Banana Bundt Cake with Rum Icing

This is the best banana cake I've ever made. It's seriously moist and delicious and will be making its way into my repertoire for whenever I have some over ripe bananas to use up. It's easy to make and looks stunning with very little effort. This is definitely my favourite of the two bundts I made this weekend.

The banana flavour is very pronounced (I did use 4 of them!) and, when combined with the sour cream, the cake becomes tender and moist with a soft crumb. I found the original recipe here on Cooks.com but as with the last recipe, there were some problems. The method neglects to mention some of the listed ingredients which is kind of unhelpful! Thankfully, I know how to make a cake and could work out what I needed to do.

I've typed the recipe here as I made it and have converted to metric as usual. I really recommend this cake even if you don't have a bundt pan, I think it would work well in a few loaf tins or maybe even a big batch of cupcakes! The rum icing was amazing. It was the perfect accompaniment to this cake and was so easy to make too.

Ingredients
115g butter
340g sugar
3 or 4 over ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
220g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
120ml (a small pot) sour cream
For the icing
300g icing sugar
2-3 tbsp hot water
3 tsp rum (to taste)

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and grease an 8 cup bundt pan.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
Add the eggs and bananas and mix well.
Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold in. Finally, stir through the sour cream.
Pur the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes before turning the cake onto a wire rack to cool.
For the icing, combine the sugar, rum and water into a large bowl and blend until it's spreadable. Pour over the top of the cake and allow it to drip down the sides.

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Cinnamon Bun Bundt Cake

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated. I've been settling into a new job and also trying to set up a business (more details of that to come!). It's all been exciting but somewhat disturbing to my blogging and baking! I spent Sunday baking cakes in my new bundt pan and they're the first things I've baked for ages!

I've been eyeing up bundt cakes for some years. They feature on American baking blogs regularly and I've always been interested in them. I got my first bundt pan (8 cup) from Lidl a couple of weeks ago and have only just got the time to try it out.

I did some searching for recipes that use my size of pan (often bundt pans have a larger 10 or 12 cup capacity) and found a couple that I wanted to try. So I made them both. I'll start with the Cinnamon Bun Bundt to carry on the theme from my last post.

I found the recipe for this cake here at Food for Laughter. I'm posting it here with metric measures as usual and how I made it. There were a couple of issues with the original recipe so here is my version

Ingredients
220g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
150ml milk
85g butter
4 tbsp sugar
3 eggs

For the glaze
135g soft brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
120ml water
50g butter

Method
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a bundt pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Heat the milk, butter and sugar in a pan on a medium heat just until the butter is melted, stirring constantly.
Add the eggs and the milk mixture to the flour mixture, and beat well.
Pour the batter into the bundt pan, and bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate.
To make the glaze; heat the sugar, cinnamon, water and butter in a saucepan until the butter has melted and the sugar disolved. Pour over the still warm cake and, using a pastry brush, make sure the entire cake is covered with the glaze.
Serve warm with some extra syrup poured over.

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Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon is such an amazing spice. It's warming and delicious and when heated, it fills the room with the scent of winter. It pairs wonderfully with all kinds of things like apples, Morrocan tagines and pumpkin pies. It can also shine all by itself (well with plenty of sugar and butter to enrich our lives) in these delicious cinnamon rolls.

The soft yeast dough bakes with a lovely crust in top and a soft and spiced centre. The rolls are delicious warm and at room temperature. They even last a few days too (assuming they're not all scoffed within moments of icing). They can be reheated in the oven to restore freshness too if necessary.

This recipe from The Pioneer Woman came highly recommended. I wasn't sure whether to go ahead and make the whole batch but I'm glad I did. Just make sure you have plenty of people to give these away too else you may have to be lifted from your house with a crane. Seriously. These are high calorie treats and they are so delicious. I wouldn't make these every week - not least because they take all day to make but they are really fun to make and easy too.

I decided to make a tutorial for these as the process is quite long to start with. It's mostly hands off time until the dough is ready then it's a quick turn around of the buns, a half hour wait for the dough to rise again and then a blast in the oven for 15 minutes. Brilliant.

As usual, the recipe has been changed into metric measures and written how I made them.

