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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Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

There is a bit of a back story that comes with these cookies and how they ended up being added to my recipe file and why I've made two batches in less than a week. I randomly stumbled across a blog a few weekends ago. This blog was Steph Chows. If I'm grabbed by the writing style and photography of a blog (and the recipes of course) then I tend to read pages and pages of things over a few days until I find something else to hold my attention.

Steph grabbed me and I spent several days reading a few months worth of entries. I noticed this entry and was intrigued by it. I've seen craft based exchanges for fabric, handmade greeting cards and even underwear but I'd not seen a food based one before. I thought about how interesting it would be to see how other people work with ingredients and flavours. Some of the jams sounded amazing and I couldn't get it out of my head.

With a bit more reading, I found this entry about a cookie exchange. I read through to see the rules and get a general feel for the whole thing when I notice that a UK blogger is looking for a partner. Well, I could hardly pass up this opportunity could I? I was a bit late to the party (the post was made in December and the deadline for sign ups was waaay past) but I emailed Steph to see if I could join in and exchange...
A few days later I received confirmation that I had been teamed up with the UK blogger - Everyone, meet Tam! - and we were allowed a little extra time to get our cookies out. After exchanging contact and allergy information (Tam can't have dairy or gluten) I set about finding a recipe to fit the bill.

And here it is! These cookies are amazing and ones that I am sure to make again and a again. They are simple to make, require few ingredients and nothing too exotic (I wasn't ready to jump into the field of Xanthan Gum and strangely named flours - but if there's a cake exchange in the future? Why knows!). These would be delicious with a little chocolate thrown in and I might try making them with crunchy peanut butter for a different texture.

This recipe is from the Gluten Free Girl and I've reprinted it here.

Ingredients
1 cup Smooth Peanut Butter
1 cup Sugar (plus extra for rolling)
1tsp Gluten Free Baking Powder
1 Egg

Method
Cream the peanut butter and sugar in a bowl. Add the baking powder and the egg and mix until smooth.
Roll the dough (it will be quite soft) into balls about the size of a walnut and roll the balls into the extra sugar.
Place the balls, well spaced, onto a baking tray and flatten slightly.
Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 10-12 minutes.
Allow to cool on the tray for at least 5 minutes before attempting to remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Enjoy!

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Perfect Chocolate Truffles

It's Christmas. I cannot ignore it any longer (though in real life I've been embracing it) on this blog. I've got lots of wonderful things to post about but it's all been about preparation so far. I have rounds and logs of cookie dough in my freezer waiting to be baked, I have things cooling on racks, hiding in tins and wrapped in paper and foil. I'm really not ignoring Christmas... I'm just waiting for the right time.

So I'll begin with these simple chocolate truffles to ease you in gently to the multitude of yummy things soon to be coming your way. Chocolate truffles are deliciously rich and smooth. They have an intense chocolate flavour and they melt as soon as you put them in your mouth. There isn't an easier recipe than this one I assure you.

Ingredients
450g good quality dark chocolate (preferably no higher than 65%)
240ml double cream

Method
Chop the chocolate into small even pieces and place in a heatproof bowl and set aside.
Pour the double cream into a saucepan and warm on a medium heat until it just reaches a boil (this is called "scalding"). You'll need to stir it to prevent it from burning and forming a skin.
When the cream has been scalded, pour it onto the chocolate and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
Stir the cream and chocolate together until smooth and creamy and the chocolate has melted. If the chocolate doesn't melt completely, place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stir until melted.
Leave the mixture to cool and then place in the fridge until firm.
Once firm, scoop the mixture using a melon baller or two teaspoons and place on greaseproof paper. Roll in cocoa, icing sugar or chocolate strands.

These will keep for a few weeks at room temperature in an airtight container, they can also be frozen for longer term storage.

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Cake Decorating

It's my brother's 30th birthday today (Happy Birthday!) and we celebrated on Saturday with lots of beer and cake (of course). I had said that I'd make him some cakes as a present and set to work thinking what to do for decoration.

Chris is a metal head. He has been for as long as I remember. I figured I needed to include this somewhere in the cake designs. I had a bit of a search on the internet for images and I went to my local cake decorating warehouse to see what I could find.

I used black muffin cases which I actually really liked. They don't get greasy like the paper ones can and they held their shape really well. I bought some ready made black sugarpaste bats as a something simple to add to 12 of the cupcakes and they turned out great.

I then decided that I'd use lettering on 12 of the cupcakes and rolled out some red fondant icing and cut the letters out using cutters. I did this a couple of days before baking the cakes so that they'd have time to dry out a bit before I put them on the cakes.

