yummy shortbread..................

I seem to have fallen in love with shortbread and it's so easy to make. I think I had just forgotten about shortbread. As you know I love to bake and always have full cake tins and recently I have been baking for my crochet workshops - if that makes sense. We do crochet at the workshops but it's nice to have a cake and coffee break. I wanted to make a simple bake for people who didn't want richer cakes like cupcakes or chocolate cake. I stumbled upon this really easy shortbread recipe on bbc.co.uk/food.

For the plain shortbread you only need 3 ingredients, flour, butter and sugar.

125g/4oz butter

55g/2oz caster sugar, plus extra to finish

180g/6oz plain flour

1.Heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.

2.Beat the butter and the sugar together until smooth.

3.Stir in the flour and mix until you get a smooth ball. Turn on to a work surface and

gently roll out until it is 1cm/½in thick.

4.Cut into shapes or fingers and place onto a baking tray. Sprinkle with

caster sugar and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

5.Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until pale golden-brown. Set

aside to cool on a wire rack.

Makes 16 -20 shortbread

My first batch I kept plain and they were yummy - although I did pipe a few dots of icing on some of the hearts.

 I made some more yesterday and worked some chocolate chips into the mixture before rolling out.

they worked out really well - I might add lemon zest next time or maybe some dried fruit. Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

talk soon x

Blueberry and Oat muffins................................

If you feel like a spot of quick baking have a go at these blueberry and oat muffins so yummy - I made them last week. They were very simple to make and even though they contained fruit they lasted a few days in an airtight tin. The recipe was from Lorraine Pascale's Fast, Fresh and Easy Cook Book which I've had a while but just seen it's on offer over here, I've also found a free link to the recipe here.

Kate had bought me some posh muffin cases, like the ones you get in coffee shops, so I thought I would try them out and they worked a treat.

I used frozen blueberries which was all I had in but they worked great and are much cheaper than fresh ones. 

The mixture makes 12 giant muffins - I might make a smaller cupcake size next time 

they looked very professional when they came out of the oven

and tasted very good........................

talk soon x

Sweet treats ...........

More baking and another big batch of Victoria sponge - this mix went on forever. I wanted to make some plain buns for the freezer and some small buns to decorate as presents. I did this a few months ago and thought it was time I made some more to give away. A close friend of the family has been having a really hard time; she has recently been diagnosed with cancer and has started chemotherapy. At times like this it really makes you count your blessings and focus on all of the good things we have in our lives. I've felt really powerless as I can't do very much to help. I did come up with a few practical ideas and knitted some little pull on beanie hats to keep her warm as she has lost all her lovely hair and I thought some little sweet treats might tempt her to eat.

lots of little cup cakes with fondant icing and butter cream

I had a very productive baking day as not only did I bake the buns, I also iced some plain rich tea biscuits with some spare fondant icing - these biscuits are an absolute favourite with the little ones and so quick and easy to decorate. I also had some sponge mixture over so added lemon juice and made a lemon drizzle cake.

talk soon x

simple pleasures.................

My plan to be kinder to myself and to listen to my body more has been a little bit forgotten but where possible I am trying not to overload myself with complicated jobs. I love baking and new recipes but I always seem to pick really tricky ones with lots of ingredients and millions of steps. So I have decided that simple is best and have been mixing big bowls of my old faithful sponge batter ( Victoria sponge) and making lots of easy quick and simple goodies.

jam and cream sponge

fondant iced sponge buns

In addition to whisking up sponge cakes, scones are another really easy bake that everyone loves and only take minutes to prepare.

 this post is making me feel hungry but I mustn't raid the cake tins................

talk soon x

cake pops..........................

As you already know I do a lot of baking but apart from my mixer and food processer I don’t really go in for gadgets. But I have just succumbed to a cake pop maker, mainly because it was on sale and it did seem almost churlish not to buy it. The cake pop maker was ordered and I was waiting patiently for it to arrive, I hadn’t told Laura about my purchase as I thought it would be a nice surprise and that we could spend a morning experimenting with it when it arrived.

One day last week I popped into Laura’s for a coffee on my way home from shopping and whilst we chatted in the kitchen I noticed something bright pink and shiny on the work surface – a cake pop maker! She had forgotten to tell me she had got one; it was a surprise Christmas present. Anyway now we will both have cake pop makers to play with.

On Thursday my gadget arrived and Laura came over for the morning and brought hers too. Once you get the hang of them and how much filling to use they are quite amazing. It takes about 3 minutes to cook 12 pops, and they come out of the tray so easily. You have to work really quickly when you put the cake mixture in as the machine is hot and the batter starts to cook straight away, so the first ones are cooking before you have finished filling the rest – if that makes sense. A good tip is to use an icing bag as it makes it much easier to add the filling quickly and evenly.

