

For comparison, I added the vanilla flavouring into the meringue before adding the dry ingredients, and that batter held it's shape and had a nice consistency. I added the raspberry flavouring and pink colouring after adding the dry ingredients, and... well you can see the difference.

Anyway, the second thing I learnt was that using "dry" flavourings (such as cocoa powder and ground pistachios) rather than "wet" flavourings (such as vanilla essence and raspberry syrup) made MUCH better macaroons, so in future I think I will definitely try to use dry flavourings. Joy came up with the idea to use paste flavourings, and I thought about exploring the potential of milkshake powder... but as I have tried neither suggestion I can't say which is best!

Well, I ended up throwing away all of the raspberry macaroons and half of the vanilla ones, so I'm not going to share that version of the recipe - but below is the recipe for the chocolate and pistachio varieties!

Note: this recipe makes half chocolate and half pistachio macaroons, if you'd like just one variety just amend the ingredients as necessary!

Prep time: 45 mins
Bake time: 20 mins per batch
Makes 30 macaroons (15 chocolate and 15 pistachio)

Ingredients:

40g ground almonds
2tbsp cocoa powder
170g icing sugar
60g pistachios (I used whole but ground can also be used)
3 medium eggs
A pinch of salt
75g caster sugar
a little extra cocoa powder and ground pistachio for decoration

for the chocolate filling:
60g margarine
100g icing sugar
1tbsp cocoa powder

for the pistachio filling:
30g margarine
30g cream cheese
120g icing sugar
10g roughly chopped pistachios

1. Line three baking trays with greaseproof paper and make sure that all of your equipment is clean and dry. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3.
2. Tip the ground almonds, cocoa powder and 80g of the icing sugar into a blender and blend to a fine powder. Place this mixture into a bowl and put to one side.
3. Tip the pistachio's and remaining icing sugar into the blender, and blend this to a fine powder. Place this mixture into another bowl and put to one side.
4. Place the egg whites and pinch of salt into a large clean bowl and whisk on a high speed. Once soft peaks form add the caster sugar a little at a time, continuously whisking, until a smooth, thick and glossy meringue has formed. Put half of the meringue into a separate bowl.
5. Take one of the bowls of meringue and gently fold in half of the chocolate dry mixture with a spatula. Once combined, fold in the remaining chocolate dry mixture, then place the chocolate mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle.
6. Pipe 20 2cm rounds onto one of the baking trays, then lift and drop the baking tray onto the work surface a couple of time to help the mixture settle. Let the macaroons rest at room temperature for 10-15 minutes, or until a "skin" has formed on the top.
7. Repeat step 5 with the remaining bowl of meringue and the pistachio dry mixture, and pipe 20 2cm rounds of pistachio batter onto the second baking tray. Again lift and drop the tray onto the work surface a couple of times, then sprinkle some ground pistachios over each macaroon for decoration before placing to one side to rest.
8. You should have a little chocolate and a little pistachio mixture left in your piping bags. On the third baking tray, pipe 10 chocolate and 10 pistachio rounds, and tap against the work surface. Sprinkle the chocolate rounds with a little ground pistachio for decoration, and the pistachio rounds with a little cocoa powder for decoration. Leave the tray to rest with the others for 10-15 minutes.
9. Once a "skin" has formed over the macaroon shells (you should be able to touch them lightly without any mixture sticking to your finger) place them in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray for at least 10 minutes. Carefully remove each macaroon from the baking sheets using a spatula, and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Whilst the macaroons are cooling, prepare the fillings by mixing the ingredients together until a smooth paste has formed (obviously make the chocolate  filling and pistachio filling in separate bowls!), then place this into piping bags.
11. Sandwich two chocolate shells together with chocolate filling to make 10 chocolate macaroons, then sandwich the pistachio shells with the pistachio filling to make another 10 macaroons. You should be left with the chocolate shells with ground pistachios on, and the pistachio shells with the cocoa powder - these will be you "vice versa" macaroons. Sandwich the pistachio shells with chocolate filling, and the chocolate shells with pistachio filling - you should end up with 5 of each.
12. Pick up the most appetising looking one, take a big bite and marvel at the crunchy, gooey, sweetness!

Happy Thoughts
x

Chocolate Christmas Pudding Muffins

I'm going to let you in on a little secret - there is  type of cake I really hate. I know. It's sacrilege! Completely and utterly against my religion! I should be banned from the bake-blogging world immediately!! But it's true, I really can't stand fruit cakes. That includes fruit puddings too, so Christmas cake and Christmas pudding are not my friends. You see, I have a passionate dislike for raisins, currants and sultanas, and as fruit cakes contain an abundance of those things, we've never seen eye to eye. Or cake to mouth. So when I wanted to make some mini Christmas pudding for a Christmas party a few years back, I had to come up with a suitable alternative. I went with chocolate chip muffins. It worked for me!!