Ingredients
2 pints Whole Milk
230ml Vegetable Oil
200g Sugar
2 sachets Active Dry Yeast
880g (Plus 110g Separated) All-purpose Flour
1 heaping tsp) Baking Powder
1 scant tsp Baking Soda
1 tbsp Salt
Plenty Of Melted Butter
400g Sugar
Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon

Method
Put the milk into a large pan (I used a pressure cooker pan) and mix in the oil and sugar. Heat gently until it's just before boiling (this is called "Scalding") and then switch off the heat. Leave the milk mixture to cool for 45 minutes to and hour or until it is lukewarm. Sprinkle over the 2 sachets of yeast and let that sit for a minute or two.
Next, add the 880g of flour to the milk and stir it all together (I needed Al to help with this because I'm weak. Cover (I used a tea towel) and let it sit for an hour.
Now add the remaining 110g flour, the baking powder and soda and the salt and mix together again.
Divide the dough in half. Flour your kitchen counter and roll the dough into a long rectangle.
Drizzle melted butter over the dough (don't be frugal!) and spread it out a bit with a pastry brush. top with a generous cup of sugar and plenty of cinnamon.


Roll the dough into a a tight sausage (along the long side) and seal the edge with more butter.


Slice the dough into equal rounds about an inch thick. Brush 4 pans with a bit of melted butter and lay the sliced rolls into the pans.


Leave the buns to prove for 20-30 minutes, until the double in size. Top tip: If your house isn't warm enough, put the pans into a cold oven with a tray of hot water underneath. The steam creates the perfect atmosphere to prove.

Once the rolls have doubled in size, place in a preheated oven 180C for 15 minutes or until golden brown.


Frost while still warm so the the icing melts into the rolls.

I used the other half of the dough the following day and kept it in the fridge until I was ready to use it. You can do both batches in one day or you can store the dough in the fridge. Do punch it down if it rises too much in the fridge. It'll be fine.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've made my fair share of vegan cupcakes. They're something I really enjoy making. It's all about the chemistry of ingredients and how they work together to form a light, fluffy and delicious treat. I've not really ventured into vegan cookie baking though. I don't really why, I think I must need to purchase Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar! I'm sure that would push me to make some cookies.

Anyway, I was searching for a simple cookie recipe to start me off. I found all sorts of recipes requiring a range of ingredients that I don't have in my cupboard. I found this recipe on YouTube actually. It struck me as an easy recipe with no unusual ingredients (apart from Blackstrap Molasses but I just left that out). Who can resist a chocolate chip cookie?

The recipe was simple and came together really easily. The cookie came out chewy in the middle and crispy at the edges which was lovely. I was quite generous with the chocolate chips and ended up sticking the stray ones from the bottom of the bowl into the formed cookies.

I think I'd use brown sugar next time to add a bit more of a depth of flavour (maybe that's where the blackstrap comes in?) and have altered the recipe to reflect that. As usual, I've turned the measurements metric.

Ingredients
110g Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1⁄2 tsp Baking Soda
50g Soft Brown Sugar
Pinch of Salt
75ml Maple Syrup
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
75ml Vegetable Oil
50g Dairy Free Chocolate Chips

Method
Preheat the oven to 175C and prepare a baking sheet.
Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl.
Add the sugar and salt and mix to combine.
In a seperate bowl or measuring jug, mix together the maple syrup, vanilla and oil.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well.
Add the chocolate pieces and stir until distributed evenly through the dough.
Shape the dough into walnut sized balls and place on a baking sheet. Space the cookies about an inch or so apart as they do spread. Flatten the balls slightly.
Bake in the oven for around 11 minutes. Be careful not to overbake as the cookies may dry out.
Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Ginger and Courgette Scones

I had high hopes for this recipe. Adding courgette to a baked treat is not dissimilar from adding carrot to cakes. Adding these things makes for added bulk, sweetness and moisture for baked goods and costs very little.

This recipe came from The Vegan Visitor. I've made a couple of things from there before and generally find the recipes easy to follow andreliable but this time it just didn't work for me. I found that the dough was really sticky (and I'd only used half of the required milk). I had to add loads more flour and it still didn't come together into a dough the could be sliceablle. I had to bake the dough in a round and slice after baking. They took a long time to cook (and browned before they were fully cooked inside - they never really cooked properly).

The taste however was lovely. There was a subtle warmth from the ginger and, although the dough had a greenish tint from the courgette, there was no strong flavour of the vegetable in there. I really wanted this to work and will try and tweak the recipe to work for me. I think the courgette could be squeezed of excess liquid after being grated which could help with the sogginess. I'll have a go at working the recipe through again and will post it if it is successful.

Hopefully this recipe will work out in the future as the flavours were lovely.

P.S. How cool are my pirate breakfast items? There be a pirate breakfast on the horizon shipmates!

