Orange Chocolate Drop Cookies!

The Baker is back!!!!

With a new baby, I don't think I will be baking on a weekly basis but I will definitely try to carry on baking!

These cookies were baked to use up some leftover condensed milk and they came out quite fluffy and soft.

They are baked out of plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, brown sugar, two eggs, condensed milk, water, butter, orange zest and chocolate chips.

The Husband has declared them 'quite good' and a new mommy friend taster has called them 'excellent cookies'!

Easter Biscuits!

This Easter biscuit recipe is again from Mary Berry!

The same dough mixed out of flour, caster sugar, butter, cinnamon, egg yolks, mixed spice and milk. It is then divided into two - one batch has raisins added to it and the other was left plain. The fruity dough was cut into rounds using a cutter and the plain dough was cut into easter shapes like bunnies, butterflies and hearts.

The fruity biscuits were then sprinkled with caster sugar while the plain biscuits were drizzled with white and milk chocolate.

These biscuits were finished in three days.

Sultana & Apricot Cake!

 

With Spring finally here, I thought it might be a good idea to bake something fruity. This traybake sounds ideal with sultanas and apricots.

This traybake is baked out of butter, golden syrup, caster sugar, dried apricots, sultanas, ground mixed spcie, bicarbonate of soda, self-raising flour, plain flour, eggs and soured cream. The frosting is mixed out of mascarpone cheese, butter, icing sugar and lemon juice.

32 pieces were eaten in 3 days in the Office!

Mango, Raisin & Coconut Cupcakes!

 I had a packet of dried mango that  be used up but as the recipe called for 150g dried mango when I only have 100g, I substituted the remaining 50g with raisins.

This cupcake was baked out of self-raising flour, caster sugar, butter, eggs, orange zest, , orange juice, creamed coconut, dried mango and raisins. The frosting is mixed out of single cream, creamed coconut, lemon juice and icing sugar.

As it was my sister-in-law's birthday and we were having dinner with the niece and nephew, I decided to make a batch of 12 big and 12 small cupcakes. These cupcakes have got rave reviews and the Husband has declared them 'too good for the Office'!  

Chocolate Midnight Cupcakes!

Although I am no longer working, I thought I will bake something for the Office as we have overseas team members in town.

I have been looking for an opportunity to use these adorable jelly animals so cupcakes seem like a good idea.

These chocolate midnight cupcakes are baked out of plain flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, butter, cocoa powder and water. I split the batter into two, left one half plain and mixed in white chocolate chips into the other half. The frosting is mixed out of cocoa powder, icing sugar, butter and vanilla extract. Each cupcake is then topped with a jelly animal.

The Husband said 'they were ok' but I will need to check on Monday if there are any left!

Coconut & Chocolate Cake!

Not the best looking of cake but I thought I will give another recipe of a coconut and chocolate cake a try in my new baking book.

This recipe is for a sandwich cake. The cake is baked out of sugar, eggs, butter, self-raising flour, ground almonds, water and melted chocolate. The frosting is mixed out of creamed coconut, icing sugar, lime juice and single cream.

The cake was a huge hit in and 24 pieces were finished in two days in the Office. The Husband has declared it good enough to go into the Book!

Date & Banana Ripple Cake!

I love bananas and the Husband loves bananas and quite likes dates, so I thought this combination might be quite tasty in a cake.

200g of dates were first boiled with lemon zest, juice and water to make a date paste filling. The dough is then mixed out of flour, eggs, butter, sugar, milk, baking powder and mashed bananas. The original recipe was for a really big loaf but I decided to make it into a traybake instead. To make the ripple effect, the dough is spread as one layer, than one layer of date filling, a second layer of dough, a second layer of date filling and the last layer of dough. More chopped dates are then scattered over the top before being baked.

This cake came out really well and the Husband said it was good enough to be included in the Book!

20 pieces were finished in two days at the Office!

Chocolate Fudge Easter Cupakes!

Continuing the Easter theme, I decided to bake some cupcakes that I can decorate with sugar easter egg decorations and chocolate eggs!

These fudgy cupcakesa are baked out of self-raising flour, butter, eggs, cocoa powder and eggs. The icing is mixed out of icing sugar, butter and melted chocolate. The cupcakes are then topped with decorations.

Unsurprisingly, most people seemed to prefer the cupcakes with chocolate eggs!

24 cupcakes were finished in 3 days in the Office!

Mincemeat & Marzipan Loaf!

Last weekend, I found a bottle of mincemeat in the cupboard that has to be eaten by Nov. Mincemeat is typically used for baking during Christmas but I thought if I can find an interesting recipe, I might as well use it now.

This mincemeat and marzipan loafd recipe is in one of my favourite baking books. Marzipan is also normally included in Easter baking so it seemed like a good idea to try this recipe.

This lovely loaf is baked out of self-raising flour, butter, light muscovado sugar, marzipan, eggs and mincemeat. Flaked almonds are scattered on top before baking and then dusted with icing sugar after.

The Husband is not a fan of marzipan so he only tried one piece. However, I did get rave reviews from other tasters in the Office and one colleague ate 5 pieces! One other taster described it as 'the most delicious cake yet'!

Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies!

