Crumpets

Such an amazing recipe, a recipe which is so under-rated, however the results are fabulous and scrummy!

Crumpets

Ingredients

225g Strong plain flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. yeast

1 tsp. sugar

275ml milk

55ml water

Method

In a small saucepan heat up the milk until it is slightly warm.

Then add the water, then the yeast. Leave for 15 minutes until the yeast mixture is froffy.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredient's and make a well.

When the wet ingredient's are ready, gradually add to make a batter.

Once combined, leave for 1 hour.

Well grease your crumpet rings and heat a saucepan with a small amount of oil of a medium heat.

Add 2 tbsp. of mixture to each ring and cook for 4-5 minutes.

Flip the crumpets once they have had adequate time.

Cook for 1 minute. Remove from pan.

Cheats Butterscotch & Cashew Mille Feuille

This recipe is the ultimate cheat recipe, its a little bit naughty but I was in desperate need of a dessert to take to a girls dinner party which was arranged very last minute and being the baker of the group it was down to me to supply something naughty and delicious. I had been planning on experimenting with Mille Feuille, which I still did but I did take a couple of shortcuts involving puff pastry! Ooops!

Butterscotch & Cashew Mille Feulile

Ingredients

Just Roll Puff Pastry

300ml double cream

250g cream cheese

100g icing sugar

1 packet Butterscotch Angel Delight

50g Cashews

Garnish of choice

Method

Start by preheating the oven at 200oc and lining 2 baking trays with grease proof paper.

Dust the work surface with icing sugar and roll out the pastry ever so slightly, then cutting out equal rectangles, then transferring to the baking tray.

Once you've cut out all of the rectangles, dust well with icing sugar. Bake for 15 minutes.

Whilst the pastry is in the oven: in a large mixing bowl, combine the cream, cream-cheese and butterscotch Angel Delight, then load into a piping bag, if that is the effect you intend for.

Once the pastry is cooked and cooled, pipe the filling onto the pastry and layer. To finish I gave the Mille Feuille a dusting of crushed cashews and freeze dried raspberries for colour.

Enjoy!

Triple Chocolate Peanut Cookies

Another immense cookie recipe... I swear they just keep getting better!

Triple Chocolate Peanut Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter

100g white chocolate chunks

100g dark chocolate chunks

100g milk chocolate chunks

2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

Method

Preheat the oven to 200oc and greaseproof 2 baking trays.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, then add the sugar and baking powder until combined.

Add the peanut butter and ensure it is incorporated well before adding the chocolate chunks. Place the mix in the freezer for 15 minutes, then using teaspoons or an ice cream scoop, place 6 lumps of dough on each tray before baking for 12 minutes in the oven.

Leave the cookies to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before removing them.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Cookies are my partners favourite and as I have mentioned before, he is a big lover of peanut butter, so seeing's as I'm the best girlfriend, I decided I would whip him up a mid-week batch. I usually experiment and play around with the flavours and these ones contain dark chocolate and some sea-salt to bring out those rich flavours!

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter

2 tsp. baking powder

2 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

3 tbsp. cocoa

1 tsp. sea-salt

100g dark chocolate chunks

Method

Preheat the oven to 200oc and greaseproof 2 baking trays.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, then add the sugar and baking powder until combined.

Add the peanut butter and ensure it is incorporated well before adding the cocoa and chocolate chunks. Place the mix in the freezer for 15 minutes, then using teaspoons or an ice cream scoop, place 6 lumps of dough on each tray before baking for 12 minutes in the oven.

Leave the cookies to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before removing them.

Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Tart

Dark chocolate and raspberries are such a magical combination, they work so well: delicate sweet raspberries paired with bitter yet brilliant, smooth dark chocolate, definitely a match made in heaven, without a shadow of a doubt. I would recommend using fresh raspberries so that you get a real moistness about the raspberry layer.

Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Tart

225g plain flour

110g butter (room temperature)

80g sugar

1 egg

1 Punnet of Raspberries

300g Dark Chocolate

300ml double cream

Cocoa for dusting
Freeze Dried Raspberries

Method

Start by making the pastry: place the butter and flour in a food processor and whizz until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

Add the sugar and whizz again until incorporated.