Finally I decided to make little fondant hands for decoration on the final 12 cakes. I found a hand template online and resized it before printing. I coloured some white fondant with some pink and yellow colouring to get the skin tone I wanted and then rolled it between two sheets of parchment paper. I lay the paper hand template down and pressed it into the fondant to make sure it stayed put. I followed the outline with a sharp knife and then bent the fingers down to make the right shape. I also tried to add a little detail with a cocktail stick and it kind of worked. I had also thought of adding some black nail varnish with a food marker but, having tried it on a spare hand, I didn't think it looked great. I left the hands plain and let them dry over night.

I transported the cupcakes 160 miles on public transport. I would never have been able to do that until I bought a Cupcake Courier. It holds 36 cupcakes or muffins in a strong and sturdy plastic casing. There is limited movement and enough height allowance for icing and decorations. I'm actually really pleased with how well the cakes held up and very pleased with my purchase. My model also has flat inserts so that you can carry other treats like brownies and bars in it too.

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Damson Jelly

We've been on a bit of a preserving rampage recently. We've pickled shallots, vodka-d some sloes, curded some grapefruit, cooked up some mincemeat and jellied some damsons.

I've not had a lot of experience with jams and jellies. I have memories of my mum and my gran both making big pans of jams and marmalades, checking the setting point on a chilled saucer and carefully lifting hot jars from the oven. I have fond memories of unusual jams (marrow and ginger being a personal favourite - I must find a recipe for that) and the ubiquitous jar of tomato chutney lurking at the back of the cupboard.



My mum came home from work with two bags full of damsons from her friend's garden. They sat in the kitchen for several days until we finally decided what to do with them. Jelly. Jelly is not the same as jam. the fruit is simmered and then put into a straining bag (a specific jelly bag or muslin) and the juice is collected underneath. This sits for several hours (ours sat overnight) to make sure all the juice is extracted. The juice is then boiled until it reaches the setting point and then poured into hot jars to create a smooth, clear, set jelly. It's perfect on toast or fresh bread and even goes well with roast meats as an alternative to cranberry or redcurrant.

We found a simple and easy recipe here at BBC Good Food.

Ingredients
1.8kg Damsons
Juice of 2 lemons
Preserving sugar

Method
Wash the fruit, then tip into a preserving pan with the lemon juice and 300ml/1⁄2 pint water. Bring slowly to the boil, and simmer for 30-40 minutes until the fruit is soft.

Carefully pour the contents of the pan into a scalded jelly bag with a large bowl set underneath to catch the juice (see the Step-by-step photo). Leave for several hours.

Measure the juice back into the pan, then add 500g of sugar to every 500ml of juice or 1lb sugar for every pint of juice. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then raise the heat and rapidly boil until setting point is reached. Test this by spooning a little on to a chilled saucer. Cool slightly then push with your finger - if it wrinkles it is ready. If not return to the heat, boil for 5 more minutes and test again.

Pot into warm sterilised jars and cool before sealing. Can be eaten straight away, but keeps for up to a year.

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Slow Cooker Recipes: Christmas Mincemeat

I've been thinking about christmas. I know, it's too early but I can't help it. The supermarkets are stocked up with decorations, advent calendars and more. I can't help but notice the sparkling tinsel. To be honest it fills me with hope that this christmas season will be a healthy, happy time. I like being organised and have already started making plans. Stir up Sunday will soon be upon us and with it comes the baking of the christmas cake and (if I get organised) the christmas puddings. I'm sorry to put this christmas talk onto you but I have to share this recipe.

Mincemeat is a staple at christmas time. I make my own mince pies every year but have never attempted mincemeat. I thought about it last year and decided that this year was the time to go for it. Usually the ingredients are mixed cold and then placed into jars or tubs to mature a little before the season but this recipe struck me because it is cooked (in the slow cooker no less). I liked the idea of cooking the apple and spices and warming the fruits in some alcohol. The smell while this was cooking was amazing. There was a real warming scent that permeated the kitchen and the recipe was so easy to make. I'm contemplating making another batch before christmas so that we have plenty to go around and give out. It lasts in sterilised jars for 6 months is deliciously boozey and bursting with fruit. This made several jars of varying sizes.

Ingredients
450g cooking apples
115g candied peel (I used homemade candied pomelo peel)
115g glacé cherries
115g dried apricots (unsulphered apricots have a lovely flavour but use whatever you like)
115g blanched almonds
150ml Sailor Jerry rum (you can use whatever rum/brandy/booze you have)
225g dried cranberries
225g sultanas
450g raisins
225g brown sugar
225g suet (I used vegetable suet)
2tsp ground ginger
1tsp ground allspice
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp nutmeg
Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
Grated rind and juice of 1 orange

Method
Peel, core and chop the apples, chop the peel, cherries, apricots and almonds. Place into the slow cooker.
Put half the rum and the rest of the ingredients into the pot and stir until thoroughly mixed.
Cover and cook on high for 1 hour.
Stir the mixture well then recover and reduce the temperature to low. Cook for a further 2 hours stirring halfway through to prevent the mincemeat from sticking to the sides of the cooker.
Remove the lid and leave the mixture to cool completely stirring occasionally.
Stir the reserved rum into the mixture and spoon into sterilised jars. Cover and store in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months.
Label and give as a gift or keep for your own mince pies!

