Some Very Fresh Eggs

Now you all know from a few posts ago that i have some lovely hens in my backgarden. I have gained two more chickens! Their names are Margery and Mrs Clucklesworth. They are two gold top hens, which are about half the size of Dave and Nugget, but are adorable.

 
We have had some eggs! We don't quite know who has been laying but almost every day now we will find an egg in their little hutch. We have recieved about 10 eggs so far, next time I bake I will bake with fresh chicken eggs, straight from my backgarden! We are still trying to figure out who is the mysterious egg layer, or they have all been laying. We haven't got a clue!

 Mum and Dad both think it might be the little hens, because they are newer and were ready to lay when we got them. But we will have to wait and see...

Happy Baking, Beth xx

Gingerbread house

 I needed a challenge to do with baking so I made this with my Mum and sister- we all had great fun doing it. I hope you all love this. I got this recipe from the Good Food website. Happy Baking :-D .

Ingredients for House:

250g unsalted butter
200g dark muscovado sugar
7tbsp golden syrup
600g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate soda
4 tsp ground ginger

Ingredients for decoration:

500g icing sugar
2 egg whites
2-3 packs of chocolate fingers
Generous selection of your own choice of sweets
few edible silver or gold balls

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Then melt the butter sugar and golden syrup in a medium sized pan.

2. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger into a large bowl, and add the butter mixture, mix well until it forms a stiff dough. If it won't come together add a splash of water. If it's then too wet add a sprinkling of flour.

3. Cut out the template for the ginger bread house. Go to Good food website at the top for this. Put a sheet of baking paper on your work surface. Roll out until around the thickness of two £1 coins cut out the shape from the different templates, then slide the gingerbread still on its baking paper onto a baking tray, repeat with all the other templates. Until you have 2 side walls, 2 roof panels and a back wall and a front wall.

4. I cut the remaining dough into gingerbread Christmas trees. Bake all the sections for around 12 minutes or until a little darker at the edges and firm and then cut around the shapes to give clean edges. Then leave all the sections to cool. Put the icing into a piping bag and then begin to assemble.

5. To assemble pipe generous lines of icing along all the edges of the shapes, except the roof panels and then attach all the remaining shapes together to form the shape of a house. Put a small cup in the center of your structure so far to support it. After a few hours to make sure your structure is dry put on the roof panels in the same process as before leave to completely set overnight.

6. To decorate place the chocolate fingers secured with icing along the roof and around the edges pipe icing. Then decorate the rest of your house your own way with assorted sweets.

7. Make it snow! Sieve icing sugar onto your house to create a snowy scene. I also put on the trees made from spare gingerbread on as well.

Enjoy ! Beth x

Mini Cheesecake Cups

These are a fun twist on a classic cheesecake... but not as big. This is a bit like cupcakes but with cheesecake. I got this recipe from ' They draw and they cook '. Happy Baking! :-D

Ingredients: 

 200g of cream cheese
100g granulated sugar
2 eggs- room temp
1/2 tub Elm Lee double cream
1 1/2 heaped tablespoons of flour
50g unsalted butter- softened
8 crackers 
25g coco powder
1/4 pint sour cream
1/4 cup of sugar

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Then crush the crackers finely.

2. Mix the cream cheese and sugar together and add the eggs one by one. Then slowly pour in the double cream and mix well. Add the flour.

3. Place cupcake liners in a cupcake tray.

4. In a separate bowl mix the crackers and the butter and fill each liner with a thin layer of the mixture. (about 2tsp of the mix for each cheesecake cup.) press down to make the layer firm.

5. Pour cream cheese mixture into each cup about 2/3 of the way. Bake for 15 minutes.

6. In the mean time mix the sour cream and sugar together and then set aside. Take the cheese cake cups and chill until completely cool.