These muffins pre-date my blogging days, but they got a lot of complements so I wrote the recipe down in a notebook. Flipping through that notebook made me quite nostalgic, and I found a couple of SWEET recipes to share in the near future! I think I'm going to make some mini - muffin versions of these this Christmas, I'll post the photos below when I do!

Ingredients:

For the muffins:
100g soft brown sugar
150g self raising flour
3 heaped tbsp cocoa powder
100ml vegetable oil
50ml milk
2 medium eggs, beaten
100g chocolate chips

To decorate:
150g icing sugar
A few drops of water
50g green ready-to-roll icing
25g red ready-to-roll icing


Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15-20 minutes
Makes 8 muffins

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark four and grease a muffin tin really well.
2. Tip your sugar, flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl, then stir in the oil, milk, and beaten eggs until all the ingredients combined to form a smooth batter. Fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, filling each hole 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes until firm but springy to touch. Leave the muffins to cool completely in the tin.
4. Whilst the muffins are cooling, make your holly leaves and berries with the fondant icing. For the leaves, I rolled out the green icing and used a sharp knife to cut out a holly leaf shape, which is why mine are all uneven! You could also use a cutter, if you have one! For the berries, I simply rolled up small pieces of the red icing in my hands.
5. Once cool, remove the muffins from tin. You'll be serving the muffins bottom up, so you may need to cut a little away from the top of each muffin to make sure they are level.
6. Eat the cut off bits (this step is very important!)
7. Put a wire rack or cooling rack over a tray or sheet of greaseproof paper (it's could get messy during the next few steps!) then place your muffins, bottom up, on top of this.
8. Now it's time to make the icing. I made mine ever so slightly too runny, which is ever so easy to do, so always best to err on the side of caution. Pour the icing sugar into a bowl, then stir in the water 1tsp at a time until you have a spreadable, but still thick icing. I know it's tempting to add the water more than 1tsp at a time, but trust me - this kind of icing goes from solid to runny in 2 seconds flat. Be patient!
9. Once your icing is of the desired consistency, spread a little over the top of each upside-down muffin, letting it go over the edge and start to dribble down the sides. If, like me, you made your icing too runny, the icing will probably stream down the sides, rather than dribble, and you'll be pleased you placed that greaseproof paper underneath to catch all the icingy mess!
10. Place your holly leaves and berries on top of the icing, then leave to set.
11. Serve with a cup of tea and some Christmas cheer!

Happy Thoughts
x

Cake'n'Bake Wednesday: Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

It was a fairly obvious choice of a theme for December 2011, but the only one we ever could really use: "Fabulously Festive" - and so Christmas month at The Princess and the Cake continues on Cake'n'Bake Wednesday, too! I chose to make some festive cupcake selection boxes which included three types of cupcakes: Chocolate Peppermint, Gingerbread and Christmas Cake. Here's the first recipe in the trio of delights I created - the Chocolate Peppermint variety!

I was a bit cheeky this time round, and decided to do a whole bunch of baking all in one go for Cake'n'Bake Club, but also for friends, family and colleagues' Christmas pressies! I ended up making 24 of each variety, so I've halved the quantities below, however don't be surprised if you end up with slightly more mixture than required for 12 cupcakes (as I recall I had a little bit left over for each!)

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Baking time 12-15 minutes

Makes around 12-14 cupcakes 

Ingredients:

65g cocoa powder

100g plain flour

pinch of salt

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

1tsp baking powder

60ml water

60ml milk (plus up to 60ml more for the filling/frosting, if required)

75g butter or margarine

150g granulated sugar
1 medium egg

100g box of "peppermint thins" (After Eights)

150g vegetable shortening

250g icing sugar

Peppermint flavouring, to taste

Sprinkles to decorate

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 and line a bun tray with cupcake cases.
2. Sift the cocoa powder, flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder together into a bowl and put to one side. In a second bowl or jug, mix together the water and 60ml of the milk. In a third (and final - I promise!) bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy, then add the egg and beat until combined to form a smooth batter.
3. Fold half of the dry ingredients mixture into the batter, then add the milk and water, followed by the remaining dry ingredients, stirring until combined between each addition.
4. Spoon a heaped teaspoon of the mixture into each cupcake case and bake for 12 - 15 mins until firm and spongy. Remove from the oven and allow to rest in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Whilst the cupcakes are cooling begin to prepare your filling. Bring a pan of water to the boil, then reduce the heat as low as it will go. Put the peppermint thins into a glass bowl and rest this in the pan of boiling water, being careful not to get any water into the bowl. Stir this continuously until the mints have melted. They will probably form a gloopy ball at this stage, don't worry! Keeping the bowl in the hot water, stir milk into the chocolate a little at a time until you reach the desired consistency (it should be a ganache-like mixture, smooth enough to pipe but not too runny). Place this into a piping bag and put to one side to cool slightly.
6. Cut a well into the centre of each cupcake, pipe a generous amount of the chocolate peppermint ganache into the well, then replace the top of the cupcake. (Don't worry if these stick up a little, that will be hidden by the frosting!)
7. Once the cakes are completely cool, make your frosting by mixing the icing sugar into the shortening a little at a time. If your frosting is too stiff, add a little milk until it reaches the desire consistency, then add a few drops of peppermint flavouring. Spread or pipe the frosting on top of the cupcakes, then finish with sprinkles.
8. Take a big bite of one of them, just to make sure they are super tasty ;-)

