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!

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies (Recipe from The Joy of Baking)

Ingredients

295g flour
30g cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
170g butter, room temperature
200g caster sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
180 ml buttermilk
1 tbsp red food coloring

Cream cheese frosting:
113g butter, room temperature
227g cream cheese, room temperature
345g icing sugar, sifted
1tsp vanilla extract

Method:

• Preheat oven to 190c and line two baking sheets with paper.
• Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
• Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy then add the egg and mix until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract.
• In a measuring jug mix together the buttermilk and red food colouring.
• Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to the butter, sugar and egg.
• Drop heaping tablespoons* of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheets spacing about 5 cm apart and smooth the tops with moist fingers or the back of a spoon.
• Bake for 9 - 10 minutes until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
• When the cookies have cooled make the cream cheese filling. Beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the cream cheese and mix until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. Gradually mix in the sifted icing sugar until smooth and creamy.
• To assemble take one cookie and spread a tablespoon of cream cheese filling on the bottom side. Sandwich together with another cookie. If desired thin some of the cream cheese mixture to piping consistency with a little cream or milk and ice patterns over the top of your whoopie pies.

*NB I found a heaped tablespoon of the mixture made for too large a cookie (as you can see in the picture). I’d suggest half a tablespoon would be better.

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!

Mega Mince-Pie (from Pieminister’s a Pie for All Seasons)

If you know me at all you’ll know one thing. I like pie. No, that’s a huge understatement. I LOVE pie. In particular I love Pieminister pies. Ever since I first tried my first bite of ‘The Matador’ at a one of our ‘Pie and Cake’ parties at University, I knew I was hooked. I could wax lyrical about how wonderful their pies are all day. Fresh, organic, locally sourced ingredients all combined to make the most glorious, flavoursome pies you will ever come across. I can only recommend, if you have never tried them before, you look up your nearest store, hot foot it down than and order a pie with a side of mash and minty peas as soon as physically possible. Your life will never be the same.

I’m sure you’re now getting the picture as far as the extent of my love for Pieminister is concerned. So what could have filled me with more delight than to discover that Tristan and Jon had released a cookbook detailing dozens of recipes for fabulous pies I could try myself? Nothing, that’s what. Naturally I bought the cookbook as soon as I could and positively ruined the pages as I leafed through and salivated over the possibilities. It was just before Christmas, and one particular pie caught my eye. MEGA. MINCE. PIE. Three words guaranteed to make my heart leap with joy even as my arteries recoil in horror.

Reading through the recipe on Christmas eve I have to admit I was intimidated. Making my own mince meat? Really? But it was actually surprisingly easy to do, as was the suet pastry (a form of pastry I’ve never tried before). Alas, disaster, my pie tin died a death some months before and I never have gotten round to replacing it so I had to use a regular cake pan. This made for a ridiculously deep fill mince pie, which perhaps wasn’t the best way to go, but all in all it was absolutely delicious! The mince meat recipe made far more than could fill the pie so we had enough to make some individual mince pies with it as well (and there’s still some in the freezer). I will definitely be making this again next year (though hopefully by then I’ll have replaced my pie tin) and I’m almost tempted to say I will never go back to store bought mince meat again!

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread - Original Recipe from (Lovin’ From The Oven)

Ingredients

3 Over-ripe bananas, mashed
3oz melted butter
6oz suger
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
dash of salt
6oz flour

For the Swirl -
3oz sugar
1tbsp cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C, butter and flour a loaf tin.
2. Mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg and vanilla. Sprinkle bicarbonate of soda and salt on top and gently stir in the sifted flour until just moist. Do not over mix!
3. In a small dish mix together the sugar and cinnamon for the swirl.
4. Pour half the loaf mix into the tin then sprinkle with just over half the cinnamon mixture. Add the rest of the batter and then sprinkle with the rest of the cinnamon mixture.
5. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, remove from oven and cool completely in then pan. (This part is really important! I took mine out too early and it went a bit flat as you can see!)