7. Poor the sour cream topping on and bake for 5 more minutes. Then cool and chill in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

Enjoy ! Beth x

Yummy Chocolate Macaroons

These went down so quickly after a really lovely dinner. Surprisingly they were easy to make, and were not that time consuming to do. i got a basic recipe from Good food. Happy Baking :-D

Ingredients:

125g Icing Sugar
1tbsp coco
100g ground almonds
2 medium egg white

For the filling: 

50g of milk chocolate - chopped 
2 tbs milk

Method:

1.Pre-heat the oven to 180C line a large baking tray with grease proof paper.

2. Sift the icing sugar and coco into a bowl, mix in the ground almonds.

3. Whisk the eggs until they are at stiff peaks and then fold into the dry ingredients.

4. Fill a piping bag with a plain nozzle with the mixture and then pipe 24 small equal blobs around 3cm across. Leave some space between them. leave for 15 minutes and then bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. leave to cool.

5. To make the filling melt the chocolate and warm the milk a little leave to cool and then put around 1tsp of filling onto 12 of the macaroon slices then put the other 12 slices onto each of those and sandwich together.

Enjoy !!!!! 

Delish Mango and Lemon tart

I love this recipe as it's refreshing and so tasty! You'll absolutely love it - I know you will - happy baking! :-)
I got this recipe and altered it slightly from my Granny who saw Gino D'Acampo make it on a TV cooking show.

 Ingredients:

Ready roll pastry. ( It's not cheating - don't worry.)
2 mango's
1 egg white
200g of golden caster sugar, ( or demerara it tastes the same.)
150ml of double cream
4 free range eggs
Zest and juice of 2 un-waxed lemons.

Method:

1. Set the oven temperature to 190C

2.  Take the pastry and roll out to fit a 20cm flan tin. Prick the pastry with a fork. Make sure some of the pastry hangs off the side as you don't want it to shrink later on.

3. Put grease proof paper over the top and fill with baking beans to blind bake. Bake for 10 minutes. Then lift out the grease proof paper and bake for another 5 minutes.

4. Brush the pastry wit egg white and bake for another 5 minutes until the pastry case is shiny.

5. Bring the oven temperature down to  150C.

6. Whisk the caster sugar and the eggs until foamy.Then beat in the cream along with lemon zest and lemon juice.

7. Peel and cut the mango into small chunks ( about 1cm wide) and arrange on the bottom of the pastry case - pour over the lemon mixture.

8. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes it should have a slight wobble.

9. Cool at room temperature take out of the tin and enjoy!

Happy baking!  :-D  And trust me it tastes better than it looks! :-)

Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Slices

I love this snack! Any one who loves peanut butter and chocolate will too. Hope you enjoy this! I got this recipe from The Cake Mistress and added my own few tweaks to it.

Ingredients

Base

200g of plain biscuits
90g  of unsalted butter melted.

Filling

50g of Demerara sugar
200g of icing sugar
50g unsalted butter
200g smooth peanut butter

Topping

300g milk chocolate
2tbsp unsalted butter

Method

1. Take a 23cm circular baking tin and cover with baking paper.

2. With a food processor blitz together the  biscuits and melted butter until it sticks together, put into the tin and smooth out with your fingers until evenly spread.

3. Next in the food processor mix together the Demerara sugar, icing sugar, butter and peanut butter until combined, spread onto the top of the base until evenly spread.

4. Melt the chocolate and butter and keep stirring while you do this, then pour the chocolate over the top of the filling and the base. Put in the fridge until the chocolate is set.

5. Cut up into squares and serve.

Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Brilliantly melt in the mouth, perfect to eat when cut up and still warm. Brownies are rustic and delicious. I got this recipe and added a twist,  from a cookery book written by Zoe Berkeley.

Ingredients:

Half a bar of milk chocolate bashed up into chunks.
200 g melted butter
65 g coco powder
3 large eggs
1 tea spoon vanilla extract
200 g caster sugar
75 g plain flour


Method

1. Pre- heat the oven to 180 C and put some grease proof paper in a shallow baking tin approximately 20 cm wide. Mix the melted butter in with the cocoa powder and set aside to cool for 10 mins.

