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!!

First of the new year baking :)

I got a fit of madness today ! It's been a while since I baked so I started off with a few of my favourites, Nutella Iced Mocha Squares, Vanilla Melting Moments and a few Mince Pies thrown in for Joe :) So much for New Years Resolutions and healthy eating ... it's actually impossible :)

Firstly Nutella Iced Mocha Squares
Recipe

6oz soft butter, 6oz caster sugar, 3eggs, 2tbsp cocoa, 7oz self raising flour, 1tsp vanilla, 2tbsp coffee (dissolved in 3tbsp hot water) Bake at 190C

• Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs one by one, beating well in between and until light and creamy
• Sift in the flour and cocoa and fold in to the mixture. Also fold in the vanilla and coffee

Tip mixture into a greased&lined baking dish and bake for 25-30 mins. Cool in the dish and transfer to a wire rack. Spread with Nutella and sprinkle a few chocolate strands on top... Indulge!

Gotta love halloween!

Halloween is probably one of my favourite times of the year! I love dressing up , decorating the house and baking random cakes to decorate! Work was a bit mad so I only got to make one cake and it was the plainest cake possibly imaginable, so Im not even gonna write down the recipe! It was just a basic basic sponge with butter icing and a bit of jam and I covered it with ready to roll icing dyed orange*. I was impressed with how it turned out though after I drew a spider web on with Wilton Black Icing Pen ... niiiiice :)

* I used Colourflair dye in Melon find it here as I had it leftover from the Watchmen Cake and mixed it with a bit of regular red food colouring :)