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Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

I made these last night to take out with me tonight. There are several birthdays around this time so as I'm a bit skint I decided to take some cupcakes for everyone instead of buying individual presents. I used the same basic recipe as I did for the mocha cupcakes but modified them by replacing the coffee with pureed fresh raspberries and halving the recipe to make only 12 cakes. Again I substituted the sour cream with plain yogurt.


For the frosting I modified the Kahlua chocolate frosting but replaced the Kahlua with more pureed raspberries. I tried to half the recipe (as I was left with a lot of leftovers last time) but it came out a little soft and wasn't quite enough to cover all 12 cakes. It has become a little stiffer overnight and the cakes still look great.

The hearts were made from pre-coloured red fondant cut with a cookie cutter.

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Lemon Sugar Cookies.

I actually didn't get any pictures of these as they were kind of last minute. I was looking for a recipe for easter biscuits and this Lemon roll out Sugar Cookie recipe from Basically Baked struck me as kind-of perfect. I thought the lemon flavour would be perfect for Spring and they were sturdy enough to cut into shapes (I chose chicks).

They were actually very good. They were crisp and crumbly and the lemon was just prominent enough to enhance the flavour of the basic dough. I would definitely make these again (and take pictures next time!).

I teamed these with tradition easter nests made from Rice Krispies and dark chocolate and decortated with Cadbury Mini Eggs. I also bought a few Lindt chocolate bunnies and Cadbury Cream Eggs to create small easter gifts for my family. They all went down really well.

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Real fudge

I've messed around with fudge making in the last few months. So far I've only made faux fudge using things like cream cheese or marshmallows to get the soft texture. This time I thought I should try it the proper way. I picked up a new bottle of milk on my way past the shop and decided to just get on with it.

The recipe I used was from James Martin. The only ingredients are milk, sugar, butter and vanilla with a little oil for greasing. I also planned to use my brand new sugar thermometer that I got for christmas but it didn't quite work out. My pan wasn't tall enough for it to be clipped to the edge so we tried to hold it at an angle into the liquid. The marker still wasn't covered so we used the trusty water method to gauge the stage the sugar was upto. It seemed to work well but I think I could have left it a few more minutes to be sure. Mine was a lot paler than in the picture on the website.

The finished result is delicious. It's very sweet and smooth with a nice vanilla flavour. I'm tempted to dip some of them into chocolate too. I sent some of these to my brother and am looking forward to finding out what he thinks of them (he loves fudge).

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Edible gifts: Fudge and Coconut Ice

I love to give people home made treats as gifts. I like to be able to say "I made that" and I also like feedback from them too. I made small gift bags of treats for a few friends that came over on Christmas Eve. Along with a large chunk of the tea loaf featured in this post, they got small bags of chocolate fudge and coconut ice.

I love fudge. The chewy and sweet squares of extreme dairyness never fail to comfort me. Having done a little research it seems that in the US fudge is made with chocolate whereas over here in the UK fudge is generally flavoured with just a little vanilla or left plain. Scottish tablet is also plain in flavouring but doesn't have the chewyness of fudge. It's a crumbly sweet treat that is traditional and holds fond memories for many people.

This fudge is none of the above. It's a simple combination of icing sugar, cream cheese and chocolate and while it doesn't really resemble the dairy filled fudge of my dreams it is still quite delicious. It's very simple and this batch made enough for 5 small gift bags with a little left over.

Coconut ice evokes similar warm feelings within me. My dad loves coconut ice and it reminds me of him so much. This simple super-sweet confection has a good coconut flavour and a lot of texture from the coconut. It's really easy to make and again makes enough for about 5 small gift bags.

I found the following recipes in a book called "Chocolates and Sweets to Make" by Rebecca Gilpin. It's a kids book but that just makes things more fun!



Easy Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients:
75g full-fat cream cheese
350g icing sugar
1tbsp cocoa powder
75g plain chocolate
40g butter

Method:
1. Grease and line a 15cm square tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Put the cream cheese into a bowl and sift in the icing sugar and cocoa. Mix together well (Note: this can tak a while but persevere!)
3. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler and stir in a tbsp of the cream cheese mixture.
4. Pour the chocolate into the the cheese mixture and beat them together until creamy.
5. Spoon the mixture into the tin and push it into the corners (you may need to use your fingers). Smooth with the back of a spoon and place in the fridge for 2 hours or until firm.
6. Turn the fudge onto a chopping board and cut into squares. Let the squares harden in the fridge for a further 2 hours and store in the fridge in an airtight container.


