Soured Cream & Pecan Cake!

Cake for the Office! I had a carton of soured cream that I need to use so this recipe came in handy.

The pecans are mixed with cinnamon and caster sugar before they are spread on the cakes. One can see the mid-layer of pecans as well as as topping. The pecan topping get nicely roasted and crunchy while the cake is being baked. The cake is baked out of flour, soured cream, butter and caster sugar and turns out a nice sponge cake.

The Husband has described it as 'pretty good'.

Apricot Friands!

Friands are little almond cakes, ideal for afternoon tea. We were popping over the parent-in-laws for dinner tonight and I decided to bake something apricoty for dessert as my father-in-law is a great fan of apricots. This simple friand recipe seems ideal.

These friands are baked out of 3 whisked egg whites and 100g melted butter mixed into 100g ground almonds, 40g plain flour and 125g icing sugar. 3 chopped and diced apricots are then mixed in. The dough is then separated into 8 muffin/friand tins and topped with flaked almonds. Baking time was about 15 - 20 mins at 170 fan/190 degrees.

Have to hear about taste from my tasters so will keep you posted!

ABC Cookies!

Another fruity treat for the weekend!

These cookies are baked out of 85g caster sugar, 85g light brown sugar and 170g butter creamed together, an egg is beaten in and 1 tsp vanilla extract, 170g of chopped dried apple, 55g desiccated coconut and 255g mashed banana are stirred in before 250g flour and 1 tsp baking powder are sifted in and mixed to form a dough, which is chilled for 30 mins. The dough is then scooped into teaspoon-sized cookies and baked at 170 fan/190 degrees for 20 mins.

The Husband then requested for some chocolate drizzle so I have done so over the cookies!

These cookies took two days to finish in the Office!

Can you guess what ABC stands for?

Carrot & Raisin Biscuits!

I have been wondering what is the difference between a biscuit and a cookie? According to various definitions, a biscuit is a hard baked good while a cookie is a soft baked good. Alternatively, these are just interchangeable terms used by the British and the Americans.

Last weekend, I have decided to bake fruity biscuits and cookies. These lovely carrot and raisin biscuits are baked out of 115g butter and 115g light brown sugar creamed together and an egg is then beaten in, 55g grated carrots, 85g raisins, 115g flour, one tsp of baking powder, one tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and a pinch of ground ginger are then mixed in to form a sticky dough. The dough is then chilled for an hour before being baked in tbspn-size cookies at 170 fan/190 degrees for 10 - 15 mins.

The Husband seemed to like it well enough and these 24 cookies were finished in a day in the Office!

Mocha Cupcakes!

I bought a new cupcake recipe book today and thought that since the Office is quite keen on coffee, a mocha cupcake with chocolate icing should be quite suitable. I topped them with sugar balls to give them a dash of colour.

The recipe is a tad different as 250g of caster sugar is first melted with 250ml of water over the hob, and then 125g of butter, 2 tablespoons of instant coffee and cocoa powder and 1/2 tsp of soda bicarbonate are added into the sugar mix and brought to the boil before being cooled. Two eggs and 225g self raising flour are then added and beaten together. The final batter is quite watery and I was actually quite worried I might have missed something. However, the cupcakes came out beautifully but I have yet to try one, so will update on taste tomorrow!

White Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing!

Cupcake weekend 2! Continuing my 'journey' of cupcakes, this lovely white chocolate cupcake recipe was calling to me this weekend. I also wanted to use my lovely sugar balls to 'adorn' the cupcakes, so a simple white chocolate recipe seems suitable.

The cupcake is baked out of flour, milk, melted white chocolate, vanilla, egg and sugar and the icing is mixed out of cream cheese, icing sugar, butter, milk and more white chocolate!

Will update on taste tomorrow!

Red Velvet Cupcakes!

Cupcakes galore this weekend!

As I had some buttermilk leftover and in the interest of trying not to waste food, I found this red velvet cupcakes recipe. The original recipe called for marshmallow frosting but as I wanted to make a batch to go with the Funfetti cupcakes as well, I decided to use vanilla buttercream icing instead.

Unfortunately the cupcakes sank while cooling. I used the frosting to fill up the dent in the cupcakes and so ended up with a flat top cupcake instead.

These two batches of cupcakes have received mixed reviews. The Husband is not a fan of cupcakes but for other cupcake tasters, I think the red velvet cupcakes have got a better review.

Funfetti Cupcakes!

I was in the mood for sprinkles last weekend so this recipe was ideal as I get to bake sprinkles into the cupcake and decorated it with sprinkles!

This cupcake is from a white cake batter mixed from egg whites, flour, vanilla extract, milk and sugar. It gets its name from the confetti-like bits of colour throughout the cupcake from the sprinkles stirred into the batter.

These cupcakes took two days to finish in the Office.