Valentine's Day Special : Red Velvet Cupcakes!

Red Velvet is just the perfect cupcake for Valentine's Day. It's not to chocolatey and over powering, light enough for you to indulge yet sinful enough to make it a decadent V-day treat. Since V-day is this weekend, i thought i'd share my go to recipe here. This recipe is an adaptation from Georgetown cupcakes' Cupcake Diaries. As usual i've edited the recipe to suit me; no food coloring and lesser sugar. Have a go at it this weekend. It just might be the best V-day gift you've ever given.

Ingredients

(The recipe says it makes about 24. But if you are using a ice cream scoop as a measure for dividing the batter you will be getting about 30 pieces)

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour ( not self raising)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 170g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups castor sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 tablespoons natural cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

For the cupcakes:1. Preheat oven to 180C and line muffins tins with paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, whisk flour and salt together. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and the sugar together and cream on medium speed until it is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
5. In a small bowl, whisk cocoa powder, and vanilla together until throughly combined and no lumps remain. Very slowly add to the mixer, and mix at low speed until well combined.
6. Add in one third of the flour mixture, mix until combined, then add in one third of the milk. Mix until combined and repeat adding in the flour then milk, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
7. In a small bowl, add the baking soda to the vinegar. Mix well and add to the batter. Mix until just incorporated, about 10 seconds.
8. Scoop batter  using an ice cream scoop into the muffin tin, filling them two-thirds full. Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for at least 2 hours.

For the frosting

• 225g unsalted butter, room temperature ( not too runny)
• 4 cups confectioners sugar
• 500 grams cream cheese (2 Philly bars),  cut into 8 pieces and chilled
• pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ( Madagascar is the best.)

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter and confectioners sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add in the cream cheese, 1 piece at a time, until well blended, about 30 seconds. You may need to scrape the bowl after every other addition. Add in the salt and vanilla extract. Whip the icing on high speed for about 1 minutes to make it light and fluffy.
3. Use immediately, or refrigerate until ready to use.

Enjoy!

Raspberry Oatmeal Squares

Since I've been baking pretty much the same thing for some time now i thought I'd be a tad adventures and try out something new. I saw this on the Joy Of Baking site sometime back and thought it would be fun to do especially since the recipe required my favorite - Oatmeal!

I'm not really a raspberry type of person. I prefer orange marmalade on my toast. So i didn't really know what kind of raspberry jam to buy to make these squares. I used Chives since i normally used their marmalade, i thought it would be alright. How wrong was i! The raspberry jam was kinda jelly like, which made it really hard to spread. So what i did was mix it with some hot water till it kinda looked like a thick paste, then i spread it onto the base layer. i also think i got my ingredients measured wrongly because i could not get the remaining batter to rumble properly. It's not a very nice feeling to not have things turn out the way they should. 

The results? Too SWEET!! and not in a good way. I tried on small cut and that was it! I could not bring myself to eat it. However my colleagues thought otherwise, they loved it. So i guess i am a fussy pot after all. I've still got a pack in the fridge by the way, if anyone wants it, gimme a buzz :)

What you need

Oatmeal Base:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (215 grams) light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups (180 grams) old fashioned rolled oats, divided

Filling: 1 cup raspberry jam or preserves (homemade or store bought)

Putting it together

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.

Butter (or use a non stick cooking spray) a 9 x 9 inch (23 x 23 cm) pan. Set aside.

Oatmeal Base:

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 - 3 minutes).

Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Add to the butter mixture and mix until well combined. Stir in 1 3/4 cups (155 grams) of the rolled oats.

Press 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Spread the raspberry jam (preserves) over the oatmeal base.

To the remaining dough add the remaining 1/4 cup (25 grams) of rolled oats. Crumble this mixture evenly over the top of the raspberry jam.

Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes or until nicely browned.

Place on a wire rack to cool and then cut into squares

Chocolate Cheese Muffin

You must know by now that i love chocolate. Almost all the things i have made has chocolate in one form or another. I sincerely believe chocolate is the one great food which cures just about all ailments from stress, loneliness, boredom, PMS, sadness..you name it there is nothing a warm chocolate drink or a decadent slice would not sooth :)

For the life of me i could not find the recipe for these muffins which is why i took so long to post them up. I used the recipe i found on Joy of Baking's site.

