super awesome cookies

Sometimes only a cookie will do and these chocolate, caramel and cornflake cookies make for a 'super awesome' treat.

Ingredients Makes about 22-24 cookies
225g unsalted butter at room temperature
200g granulated sugar
200g light brown sugar

40g ovaltine or other malted milk powder
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
225g bread flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate soda
1 tsp salt
100g dark chocolate chunks (I use a bar of dark chocolate and roughly chop it with a knife but use pre-formed chips if you like)
60g cornflakes
135g chocolate covered caramel (I used a smashed up galaxy caramel bar)

1. Cream the butter and sugars together using an electric mixer for around 2-3 minutes. The mixture will look like creamy coffee. 
2. Next add the egg and vanilla and beat for a further 5 minutes. It will become much lighter in colour and have a fluffy texture. 
3. Add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate soda and salt and using a wooden spoon or spatula mix the dough until it comes together. 
4. Add the chocolate chunks and cornflakes and stir until just mixed. Try not to break the pieces up too much. 
5. Line a baking tray with baking parchment and place tablespoon sized portions of the mixture on to the tray. Cover the tray with cling film and place in the fridge for at least an hour. 
6. When ready, preheat the oven to 180C then space the cookies out on baking parchment so that they are at least 16cm apart (they will spread out a lot). Then bake for around 15 minutes or until slightly browned on the edges but still mostly unchanged in the centre. 
7. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the tray before you remove them to an airtight tray for storing. They will last for about a week at room temperature or can be frozen for up to a month.

apple and marzipan crumble cake

This recipe is inspired by one of my Christmas presents, The Kitchen Diaries II by Nigel Slater. I’ve always had a soft spot for crumble topped cakes, I love the combination of textures. The inclusion of apples in a cake also reminds me of the kinds of cakes my gran used to make that would have large pieces of tart plums or apples nestling in the soft, sweet sponge.

Ingredients

250g apple, peeled, cored and cut in to small pieces

175g softened butter

175g caster sugar

2 eggs

255g plain flour

2 ¼ tsp baking powder

pinch ground cinnamon

few drops vanilla extract

Finely grated zest of one lemon (optional)

100g marzipan broken into small pieces

Crumble topping

110g Plain flour

75g butter

2 tbsp demerara sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 160C. Grease and line the base of a 22cm round cake tin.

2. Beat the butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy.

3. Break the eggs into a separate bowl, beat them gently then add to the butter and egg mixture.

4. Fold in the flour, cinnamon, vanilla extract and half of the apples and marzipan pieces then transfer the mixture to the prepared tin. Spread it out evenly with the back of a spoon or spatula.

5. Scatter the remaining marzipan and apple pieces on top of the cake mixture.

6. Quickly blitz together the crumble ingredients in the food processor or bring together by hand in a large bowl. You want the consistency of coarse breadcrumbs. Add a couple of drops of water to the mixture so that the crumbs look more like gravel then scatter over the cake with a little extra cinnamon and demerara sugar if you like.

7. Bake for about an hour in the oven or until a skewer comes out clean.

8. Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool before cutting into slices and enjoying with your cuppa.

chocolate malt cookies

It's been a long time since I made cookies, mostly because I don't have any will power and would eat the whole batch within a day. But it's my birthday coming up and I figure I'm allowed a treat every now and again. These cookies absolutely rock and I will definitely be making them again soon. The chocolate flavour here is not overwhelming and the little nuggets of malteasers/whoppers bring a great extra layer of loveliness. I know you will love this recipe if you give it a go.



Ingredients (based on a recipe from hummingbird on high.)
1 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Ovaltine or other malted milk powder with some cocoa
115g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cup malteasers/whoppers, very roughly chopped (I used a 135g sharing pouch of malteasers)

1. Preheat the oven to 190C and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Cream together the butter and sugars for a few minutes, until the colour has lightened and like a milky coffee. (about 3 minutes with an electric whisk should do it).
3. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat for 30 seconds or so more so that everything is combined. 
4. Now add the flour, ovaltine, salt and baking powder. Beat everything together well for a few seconds. There's no need to beat it for very long.
5. Stir through your roughly chopped malteasers or whoppers with a spoon or spatula. then dollop tablespoons of the mixture on to the baking sheets. Make sure you leave plenty of space between each cookie as these spread out a lot. 
6. Bake for 8 minutes if you want them soft and gooey and more brownie like or for 10 minutes if you want them to have more crunch. I tried both ways and they're equally awesome.
7. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the tray before moving them. They will be very soft and hot so give them at least 15 minutes or half an hour before you try to move them.

lemon & poppy seed egg yolk biscuits

After all my recent meringue making I ended up with a number of egg yolks left over. I hate wasting things and as there's only so much mayonaise I need in the house I decided to try something different. I discovered this recipe online and adapted it for my tastes.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter at room temperature
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 tbsp poppy seeds

1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan and line a baking tray with parchment paper then Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
2. In a separate bowl, beat together the egg yolks and add extracts then add the beaten egg yolk mixture to butter and sugar and blend well.
3. Now mix in all the dry ingredients into the butter, sugar and egg mixture, mixing until it is thoroughly blended.
4. Form into the dough into small balls about the size of a walnut, roll in sugar then place on the baking tray.
5. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes depending on how soft or crunchy you want them to be.

