Jakes Birthday cake

Jake celebrated his 9th Birthday on the 16th April. He wanted a home baked cake, and he's not to keen on icing or chocolate cakes for that matter. I let him have a flick through the recipe books to see if there was anything that he liked, and he chose the good old victoria sponge, crammed with fresh cream and strawberries!!!

Cup cakes

Always quick and easy to make! and you can add a range of extras to the mix ie: chocolate, banana, fruit anything you want really! I always make a 4x4x4 mix or in my case 8x8x8 as I always make double!!!!

Cake Mixture (makes approx 12 large cup cakes)
8oz Self raising flour
8oz Sugar (white)
8oz Butter or Marg
4  Beaten eggs
Pinch of salt
A few drops of vanilla essence
12 Muffin cases

Butter icing
3oz of butter
6oz of icing sugar
drop of lemon essence
Colouring of your choice
Sprinkles, silver balls, Strands, jellies, whaterver you want to decorate with

Cream the butter & sugar until pale. add the vanilla essence. Sift the flour and salt. Alternately add some beaten eggs to the creamed butter/sugar mix and then start adding the sieved flour. mix to a smooth creamy consistency. Fill the muffin cases in an Muffin tray and bake in the oven at 180c for approx 30-40mins. When ready cool on a baking rack. Mix together the icing sugar, butter, colouring & lemon essence. You can use a spoon or fork to cover the cup cake top with butter icing or a piping bag for some pretty designs. Finally add toppings of your choice, and there you have it! Fancy cupcakes!!!

Empire Biscuits

A big favorite in our family! I suppose all kids like anything with icing and cherries on top! I also think that they look like a lot of work goes into making them, but that's not true, they are in fact very easy to make.
Empire Biscuits

This recipe makes about 12 biscuits

Shortbread biscuit
12oz plain flour
4oz caster sugar
pinch of salt
8oz butter

For the filling - raspberry jam

For the top - 6 tbsp icing sugar, few drops of water, lemon essence, 6 glace cherries

Mix together the flour, salt & sugar. rub the butter into the dry mix, to a breadcrumb consistency. Mold into a soft dough. Flour a board and roll out the dough to approx 1cm thick. Use a round cutter or glass to make 24 rounds. Place on a baking sheet on a baking tray and bake at 150c/gas mark 2 for around 45-50 mins.

When ready place on a cooling rack. Once the biscuits are cool coat one biscuit with jam and place the other on top to make a sandwich. Mix up the icing sugar with a few drops of lemon essence & a few drops of water to make a smooth but thick paste. Spoon the icing on to the top biscuit and cover evenly. Cut the glace cherries in half and place one half in the middle of each biscuit. Leave to set.

Winnie the Poohs chocolate surprise pudding

This is an old favorite! Winnie the Pooh's chocolate surprise pud! :D We had this recipe book when we were kids, and this was my party piece! my Mum loved it!!!!
Now I'm all grown up (well sort of!) I make it for my family and they love it to!
Thought I'd better finish the month off with another home baked pic!

Due to popular request:

Winnie the Poohs chocolate surprise Pud!
cake mix
8oz Self raising Flour
8oz sugar
8oz butter or marg
1oz cocoa powder
4 eggs
pinch of salt

For the sauce
4 oz sugar
1oz cocoa powder
1 pint of boiling water

Beat together butter & sugar until pale in colour, then add one egg and a small amount of sieved flour & cocoa and mix together. Add the other eggs one at a time adding a little sieved flour and cocoa till all the ingredient are mixed together well. place mixture in to a greased deep bowl (pyrex glass mixing bowl should do the trick!)
Next pour a pint of boiling water into a separate jug with the 4oz of sugar & 1oz of cocoa, and mix till all the sugar has dissolved and there are no cocoa lumps left.
Gently pour the sauce over the cake mixture and place in the oven for approx 45 mins at 200c.

The surprise is the sauce sinks to the bottom while the cake is cooking and creates a gorgeously gooey sauce at the bottom, and a surprisingly moist cake. Sprinkle with icing sugar & serve with fresh cream or vanilla ice cream!

Anzac Biscuits

The other day I sent the kids off to school like I do every morning, walked the dogs, and I was just taking my coat off when I spotted to grinning faces at the front door. Because of the bad weather the school had been closed and the kids sent home! So I thought I'd bake some anzac biscuits, my mum used to make them for us when we were kids, and they are delicious, cruchy and chewy at the same time!

These iconic biscuits were originally made to send to the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) serving in Gallipoli in the first world war. There is an interesting history behind them. They were made for the soldiers serving in the first world war by wives and sweethearts back in Australia & New Zealand. Because the journey to delivery the food supplies was such a long one, they had to think up a recipe that was both nutritional & would have a long shelf life. This was the soldier biscuit consisting of rolled oats, shredded coconut and bound together with golden syrup & not eggs, as there was possible a shortage of eggs at that time, and the biscuits may spoil quick when made with egg. Initially known as the Soldier biscuit, it was renamed the Anzac biscuit once it arrive in Gallipoli for the A.N.Z.A.C (Australian & New Zealand Corps).

 

The Anzac Biscuit.

 

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ to 1 cup dessicated coconut
• 113g to 125g butter
• 1 to 2 tbsp treacle or golden syrup
• 1 to 2 tbsp water
• ½ to 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Preparation:

Preheat oven at 180°C.
Where a variable quantity is indicated, this depends on the type of consistency required.
Combine the oats, flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl. Combine the butter, treacle or golden syrup and water in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat. When the butter has melted, stir in the soda and mix with the dry ingredients.
Drop teaspoons of the mixture on a greased oven tray or tray lined with oven paper.

Hello and welcome to my new home baking blog!

This year I am embarking on a Flickr group 365 project. This involves take a photo a day of various items, situations, people & place I come across in my day to day life. Since I started I have taken quite a few home baking & cookery shots. My husband thought it would be a great idea to share my recipes and food photography with others, so he suggested that I set up a blog. Now I have always loved cooking and to some extent baking, but I have really got into to it lately!!!
As a child my Mum used to bake loads of cakes, biscuits & sugary goodness! One of my earliest memories was making homemade toffee, it was so hard it nearly took your teeth out, in fact I lost a wobbly tooth while eating it! For me it is one of my best childhood memories, the smell of baking, helping to stir & beat cake mixtures and finally getting to lick the bowl clean!
In my late teens I moved to Italy for about 6 years, and I learned how to cook Italian, which has stood me in good stead all these years. I have a great love of Italian food, in fact I like most world cuisine and like to try anything different, within reason!

Now I live in Scotland and for most of the year it can be cold, gloomy and more than a little bit wet! So I like to cook good, hearty, warm rustic fayre for the family. The boys (all three of them) love all the biscuits and cakes I bake for them, not to mention the warm stodge puddings after dinner.