These cookies were fabulous and an absolute hit!

They are baked out of flour, brown sugar, butter, oats, dried cranberries, egg, chocolate chips, vanilla essence and a secret ingredient, condensed milk!

I then finished them off with a drizzle of melted dark chocolate.

Yummy!

Animal gummy jellies!

The Husband bought these for me as a treat and a surprise when he was at the airport waiting for his flight home.

They are really adorable and beautifully decorated in six animal forms.

Can you guess what they are?

Orange Chocolate Marble Cakes!

I wanted to bake something chocolatey and simple last weekend. This orange chocolate marble cake recipe fits the bill as it was really quick.

The batter is mixed out of self raising flour, sugar, eggs and butter. It is then divided into two batches - one has orange zest and orange juice mixed into it and the other has cocoa powder and milk mixed into it.

This was originally meant to be a loaf recipe but I decided to make little cakes instead as they are easier to eat. To make up one cake takes about two tablespoons of orange batter and chocolate batter each which are then gently swirled.

Melted orange chocolate is then spread onto the cooled baked cake and topped with a cherry.

It took two days to finish 35 cakes in the Office!

Mary Berry Express Chocolate Cake!

I am a great fan of Mary Berry and her baking recipes are really fabulous.

After watching her life story on telly and the baking of her express chocolate cake for her family picnic, I decided to try out the recipe myself.

And the chocolate cake was FANTASTIC!

It is also really easy - the cake is baked out of cocoa powder mixed with six tablespoons of boiling water, followed by eggs, self-raising flour, baking powder, butter, milk and caster sugar. The baked cake is then spread with apricot jam before filled and topped with chocolate cream icing.

20 pieces were eaten in one day in the Office!

Orange and Spice Ginger Cookies!

Orange and spiced cookies seem like an interesting combination for cookies. They were baked out of orange zest, plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, butter, sugar, ground cinnamon, cadamon, ground cloves, ground ginger and eggs.

They smelt great baking in the oven and I was hopeful they would be delicious.

However, the Husband was not a fan.

30 cookies took two days to finish in the Office.

Rose Cupcakes!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Rose cupcakes sound ideal for Valentine's Day as something pink and sweet.

These cupcakes were baked out of plain flour, baking powder, rosewater, butter, sugar and eggs. They then iced with buttercream icing mixed out of rosewater, butter and icing sugar.

The Husband didn't like them but there were tasters in the Office who loved them!

Banana Nutella Oatmeal Muffins!

There were leftover bananas in the Office, nutella in the cupboard and leftover buttermilk in the fridge from baking the blueberry muffins, so I decided to bake something that will use up all these ingredients.

The result is the banana nutella oatmeal muffin! This muffin is baked out of plain flour, oatmeal, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, vegetable oil, buttermilk, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, three medium mashed bananas and lots of nutella!

A nice surprise is the teaspoon of nutella 'buried' into the muffin before baking.

Comment from a taster, "Yum so banana-y and moist and I love the gooey chocolate centre plus the chewy oatmeal bits, really interesting different textures and flavours."

Blueberry Muffins!

A friend asked me if I had any good blueberry muffins the other day and I realised I have never tried baking blueberry muffins as I have always preferred the more unconventional muffins.

So from my one trusty baking website, I found this big blueberry muffin recipe.

These 20 muffins are baked out of plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, butter, vegetable oil, sugar, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract and 300g blueberries.

They were quite well-received and took two days to finish in the Office!

Comment from a taster, "Very tasty Wee-Li.  Just the right amount of blueberries to keep the muffin moist."

Wholemeal Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cranberries!

Another lovely cookie recipe from one of my favourite recipes.

Since it is January, the idea of baking something vaguely healthy seems appropriate.

This cookie is baked out of butter, wholemeal flour, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, oatmeal, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, vanilla extract, chocolate chips and dried cranberries. You get a chewy chocolately and fruity cookie at the end.

It took 2 days to finish at the Office!  

Gingerbread Bundt Cake!

The Husband is a huge fan of gingerbread but I always prefer a gingerbread recipe that is more interesting than the usual gingerbread man.

This cake is baked out of butter, treacle, golden syrup, flour, eggs, butter, dark muscovado sugar, stem ginger, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground allspice, ground nutmeg, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and the secret ingredient, Guinness! 

The baked cake is then brushed with apricot jam and then glazed with lemon icing.

This is a huge cake and it took 2 days to finish in the Office!

Mince Cakes!

This baking was also done for Christmas but due to forgetfulness on my part, I left out the butter!

Interestingly, these little mince cakes still taste pretty alright and a colleague even ate two as it's 'fat-free'!

Ginger Shortbread!

Again, this baking was done for Christmas as I have always thought that cold winter days call for baking that is warm and heartening.

However, these ginger shortbread didn't turn out that well and the Husband thought they were not good at all!

Chocolate Chunk Cranberry Muffins!

This baking was done in December but I have been a bit slow with my entries!

These muffins are baked out of flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, butter, egg, vanilla extract, buttermilk, sugar, chocolate chunks and dried cranberries. They are then topped with a streusel topping of flour, butter, sugar and chocolate chips.

I thought they were ok but not great.

It took two days to finish in the Office!