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Vegan Carrot Cupcakes with "Cream Cheese" Frosting

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you'll know that I've done a wee bit of vegan baking over the last few months. I really enjoy it. I love how unfamiliar ingredients come together in such a familiar way. The vegan baking that I've experimented with have always come out moist and delicious and these are no exception.

I chose carrot cupcakes for a couple of reasons, firstly, I didn't have all the ingredients for the ones I wanted to make (fail) and secondly, Al really likes carrot cake. He doesn't like being able to detect any hint of carrot in them though so I used a fine grater (this resulted in a grated finger - ouch!). I think if I made these again then I'd really want to add a bit more spice to bring out the flavours a bit more, I'd also add a few more raisins. I left out the walnuts as I don't care for them and I put in a few more raisins than called for as mine were enormous! The mixture only made 10 cupcakes instead of 12, that could have been because I used muffin cases rather than cupcake papers but I don't usually have that problem.

I made the cream cheese frosting too as I'd never tried it. It was fine but I think a bit of lemon to cut through the sweetness would be great. Vegan cream cheese is disgusting by itself but transforms deliciously when made into a frosting. The cakes were moist and tasty with a good light texture and the creamy frosting complemented them well.

Ingredients
75g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
150g sugar
75ml vegetable oil
75ml soy yogurt (I used vanilla but you can use plain)
1 tsp vanilla
2 medium finely grated carrots
Handful of raisins

For the Frosting, combine (add the sugar in 1/2 cup batches):
50g Vegan cream cheese
50g of dairy free margarine
220g of icing sugar, sifted
Vanilla to taste


Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners.
In a medium mixing bowl, mix together sugar, vegetable oil, yogurt, and vanilla. Sift in the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices), and mix until smooth. Fold in carrots and raisins.
Fill the liners 2/3 full. Bake for 26-28 minutes, until a toothpick inserted through the center of one comes out clean.
Once fully cooled, top generously with cream cheese frosting.

This recipe is taken from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

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Coconut Macaroons

Al loves all things coconut. It's just a flavour that he adores. I do too actually, I like the subtle sweetness of coconut and the creamy flavour and dense texture. I remember macaroons from when I was a kind. The crunchy outside and soft chewy centre. When we used to get them they were attached to rice paper - that weird edible but not really appetising paper stuff - and had a little drizzle of chocolate.

It's so simple to recreate a simple version of these (though of course you can cook them on rice paper if you wish and a drizzle of dark chocolate really isn't going to hurt them any. A simple combination of 4 ingredients means that these are easy to whip up for guests. They keep well and are great for lunchboxes.

These were the other gluten free and dairy free cookie I sent to Tam for the Cookie exchange and ... she liked them! Thanks goodness!

Ingredients
2 Egg Whites
150g Dessicated Coconut
150g Caster Sugar
1tsp Cornflour

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (if not non stick)
In a clean, grease free bowl, whisk the egg white until stiff.
Fold in the sugar, coconut and cornflour.
Shape the mixture into around 12 balls and place onto the baking sheets
Bake for around 10 minutes, or until golden and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

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Cheesecake Brownies

A good chocolate brownie is one of my favourite things to make and eat. Brownie recipes range from simple cocoa rich treats to complex beasts with more add-ins than you know what to do with but I'd pretty much eat whatever kind of brownie you put in front of me. I like mine more on the fudgey than cakey side. I like chewy edges and sticky middles. I like rich chocolate flavours and simple additions. I am always keen to try new things.

I've been reading for ages about the wonderful mix of cheesecake and chocolate cake. Black bottom cupcakes for example combine a chocolatey cake with a cheesecake centre into a perfectly formed cupcake combination. They are also on my list to try. The combination extends to cheesecake and brownies. There is just something about the combination of dense chocolate brownies with a rich topping of slightly sweetened cream cheese that makes them irresistable. I must emphasise that they are irresistable; I have made 2 batches in the last couple of weeks and they've been snaffled up.

This recipe is from David Lebovitz who has a whole book about chocolate. I trusted him to provide a reliable and easy recipe and I was right to. This recipe is simple to follow and has no complicated/unusual ingredients or instructions. I've reprinted the recipe here using only the metric measures.

Ingredients
85g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
115g dark chocolate, chopped
130g sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
70g plain flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
80g chocolate chips

200g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
75g sugar
Splash of vanilla extract

Method
Line a 9-inch (23cm) square pan with foil, making sure it goes up all four sides. Use two sheets if necessary. Mist with non-stick spray or grease lightly.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180C).
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and beat in the sugar, then the eggs.
Mix in the flour, cocoa powder and salt, then the vanilla and chocolate chips. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.
In a separate bowl, beat together the cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
Distribute the cream cheese mixture in eight dollops across the top of the brownie mixture, then take a dull knife or spatula and swirl the cream cheese mixture with the chocolate batter.
Bake for 35 minutes or until the brownies feel set in the centre. Allow to cool before peeling the foil off and slicing.