Happy Thoughts
x

Quick Fix Chocolate Pudding

Have you ever found yourself in need of a quick and easy pudding? This recipe is perfect for when you're craving something sweet and naughty, but don't have a lot of time to make it. The recipe is basic and uses basic baking ingredients, (hopefully stuff you have in the cupboard anyway!)

As this one is cooked in the microwave, cooking times may vary and I'm afraid the only way you'll find out is trial and error! In my microwave, this take 3 minutes on a medium-high heat setting, but you'll know the sponge is done as it will be set but still sticky on the top. Finally – you will need a microwaveable bowl for this one.

Ingredients:

50g margarine

50g caster sugar

1 medium egg

50g self-raising flour

3tbsp cocoa powder

2tbsp milk

50g milk chocolate (optional)

Prep time: less than 5 minutes

Cook time: 3 minutes

Serves 2-4 (depending how hungry/greedy you're feeling!)

1. Place all of the ingredients except for the chocolate into a medium mixing bowl, and beat until combined into a smooth, slightly runny batter.
2. Lightly grease a microwavable bowl (I used a frylight spray to give a light coating of oil) then pour the pudding batter into it. Cover with another bowl or plate and microwave on a medium-high heat for three minutes, until the pudding is set and spongy, but still a little sticky on top. Carefully remove the bowl from the microwave (careful, it will be hot!) and place on the side to rest for 2-3 minutes, uncovered.
3. Meanwhile, melt the milk chocolate in the microwave in bursts. Spoon the pudding into serving bowls and then drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of each. Make sure to eat it while it's still warm!

Happy Thoughts
x

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Who doesn't love chocolate cake? I do, but for I while I had a hard time finding a chocolate cake recipe that I really, really liked. I've tried recipes that have had good chocolate cake before, but the icing isn't quite there. And I've tried some pretty amazing chocolate icing recipes, but the cake left something to be desired. This time, though, this time I think I've done it!

The recipe for the sponge cake is based on the sponge used in this recipe for Creme Egg Cupcakes on Peabody's blog, which I tried for Chicken Little. The chocolate fudge icing I sort of made up as I went along, drawing on my icing, ganache and fudge-making experiences. I also had a bit of Nigella's salted caramel sauce left-over in the fridge, so decided to chuck that in as well. It was a good day.

Ingredients:
For the cake:
130g Cocoa powder
200g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
120 ml water
120ml milk
150g butter
300g light brown sugar
2 medium eggs

For the fudge icing:
200ml double cream
400g dark chocolate
50g butter (cubed)
100g icing sugar

3-4tbsps Nigella's Salted Caramel Sauce (Optional)

Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Makes 10-12 slices

1.  Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 and grease and line two 8" cake tins.
2. Sift the cocoa powder, flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder together into a bowl and put to one side. In a second bowl or jug, mix together the water and milk.
3. Beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy, then add the eggs and beat until combined.
4. Stir half of the dry ingredients mixture into the butter and sugar, then add the milk and water, followed by the remaining dry ingredients, beating until combined between each addition.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tins and smooth down the top with the back of a spoon. Bake for 25-30 minutes until springy to touch. Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.
6. Meanwhile, make the fudge icing by heating the cream, chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Stir until the chocolate and butter have melted, then remove from the heat. Allow the mixture to cool slightly before adding the icing sugar, then whisk for around 5 minutes using a hand held electric whisk. By the time you're done, the mixture should be thick, glossy, smooth and delicious.
7. If you're skipping the salted caramel sauce, then skip this step. If using the salted caramel,  place the bottom layer of sponge onto a serving plate and pipe a ring of fudge icing around the outside to create a barrier which will stop the caramel from oozing out too much. (it will probably still ooze out a little, that caramel is deliciously oozy!) Spoon the caramel onto the cake, trying to keep it inside the barrier you created.
8. Spread just under half of the fudge icing over the bottom layer (on top of the caramel, if using) then place in the fridge for 5 minutes to set slightly. This will help create a nice thick layer of fudge between you cakes! After 5 minutes, removed the cake from the fridge and gently place the second chocolate sponge on top. Spread the remaining icing over the top of the cake, and try to resist all temptation to gobble the whole lot!