I don’t think we overcooked many and they tasted yummy when coated in chocolate. The decorating  part is a bit messy and we are still refining our system, I am slightly jealous of Laura’s machine as hers came with a nice stand to hold 12 pops - mine didn’t so I will have to improvise.

 

They do look yummy don't they....................

I have made cake pops before but that involved making sponge cake and then blitzing in the food processor, adding butter cream to it and moulding the mix into balls. The mixture then had to be chilled before coating in chocolate, very tasty but much more work and ten times sweeter because of the butter cream.

I am now thinking of all the occasions when I can make cake pops, birthday parties, Easter, Christmas the possibilities are endless. I can’t wait to have a cake pop making and decorating session with the little ones.

talk soon xxx

weekly bake and firework party ........................................

Last week I made a couple of new recipes both Mary Berry of course and taken from this book. I made the chocolate cake so that I could try out my new cake tin, and it worked a treat.  The other new recipe was for a date and walnut cake, which did turn out well and it has a lovely lemony tangy icing but I was disappointed with the texture, it was a bit dryer than my usual recipe - but it's all been eaten up so can't be that bad.

The cakes were for our little bonfire party last Sunday night. I also cooked lots of tasty sausages and a few pizzas, so not a gourmet bash just quick finger food that seemed to disappear in a flash.

It had rained most of the day but cleared up and remained dry for our little firework display, Mr R did the honours and was responsible for the fireworks and safety systems - a hard job with lots of little children wanting to help.

Everyone was wrapped up warm and the little ones had gloves on for holding sparklers - at arms length of course. I must admit I stayed in the warm and watched the festivities through the window. The children had such fun and when they came indoors they had lovely glowing pink cheeks.

My photos don't do the fireworks justice but give you a little glimpse of a happy and fun family evening, only sad bit was that Kate, Seb and Jake couldn't come but we will meet up very soon.

I am joining in with Hannapats "weekly bake along"  but unfortunately I am a little late!

Talk soon x

Women's Centre Afternoon Tea Party....................

For a number of years I have supported  the Women's Centre in Stockport, it is a registered charity and does amazing work to help local women. The Women's Centre was established in 2001 and was born out of a huge social need within the local area of Stockport. Initially offering counselling to women suffering from domestic abuse, the Women’s Centre now offers a full range of services and is seen as the leading provider of innovative support services and therapeutic treatments for women.

When I say support I don't do any hands on work or volunteering, but I make a monthly donation and attend fund raising events.Yesterday the centre held an afternoon tea party, I made some cakes and also bought a ticket for the event. I spent a few hours baking in the morning and then packed everything up to deliver to the centre.

I spent a lovely hour at the tea party and enjoyed a very yummy piece of carrot cake which was a difficult choice as some amazing cakes were on display. It was also an opportunity to catch up with friends and old work colleagues. The event was a great success and over £500 was raised for the centre.

The rest of the afternoon was sofa time as I was feeling very weary, I need to build in more rest periods as my energy levels are pretty low at the moment.

If I feel strong enough I am hoping to drive over to Macclesfield this morning to visit the monthly Treacle Market. I haven't been before but have heard very good things about it. I do hope the weather picks up though, as it's very cold, wet and windy at the moment. If I get to the market I will tell you all about it tomorrow.

talk soon x

more baking.............................

Zachy and Finn had a sleep over during half term, after their bedtime story Finn asked if they could make a big cake like Alex had. I said that they could in the morning and we had a quick chat about what kind of cake we would make, both Finn and Zachy wanted lots of colours and lots of icing.

The following morning Zachy woke at 5.30am but I managed to persuade him to go back to sleep as it was so early. Finn came into my bedroom about 7am to ask if it was time to bake!

We had breakfast and then started our cake. The boys were still in pyjamas, I thought they could get ready when the cake was in the oven as this is the time they usually get a bit fed up.

With the help of my two assistants we made a 12oz Victoria sandwich mix. I then put some of the mixture into four small bowls and Finn and Zachy added food colouring to each bowl. They were really funny as they matched the food colouring to the colour of the plastic bowls and also matched up the same colour spoons to do the mixing.

The cake was named "rainbow cake" by the boys, I had to watch them closely as they kept sampling the mixture. It was then blobbed (the boys technical term) into a lined rectangular tin and baked at 180 degrees for about 40 minutes. I made some mini buns with the spare mixture and cooked them for about 15 minutes.

The boys have got quite a liking for drying dishes and doing little chores, so we washed and dried the dishes and tidied the kitchen together. Then the boys got washed and dressed, finishing just in time for me to take the cakes out to cool.