What you need:

• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup (60 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 cups (265 grams) light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Putting it together:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Position rack in center of oven. Butter, or line with paper liners, 12 - 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inch muffin cups.
2. In a large measuring cup or bowl whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. 
3. In another large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips. With a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients, along with the melted butter, into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result. 
4. Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter (the muffin cups will be full), using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Place in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan.
   

I decided not to ditch the chocolate frosting for leftover cream cheese i had in the freezer. I followed the recipe to the T (for once!) and at the end, as i scooped the batter into the muffin trays i added a teaspoon full of cheese.

You should really give this a try. Its absolutely yummy..

Happy baking

xoxo

Rich Sugee ( Semolina) Cake

I made this a while back. I had never eaten sugee cake before but friends of mine kept requesting for it. I looked around for a few recipes and decided to use this one as it seemed the easiest and required the least amount of eggs and fat.

The outcome was absolutely amazing! I strongly urge all of you to give it a try. It’s a little trickier compared to the other cakes I have baked before but it’s worth the effort.

What you need:

·        220g unsalted butter, diced and softened slightly at room temperature

·        120g caster sugar

·        3 tablespoons milk or water

·        100g semolina (sugee) flour

·        3 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks

·        120g caster sugar

·        2 teaspoons vanilla essence

·        80g plain flour (all-purpose flour)

·        1 teaspoon baking powder

·        ¼ teaspoon salt

·        120g ground almonds

·        50g finely chopped almonds (almond nibs)

Putting it together:

1.    Cream butter and 120g sugar in a mixer for about one minute at medium 
high speed. With the mixer still on, add milk gradually, followed by the 
semolina flour. Mix till combined. Switch off the mixer and let the mixture 
stand for an hour. This allows the semolina to absorb moisture.

2.     Preheat oven to 180°C. Use cooking oil or melted butter to lightly grease 
the bottom and sides of a round cake tin measuring 7 inches (17.5cm) in 
diameter. Line the bottom of the tin with greaseproof paper.

3.     Beat eggs and egg yolks in a mixer till frothy. Add 120g sugar gradually 
and beat at medium high speed for a full five minutes till pale-coloured. Stir 
in essence.

4.     Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Add ground and chopped almonds. Mix 
well.

5.    Add half the egg mixture to the butter mixture. Fold gently till almost 
combined. Then add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture and fold. 

6.    Add remaining egg mixture and flour mixture alternately. Fold till all 
ingredients are combined. Do not overmix.

7.    Pour mixture into cake tin and smoothen the surface with a spatula.

8.    Bake for 45 minutes. If the top of the cake starts to burn, remove the cake 
from the oven after 35 minutes, cover the top of the cake with aluminium 
foil, then bake for another 10 minutes. The cake is ready when an inserted 
skewer or satay stick comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes 
at room temperature before removing it from the tin. Run a knife round the 
side of the cake and overturn it onto a wire rack to cool.

Some notes:
• Milk adds richness and flavour to this cake. If not available, replace with 
water but expect a slight loss in flavour.
• The extra egg yolks add moisture and richness to the cake.
• It is important to beat the eggs well. This incorporates air into the mixture, 
which helps the cake rise during baking.
• It is not necessary to toast the almonds before use in this recipe.
• Chopped almonds add flavour and some crunch to this cake. Do not omit.
• Buy ready ground almonds and chopped almonds to save time and effort.
• Plain flour gives the cake structure and should not be entirely replaced 
with semolina flour.
• When folding the flour and egg mixture into the butter mixture, do not 
overmix as this will result in a heavy and dense cake.
• Sifting icing sugar over a baked cake does wonders to its appearance. Or 
spread whipped cream and sprinkle toasted chopped or sliced nuts. Refer 
to cake decorating books for more ideas.

Recipe source: www.boostprints.com

SORRY there are no pictures, I promise to upload some when i bake this again!

