Celebration brownies!

My friends threw a small house party last weekend so I baked these party-worthy brownies stuffed with Celebration chocolates to take with me. I cut them into party-friendly, bite-size squares with the theory that it's acceptable to eat more than one if they're smaller! I think everybody had fun guessing which chocolate bar flavours they had in each brownie portion.

Another person at the party had baked millionaire's shortbread and chocolate orange cupcakes so there was a lot of chocolate going around. I think it's safe to say that sugar hangovers were as likely as alcohol related ones.

A few of the celebration chunks looked rather impressive fresh from the oven, the Milky Bar pieces in particular as they billowed out like puffy marshmallows! It was almost a shame to watch them deflate as the tray cooled although the finished appearance was still very attractive. I love the shiny, flaky, erupting surface.

For these brownies I used a (slightly adapted) Nigella Lawson recipe, more or less the same as the last brownies I made. My only changes were adding chopped up pieces of Celebration chocolates and 40% cocoa solids milk chocolate for the batter instead of a darker chocolate.

In hindsight I probably would have preferred a slightly darker chocolate, or a mix of milk and dark, just to give a richer flavour. I may have slightly overbaked this batch too as they weren't quite as squidy as previous batches. They were by no means dry though and I still had difficulty peeling them off the parchment paper!

What's your favourite brownie recipe? Can Nigella's recipe be defeated?

banana and coconut muffins

I was tempted to call this post "experimental banana baking and cupboard clearing night" but that seemed rather long winded.

Earlier this week I discovered an interesting array of almost out of date ingredients in the baking cupboard and some black bananas on the worktop so an evening of baking was in order. I ended up producing an almond and dried cranberry banana loaf (more or less the same as this recipe) and these banana and coconut muffins.

It got me thinking that I rarely use coconut in my bakes. It's not that I don't like coconut, it's just not a flavour I tend to go (coco)nuts over.

HAHA, see what I did there? *everybody groans*

Although my cobbled together recipe isn't perfect (neither are my half-assed foggy evening photographs) I really enjoyed the banana and coconut flavour combination. It's subtly sweet and feels a little bit tropical. Like most muffins these were best fresh from the oven although I also enjoyed one reheated the following day for breakfast with the remaining coconut yoghurt. However I found they lacked something when cold so I added a simple glaze (icing sugar mixed with a splash of fruit juice) which perked them up a bit.

I imagine they'd also be lovely eaten with a fruity curd. If I were to make these again I'd feel tempted to add something else into the batter; perhaps some chopped pecans or small pineapple chunks for extra texture or juicy-ness.

My muffins didn't rise as much as I had hoped either. Muffin making confuses me as I'm sure I read somewhere that the less you mix everything the better as you're not going for the airiness of a sponge cake. That said, surely it needs a bit more rise? If you don't mix enough you'll just be left with a stodgy lump.

Perhaps they needed a higher temperature in the oven too. I'm still trying to get used to my new oven temperatures. I've always used gas ovens so changing to electric has been a bit confusing. The cave woman in me is saying "but there's no flame.... where is the heat coming from?!"

I know you're laughing. I'm an idiot.

Banana and coconut muffins

125g self raising flour

90g golden caster sugar

40g (roughly) dessicated coconut

a good pinch of cinnamon

a few drops of vanilla extract

50g butter, melted

1 large egg

1 banana, mashed

60ml coconut yoghurt

for a simple icing glaze:

a couple of tablespoonfuls of icing sugar

a splash of fresh fruit juice. I used a tropical flavoured one.

Preheat the oven to 180C/170 fan/Gas 4 and line a muffin tin with about 8 muffin cases. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together all the wet ingredients in a jug then pour into the dry ingredients. Mix everything together until combined. Divide the mixture between the muffin cases, filling each one about 2/3 full, then place on the middle shelf of the oven for about 30 minutes or until risen, golden and firm to touch. Leave to cool in the tray for a few minutes before turning out to finish cooling on a wire rack. 

Enjoy warm from the oven or cool with yoghurt, a fruity curd or a simple fruit flavoured icing glaze. 

blueberry and lemon layer cake

This felt like a purely selfish bake. I had no reason to bake a triple layer cake, which I usually feel deserves an "occasion", I just really wanted one.