Crack the egg into the food processor to bring the pastry together. If the pastry is too crumbly, add a splash of milk to moisten.

Once a dough is formed, place in the fridge for 10 minutes, then well oil a pastry case.

Roll out the pastry to a 1cm thickness and lay into the pastry dish. Ensure the pastry is pressed into the case firmly and bake with baking beans for 20 minutes until light brown in an oven heated to 190oc. Once baked allow the pastry to cool completely.
On a medium heat, heat the double cream until it starts to bubble, whilst its heating up, break the chocolate into chunks in a medium bowl. Pour the heat cream directly over the chocolate and stir continuously until the chocolate is entirely melted.
Place the raspberries in a bowl and lightly mash, then line the bottom of the pastry case.
Then directly pour the chocolate ganache over the raspberries and place in the fridge to set. Once firm, dust with cocoa and freeze dried raspberries.

Seeded Challah Bread

Adore this recipe, now an even better seeded version! This was a recipe I found on Pintrest originally, It is one which I have adapted and made easier over time. If you are looking to bake a bread which is gorgeously crusty on the outside and beautifully soft inside, this is one for you. This recipe is easy to follow and the result is absolutely delicious, this bread is visually pleasing, with a shiny and crisp crust. Challah bread is a special Jewish braid bread eaten on Jewish holidays. This bread is perfect for a celebration. 

Challah Bread

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work tops
1 sachet of  instant dried yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs & 1 egg yolk (don't throw away the left over white!)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup water, at room temperature

50g Mixed seeds or seeds of choice

In a bowl combine all of the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

In another bowl combine 2 of the eggs and the egg yolk, mix thoroughly with the water and the melted butter.
Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring constantly. If the mixture becomes too sticky, add up to 1/4 cup of flour to even it out.
On a lightly floured surface, start to knead the dough until it the dough is smooth and elastic. Aim to knead the dough for about 5 minutes.
Shape the dough into a ball, place in a bowl and cover. Let the dough rise for 1.5-2 hours, at least until it has doubled in size. Meanwhile stir the left over egg white in a bowl and place in the fridge.
Once the dough has doubled in size, press on the dough and deflate, then allow to double in size again for 40-60 minutes.
Take the dough out of the bowl and roughly divide into 3 portions (one should be larger than the other two. I divide the dough into 4 then combine 2 of the portions).
You will repeat this next part of the recipe with all 3 portions: Take a portion and divide into 3 again. Roll the dough in your hands until you create a 12-16 inch sausage, repeat 3 times. Create a plait with the 3 sausages by pinching the dough together at the top, plaiting then pinching the bottom to seal. Place on  tray.
Repeat this with the smaller portions of dough, then drape the smaller plaits over the larger one. This creates a more beautiful and visually interesting bread design.
Brush the bread with the egg white and sprinkle evenly with seeds.
Bake at 180oc for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.

Cupcake Bouqet- The Perfect Gift

It was my mother in laws birthday coming up and we were already stumped as to what to get her for her birthday, so whilst I left the gift idea to my boyfriend, I did a little research on cupcake bouquets as I had come across a couple of different images before and its something I have been waiting to give a go. The cupcakes are the easy bit, I shall out some links to my cupcakes at the bottom of the post, but its the structure which is the tricky bit.

Start by investing in your basic materials, so you need a plant pot, standard sized plant pot, or you could use a small metal bucket.
I got two packs of tissue paper: green to go around the cupcakes to act as leaves and a pink tissue to go around all of the cupcakes.
You'll need scissors obviously and a pretty ribbon to go around the pot.
Either online or in any good cook shop store, you will need a polystyrene dome, you can get them on eBay, it doesn't matter if they are slightly too small to fit the top of your plant pot, as you can fill out the top with tissue paper.
Lastly you need cocktail sticks to puncture the polystyrene dome and then to attach to the bottom of the cupcake's. I had 5 large cupcakes in my bouquet, but obviously the bigger pot you get the more cupcakes that will fit!