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Chocolate Espresso Snowcaps

Chocolate and coffee are flavours made for each other. Whether mixed together hot into a mocha or enjoyed as simply as a square of chocolate with a cup of hot coffee, the way the flavours complement each other makes for a combination that is hard to beat!

When I was browsing (as I do every year) through Martha's Christmas cookie list, I came across this recipe for Chocolate Espresso Snowcaps. The crackled top caught my eye and the stark contrast between snowy icing sugar and dark chocolate cookie makes for an attractive cookie. I'd never rolled unbaked cookies in icing sugar before so this was a new technique to me. The resulting treat is dark and chocolatey with the complex espresso flavour lingering behind. I made these as part of my Christmas baking but they are suitable as a year round treat.

I've reprinted the recipe with metric conversions.

Ingredients
60g plain flour
35g cocoa powder
4 tsp espresso powder
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter
135g soft light brown sugar
1 large egg
115g dark chocolate (melted and cooled slightly)
1 tbsp milk
Icing sugar, for coating

Method
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, espresso, baking powder, and salt.
With an electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in egg until well combined then mix in cooled chocolate.
With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat in milk until just combined. Flatten dough into a disk; wrap in plastic. Freeze until firm, about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Pour icing sugar (about 60g) into a medium bowl and, working in batches, roll balls in sugar two times, letting them sit in sugar between coatings.
Place on prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart.
Bake until cookies have spread and coating is cracked, 12 to 14 minutes; cookies will still be soft to the touch. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

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Damson Linzer Biscuits

I really wanted to start this post with some fascinating information about Linzer biscuits... Unfortunately, I don't have any. I've done a bit of Googling and have found very little in the way of history or origin. I apologise.

I do not however feel sorry for making these beauties. They are delicious! The eye catching "window" on the top biscuit (somewhat reminiscent of a very popular mass produced treat) lends itself well to the holiday season as any small, festive cutter can be used to create it. The jam (or in this case jelly) shines through like a jewel and the crumbly, slightly spiced biscuit pairs with this beautifully.

The dough for this recipe can be made several days ahead and kept in the fridge or freezer. It is easy to make and work with if chilled before attempting to roll. Next time I might dust the top biscuits with icing sugar before sandwiching with the bottom but this is purely an aesthetic thing. I chose to use our homemade damson jelly to sandwich between the layers. Raspberry jam is more traditional but I wanted something smooth and dark. The damson flavour worked well as it was not too sweet.
I used this recipe from Joy of Baking and must say that it worked really well. I made some alterations and will add them in. This is largely the original recipe but I'll reproduce it with the metric measures for ease.

Ingredients
110g ground almonds
280g plain flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
227g butter at room temperature
135g granulated white sugar (divided)
1 tsp vanilla
2 large egg yolks
Zest of 1 lemon
Icing sugar (for dusting)
120g damson jelly (heated with the water until smooth and runny)
1-2 tbsp water

Method
Mix the ground almonds with 50g of the sugar and set aside.
In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon and salt and set aside.
In the bowl of a mixer (you can use a hand mixer) bream the butter and the remaining sugar together until fluffy.
Add the vanilla, egg yolks and lemon zest and beat until combined. Add the ground nut mixture and beat again.
Add the flur mixture and beat until just combined. Divide the dough into two and wrap with cling film. Chill in the fridge until firm.
Preheat the oven to 180C and line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Take one of the pieces of dough from the fridge and roll on a floured surface until just under 1cm thick (the original recipe says 1cm but I think that's too thick personally).
Using a round, fluted cutter, cut an even number of disks from the dough rerolling as necessary. Using a smaller cutter (I used a star) cut holes in the centre of half the disks.
Transfer the rounds to the baking sheet spaced about an inch apart and bake for 12-14 minutes or until very lightly golden brown.
Allow the cookies to cool on a wire rack completely before sandwiching a plain and a holed biscuit with the warm jelly.
Dust with icing sugar (I would consider doing this with the holed side before sandwiching together).

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Chocolate Custard Muffins

Dan Lepard is an award-winning baker and he publishes many recipe through his Guardian column "How to Bake." I regularly trawl through the archived recipes and bookmark those that look delicious (most of them) and easy to recreate at home. I have had this recipe for chocolate custard muffins bookmarked for ages and, in a desperate need for a chocolate fix, decided to make them to share with my family one evening.