Finding Success in Baking

Some of us were lucky enough to bake and cook alongside a parent or another adult when we were younger. Some may have gained baking experience through home economic classes in school. Others may have had their first baking experiences as college students away from home, or newlyweds beginning their own households.

No matter what level of experience you have in baking, one of the best ways to become a better baker is to keep baking. You have probably heard the saying "practice makes perfect" used in reference to developing skills. This saying holds true for improving baking skills. The more you bake, the better you will be at baking.

The trial and error process will be a part of finding success in baking. Always experiment using different recipes and along the way, you will find recipes that you want to add to your personal recipe collection. Sometimes it may take years before you find the "perfect" chocolate chip cookie recipe or a recipe for pie crust that is "to die for."

You might already have a collection of cookbooks at home. Maybe you have never used them. Take time to browse through your recipe books and make a note of recipes you would like to try. Public libraries offer a wide variety of cookbooks. You can even find recipes for sugar-free desserts or cultural dishes at the library.

Searching online is another easy way to find recipes. A common feature of some recipes online that can help beginning and advanced bakers is reviews. It can be helpful to see how users have rated certain recipes and sometimes user reviews include changes and improvements they made to the original posted recipes.

Sometimes finding the perfect recipe for something takes more than trying out different recipes. In some cases, you may have to take an existing recipe and tweak it until the end product becomes just what you were looking for. This is all part of the trial and error process. For some bakers, this is easier than trying out recipe after recipe. For others, this would be more difficult because baking is a science and there are reasons why certain ingredients are needed in a recipe in specific amounts.

No matter what, do not give up. Keep baking and keep experimenting with new recipes. Over time, your skills will develop and you will enjoy baking success.

Jershon Teigh enjoys articles on a variety of topics. Visit his latest website http://noveltycakepans.org for information on novelty cake pans and their use in creating unique and memorable wedding cakes.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jershon_Teigh

Accurate Measurement is Vital in Baking

Cooking is a vital survival skill one must have in this order of the day. That is why home science is taught to schools as one of the core subjects in secondary schools. Students learn to bake cakes and cook other dishes that can be done at home. They learn to take measurements like a table spoon full, or half a tea spoon, etc. There is also the measuring weight counter for cooking ingredients in baking. That is why accurate ingredients measurement is vital in baking so that you can have the perfect cake that is soft and spongy. You need to make sure that the baking powder used is not too much, otherwise the cake will be too puffed up and not too little, or else it will hardened and not rise at all.

The number of eggs used and egg white are also pertinent. One also need to measure accurately the wheat flour, cocoa powder, vanilla essence, white fine sugar, etc to bake that perfect cake. Don't just depend on your memory for the measurements as you might forget the figures and it makes good sense to keep constantly refer to the recipe book for instructions.

Professional Bakers Use Precise Measurements

The mouthful of cakes that you sample in high-end hotels are in-house baked by the chefs and professional bakers. They are trained from cooking schools with at least 2 years of experience in making cakes, puffs, tarts, cookies, meringue and other tea time desserts. These people are trained to use precise measurements in their baking for that flavorful cakes that they make. Even the oven temperature needs to be correct and the amount of time put inside the oven has to be right - otherwise you get burnt cakes if put for too long or uncook food if placed in the oven for too short a time.

Baking Is Not For Everyone?

Hence baking is not for everyone. You need to stand for a long time in the kitchen attending to the various ingredients and whipping up the flour while mixing it with the eggs and sugar at the same time. This requires experience to capture enough air for it to rise up properly without making big holes in the cake due to too much baking powder. To be a professional baker or hotel chef, you also need to have passion in cooking and baking. And it takes months if not years of practice before you can be gainfully employed in the top end hotels and eateries. And chefs are indispensable as we need to eat everyday.

Andrea writes for a kitchen gadgets site where you can browse a range of kitchen scales along with thousands of other essential kitchen items.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrea_Flint

The Wonders of Chocolate

Any man in love would give the apple of his eyes a box of chocolates. Yes it is true; chocolates can make any woman happy. Whenever depression strikes, chocolates can be very helpful. Kids simply cannot get their hands off chocolates and many parents experience that chocolate is very effective in making their children stop from crying. Previously, it was assumed that chocolates are bad for health and should be taken moderately. It was considered to be responsible for affecting dental health and causing obesity. However, recent studies prove otherwise.