Lemon, poppy seed and orange flower Ciambella

Another tasty recipe from my big sister...

"A traditional Italian cake which I have tweaked a bit so it is now crossed with a lemon drizzle style glaze and added a bit of orange flower water for good measure - just because I love it's soft floral flavour with the sharp lemon.

You could also make this flavoured with caraway seeds, orange zest, liqueur soaked fruit, chocolate chips, almonds..... It's up to you. Happy baking :)"

Ingredients
1 cup soured milk (squeeze of lemon until milk curdles - don't worry it'll look horrible but will be ok - it helps the rise!)
3 eggs
2 cups of caster sugar
3 cups of plain flour
grated zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup poppy seeds
2 tsp vanilla essence/vanilla pod seeds
half cup vegetable oil
2 heaped teaspoons of baking powder
a little milk if too thick
Pinch salt

Glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tbs of orange flower water

1. Grease a ciambella/bundt tin, and dust it lightly with flour. Preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F. 
2. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, sugar and lemon zest and salt. Beat using an electric whisk for about 3-4 mins 
3. Stir in poppy seeds, if it’s a bit thick add a little extra milk. 
4. Pour the mixture into the tin, and bake in the oven for about 50 minutes until well risen and a skewer comes out clean.
5. Turn off the oven, and remove cake 
6. Mix the glaze ingredients together. Poke a few holes with skewer then pour over glaze 
7. Leave it to cool in the tin 
8. The glaze should leave a nice crunchy topping. This cake can be eaten straight away but is even better the day after all the flavours have mingled. Great with a strong coffee at breakfast time but you don't need me to tell you when you can eat cake!

dr pepper cupcakes with cherry almond frosting

This started as a completly experimental recipe and uses some of my favourite flavours. Sometimes it's just got to be done. This is a little trashy but good. Go on, you know you want to.

Ingredients
100g unsalted butter
330ml can dr pepper
100g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
2 tbsp dark cherry jam/conserve
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
150g dark muscovado sugar
2 eggs

Makes 10 cupcakes.

1. Start by reducing the dr pepper in a saucepan over a low heat until it is 1/3 of the original volume (110ml)
2. Preheat the oven to 180C fan oven. Put the paper cases in the muffin tray and fill a large oven proof dish with water and place in the bottom of the oven. The steam that is produced will help the cakes to rise and be lovely and light.
3. Put the butter the saucepan with the dr pepper reduction and melt over a low heat. Remove from the heat then add the vanilla and almond extracts along with the cherry jam
4. Sieve together the dry ingredients, including the sugar, to get rid of any lumps, then beat in the dr pepper mixture followed by the eggs until thoroughly combined. It is aboslutely fine to do this by hand or with an electric mixer. This recipe does not require a huge amount of physical effort.
5. Put a dollop of the mixture into each of the paper cases, if you have a cup measure it's about 1/4 cup per case.
6. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool completely before decorating with frosting.

Cherry Almond Frosting

It has been difficult to decide what to top the Dr Pepper cupcakes with. The flavour is quite complex and I was unsure what to accentuate. Anyway, I decided upon this sweet but slightly tart topping. The tartness comes from the fact I used a polish sour cherry cordial but feel free to experiment with maraschino cherry syrup, cherry brandy or other cherry cordial you may have to hand. Of course you could also go for a cherry variation of my berry frosting. 

Ingredients
120g butter, at room temperature
240g icing sugar, sieved
1-2 tbsp sour cherry cordial to taste
1 tbsp cherry jam

1 tsp almond extract

1. In a bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until soft.
2. Gradually add the sugar until thoroughly combined, smooth and creamy.
3. Next, the almond extract and jam followed by the cherry cordial a bit at a time. You may not need to add it all but keep going until you have your desired colour, flavour and consistency. 
4. Chill for at least 30 minutes before using.

vanilla caramel cupcakes with salted caramel frosting

This recipe is another borrowed and adapted from Dan Lepard's excellent book, Short and Sweet. The vanilla cupcake batter smells amazing while cooking.

Ingredients
125g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, very soft
2 eggs
2 tsps vanilla extract
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Chocolate covered caramel pieces

1 quantity of salted caramel frosting.

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F/Gas 4 and place 8 muffin/cupcake cases in to your muffin tin.
2. Using an electric mixer beat the sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla extract for around 3 minutes on the highest speed until light and fluffy.
3. Next sift in the flour and baking powder and beat for another 30 seconds or so. You will end up with quite a thick batter.
4. Put a spoonful of the batter into each of the paper cases then top with the chocolate covered caramel pieces. I used Cadbury Caramel Nibbles and put three in each cupcake.
5. Finally cover the caramel pieces with the remaining batter then place the tray in the over for around 20-25 minutes until golden brown and firm.
6. Let the cupcakes cool completely before decorating with the frosting.