http://buttonsbaking.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/carrot-walnut-cupcakes.html


http://buttonsbaking.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/reeses-cups-cupcakes.html


http://buttonsbaking.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/coffee-and-chocolate-cupcakes.html

Malteser Fridge Cake

Sometimes its nice to have something sweet, tasty and indulgent but quickly, and that can be the only downside I find when you're baking, the waiting. Luckily I do have a couple of recipes I turn to when I need something quickly, and one of those being my Malteaser Fridge cake, which is sweet, chewy and the texture of it is absolutely delectable if I do say so myself. I also find that they are a bit of a winner when I need something to take into work and keep everyone going.

Malteaser Fridge Cake

Ingredients

300g Chocolate Digestives

100g Malteasers

100g Butter

3 tbsp. Golden Syrup

100g Dark Chocolate

2oog Milk Chocolate

Method

Start off by placing the digestives into a food processor or a food bag and bashing into crumbs. Try and allow for some bigger bits and having variations in size of biscuits as it enhances the texture well. Then place half of the Malteasers in a food bag and lightly bash, allowing the variations in size once again. Prepare a cake tin with cling film or greaseproof paper to set your fridge cake.

In a saucepan on a medium heat, melt the butter and the dark chocolate. There is no need for a bain-marie here as you have the butter in with the chocolate. Once melted, add the golden syrup and stir with a wooden spoon. Take off the heat and add the biscuits and Malteasers. Then pour the mixture into the pre-prepared tin and flatten. Then place in the fridge.

In the microwave or in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water, melt the milk chocolate, then pour over the cake and spread out evenly. To finish the cake I crumbled the rest of the Maltesers over the top.

Enjoy!

Banoffee Pie

Good afternoon to you all. Its been almost 2 months since I last wrote up one of my recipes or any of my latest cooking/baking ventures, which is a shame as I have been in the kitchen as always, but I have found myself rather busy lately and therefore my admin commitments to the blog have gone a little down hill, however I am back in business and firstly I had to upload my recipe for Banoffee Pie!
Banoffee Pie is my brothers absolute favourite and as he has been working so hard recently and lacking in the free time department I told him I would make him a massive fudge cake to make him feel better, and he said 'Nope, Ill have a Banoffee Pie please'. So luckily for him, it was May half term last week and I had time to spare!
This recipe is a real simple one, but effective and tasty: you can choose to have either a pastry base or a biscuit base, however for me I stick with the classic pastry base. I also insist on making my own pastry and although its not for everyone I make it into a little bit of a mission for myself, however you can buy a ready made pastry case to save yourself time and effort!

Banoffee Pie

Ingredients

225g plain flour

110g butter (room temperature)

80g sugar

1 egg

2 ripe bananas

397g Carnation Caramel Tin

300ml double cream

Cocoa for dusting

Method

Start by making the pastry: place the butter and flour in a food processor and whizz until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

Add the sugar and whizz again until incorporated.

Crack the egg into the food processor to bring the pastry together. If the pastry is too crumbly, add a splash of milk to moisten.

Once a dough is formed, place in the fridge for 10 minutes, then well oil a pastry case.

Roll out the pastry to a 1cm thickness and lay into the pastry dish. Ensure the pastry is pressed into the case firmly and bake with baking beans for 20 minutes until light brown in an oven heated to 190oc. Once baked allow the pastry to cool completely.

Dice the bananas into thin disks and arrange at the bottom of the pastry case, evenly.

The beauty of the Carnation caramel is that it has already been done for you, so spoon out the caramel and smooth down with a spatula.

For the cream I hand whisked it, as you don't want to over whisk it, you want it to be silky smooth rather than airy. Whish until the cream leaves a trail, then spoon the cream directly onto the pie in the middle and spread out a little, however I left space between the edges and the cream so that you can see the contrast in colour and the caramel.

To finish I gave the pie a dusting of cocoa, however you can also grate chocolate to go on top!

Enjoy!