Baby Guinness Cake!

To clarify things this is not made with guinness! After a crazy night out last Friday night at the Relaunch of Upstairs at The Roundy , I decided to make a cake in honour of the shot we were drinking for the whole night :) I must have had 12 of the things and I was working haha. The shot is Tia Maria with a Bailey's head on it, so I made a Coffee cake with Bailey's Buttercream Icing... preeeetty good if I say so myself :)

6oz butter, 6oz caster sugar, 3 eggs, 1tsp vanilla, 2tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 3tbsp warm water, 7oz self raise flour, 2tbsp cocoa

Dissolve the coffee and leave to cool. Beat the butter vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift in the flour & cocoa and pour in the coffee mix, then beat gently in. Transfer to a greased and lined tin (20cm) and bake @ 180C for 20-25mins

Ice with Baileys Buttercream
200g soft butter, 100g icing sugar, tsp baileys and tbsp cream/milk.
Beat all ingredients together well, until smooth and no sugar lumps

Chocolate Melting Moments :)

Serious lack of posting lately!! Been up the walls making birthday and confirmation cakes, and they've all been chocolate mayo based so I havent been posting any new recipes :( But hey I'm not complaining, people are loving my cake so life is good!

Choc Melting Moments are little chocolatey "shortbread-like" biscuits that melt in your mouth and are so delicious with a glass of milk :)

125g butter, 50g icing sugar, 50g cornflour, 25g cocoa, 100g self raise flour and a dash of cream

Cream the butter and add all the dry ingredients. Beat together and add a little bit of cream to bring the mixture together. It will seem pretty crumbly and dry but keep beating :) Make small balls, put them on an baking tray(ungreased). Flatten down with a fork and bake for 10-12 mins @170C.

Enjoy :)

random pics...

A birthday in April

Flan!!

This was one of the things that always worked when I first started baking, no matter what I messed up or what turned out completely wonky, my flan's always saved the day :) Made this for the first BBQ of the year on Sunday, it was a glorious day with glorious food and company! Oh and lots of sparkling wine.. Yay!! The only chance I got to get a pic was when it was half devoured haha

Simple ingredients;
4eggs, 4oz caster sugar, 4oz self raising flour and a 1/2 tsp baking powder

Whisk the eggs and sugar until light and creamy and a figure of eight stays on top

Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in lightly to keep the air in the mixture.

Pour into a prepared flan tin and bake in 180C oven for 20mins.Cool on a wire rack.

Top with freshly whipped cream and fruit of your choice. I went with madarin apple and choc chips cuz we ate all the strawberries with our wine a little earlier on!!

Sinead's Ultimate Chocolate Birthday Cake

This is definitely number one on my list of requested cakes! Chocolate cake, chocolate ganache, aero bubbles, milkybar moments, white and milk chocolate fingers. You'd only want a sliver of this for your whole weekly intake of chocolate..... that's we cut huge slices!! :)

Dad's Lemon Meringue Birthday Pie!

Usually when making a birthday cake for my dad, it involves coffee, hazelnut and chocolate, but this year he wanted something different, something zesty for spring! He even suggested lemon meringue pie himself........ suited me that I didn't have to come up with the idea this time! :)

I used Rachel Allen's recipe for Seville Orange Meringue Pie, but replaced the orange curd with my own homemade Lemon Curd and it turned out wonderfully , if I do say so myself haha

Recipe:
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
300g plain flour, 150g butter, 1tbsp icing sugar, 1egg and a tiny dash o milk
Whizz the flour sugar and butter in a food processor until it looks like breadcrumbs. Beat the egg and the little bit of milk and add to the flour mix. Whizz briefly again until it just about comes together. Flatten the mix into a ball of dough and wrap in cling film and pop in the fridge to chill for 30mins.

Lemon Curd
150g caster sugar, 75g butter, juice and rind of 3 lemons, 2 eggs + 1egg yolk
Put the sugar butter juice and rind in a pot over a low heat, until the butter is melted. Beat the eggs and extra yolk together and pour into the sugary mixture in the pot. MAKE SURE ITS LOW HEAT OR YOU'LL HAVE LEMON SCRAMBLED EGGS :) :) Keep stirring until it thickens and when its done it'll coat the back of a teaspoon. Set aside and leave to cool slightly

Meringue Top
4egg whites and 225g Caster sugar
In a spotless bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff, then beat in the caster sugar bit by bit until stiff peaks form. When the meringue is whisked enough you should be able to turn the bowl upside down and it'll stay in it. I like to do this over my brothers head haha as you can see!!

