Nutella Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies!

This cookie recipe was picked to use up excess Nutella after the Nutella banana cupcakes.

These cookies are baked out of golden caster sugar, butter, plain flour, baking powder, Nutella, egg, raisins and chocolate chips. 

The Husband has pronounced them pretty good.

Wagon Wheel Slice!

This weekend has been busy for me.

I decided to do some baking to try to keep awake in the afternoon after a night up with poor GG who has the sniffles.

I have not heard about wagon wheels until I moved to the UK and even now, I have not tried one but googling it, a wagon wheel does sound delicious!

This wagon wheel slice is baked out of self raising flour, plain flour, butter and caster sugar to form a shortbread base. It is then spread with raspberry jam and marshmallows and then melted for a couple of minutes in the oven. It is finally topped with melted chocolate mixed with butter. It is then refrigeratored to be set.

The final product is yummy enough that the Husband has eaten two!

Banana Nutella Cupcakes!

I was having a mummies night in when we started discussing chocolate and cake! Nutella came up as an ideal choice to bake into cakes and stuff.

I have baked Nutella cupcakes before but I thought I would try to make it a tad more healthy this time. This banana Nutella cupcake recipe seemed like a good idea.

This cupcake is baked out of self raising flour, butter, golden caster sugar, vanilla extract, mashed banana and eggs. Nutella is then swirled in to each cupcake dough.

The Husband thought it was very good and even my in-laws thought they were so yummy they asked for more to take home! 

Chocolate and prune cake!

I had a bag of prunes that needed to be used. I have used half for a batch of muffins so thought I would use the remainder on a cake.

This chocolate and prune cake is baked out of plain flour, golden caster sugar, cocoa powder, prunes soaked in orange juice, plain chocolate, butter, ground cinnamon, butter and egg whites.

It was absolutely delicious and the cake was eaten within a couple of days!

Raisin Bran Spice Cookies!

I decided to try this recipe as it sounded nutritious enough for GG and I love raisins!

These cookies are baked out of wholemeal flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, allspice, butter, white and brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, raisin bran cereal and raisins!

These were yummy and both the Husband and GG ate them! 

Bursting Blueberry Pop-ups!

With a little one, GG, in tow now, I am always on the lookout for baking recipes suitable for him. This blueberry pop-up cake recipe is from the famous Ella Kitchen's Baking Book. 

It is made out of blueberries (obviously!), self-raising flour, plain wholemeal flour, caster sugar, egg, milk, sunflower oil and the surprise in the middle, cream cheese! I thought they were really pretty and quite yummy. 

The result - small people liked it but not the grown-ups! Let's be honest, the Husband said 'it was the worst thing you have ever baked'!

Coconut Oatmeal Muffins!

Still on the trail for healthy nutritious snacks for GG, these coconut oatmeal muffins sounded like a good idea.

These muffins are baked out of plain flour, porridge oats, baking powder, ground cinnamon, sugar, desiccated coconut, eggs, milk, vanilla extract and butter.

I thought they taste really healthy and maybe just a tad bland.

The key thing is GG ate them!

Florentines!

I promised the Husband to make him some florentines when we watched it being baked on The Great British Bake-Off. However, with one thing and another, this request got put on the back burner.

Today is Valentine's Day and the second one we are celebrating with GG, so I decided to actually bake something for the Husband this time.

These florentines are baked out of butter, light brown sugar, flour, mixed dried fruit and nuts and condensed milk! As you can imagine, these are not the healthiest snacks in the world!

Once cooled, the backs are coated with a layer of dark chocolate.

The Husband has pronounced them to be 'very good'!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! 

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!