It is scientifically proven that dark chocolate is the healthiest type of chocolate to consume. This is because of its high cocoa content. Notice that dark chocolate has darker color compared to milk chocolate. Milk chocolate is lighter in color because of its milk content. Dark chocolate has far more antioxidants than milk or white chocolate. These other two chocolates cannot make any health claims. Dark chocolate has 65 percent or higher cocoa content. Cocoa has certain ingredients that make them really beneficial to one's health. It contains antioxidants that give protection to the body from free radicals that causes aging which can eventually lead to heart attack.

A large quantity of antioxidants can be found in cocoa just like almost any other plant-based foods like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. However, it is believed to contain 8 times more antioxidants than strawberries. Just imagine the amount of antioxidants you can get by eating a deliciously healthy bar of dark chocolate. Even just a small bar of this, your cardiovascular system will start running in a good condition.

The benefits of chocolates do not stop there. Chocolates also help reduce cholesterol in our body. It also increases the amount of endorphins in our brain. Endorphins are responsible for making us feel happy. That explains the reason why we always feel better whenever we finish a bar of chocolate.

Chocolates also contain serotonin which is one of the main ingredients found in anti-depressants. Chocolates can therefore bring a person up whenever he is down and lonely. So whenever you are feeling gloomy, feel free to sink your teeth into that rich bar of dark chocolate and feel the happiness right away.

If you like what i write about, check out my other sites like Acne Scar Removal and i also like to write about African Scar Removall

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nickolaus_Cabcabin

Battle of the Fats

Butter vs Margarine ...
 

ok quick show of hands. How many of you here use Butter when baking? And how many use Margarine? Personally, I am on team Butter but i know a lot of people who prefer Margarine claiming the latter is more healthy.
Ok, let's first take a look at what these 2 fats are.
Butter

what is it?

Butter is a dairy product, Most of the time it is made from cow's milk but you can also use other mammals milk such as goats and sheep.
how is it made?

Butter is made by beating cream, the thickest, fattiest part of milk. As the cream is beaten, the fat globules begin to stick together, forcing the cream to form a solid mass of milkfat, also known as butter.
Margarine

what is it?
Margarine is vegetable fat that is processed into a spread as a substitute for butter. It is made from a combination of different types of vegetable oils.
how is it made?
The vegetable oil, which is runny, has to be converted into a solid fat to make margarine. This is done by warming the oil to about 60 degrees Celsius and then bubbling hydrogen through it. Nickel is used as a catalyst for this reaction to make it happen faster.
The hydrogen reacts chemically with the oil, changing all the carbon to carbon double bonds to single bonds. This process is called hydrogenation and it raises the melting point of the oil, so that it is a solid rather than a liquid at room temperature.

Excuses no more

Too busy

Too tired

I dont know how

Its cheaper to eat out

I'm lazy

these are frequent excuses given by people when asked why don't they cook. Now jst think, wouldn't it be great to be able to cook once a month and be stocked up for a whole month. And No, im not talking about boiling a big batch of soup.

The Frugal Mom's Guide to Once a Month Cooking teaches you to prepare meals the whole family will enjoy. It's for those of use who like to cook with simple ingredients we can buy at our local grocery store, or already have on hand in our pantry. It is for those of us who like trouble-free meals that are easy to make and taste delicious.



I think this is something i should get for a few friends of mine...

Bloglovin!

Yes i succumed!!
Nic owes me a prize too for bexoming his 100th follower!!

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Going dot Com

I am toying with the idea of getting an real web address; an actual dot com. But finding the right blog name is a bit of a task. A task which i don't have much time for now. Any suggestions?

I found this great website - Exabytes  which you can check website name availability and buy your own. You even have the choice of choosing a dot com or a cot my or even dot tv. Go click on this link to find out more. And best of all, they are having a sale right now with great offers to boost!

Dark Chocolate Truffles

I was a a phase where chocolate was the only thing i wanted. But not just any normal chocolate would do, it had to be the deep dark bitter sweet kind, the kind which you can indulge in after a long hard day while watching your favourite tv series.