The muffins were delicious and decadent. They had a wonderfully rich chocolate flavour thanks to the cocoa powder and melted dark chocolate. When served warm these were moist and sweet and when cold were still tasty and soft.

The recipe is really rather simple. A warm chocolate custard thickened with cornflour is made in a saucepan and the flour is added to the mix. The batter is then baked and comes out amazingly moist but still light. Dan boasts that this is "the best chocolate muffin you'll ever eat!" and I must say that I'm inclined to agree.

The original recipe is posted here along with links to the whole series. I've reprinted it here for ease of use.
Ingredients
50g cornflour
3 level tbsp cocoa
100g dark soft brown sugar
225ml cold water
75g unsalted butter, cubed
125g dark chocolate, broken small
75ml sunflower oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
125g caster sugar
125g plain flour
2½ tsp baking powder

Method
First make the custard: put the cornflour, cocoa, brown sugar and water into a saucepan and whisk together over a medium heat until boiling, very thick and smooth. Remove from the heat, beat in the butter and chocolate until melted and absorbed, then add the oil, vanilla and one of the eggs, and beat again until combined. Add the remaining egg and the caster sugar, and beat again until smooth and thick.

Measure the flour and baking powder into a bowl, stir together, then sift directly on to the custard and beat through until combined. Spoon into a dozen paper muffin cases sitting in the pockets of a muffin tray; heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and bake for 25 minutes.

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Lemon Cheesecake Cupcakes

As you may be aware I was responsible for making some gorgeous cupcakes for my brother's birthday last weekend. I was really unsure which flavours to go for so I had a bit of a think and decided I needed a chocolate, a fruit and something else.

The fruit came in the form of lemon. I really like lemon in desserts. The sharp citrus matches perfectly wit the rich butter and counteracts the sweetness of the sugar.

These were a bit of an experiment actually. I used the Red Velvet recipe and tweaked it to make a lemon cheesecake flavoured cake. I used good quality lemon curd in the middle of the cakes and topped them with a lemon cream cheese frosting that was to die for. The lemon curd did sink a bit in the batter but it didn't really matter. There was a lovely lemony gooey centre/bottom to these cakes and they were a big hit at the party!

Ingredients
195g plain flour
85g butter, softened
225g sugar
1 large egg
Grated zest and juice of 1 1/2 lemons (you'll use the other half a lemon in the frosting)
3-4 drops yellow food colouring (optional)
1 jar (400g) of good lemon curd (you may not use it all)
3/4 tsp salt
175ml milk + 2 tbsp lemon juice (or 175ml buttermilk)
3/4 tsp cider vinegar
3/4 tsp baking soda

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and line muffin tray with 12 paper liners.
In a small bowl, sift the flour and set aside. Combine the milk and lemon juice in a cup and set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and beat well.
Add the lemon zest and a little yellow colouring if desired.
In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat.
In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.
Place a generous spoonful of batter into each muffin case and top with a spoonful of lemon curd. Cover the lemon curd with more batter so that it is sealed in. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

For the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting I used this recipe as I needed it to be pipeable (is that a word?) and this guaranteed that it would be. As has become the norm I've converted the measurements to metric and added my alterations. This is also for 12 cupcakes rather than 24.

Ingredients
65g butter, at room temperature
115g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
225g icing sugar
Zest of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp lemon curd

Directions:
Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.
Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
Add the zest and lemon curd and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)

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Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cake is a rich, moist cake with a distinctive red colour popular in the Southern United States. Traditionall it got its colour from a chemical reaction between cocoa and vinegar. Due to the modern processing methods now used to make cocoa, this reaction doesn't occur so red velvet is now much more likely to include red food colouring to get its rich colouring.

You don't really find red velvet cake in the UK unless you're at an American bakery. I've been spying it on blogs for years and figured now was a good time to have a go at making it myself. I chose to do it for the cakes I made for my brother's birthday and did some research into recipes. I didn't manage to get a decent picture of the colour of the cakes so you'll just have to believe me until I make them again.
This recipe from Epicurious came highly recommended. I halved the batch and frosted with a simple vanilla buttercream though a cream cheese or cooked roux frosting appears to be more traditional. This is the halved batch with metric measurements and my alterations.

WARNING - Wear an apron when you make these or you WILL get covered in red colouring, no matter how careful you are.