Preparing the Pie
Grease a tart dish, and line with the pastry. Bake blind for 20 mins at 180C. Then turn down the oven to 150C. Pour the lemon curd onto of the par baked pastry, and spoon the meringue on top. Smooth the meringue, and with a knife use a dabbing technique to create peaks. Bake for a further hour at the lower temperature. Serve warm or room temperature and obviously with a bit of whipped cream :) YUMMO!

Happy Easter Everyone!!

What a great time of year :) Spring is really setting in, the evenings are getting bright and you can eat chocolate ALL day without feeling bad! (well maybe a little bit bad but sure....who cares!)

I made these Easter cupcakes using the chocolate mayo recipe, as usual, cuz I love love love it! I topped them with bright yellow vanilla butter icing, crushed Cadbury's flake and Cadbury's mini eggs. These are the best cupcakes I think I have ever made... they were delish !

Just posting the picture as the recipe can be found in the recipe index under choc vanilla cupcakes

Nutella Mocha Cupcakes

Hazelnut, Chocolate, Coffee = Goodness!! The mocha cupcake part was light and full of coffee flavour, I then spread the top with nutella and piped nutella buttercream on top. I think these have to be my favourite cupcakes so far, they combine the 3 flavours I live for.. Yummmo!!! :) X

Recipe:
2tbsp coffee granules, 75g butter, 85g caster sugar, 1tbsp honey, 200ml water, 225g plain flour, 2tbsp cocoa, 1tsp bicarb of soda, 3 tbsp milk, 1 large egg
GAS 4 / 180C

Put the coffee, butter, sugar, honey and water in a pot and heat gently stirring until the sugar has dissolved and butter melted> Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 mins. Pour into a large heatproof bowl and cool completely.

When cooled, sift in the flour and cocoa. Dissolve the bicarb soda in the milk and add to the mixture as well as the egg. Beat well until smooth. Pour the mix into paper cases and bake for 15-20mins until well risen and firm to touch. Cool on a wire rack.

Top with nutella and for the icing beat 200g icing sugar, 100g butter, 2tbsp nutella and a dash of milk together and pipe on top! mmmmmmmmmmmmm.... :)

Paddy's Day Cupcakes!

Obviously I had to bake something green! Mint Aero cupcakes were the recipe of the day :) A delicious chocolate chip cupcake, with creme de menthe butter icing and a mint aero sprinkle, they disappeared in minutes (I'm guessing that's a good thing)!!

Recipe:

3tbsp soft butter, 200g caster sugar, 2 large eggs, 150ml natural yoghurt, 5tbsp milk, 280g plain flour, 20g cocoa, 1tsp bicarb of soda, 115g milk choc chips

GAS6 / 200degrees C

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one, mixing well each time. Then beat in the yoghurt and milk until combined.
Sift in the flour, cocoa and bicarb and stir until just blended. Don't over mix. Stir in the choc chips and divide the mixture into paper cupcake cases.
Bake for 20-25 mins until risen and a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 mins and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Icing:
200g icing sugar, 100g butter, 2tsp creme de menthe, a little strong green food colour and a dash of milk.
Beat the hell outta it!! until creamy and smooth! :)

Top with Mint Aero and indulge yourself, these are sooo good xx

Caramel Chocolate Slices

These are an old favourite with everyone! A shortbread biscuit, with a smooth caramel layer topped with milk chocolate ... so good on it's own or with a cup of tea! I find it so hard baking sometimes cuz I actually want to eat everything :) I kinda feel a bit sick now cuz I ate so much icing in the process... mmm

Recipe:
Biscuit Layer: 115g butter, 175g plain flour, 55g golden caster sugar
Caramel Layer: 175g butter, 115g golden caster sugar, 3tbsp golden syrup, 400g can condensed milk
Chocolate Layer: 300g Milk or Plain Chocolate melted over a bain marie

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease a 9inch square shallow baking tin

Biscuit: Place the butter, plain flour and caster sugar in a food processor and process until it binds together. Press into the prepped tin and smooth out to the edges. Bake for 20-25mins until golden

Caramel: Put the butter, sugar, condensed milk and golden syrup into a pot and heat gently until the sugar dissolves. This burns REALLY easily so keep on a low heat and stir constantly. Bring to the boil and simmer for 6-8mins until the mixture becomes thick. Pour over the cooked biscuit layer and chill in the fridge until firm.