2. Whisk the eggs in with the sugar and vanilla extract and then add and beat in the cocoa mixture. Then gently fold in the flour and the crushed chocolate. bake for 35 mins, the mixture should be sticky.

3. Leave in the tin to cool for 10 mins and then lift out of the tin by the edges of the grease proof paper. Cut into 12 pieces and serve with pink glitter.

Apple Puffs

An easy dessert to make, filled with apple deliciousness! I have put some cinnamon in to the apples for extra hint of spice.

 Ingredients 

Ready roll pastry

4 granny smith apples peeled , cored and cut into 8-9 pieces per apple

A shake of cinnamon

1 egg

 A couple of table spoons of brown sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Put the cut apples into a medium sized pot and put on the heat, keep stirring every minute or so to stop the  apples burning and sticking on the bottom of the pan.

2. Once the apples are getting softer and you can almost break them up with the wooden spoon add a shake of cinnamon. Stir into the apples and carry on stirring every minute or so.

3. When the apples are soft take off the heat and place onto a small cooking rack.

4. Roll out the pastry and when the apples are only just warm, with a wooden spoon, put a strip of apple in the middle of the pastry, use all of the apples!

5. Break the egg into a cup and beat to make the egg wash. Then put a bit of egg wash on either side of the pastry. Take the left side and put it over to the right side.

6. Put slits diagonally onto the top of the pastry and put the rest of the egg wash on the top with a big sprinkle of brown sugar.

7. Bake for 20- 25 mins until golden brown.

8. Serve with ice cream or cream.

Choc-chip Shortbread Biscuits

This tasty snack is quick and easy to make, the finished product is so delicious it will make you want more.
Hope you enjoy making these sweet treats!

Ingredients

225g plain flour
225g unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
100g caster sugar
125g chocolate chips

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150C.

2. Measure out the flour and the baking powder then sieve into a bowl.

3. In a separate bowl cream together the butter and caster sugar until fluffy.

4. Slowly bit by bit add the flour and baking powder mixture into the buttery mix and stir. This is because it's easier to mix in, if you add the dry mix in bit by bit. Then add in the best bit the chocolate chips! Mix in until evenly spread throughout the shortbread mix.

5. With a tablespoon or a small wooden spoon, scoop out walnut sized balls and place them on a baking tray. Bake for 15-20 mins until light golden brown.

6. Take the shortbreads off the baking tray with a spatula or a pallet knife and place on to a cooling rack. While they are still warm ,sprinkle a little bit of caster sugar on the top to add a bit more sweetness!

Done, I love doing these as a nice snack, happy baking! :-D

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

I adore chocolate cupcakes they are so yummy and good for celebrations or just as a treat, they are just as fun to create as well. Here's how to make them with Nutella chocolate spread. :)

Ingredients 

100g of softened butter (4oz)
150g of self-raising flour.(5oz)
150g of caster sugar (5oz)
3tbs of milk
2 large eggs
Half a teaspoon of vanilla extract
A quarter of a bag of chocolate drops
A couple of shakes of galaxy hot chocolate
A jar of Nutella

For the Icing


100g of softened butter (4oz)
225g of icing sugar (8oz)
Half a teaspoon of vanilla extract
A splash of milk
2 large tablespoons of Nutella

 Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C (Gas mark4) (Fan 160C)
2. Put muffin cases into a 12 hole baking tray
3. Measure the cake mix ingredients out and put them into a mixing bowl and whisk until blended and smooth
4. Spoon into paper cases
5. Bake for 20-25 mins until beautiful golden brown
6. Take out of the oven and place onto a wire cooling rack to cool

Meanwhile...

Make up the icing ready to pipe on to the cakes when they have cooled.

Once the cakes have cooled....

Make a small hole in each of them with a knife or apple corer and pipe some Nutella from the jar into the hole. This fills the cake with yummy Nutella in the middle!

Pipe on the icing and then you're done!:)

My sister loves these cupcakes!!!