Ingredients
195g plain flour
85g butter, softened
225g sugar
1 large egg
3 tbsp red food coloring
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp salt
175ml milk + 2 tbsp lemon juice (or 175ml buttermilk)
3/4 tsp cider vinegar
3/4 tsp baking soda

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and line muffin tray with 12 paper liners.
In a small bowl, sift the flour and set aside. Combine the milk and lemon juice in a cup and set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and beat well.
In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.
In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat.
In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

There is quite a lot of washing up to do after this recipe but it really is worth it. The cakes are tender and moist and come out a beautiful shade of red. Top these with a bright white frosting to enhance the colour of the cake.

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Mocha Cupcakes with Chocolate Kahlua frosting

This is the first of the three cupcake recipes from my brother's birthday. I realise they're a bit late in coming on to the blog but I've been busy with work things and haven't really had a chance to update. While I've got some free time, I thought I'd get the ball rolling.

I've made these cakes before but this is the first time I've been able to use instant espresso powder and get a true mocha flavour. It was amazing. These cakes are actually pretty simple to make and they bake with a flat top so they're extra easy to frost afterwards. The chocolate flavour is rich and deep and the espresso adds a lovely bitter coffee edge. The frosting works perfectly to create a creamy chocolatey and slightly boozey flavour that complements the cupcake perfectly.
The original recipe can still be found here at Culinography, but I halved the batch as I only needed 12 cakes and changed the measurements to metric to make things a little easier.

Ingredients
225g granulated sugar
75g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
120ml natural yogurt
110g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 rounded tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
175ml water
2 tablespoons espresso powder
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 12 cup muffin tin.
On medium speed, cream together the sugar, butter, and eggs until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in the yogurt.
In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt.
In a measuring cup combine the water, coffee and vanilla.
Alternate adding the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar/sour cream mixture with the coffee mixture. Mix thoroughly.
Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Remove cupcakes to wire rack and cool before frosting.

For the Kahlua Frosting I used this recipe from Group Recipes. This is a half batch with metric measurements.

Ingredients
Pinch ground cinnamon
3 tbsps boiling water
1 tbsps Kahlua
450g confectioners' sugar, sifted
40g cocoa powder
4tbsp butter, softened

Method
Place the cocoa powder In a large-ish mixing bowl & pour in the boiling water & Kahlua.
Stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the cocoa comes together into a soft mass.
Add the butter & mix with an electric mixer on lowish speed until the mixture is soft & well mixd, 30 seconds.
Stop the machine.
Add the confectioners' sugar & cinnamon & beat with the mixer on lowish speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 min.
Increase the mixer speed to medium & beat until the frosting lightens & is fluffy, 2 mins more.
Pipe or spread onto cupcakes and enjoy!

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Slow Cooker Recipes: Steak and Kidney Pie

Every week we make a list of what's on the menu for the days ahead. We then write a list, take it shopping and only need to top up on things like milk, bread and chocolate during the week. My mum had written that we'd have meat pie one day that week. We normally buy two separate pies for the family so I decided I'd make one that everyone would like.

I found some ready cut stewing beef and pigs kidney in the butchery department of Morrisons. They were packaged together and I grabbed a couple of packs to make sure I had enough. I'd never cooked with kidneys before and wasn't entirely sure what I was letting myself in for but I was keen that I could work it out. I've made fruit pies hundreds of times before so I was sure it would be a pretty similar adventure.

Stewing steak likes long, slow cooking. The handy hint on the package of meat said it needed 2-3 hours so I decided I'd stick the filling in the slow cooker and save myself some work. It smelled awful. There was a strong scent of urine from the kidneys and I was really worried we'd need to go and get a take away if this didn't work out. I decided to persevere and used the usual seasonings and herbs for a decent stew.

The result was amazing. I used a cake pan in order to squeeze loads of filling in and have an awesome filling to pastry ratio. I used ready made puff pastry that had been sitting in the fridge waiting to be used and it was a little difficult to work with. It all turned out perfectly and I'm keen to make more meat pies in the future. My dad said it was the best steak and kidney pie he'd ever tasted (and he's tasted quite a few!).


Ingredients
700g stewing steak and kidney mix (cubed)
1 onion, roughly chopped
10 button mushrooms, quartered
1tbsp mustard powder
1 beef stock cube, crumbled
2 bay leaves
Worcester sauce
Salt and pepper
Enough boiling water to come halfway up the meat - though you could use a good stout for a different flavour)
Puff Pastry (you can also use shortcrust)

Method
Place the onion and mushrooms into the slow cooker.
Brown the meat and kidneys (in a well ventilated area) and add to the pot.
Follow with the rest of the ingredients.
Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 8-10
Taste for seasoning, remove the bay leaves and place the mixture into a wide dish to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180C
Roll the pastry out and lay into a loose bottomed cake tin (make sure there's enough left for the lid)
Fill the pastry with the cooled meat mixture - don't be afraid to cram it in there!)
Egg wash the edge of the pastry, cover with the lid and seal tightly.
Egg wash the top of the pie, cut a cross in the centre to let out the steam and then place the pie onto a baking sheet to minimise mess.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, until golden and piping hot throughout. Slice carefully and serve with chips or potatoes and the vegetables of your choice.

