Apricot Bars (Recipe from Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients
6oz flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
6oz oats
8oz light muscovado sugar
7oz butter, cold, cut into pieces
1 jar of apricot jam

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175C and prepare an 8” square pan.
2. Mix together all the ingredients except the apricot jam in a stand mixer or by hand (if you’re doing it by hand I found it easier to get my hands in rather than using a spoon). Press half the mixture into your prepared pan.
3. Dollop the apricot jam over the mixture then spread evenly with a pallet knife. Press the second half of the mixture over the top and pat down lightly
4. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool in the pan completely before cutting into squares.

Cadbury’s Creme Egg Brownies (from gingerbread bagels)

Please forgive the extreme grainy-ness of this picture. It’s another I took at my friend’s house party so my camera plus the lighting are my excuse! Anyway, as the name suggests these brownies were delicious. Creme eggs have always been my favourite thing about Easter (although they do get smaller every year), I can literally eat a pack of 6 in one sitting. These brownies, however, are incredibly rich and I would defy anyone to manage more than one! The main difficulty I had (as you may be able to tell) was slicing the creme eggs in half. It’s not as easy as the recipe makes it sound and the warm kitchen didn’t help! Regardless these are a great idea to try if you fancy a more home made Easter this year!

Ingredients

4 1/2 Cadbury’s Creme Eggs
3 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup light demerera sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar <br< 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and prepare an 8X8 baking tin.
2. Cut the creme eggs along the join and keep aside 9 of the halves.
3. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
4. Cream together the sugars, butter and vanilla until creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients, folding together until just combined. Fold through the chocolate chips.
6. Spread into your prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes.
7. Remove the brownies from the oven and press the 9 creme egg halves into the brownies with the cream side facing up.
8. Return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
9. Leave to cool completely in the pan before slicing into squares and serving.

Devil’s Food Cake (from A Pastry Affair )

Ingredients - Cake

3 Eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup coffee

Frosting

3 tbsp unsalted butter
100g dark chocolate
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 cup icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170C and grease a ten inch (or two eight inch) cake pan(s)
2. Beat together eggs and sugar in a large bowl until full and thick
3. In another bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Alternatively add the wet and dry ingredients to the egg and sugar mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. do not over mix. Pour into the pans.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 - 15 minutes before removing to cool completely on a rack.
5. Meanwhile make the frosting. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over a low heat. Add the brown sugar and milk. Increase the heat to medium and and wait until the chocolate begins to boil, stirring occasionally. Turn down the heat back to low and simmer for 4 minutes. Remove from the pan and allow to cool to room temperature.
6. Beat in the icing sugar until it becomes lighter and spreadable. Ice the cooled cake.

This cake is AMAZING, I mean really. It’s so simple to make and looks absolutely wonderful when it’s finished. My only problem is that I found the sponge to be a little bitter. I’m not sure if that was an issue with the recipe or with my ability to follow instructions but I felt it needed just a touch more sugar or a touch less baking soda. I added way more icing sugar to the frosting to make up for it (probably closer to two cups of icing sugar and 3/4 cup milk). The combination of the bitter cake mixed with the super sweet frosting, however, was divine!

Mint Choc Chip Christmas Trees (Based on this recipe from The Joy of Baking)

Part two of my belated Christmas baking session are these mint choc chip muffins iced with green peppermint icing and decorated with edible gold stars to look like Christmas trees. Again I feel a disclaimer is necessary, I am not a very good icer, but either way I think these came out as at least passable Christmas trees. To make them a little less rich you can leave out the icing, they’d still be delicious!

Ingredients

For the muffins:
50g cocoa  240ml boiling water
175g flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
120g unsalted butter at room temperature
200g caster sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp peppermint extract
200g mint chocolate chips

For the peppermint icing:
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
160g icing sugar, sifted 
2tsp peppermint extract
2tsp green food colouring
Edible glitter or sprinkles of your choosing

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 190c and line a 16 cup muffin tin with cases.
• In a small bowl mix the cocoa with the boiling water and stir until smooth. Leave to cool to room temperature.
• In another bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, singly, until smooth. Mix in the peppermint extract.
• Add the flour mixture, folding in until just combined then add the cocoa mixture until smooth and completely mixed.
• Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full and bake for about 20 minutes until a tester comes out clean (I filled mine slightly fuller and they took around 25 minutes).
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.
• Once cooled make the peppermint icing. Cream the butter until soft. Add the icing sugar gradually until the icing is light and fluffy. Mix through the peppermint extract and green food colouring until evenly incorporated.
• Spoon the icing into an icing bag or syringe with a large round or star tip and pipe in a spiral pattern onto the the muffins.
• Decorate with glitter and/or sprinkles.