Now, this cake is amazingly delicious and chocolatey as is, but, if you feel the urge to die and go to a warm chocolate fudgey heaven, I'd suggest sticking your slice of fudge cake into the microwave for 10 seconds before eating it. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Happy Thoughts
x

Ka-Chow! (You Hurt Your What?)

Disney Pixar # 7 - Cars

For Cars, I wanted to create the logos from the sides of Lightening McQueen, The King and Chick Hicks in fondant form. However, similarly to Toy Story 2 I ended up running out of time to make multiple characters, so focused my attention on the main man: LIGHTNING! KA-CHOW!

I haven't made many chocolate cakes this time round, so I thought I would have a little try with that. Again, just adapted my basic cupcake recipe and made it up as I went along! The decoration did not turn out as well as I had hoped (it is supposed to be the 95 lightning bolt logo thing as seen on McQueen's side in the pic above!) but that's usually the case when I do things like this, particularly when time is short!

Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 15-18 mins
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the decorations:
300g ready to roll icing, coloured red, orange and yellow in roughly equal parts
Black edible paint/food colouring

For the cupcakes:
100g margarine
100g caster sugar
1 medium egg
75g vanilla yogurt
100g self-raising flour
50g cocoa powder

For the butter cream:
75g margarine
150g icing sugar
few drops of vanilla essence to taste

1. Roll out your icing, then cut out and paint the designs onto them, as per the photos above. Leave these to one side to dry. To create the multi-toned fondant for the lightning bolts, place the three colours side by side, squish together then roll out, as so: 
2. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 and line a bun tray with cupcake cases.
3. Beat the margarine and sugar together until creamy, then beat the egg and yogurt into the mixture. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl then fold into the mixture until just combined.
4. Place a tablespoon of the mixture into each cupcake case then bake for 15-18 minute until firm and springy to touch. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
5. Once the cupcake have cooled, prepare the butter cream by placing all of the ingredients into a bowl and beating until smooth and creamy. Spread a little icing over each of the cupcakes, then place a circle of red fondant over this. Add the lightning bolt and "95" logo on top of this, using a little butter cream to stick each piece down.
6. Best served with a cup of tea whilst watching Cars with friends :-)

Next time it's Ratatouille, and I'll be experimenting with some savoury cupcakes...

Happy Thoughts
x

They Come, They Eat, They Leave...

Disney/Pixar # 2 - A Bug's Life

The scene that stood out for me from A Bug's Life was when Flick flies away on a dandelion seed, so I wanted to try to recreate that in cake form. When I started searching for "dandelion cakes" on Google for inspiration, I noticed a lot of recipes came up for dandelion cake - that is cake made with dandelion as an ingredient. Now I wasn't feeling adventurous enough to go out and source some actual dandelion root (finding pumpkin and shortening was hard enough!) so I thought I'd give Dandelion and Burdock cake a whirl, using an adaptation of the "Inca kola" recipe from The Emperor's New Groove.

The cupcake came out very moist - so moist in fact that the cases completely fell away from them. Even though the sponge was really airy, it didn't rise at all, so I ended up making double and sandwiching the cupcakes together. (the recipe below will make 24 individual cupcakes, or 12 once sandwiched together!) These didn't really turn out as planned, but they were still really tasty :-)

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Makes 12 Cupcakes

Ingredients:
90g margarine
50g shortening
200g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
2 tbsp natural yogurt
180g self-raising flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp cocoa powder
100ml Dandelion and Burdock

for the icing:
100g butter
200g icing sugar
2tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp Dandelion and Burdock

I also used a little bit of red fondant icing and some black food colouring to make some little ladybugs to decorate.

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 3, and line a bun tray with cupcake cases.
2. In a very large bowl mix together the butter and shortening until smooth and creamy.
3. Continue beating whilst you add the sugar a little at a time, until it is well combined and the mixture is light in colour and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating continuously.
4. Add the natural yogurt and beat until well combined.
5. In a smaller bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder. Add the flour mixture and D&B to the cake batter a little bit at a time alternating between the two until just mixed.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake cases and bake for 20 minutes, until the cakes are moist but firm to touch. Allow the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack.
7. Once cool, mix up your butter cream by combining the butter, icing sugar and cocoa together to form a smooth, creamy icing. Stir in the D&B a little at a time, beating well between each addition to avoid the mixture curdling.
8. Remove the cupcakes from their cases (you'll probably find that half have already come away from their case on their own accord!) And sandwich two cupcakes together with your D&B butter cream. Once all of the cupcakes have been sandwiched, place the remaining buttercream into a piping bag and pipe swirls onto the top of each cake. Decorate with a few ladybugs, or any other bug-like creatures you care to make up.
9. Serve with a lovely cuppa!

Next time we're back to Character Costume Cupcakes for Toy Story 2!

Happy Thoughts
x