Archive for the ‘ Food ’ Category

Blueberry cheesecake

Pineapple upsidedown cake

Extra cake this week because I forgot Andreas and Matt last week.

Blueberry and coconut squares

Some blueberry and coconut squares I made for this week’s cake using the BBC good food recipe.

Goodbye Bieber РBlack Forest G̢teau

Bieber (aka Stefan) is leaving, so I made him a goodbye Black forest gâteau.

Chocolate pecan cookies and Steve Jobs

This week’s cake was actually chocolate pecan cookies with massive chunks of chocolate.

In other news, I decided to dress like Steve Jobs for a week. Che disproves.

Chocolate and apple cake

This week’s cake is chocolate and apple cake. Very nice and egg free. Thanks to Emily and Donna for the recipe.

Recipe

Cake:

  • 4oz butter (softened)
  • 8oz caster sugar
  • 1lb stewed apples (so about 1 1/2lb uncooked before  peeling and coring)
  • 8oz self raising flour
  • 1/2 oz cocoa (I think I doubled both cocoa quantities!)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • Some cinnamon and nutmeg (I just guessed)

The original recipe also suggested raisins, but the person I got this from said that it is better without but it is personal opinion

Icing:

  • 5oz butter
  • 4 tbs cocoa (again I used 8!!)
  • 5oz icing sugar sifted (I used fondant icing to make it smoother)
  • 3 tbs milk

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 170C.
  2. Grease a tin (doesn’t really matter what size or shape, but you may want to double quantities if it is a big tin).
  3. Peel and core apples and put in the microwave until stewed (about 6 mins in mine).
  4. Cream butter and sugar.
  5. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg to butter and sugar (don’t think you need to mix this particularly but it can go in the same bowl).
  6. When apples are stewed and have cooled slightly, add bicarbonate of soda to them and stir whilst it grows, then add to the other ingredients and stir until smooth.
  7. Bake for about 30-40 mins (I would check it isn’t getting burnt at 30 mins).
  8. Slowly melt butter in a pan.
  9. Add cocoa to butter, turn up heat a bit and cook for about a minute.
  10. Add icing sugar and stir so there aren’t any lumps.
  11. Very soon the texture will go yucky and you will think that it has gone wrong. Don’t worry – this is where you add the milk.
  12. Stir until it is smooth and remove from heat to cool.
  13. Don’t ice the cake until it has cooled as the icing is quite runny and it won’t stay on the cake!
  14. Om nom nom nom

Bank holiday bonus cake

I forgot I had today off, so I had time to bake another cake. Carrot cake:

New year’s resolutions

This year’s resolutions are: go to the gym and bake more.

I will start with the baking. This week it is a plum & almond crumble slice:

Melting snowmen cookies

The snow outside is finally melting. This inspired me to make some melting snowmen cookies. Since I was talking to a Calvin and Hobbes fan recently, they are “prophets of doom” themed. First step: cookie dough. Sugar, margarine, flour.

Chill in fridge till a bit more solid and slice-able.

Cut into slices (I was attempting some non-round cookies), and cook in the oven for about 12 minutes. Don’t put them as close together as I did here because they will merge.

I forgot to take photos for a bit, but it is pretty simple. Make some icing. Make a separate tiny ball of icing with orange food colouring (3 drops yellow + 1 drop red). Turn the orange icing into small cone shapes in your fingers. Cover a cookie with icing apart from an area where you place two stacked white marshmallows. Place in microwave for about 12-15 seconds until the marshmallows start melting. Take out, dip the flat end of the orange cone in the now melty icing and attach to the head.

Take a tiny bit of left over icing and add a few drops of black colouring. Use a cocktail stick to twirl up a ball and deposit it for the eyes and buttons. For the hands, I drew then by dipping the stick into the colouring. In the background you can see the originals from the comic.

Add some pieces of paper taped to cocktail sticks and there you go.

Happy winter thaw.

Rainbow cake

I made a rainbow cake today!

It was supposed to be coloured in layers, but while cooking it swirls and gives in a tie-dye effect.

(Yes it is vegan)