Coconut Ice

Ingredients:
2 egg whites mixed from dried egg white (according to package instructionss)
450g icing sugar - sifted
175g desiccated coconut
4tsp water
Food colouring

Method:
1. Grease and line an 18cm tin with greaseproof paper.
2. In a large bowl, stir the egg whites with a fork until frothy. Stir in 2 tbsp of the sugar.
3. Add the rest of the sugar a little at a time until all combined.
4. Add the coconut and water and stir to mix everything well.
5. Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and press down with your fingers.
6. Add a few drops of food colouring inti the rest of the mixture in the bowl and stir until coloured evenly.
7. Spoon the dyed mixture on top of the white layer and leave to set overnight. Cut into squares and leave those to harden for two hours. Store in an airtight container.

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Loaf cake recipes

Okay so I'm going to start going through the backlog of recipes from the christmas period. I made a few gift packages of baked goods and bravely tried all new recipes. I had a lot of luck really and made my first real foray into loaf cakes.

I chose loaves as they're easy to fit into a box for shipping, tend to keep well, are easily customisable and are easy to make. This season I chose a traditional tea loaf and a chocolate banana bread. Absolutely delicious.

The tea loaf was from a recipe by Simon Rimmer. It's very easy but does require you to soak the fruit overnight and bake the cake the next day. I found the original recipe here [note: there is a mistake in that the recipe doesn't mention what to do with the sugar - I add it in with the flour etc.] but I made my own changes.

Ingredients:
225g mixed dried fruit (chopped dates, raisins, sultanas, cranberries all work well)
300ml/½ pint tepid Earl Grey tea
250g/9oz self-raising flour
200g/7oz soft light brown sugar
1 free-range egg, beaten
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Method:
1. Place the dried fruit and tea into a large bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and leave to soak overnight.
2. The next day, preheat the oven to 175C/325F/Gas 3.
3. Add the flour, sugar, egg and spices to the bowl with the fruit and mix well.
4. Grease two 1lb loaf tins and carefully share the mixture equally between the two.
5. Transfer to the oven and bake for one and a quarter hours, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

It is suggested that this loaf be served with butter and jam but I find it moist and quite sweet enough without. It goes nicely with a cup of tea and a natter with friends. Feel free to use whatever fruit you like and spice according to your own tastes.

The second loaf cake I went for was a banana bread from Nigella. I had some bananas that were at the perfect banana bread stage (black skinned, soft and sweet) and I had someone in mind when making this one. I had seen this recipe mentioned on Dressing for Dinner and again it seemed like an easy one to customise as necessary. I left out the dried fruit and booze soaking (though I will soon try it with these steps left in) and added cocoa powder and a packet of chocolate chips as I had them sitting around.

This cake was delicious and moist and chocolatey. Seriously, it was amazing. You could taste the banana sweetness and the cocoa powder complimented this with a slightly bitter chocolate flavour. The chocolate chips were yummy in the way that chocolate chips always are. I used two 1lb loaf tins again and divided the batter between the two.

The recipe for this can be found here.

I think I have now decided that loaf cakes are the perfect sweet treat for sending to friends. I'm sure I will continue to make them in various combinations as they are endlessly variable.

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Mmmm honeycomb...

Well, it's not really honeycomb but it is known as such (it is also known as Cinder Toffee and Hokey Pokey... think I'll stick with the honeycomb).

I've always loved honeycomb. Al will vouch for me choosing Cadbury's Crunchie bars when given the choice. I love how the bubbles melt on your tongue and the slightly burnt sugar hints. The way the texture of the honeycomb and the texture of the chocolate are so different from each other is almost impossible to resist.

This recipe was taken from Nigella Express which I got for christmas and was a lot easier than expected. Alas, it is not chocolate coated but you can cover yours in chocolate if you wish (and if it lasts that long).

Ingredients

100g Caster Sugar

4 tbsp Golden Syrup
1 ½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Method

Put the sugar and syrup into a saucepan and mix together, you mustn't stir while the pan is on the heat.

Place the pan on the heat and let the mixture first melt, then turn to goo, then turn to a bubbling mass the colour of maple syrup (approximately 3mins).

Remove from the heat and whisk in the bicarbonate of soda and turn immediately onto a piece of reusable baking parchment or greased foil and leave to cool.

Once set, bash up into chunks and enjoy. Store in an air-tight container.

It's so simple and takes no time at all! I think mine was cooked ever-so-slightly too long and tastes a little burnt, it's not unpleasant but it's something to note for next time. Delicious and really good for gift-giving.

**The pictures are a bit rubbish because they are taken on my phone**

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