I had a taste of this at a event i attended and immediately knew i had to learn how to make them myself. Thank god for the Internet and for the Joy of Baking site which had just the perfect recipe.

The truffles were a little hard to make and got a bit messy. The key to not getting chocolate all over you is to use gloves or cling film to form the cold paste into balls. And make sure you do this in a cool area because as it gets harder to manage as it thaws.

 I had a couple of variations done, what you can see here are the almond coated ones. I also made some with the whole almond inside...yeah I really like nuts!

I just love the bitterness and creaminess of these truffles. If you are a dark chocolate fan... give this a try next weekend.

Peach Trifle

 A trifles is an ol-school desert. It is made up of layers of plain sponge cake, sliced fruits, custard, cream, jelly and of course the alcohol. There are many variations to this dessert and most old families have their own signature style.
The D'cruz family trifle i learnt to make when i was in my teens. This however is not the family recipe, I made this Peach trifle for a recent birthday party. I stuck to the usual basics of cake and fruit, but gave it a little twist. If you are tired of birthday cakes, give this a try..

Peach Trifle

Ingredients

• fruit cocktail - drained and separate juice
• peaches – drained and sliced.
• sponge cakes
• All purpose whipped cream
• Sherry ( or any wine or brandy would do)
• Handful of chocolate shavings for decoration. 

 Putting it together

1. Crumble up the cake in a bowl until it resembles fine bread crumbs
2. Whip the cream and set aside.
3. To make the base, first off, use about 1/3 the cake crumbs and spread it out on the bottom of the dish. If you are using a very large dish you may need more. Press the crumbs down and pour half of the sherry and syrup from the canned fruit so that the cake crumbs hold. The base of the trifle should be about half inch thick.
4. Arrange about 1/3 of the fruits on top of the cake.
5. Spread a layer (about half inch thick) of whipped cream over the fruit.
6. Repeat with cake crumbs, fruit and cream….and ending with cream.
7. Once done, stick it in the fridge for about 20-30 mins to chill then serve.

I have not provided exact measurements here because it really boils down to how much trifle you want to make and how big your dish is. Mine was about 9inch round bowl and I used about 2 cake loafs.
Give this a try…

Butter Cake

Almost everyone i know loves a good plain and simple butter cake. It is pretty simple to make and once you manage to nail down your signature, it can be your base to a whole plethora of unique variations.

There were a so many different recipes out there, but some how i settled on this because it required the least amount of ingredients and work.
To make this cake you will need:
100g Plain Flour
80g Self Raising Flour
110 Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
250gm Butter
1tsp Vanilla Essence

Putting it together:
1. Preheat over : 180C
2.Sift the flours together and set aside.
3.Cream butter and sugar till it becomes pale and creamy. Add in eggs, one by one, beating well. Add the Vanilla Essence.
4. When the mixture is all mixed well together, fold in the flour. ( This is where you add your chocolate chips)
5. bake cake in a lined and greased pan for about 20 - 25 minutes until the cake is nicely browned at the top. Use a tooth pick to insert to make sure it comes out nice and clean.

I didn't have plain flour so i used 180g of self raising. It didn't effect the end result. The first cake i made i used the original recipe. And the reviews were fabulous. Unfortunately i didn't take any pictures of the first cake. The second i made ( pic) i added 2 hand fulls of chocolate chips. The chocolate made the cake even more yummier. Alternatively you could also add raisins, cranberries or nuts..

A little note about the chocolate chips. I learnt this trick from a fellow blogger. As you can see from the pic, all the chocolate chips sunk to the bottom creating a chocolate base effect. The same thing happens with raisins. If this works for you, then you may disregard this tip. However, if you want the chocolate chips to be blended into the cake base, you should toss the chocolate chips in a tablespoon of flour before adding them into the batter.

You can also use this recipe to make marble cake. Scoop 1/3 of the batter into a separate bowl, add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and mix well. To get a beautiful swirl effect, layer the greased pan with half of the yellow batter, then pour in all the chocolate batter, then cover with remaining batter.