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Flourless Chocolate and Pear Cake

Flourless chocolate cakes fascinate me. Soft peaked egg whites give the cake air and structure and the ground almonds create a delicious texture. In this recipe, pears are rested gently on top of the light cake and it is baked in the oven. The cake come out moist and delicious with a good chocolate flavour. The pears bake until soft but still hold their structure well.



I found this recipe on BBC Good Food. We've got a glut of pears at the moment since we harvested them from our pear tree and even though this only uses a couple; every little helps!



Ingredients
85g butter , plus 1 tbsp extra for tin
85g golden caster sugar , plus extra for tin
85g dark chocolate , broken into pieces
1 tbsp Sailor Jerry rum
3 eggs, separated
85g ground almonds
4 pears, peeled, halved and cored (I only used 3 as that's all that would fit)
icing sugar, for dusting

Method
Cut a circle of baking parchment to fit the base of a 25cm loose-bottomed tin. Melt 1 tbsp butter and brush the inside of the tin, then line the base with the parchment and brush again with more butter. Spoon in 2 tbsp caster sugar, swirl it around to coat the base and sides, then tip out any excess.

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of hot water, remove from the heat, stir in the brandy and leave to cool. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a large bowl until pale and thick; fold into the chocolate with the nuts.

In a separate bowl, with a clean whisk, beat the whites until they reach a soft peak (try not to whisk them too stiffly or you'll have trouble folding them in). Stir a spoonful of the whites into the chocolate mix, then carefully fold in the rest of them in 2 additions. Spoon into the prepared tin. Level, then arrange the pears over the mixture, cut-side down.

Bake for 30-40 mins until the pears are soft and the cake is cooked all the way through. Leave to cool in the tin slightly before releasing it, then place on a rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar and serve

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Vegan Banana Oat Muffins

This was a recipe of necessity (no, really). Okay, so maybe one doesn't have to eat or even make muffins but they're yummy. These muffins include some wholemeal flour and some oats so they have some vague healthful properties (I try to kid myself...). The necessity came from the need to use up some ingredients. We had a selection of sad looking, browning bananas in the kitchen just begging to baked with, there's a carton of soy milk in the fridge waiting to be baked into a delicious treat (yes, my ingredients talk to me).

Anyway, these were delicious. They stored very well for several days but the topping lost its crunch during storage. The oats gave the muffin a lovely texture and the wholemeal flour gave some depth to the overall flavour. I used 3 1/2 bananas as they needed to be used up. You can use more or less depending on what you've got. Just make sure your bananas are really ripe to get the best flavour.

I originally found this recipe here but as I made some changes I'll convert it to metric and rewrite it here.

Ingredients
85g plain flour
90g wholemeal flour
25g rolled oats
170g white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
80ml vegetable oil
120ml soy milk
3 1/2 mashed bananas

For the crumb topping
50g brown sugar
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp wholemeal flour
3 tbsp vegan margarine
1 tsp ground cinammon
3 tbsp rolled oats

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with liners.
In a bowl ix the flours, rolled oats, white sugar, salt, and baking powder together.
Whisk the rest of the ingredients in a measuring cup. Mix on low and slowly add the wet to the dry.
Now fold the bananas in and fill the muffin liners about 3/4 full.
For the topping cream the butter with the brown sugar. Then add the rest of the ingredients until it becomes easy to sprinkle.
Sprinkle mixture evenly over all 12 muffins and then bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

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Marshmallow Toasties

I was at my brother's house last weekend and spied (from across the room) a book called "The Cookie and Biscuit Bible." I just had to go and have a look through it. Within moments I'd asked if I could borrow it and sure enough it is now in my possession.

I had a look through and decided that practically everything looked delicious. With colour photographs of each recipe and easy, clear instructions too I found this to be an excellent quality recipe book. Not only are there recipes for biscuits and cookies there are also muffin, brownie, bar and cracker recipes too. It really covers all the bases!