Christmas Pudding Cake Pops! (The best site for ideas for cake pops is Bakerella, check her blog out!)

Cake pops were always something I was a little intimidated about making. It seemed like a lot of work and a lot of decorating and all just a bit too fancy for my style of baking. But this Christmas I wanted to bake gifts for my friends and it seemed like the opportune moment to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. As you can see from the pictures, my cake decorating will never win any awards, but nevertheless I was surprised at how easy these were to do. One batch of cake mix yielded close to 50 cake balls and, aside from the logistics of chilling all those cake pops in your less than industrial sized fridge, they were pretty easy to do and really tasty. The recipe I used to make these Christmas Pudding Cake Pops can be easily adapted to make any kind you like!

Ingredients

1 box chocolate cake mix or home made cake batter (enough for a 13x9 pan)
450g chocolate fudge icing (home made or shop bought is fine)
600g milk or dark chocolate
300g icing sugar
A few tbsp warm water
Holly sprinkles to decorate
Enough lollipop sticks for your cake pops (around 40)

Method

• Bake your cake according to the instructions on the package or your favourite recipe if you’re making from scratch. When the cake is ready so the a tester comes out with only a few crumbs when inserted into the middle leave the cake to cool completely.
• Crumble the cake into a bowl and mix with the icing then roll the mixture into balls using your hands or a small ice cream scoop and lay out side by side on a baking sheet.
• Chill the cake balls for several hours (or speed up by placing in the freezer).
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water or in the microwave in 30 second intervals then leave to cool slightly.
• Dip the end of a lollipop stick in the chocolate then press into the cake balls. This will help the stick stay in the cake pop.
• Dip the cake pop in the melted chocolate, making sure it’s completely covered then stand somewhere cool and leave the chocolate to set. Repeat for the rest of the cake pops.
• Once the chocolate is set mix the icing sugar with a couple of tablespoons of water until it forms a thick, spreadable icing.
• Spread onto the top of the cake pop and decorate with holly sprinkles. Allow the icing to set before eating.

And here is one of the finished cake pops wrapped and ready!

Chocolate Dipped, Strawberry Frosted, Chocolate Chip Muffins (based on the original recipe by The Girl Who Ate Everything)

Ok so I concede the name of this one’s a bit of a mouthful. The original recipe is called “Strawberry Puff Cakes” but my cakes were not particularly puffy (I’m a terrible icer) so I figured that was a bit of a misleading name. Regardless I made these for a friends birthday a few months back and she assures me they were delicious… well the ones she managed to eat before her family ate the rest anyway!

For the chocolate muffins:

8oz flour
8oz sugar
8oz butter
2 large eggs
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
A splash of milk (if needed)
1 tsp vanilla essence
220g milk chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C and line a 12 cup muffin tin.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and cocoa in a large bowl and set aside.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl until soft and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat in singly. Add a couple of drops of vanilla essence.
4. Add the flour mixture by degrees and mix until just combined. The mixture should drop off the spoon. If it’s too dry ad a splash of milk.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips then divide between 12 muffin cases and bake for 19 - 22 minutes.

Strawberry frosting:

100g (1/2 cup) strawberries, washed and hulled
8oz butter, softened
400g (3 1/2 cups) icing sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt

Chocolate topping:

450g (2 cups) chocolate chips
3 tbsps vegetable oil

Method:

While the muffins are baking make your strawberry frosting.

1. Place the strawberries in a blender and process until pureed into liquid.
2. Beat the butter and salt until fluffy. Add the sugar slowly until just combined.
3. Add the vanilla extract and 4 tablespoons of the strawberries until just blended.
4. Once your muffins are completely cooled place the frosting into an icing bag and pipe onto your muffins (or if you’re hopeless at icing like me spread a thick layer on with a palette knife!)
5. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to harden the icing.
6. Melt the chocolate and oil together in a bowl over boiling water and allow to cool slightly before dipping your muffins, icing first into the bowl to coat the frosting completely.
7. Once dipped place in the fridge until the chocolate has hardened completely.

(Source: awkwardanderton)