From scratch

Yes, i know i have been missing for a long long time now. What can i say, life doesn't always turn out the way you plan it to. Work to a turn for the better and has kept me really busy. I haven't even had time t bake much.

Some time in October i think, i picked up a pre-mix pack of brownie mix from the grocer's while shopping. I have never used pre-mix packs before for fear that it's taste would not live up to what you'd expect. But since this was from a brand known for producing good chocolates, i thought what the heck...


.... less did i know i was going to be disappointed.

The brownie was easy enough to make, an egg, some water, a little oil as well i think, mix it about and pop it in the oven. The finish product didn't live up to its expectations. The texture was ok, compact and smelled chocolaty. The taste was too cake-ish and hard. The only consolation was that this particular mix had dark chocolate bits in the all through the insides of the brownie. It stayed in the fridge for over a month and ended up in the bin. I didn't even have the heart to bring it to work and feed my mates.. what a wash of money.

But this just goes to show that it always pays to bake from scratch. Will a little effort and patience, you too can be Nigella Lawson. I'm never gonna use another premix pack again.

My first cake order!!

I got my first cake order last month!

Carrot Cake

with cream cheese frosting

To those of you who have tried this cake you know how good it is :)

If you want the recipe, do scroll down and look for it cos i've made this and blog about it before.

But if you are too lazy, drop me a note to order one...

Snickerdoodles

Not many people on this site of the planet know what Snickerdoodles are. I came upon this recipe while flipping through my Nigella cook book. Now from what she says in her book about them, i thought they'd be really nice. Boy was i fooled. These biscuits though look pleasing to the eye, taste like butter cookies coated in cinnamon. i and am not a cinnamon fan! And it was so crumbly that i could not even dunk it into coffee. And i love dunkin' biscuits into coffee by the way.

If you like bland-ish, cinnamony tasting cookies then go for it.

Indulgence

I decided to name this cake Indulgence because of its contents. If you are a chocolate lover,or even if you are not, i bet you will love this. The combination of dark chocolate, hazelnut creme and chocolate ..one bite will take you into an orgasmic high...

The cake itself is a rich dark chocolate cake which i have been baking since my high school years. The recipe is an original which i have fine tuned and tweaked to perfection. My best friend Nicky loves this cake.

I separated the batter into two equal portions and baked them the night before. The next day i sandwiched both cakes with Nutella and frosted it with regular melted chocolate. As this was supposed to be a birthday cake i used simple M & Ms for a bit of color.

Apologies but i am unable to provide the recipe of this cake. But if you want to order it do give me a tinkle..

xoxo

The bread baker

I made Sausage rolls over the weekend for a picnic we had. Don't have pictures yet because my lap top's not working. But i wanted to share this site with you. I found this wonderful baker while looking for recipes. Isn't it odd that there are so many people baking cup cakes and cakes out there but not many who bake bread.

I've always wanted to learn to bake bread. When i was little mom and her friends used to make the most delicious sausage rolls and i always wanted to learn how to do it. So while browsing the intricate web of limitless information i laded on Daily Delicious. Do drop by her blog and say hi. I do think she is one of the better baker-blogger on the W. I found a really easy sausage roll recipe on her blog which i made for the picnic. Made a few mistakes; it turned out hard, but looked really yummy..

ok gotta run off now... promise to be back with proper recipes and pictures...

xoxo

happy baking

Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti

I am not a fan of biscotti. If you are not sure what it is, well you know those long-ish shaped hard cookies they sell in Starbucks, yup, thats biscotti. Its an Italian double baked cookie . Traditionally it is Almond flavored. Nowadays there are all sort of variations. I choose to make this version with chocolate and cranberry because i have never baked with berries and thought this a good start.

I wanted to bake this simply because i saw a few cyber bakers making them and thought i could do it.

Thought, ladies and gents, being the operative word. Boy was i in for one hell of a mess... but like life, sometimes you just gotta get in there and get dirty once in a while. The batter was too watery, i could not roll it as required. I didn't know if i should have added more flour or chilled it. And I didn't have a serrated knife so cutting became a chore.

If you decide you wanna give it a try, please do because it tastes absolutely choco-licious. You can get the recipe here

Happy baking
xoxo