I was looking through the pages and came across an interesting recipe where a fairly plain biscuit base is baked and then topped with strawberry jam and marshmallows. The marshmallows are then toasted under the grill until the melt and brown. Yum. I love toasted marshmallows. I was the one at camp that used to set theirs on fire to make sure they were really toasted and melty on the inside before extinguishing and eating. I had to make this recipe for its sheer novelty value.

It was quite simple. The mixture includes ground almonds which make the base have a delicious texture and a hint of nuttiness. I subbed the lemon zest for lime as it's all we had in but it gave a delightful citrus note that cut through the sweetness of the marshmallows. I should have used the required 9x9 pan but we don't have one. Using a 9x9 would mean that the base would be more biscuity and less cakey. I think this would be much nicer even though the cakey one was quite good. You need the texture contrast between crispy biscuit and soft chewy marshmallow.


Ingredients
130g butter
75g caster sugar
Zest of a lemon or lime
2tsp vanilla
75g ground almonds
1 egg
115g self raising flour
150g strawberry jam
200g marshmallows

Method
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the citrus zest, vanilla, almonds and egg and mix well.
Place the mixture in a lined 9x9 pan and bake in a preheated 180C oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin and then spread with strawberry jam.
Cut the marshmallows in half horizontally and place on top of the jam.
Brown the marshmallow top under a moderate grill for 2-3 minutes. Gently press the marshmallows down to form an even layer and then grill for another minute.
Allow to cool before slicing.

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Lamb and potato pasties

Leftovers. There seems to be a lot of talk lately about using up leftover and not letting food go to waste. I come from a family that uses up their leftovers. They're reheated for lunch the next day, made into something new (bubble and squeak made from leftover vegetables is a favourite) or just used until there's nothing left (we make stock from the carcass of a roast chicken to be used for soups and broths). I like leftovers.

These pasties were made using the leftover bits from a delicious lamb roast on Sunday (thanks mum!). You could use any meat you have leftover and a mix of vegtable too. The pastry can actually be filled with whatever takes your fancy whether it's sweet or savoury.

I also cheated and used shop bought puff pastry as it was a Sunday night and it was getting late. Feel free to make your own pastry - you can use shortcrust if you want or you can make rough puff for a flakier texture. Use as much or as little of the ingredients as you want as it's all down to personal taste. If you don't like something then leave it out or substitute something else. These are bound to be delicious whatever you decide to put into them! you must make sure that the filling is cooked and cooled before you put them into the pastry. That it pretty much the only rule.
Filling ingredients
Roast lamb cut into small cubes - you might even want to mince it if you have the means.
Cold potatoes cut into small pieces
Cooked carrots finely chopped
Dried rosemary
Mint Sauce
Mustard Powder
Worcester sauce

Mix all the ingredients together until evenly dispersed.
Roll the pastry out on a floured surface and cut discs of about 12cm/4inches with either a cutter or the back of a pasty press (link below).
Place a small amount of filling into the centre of the disc or press and brush the edge with beaten egg to create a tight seal.
Fold the pastry in half over the filling and seal the edge tightly.
Repeat with the remaining mixture and pastry until it is all used.
Place the pasties onto a baking tray and brush with egg to create a golden top.
Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and piping hot.
Serve warm or cold with salad and pickle.

I used a dumpling/pasty press to make these which made the process quick and easy. They are available from Amazon here

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Cowboy Cookies

Bakerella. Oh Bakerella you tease me with such delicious looking, beautifully crafted treats. I really wish I had the time to make cute little sheep shaped cake pops but I just don't. I wish I could take the time out to create tiny little hamburgers from brownies and cupcakes but at the moment I'm pretty pushed. I do however have the time to chuck everything into a bowl and mix it up to make some simple and delicious cowboy cookies.

I'd never heard of them before. They're simple enough with a good mix of chocolate, oats and brown sugar. This particular recipe included M&Ms, chocolate chips and pecans (which I chose to leave out) and were the perfect mixture of chewy and crunchy and were delicious straight out of the oven. I'm amazed that when I open the biscuit tin there are still a few left! They were a real hit. The only problem I had was that my M&Ms didn't maintain their shape at all.

I was actually trying these out as a test run for making the layered mix for christmas gifts. They are definitely worth making and so simple to make. I'll pretty these up in jars just like in the original post and send them out in the holidays.

Ingredients
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
90g cooking oats
100g(ish) M&Ms
150g semi-sweet chocolate chips
50g brown sugar, packed
100g white sugar
A handful chopped pecans (optional)
1 egg
115g softened butter
1tsp vanilla

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients and stir until totally combined.
Roll the dough into even balls and place, well spaced, onto baking sheets.
Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 10-12 minutes.
Leave to cool for 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

I told you they were easy.

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