It was only 6 inches in diameter though. A satisfying size and height of cake without being massive.

I based this cake on a tasty cake I ate in Edinburgh earlier in the year and also one I bookmarked on Sweetapolita ages ago. I loved the look and flavour of a lemon layer sandwiched between blueberry studded layers. Although my layering isn't as distinct as Sweetapolita's I still think it makes an attractive cake.

I couldn't decide whether I wanted to use lemon curd or blueberry jam with my lemon butter icing between the layers. In the end I went with both: jam between the bottom and middle layer and curd between the middle and top. They both offer something different flavour wise so I think that was a good choice.

I also toyed with the idea of going for a smooth icing coverage to finish the cake. After a few attempts I came to the conclusion that I don't own a large enough palette knife, I don't have the patience (or skill?) required and ultimately I don't particularly care! I actually really like textured icing. It looks homely and inviting and takes me less time to do therefore I get to eat cake quicker. And that's the most important thing, right?

Flavour wise this cake is a real sharp, sweet and tart sensation for the taste buds. Mum even declared "this is one of the best cakes you've made in a while". I'll take that compliment! I must admit I prefer sweet and sour flavour combinations to sweet and salty, although I'm expecting people may throw their cooking utensils at me for admitting that. Don't get me wrong, salted caramel is good, but I find it hard to go past a sharp and sweet lemon bake.

Now if you excuse me I'm going to go and scream into a pillow. It has been one of those days...

Blueberry and lemon layer cake
I baked this a couple of weeks ago and stupidly didn't write anything down so my memory of this is a bit sketchy. I think this is what I used though!

200g caster sugar
200g stork margarine (or butter)
3 large eggs
200g self raising flour
zest of 2 lemons
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp milk (I think!)
2 small packets of blueberries (I think they were about 150g each)

icing and filling:
450g icing sugar
150g butter (I use slightly salted)
lemon juice to taste
lemon curd
blueberry jam

Preheat the oven to 180C/170 fan/Gas 4. Grease and line three 6 inch round cake tins. Beat together the sugar and margarine/butter for 5 minutes until pale, light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well between each addition. Sift in the flour and add the lemon zest and 1 tbsp of lemon juice and milk. Mix until everything is smooth and fully combined. Divide the mixture between the three tins. Coat a packet of the blueberries in a small amount of flour (to stop them sinking in the mix) and lightly press the blueberries into the surface of two of the cake mixes. I can't remember if I used the whole blueberry packet, but I basically just pressed in enough to roughly cover the surface. 

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes until risen, golden, springy to touch and the edges of the cake have come away from the tin. I only have two tins so the plain lemon layer was baked separately afterwards. If I remember correctly, I think the blueberry sponges took longer to bake, possibly up to 30 minutes, probably due to the addition of the blueberries to the mixture. Once cooked, leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

For the icing, beat together the icing sugar, butter and enough lemon juice to achieve a nice spreadable consistency. Use to sandwich between the cakes (along with the jam and/or curd!) and coat the top and outside of the cake. Decorate your cake with any remaining blueberries.
 

I made a dress!

And it has tractors on it. Hell yeah!

By Hand London Elisalex bodice with pleated skirt

I bought this fabric last summer with the intention of making a skirt but when I finally sat down to sew it called out to become a dress instead.

Ah, the classic I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-my-arms flappy pose. Clearly modelling isn't my forte. I don't know how sewing and personal style bloggers do this without looking like a wally.

Although I have been sewing (off and on admittedly) well over ten years this is the first piece of clothing I have made following a proper pattern as up until now I've either taken rough patterns off existing pieces of clothing or made alterations. Not one to stick to something simple I chose an intermediate skilled pattern, veered off track and drafted my own pleated skirt, tackled an invisible zip for the first time (ok, I did swear a few times as the foot kept sticking) and decided to fully line the dress. I suppose it was a bit like a relatively novice baker picking a frasier cake or macarons as their first baking project but I managed. If you're determined, read your instructions carefully and work slowly you will get there.