Chocolate: Bring a pot with some water to the boil and let it simmer.Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over the pot of simmering water, stirring the chocolate all the time. When melted pour over the cooled caramel and spread out. Leave to set. Cut with a very sharp knife into triangles or squares.. Whatever tickles your fancy!

Peanut Butter Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Another new recipe from my new book :) These turned out really well, the cupcakes came out nice and even and were lovely and moist. The recipe made a little too much icing but it's always good to have a little bit left over in the fridge for dipping bits of fruit in or something... yum !

Recipe:
175g peanut butter, 50g softened butter, 125g soft brown sugar, 2eggs, 1tbsp golden syrup, 250g plain flour, 2tsp baking powder, 225ml milk

Cream the butters together, and beat in the sugar and golden syrup for 4mins until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one mixing very well each time you add one. Fold in half the flour and baking powder then beat in the milk, and the rest of the flour. Spoon into cupcake cases in a tray, fill up to 3/4 and then bake at 180C for 25mins until golden. Cool on a wire rack

Cream Cheese Icing

225g cream cheese, 225g icing sugar, 25g soft butter.

Beat together for 3-4mins until well mixed and creamy

Ice the cakes when completely cool and grate some milk chocolate over them to garnish .. mmmm !

My Own Version of Red Velvet

Totally backwards but sure do I ever follow recipes :)!!
Using exactly the same method as the chocolate vanilla cupcakes. I just added a tbsp cocoa and some strong red food colouring to the butter icing instead for a change.... :)

Sultana Loaf

I love love love sultana anything! Be it scones, tea brack or my carrot cake with sultanas in it, I'd eat anything to do with them. And if a recipe calls for 50g I always add way more than that :) So I made a simple Sultana Bread, well its more of a cake but it's delicious regardless of what we'll call it. It's sort of crispy/crumbly on the outside but melt in your mouth on the inside and I obviously have to smother it with some real butter.... sure it'd be rude not to really wouldn't it?

Recipe:
125g butter, 125g caster sugar, 2 eggs(beaten), 4tbsp water, 1tsp cinnamon, 175g sultanas, 225g self raising flour.
Bake at 180C for 45 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

Grease and line a 1lb loaf tin. Cream the butter and then beat in the sugar until light and fluffy, approx 3mins at high speed. Beat in the eggs a small bit each time, beating well between additions. Then beat in the water. Sift the flour into the mixture and fold in. Then fold in the sultanas and cinnamon, mixing very well but not overworking. Turn the mix into the prepped tin and bake!

Once cooked let it cool in the tin for a few mins, then turn it onto a wire rack.
I like to cut a slice while it's still warm and serve with butter... and it's just as good cold!

LemonBerry Delight

This is a new recipe I tried out from my big, mad, new baking book available at amazon!

I'm always a little sceptical when trying out new recipes as sometimes they can be a complete flop but this was a treat. The sponge is moist and the lemon flavour combined with the berries throughout the cake is gorgeous. I did change the recipe ever so slightly as usual, I can never jst simply follow them. The recipe is for lemon and blueberry drizzle cake, but I substituted in a summer fruits mix as well as the blueberries. I also used frozen fruit instead of fresh and it worked just as well :)

225g softened butter, 200g golden caster sugar, 4 eggs(beaten), 280g self raising flour sifted, finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon, 55g ground almonds, 100g frozen blueberries and 125g frozen mixed summer fruits
Gas mark 4 or 180 C, grease and line a 20cm square cake tin

Cream the butter, then add the sugar and beat together for a couple of mins until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs a little at a time mixing well before each addition. Beat in the lemon rind. Fold in the flour and almonds and enough lemon juice to give a good dropping consistency(about half a lemon juiced). Fold in three quarters of the fruit and turn into the prepped tin. Smooth the surface and then sprinkle the remaining fruit on the top. Bake in a preheated oven for close to an hour keep an eye on it towards the end and if it is browning too much put foil on top for the remainder of the baking time.

To make the lemon drizzle for the top, put 100g icing sugar and 30ml lemon juice in a pot over a moderate heat and stir till melted together and syrupy. Don't let it boil! Prick the top of the cake with a fork, while still warm, and drizzle the syrup over.

Sooooo Good!