When the cake was cooled we added fondant icing and some sprinkles confetti on the top, before cutting it into slices. I then iced the mini buns and the boys helped with the toppings. The icing was left to set and then the cakes were boxed up for Finn and Zachy to take home - Mr R was left a few slices to have in his lunch box.

I had such a lot of fun with the boys and they were such keen and industrious little bakers - I do love baking with my grandchildren.

I am joining in with Cosmos and Cotton's Friday bake along.

Talk soon x

Retro baking..............

When Laura was on holiday in Wales she bought me a lovely little retro baking book - I am delighted with this little book, it's bursting with lovely things to bake.

I decided to make the cherry cake first but unfortunately when I began to weigh out my ingredients I didn't have enough ground almonds so I swapped coconut for the almonds and it worked beautifully.

The cake was a hit with the family and it's now on my quick reliable cakes to make again list.

I also made a Victoria sandwich which was filled with my home made blackberry jam - very yummy

I love baking, one of the few tasks that always shows quick and satisfying results.

talk soon x

when recipes go wrong........................

I've been using condensed milk in quite a few recipes recently so when I spotted a recipe for fudge I decided to have a go. When the children were small I often made fudge with them and it was a firm family favourite. The fudge seemed to work well, although my arms were nearly dropping off by the time I had finished as you had to beat it for about ten minutes which I found very difficult.

I marked it into squares and left it to set but alas when I looked at it a few hours later it was all soft and squidgey, more like toffee.

Rather than throw it away, Laura came up with a good idea and suggested I made millionaire slice with it.

I made a shortbread base.

then I warmed the fudge slightly in the microwave and spread it on top of the cooked shortbread base.

then I melted some chocolate.

 I spread the chocolate on top of the fudge and shortbread layers and left it to set.

lastly it was cut into squares and I had to try very hard not to eat more than one yummy slice at a time................

talk soon x

pretty cakes...........

I shared my love of baking with you in my 52 week of happy post last week but thought I would tell you more about my cupcake baking day. I decided to mix up a big batch of sponge mixture and make some little boxes of cakes to give to my friends and family. It had all started when Vicky asked if I would make some little cakes to give to her friend Clare who helps with school pick ups, and then I thought I would make some for my sister Debbie who doesn't bake but is partial to a little cake with her cup of tea. Then I added Vicky, my mum and my niece to the list - unfortunately Laura missed out but she is always baking wonderful things in her own kitchen.

I had such fun and calorie free as not one cupcake stayed in my kitchen...........................

talk soon x

Plums plums and more plums...............

I am going on holiday tomorrow, so yesterday it was time to pick the last of the plums off the tree. I managed to get quite a few but Laura was a great help and with the aid of some step ladders she managed to pick the tree bare, with a little help from Noah.

I've already had a lot of plums off the tree but we managed to pick another 10 kilos of fruit, this years crop has been really good. I've been very productive in the kitchen washing, stoning, freezing and bagging up spare fruit. I made some more jam, and stewed lots of fruit for crumbles. Laura took four big bags of plums home and we have some plum liqueur fermenting ready for Christmas.

Earlier in the week I had caught a few minutes of the Hairy Bikers cookery programme and they were making blueberry muffins topped with homemade lemon curd. I missed the recipe but managed to find it via a search on the BBC website here. So with my homemade lemon curd in the fridge I thought I should try this new recipe. It was very quick and easy and as usual I made a slight modification I was short on blueberries but had a few raspberries left in the garden - so mine were a mixed berry batch. They smelt wonderful when they came out of the oven and the lemon curd added a lovely zingy tang.

This morning I have been delivering bags of plums, pots of jam and a couple of berry muffins to my mum and my mother in law. I now need to concentrate on my holiday as tomorrow afternoon I will be flying to Turkey for a couple of weeks.

See you all soon and if everything works out I've got a few posts that I have been saving to share with you.

Talk soon x

52 weeks of happy - 38/52

It's time to join in with Jen again and share my 4 favourite happies with you - this week the theme is all about what comes in and out of my kitchen...................

1. a lovely happy hour wandering around Lakeland and finding lots of things I really needed!

2. such a happy feeling having bowls of foraged hedgerow fruits and plums from my garden

3. the fruits of my labour - jars of lovely jam and lemon curd

4. another happy hour making pretty cakes to give away to friends and family....... 

Another happy productive week with a kitchen full of lovely baking aromas and of course the mess that baking and preserving makes - but all good fun. Although after my marathon mini cupcake bake I didn't wash up until early evening - don't tell anyone......

talk soon x