I originally intended to enter my dress into the #sewdollyclackett challenge last month but after some fitting issues with the bodice toile I ran out of time went in a huff for a couple of weeks. It was too tight all over despite careful measuring and tackling a full bust adjustment (first time I've done one of those too!) but luckily I roughly fixed the bodice fit by reducing the seam allowance all over. Interestingly I received an email from the pattern supplier a couple of weeks ago apologising that there had been a massive fault with the reprint of this pattern and they have since sent me a new copy. At least I know (or hope?) that the fitting issues weren't caused by my complete stupidity or oddly shaped body. 

So the dress is perfectly wearable and I love it but it's not without fault. The back hangs slightly lower than the front, I forgot to match up my back seams when I inserted the zip, (doh, rookie mistake!) a few of my skirt pleats are uneven and I accidently cut through my skirt lining with my pinking shears (arrghh!) but I managed to patch it with a green tractor. Now it's a funky feature.

The princess seams on the bodice also sit too low for my bust. A handy tip: make sure you're wearing a well fitting bra before you take your body measurements. Sounds obvious but I bought new bras (after being properly fitted) half way through making this dress and my new bras have given me gravity defying bewbs. This is probably why the princess seams don't sit right as they were fine with the toile.... oh well.

I can live with these mistakes though as it is a first dress and there are loads of details which I'm proud of such as my first invisible zip, how invisibly I hand stitched the hem, how neatly I inserted the lining (it wasn't easy fabric to work with) and my unintentional but awesome placement of a green tractor in the middle of my right shoulder strap. Oh and my dress matches the colour scheme of my bedroom!

I'm looking forward to trying the correct print of this pattern to see how the fit compares. Fingers crossed it's better and it takes me less than a month to make!

lately I have been.....

baking birthday trifle cakes!

 

 (Do not bake this if you're pushed for time. The jelly won't set in 3 hours. It's also a good idea to remove the bottom layer of greaseproof paper. Doh!)

I have also been dressmaking....

 and buying tulips...

What have you been up to?

Rearranging

It has been a week of reshuffling bits and bobs. It's only Thursday and the dresser display has changed multiple times already. I keep wanting to change arrangements but at the same time I have favourite pieces which always seem to sneak back onto the shelves.

My green milk glass cake stand being one of them. I move it to one side but somehow it always ends up back in the middle taking centre stage.

The Johnson Brothers Greydawn teapot usually sneaks in somewhere too.

And I find it very difficult to put away any of my Taunton Vale pieces. I'm a sucker for bold 1970s florals.

I get an immense amount of pleasure from jumbling up different types of floral patterns. They technically shouldn't all work together but I really like it. I'm not one for sticking to a particular style. Art Deco fine bone china, pastel '50s, bold and colourful '60s/'70s, girly Cath Kidston, retro Orla Kiely, I love them all.

The eagle eyed will have noticed that my blog has had a bit of a revamp this week as well. I hope you like the new turquoise background and header design. Although I like picture headers I felt like having something plainer and more typography focused. Who knows, I'll probably change it all again next week!

Is anyone else suffering from reshuffle-itis this week?

Vanilla cake with strawberries and cream cheese icing

What? Three posts in one week?! I'm as shocked as you to be honest. It has been a busy couple of weeks in the kitchen.

I have another birthday cake to share! This cake was baked at short notice for a family friend on Wednesday. When pushed for time I usually default to a victoria sponge recipe as it's quick and simple to put together and always a crowd pleaser.

The recipe is more or less the same as my vanilla cupcakes, except the sugar, margarine and flour are bumped up to 7oz (200g) as I used 3 duck eggs to make enough mixture to fill two 18cm round tins. 

For filling and decoration I kept it simple with cream cheese icing (using the Hummingbird Bakery's recipe), strawberry jam and chopped strawberries. I may have eaten a few strawberries dipped in the left over cream cheese icing.... oh so good!

This is also the last cake to have been baked in our old gas oven. It was almost sad to see it go. It's the end of an era! We now have a brand spanking new rangemaster. Dare I say our kitchen almost looks posh! (I'll never want to move out...) Country Living photoshoot here we come! Whenever I'm in the kitchen now I just stare at it in amazement, similar to when I got my kitchenaid two years ago (ok, I still stare at it in amazement.) I'm hoping I'll bake something in the new electric oven(s!) this weekend. It'll be a new experience!