Lemon Easter Cupcakes

I know it's a little bit early to be making easter cakes but i saw the bag of mini eggs in the shop and couldn't resist! These are a lemon cupcake adapted from my lemon ricotta cupcakes but I replaced the ricotta with cream cheese for a change. They turned out really well, I iced them with lemon butter icing dyed with a bit of yellow food colouring (you can buy it here) and then popped on a mini egg for decoration! I could have been a bit more generous with the little eggs but everyone kept eating them! :)

Recipe:
1egg, 150g caster sugar, 120g butter*melted*, 150g cream cheese, 1lemon zested and juiced, 1tsp vanilla extract, 1.5tsp baking powder, 200g plain flour

*****if using self raising flour, still add half a tsp baking powder
******substitute one lemon for one orange, it makes a nice mixed citrus cupcake

Method:
Beat the eggs and sugar together for 3 mins on medium to high speed until light and creamy, mix in the melted butter , cream cheese, juice and zest of fruit and the vanilla. Beat well for another minute or two. Fold in the flour and baking powder and mix well. Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases in a tray, fill 3/4 of the way. Bake in a moderate oven at 180C for 20 to 25 mins

Ice with lemon butter icing
200g icing sugar, 100g room temp butter, 2tbsp lemon juice, the tiniest bit of yellow food colouring.
Beat well together

Peanut Butter Cookies

I've made so many batches of these, and they're always devoured! They are crunchy on the outside and slightly chewy with little bits of peanut going through and fantastic peanut butter flavour .. I always put a white chocolate drizzle on these... Yum!

Recipe :
40z butter(room temp), 4oz peanut butter, 1egg, 6oz light brown sugar, 6oz self raising flour, melted white choc to drizzle later on.

Cream the butters together and then beat in the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, med to high speed for 2mins. Beat in the flour until a dough forms. The dough will be slightly sticky. On a clean (ungreased) baking tray and with floured hands shape little balls. Flatten them a little bit, they flatten in the oven anyway. Bake at 180C for 15 mins if you want soft cookies or 25 mins for hard crunchy ones. I bake for 20MINS to get that just a bit crunchy exterior and nice soft inside .

Melt some white choc buttons or cooking choc and drizzle over cooled cookies... SAVAGE xx

Chocolate and Vanilla Cupcakes

These are delish! I used the chocolate mayo recipe for the cupcakes as it is a liquid batter and i figured they would come out nice and even and they did  :) i used a third of the recipe for the full cake and it made a perfect 12 cupcakes .. yay! I then topped them with my favourite, vanilla buttercream and a couple of chocolate buttons for good measure... they went down a treat.

Recipe :
1egg, 91g caster sugar, 1/3 tsp vanilla extract, 75g mayonnaise, pinch bread soda, 91g self raising flour, 17g cocoa, 100ml cold water.. ***i know the amounts are totally random but it is a third of the other recipe and it makes exactly 12!

Beat the egg sugar and vanilla for a couple of minutes, then beat in the mayo until it's nice and fluffy. Sift the flour cocoa and bread soda together in a bowl and then fold half of it into the egg etc. Beat in the water and then fold the rest of the flour in to the mixture. Voila done in a couple of mins! The mixture will be really liquid but its perfect for pouring. Fill regular size queencake cases 3/4 full . Then bake at 180C for 15mins until risen and a skewer comes out clean.

Cool and Ice with piped vanilla buttercream
200g icing sugar, 100butter (room temp), tsp vanilla and a tbsp of milk.
Beat together very well for a minute or two until creamy and no lumps of sugar left!

The full cake recipe can be found here *Choc Mayo Cake* !

Choc and Vanilla Marble Loaf

This is such a great recipe, it's so simple to make, its basically a madeira recipe, it's really cool the way it marbles together! I made this as a loaf, but I've made it in a round cake tin aswell before and it works just as well. It takes a good bit longer to bake as a loaf so I ended up putting a bit of foil on the top to stop it from browning too much... it didn't dry out or anything though!

Recipe:
225g butter, 225g caster sugar, 4eggs, 2tsp vanilla extract, 225g plain flour, 2tsp baking powder, 50ml milk, 50g cocoa powder.

Grease and line a large loaf tin. Cream the butter, and beat in the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one, beating well in between. Mix in the vanilla. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in gently. Add the milk and mix to combine. Split the mixture evenly and fold the cocoa into one bowl. Spoon the mix into the tin, alternating spoonfuls of vanilla mix and chocolate mix. When all the mix is in the tin, swirl with a skewer or sharp knife to make a marble effect. Bake at 180C for 35 to 40 mins, keep and eye on it!! It's done when risen nicely and its springy to touch and a skewer comes out of the middle clean.

Ice with Chocolate buttercream :)

150g icing sugar, 75g butter, 2tbsp cocoa, 2tbsp milk.... Beat together mad ;)