Festive Mince Pies 🎄

Hey guys

Sorry I haven't posted in a while but here is a new Christmassy blog post. I am one of the many people that goes way over the top for Christmas simply because I love it. 

I go all out decorating the Christmas tree in colour theme (though this can be hard due to the amount of random baubles that I have). Last year I made some amazing mince pies which I was very proud of; I even made the pastry. So I thought that it was about time that I posted this mince pie recipe. They have a slight twist as they are slightly orange infused.

Ingredients: 

For the pastry: 

500g of strong white plain flour

175g of caster sugar

375g of unsalted butter

Juice and rind of 1 large orange 

Filling:

550g of mincemeat 

Rind and zest of 1/2 a lemon 

Method: 

1. Start by making the pastry, sift the flour and the sugar into the bowl. Then chop the butter up into cubes and then use your fingers to rub the flour, sugar and butter together. Keep doing this until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

2. Using a spoon, mix in the orange rind and then the juice of the orange until it forms a dough. Then wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for 30 mins. 

3. Preheat the oven to 220C. Then in a different bowl mix the lemon juice and rind and the mincemeat. 

4. Take the pastry out of the fridge and roll out as thick of about 2 £1 coins. Then using a pastry cutter that is about 7.5 cm in diameter, cut out 24 disks. With the rest of the pastry cut out stars which will be the tops of the pastries.

5. Grease a cupcake/muffin tin and then put each disk of pastry in each cupcake hole. 

6. Then spoon the mincemeat mixture into the pastry cases. Then top with the stars and brush the mince pies with milk.

7. Pop into the oven and leave for 15-20 mins before taking out. Then leave to cool before taking them out of the muffin tin. 

8. Dust with icing sugar and they are ready to serve or you can reheat them in the oven and serve them with ice cream or custard. 

I hope that you enjoyed this super festive recipe!! 

Anja xx

Dark Chocolate Bites with Nut, Fruit Toppings

So at the moment I am doing the 'no chocolate, sweets or cake' apart from Saturday's (where I can have a little bit of a cheat). For my cheat days I still want to have a a healthy twist on what I have. 

These snacks are a good alternative to a bar of factory processed chocolate. You can add whatever you want to these chocolate snacks. 

Ingredients: 

225g of dark chocolate 

Assort of things to add:

-Pistachios

-oat clusters

-dried fruit

-seeds/nuts 

-peel

Method: 

1. Line a tray with baking parchment. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling hot water. Once completely melted, use a spoon to make circles of chocolate. 

2. Sprinkle the assortment of nuts/seeds/dried fruit on top. Let the go plate set at room temperature and store in the fridge. 

These snacks can been eaten at home or  on the go. 

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

So as the theme of autumn continues, though now it is November I am super exited for Christmas, I though that I would write up a nice simple Gluten free Pumpkin bread. 

I absolutely love Banana bread so I thought that I would put lovely/festive twist on this. 

ingredients:

350g of all-purpose gluten free flour 

3/4 tsp of salt 

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder 

2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice

133g of caster sugar

84g of unsalted butter

2 eggs, free range 

160g of sour cream 

170g of pumpkin butter 

Method: 

1. Preheat the oven to 175C and line a loaf tin with baking parchment. Beat the pumpkin butter, unsalted butter and caster sugar in a bowl. Then add in the salt. 

2. Then mix in the sour cream and eggs into the mix until well combined. The add in the baking powder and the flour but by but so that there are no clumps of flour left. 

3. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake in the oven for 45-55 mins in the oven. Take out to cool and leave for 10 mins before removing from the tin. Slice the loaf once cool and make sure that you store in a tin so that it doesn't go stale. 

Puff Pastry Pie filled with Roasted Baby Vegtables

Hey guys,

So I have a savory recipe for you today and as far as I am concerned, pies, soups and stews are all very autumn/winter foods. I have found an amazing recipe that I thought I could share with you and maybe you can make it too. (Makes 6)

Ingredients: 

2 x 320g of ready roll all buttered puff pastry
1 egg, beaten

12 baby carrots
12 baby cougettes
12 baby parsnips
1 tbsp of olive oil
6 tsp of tomato paste
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Method: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Unroll the ready roll pastry and cut six 10cm squares with a long knife. Then cut 48 strips 2cmx10cm. Brush the squares of puff pastry with egg and on each of the sides of the square lay a strip of pastry. Then brush with egg again and bake in the oven for 20-30 mins.

2. While the pastry is cooking in the oven, cut the vegetables in half, horizontally. Once the pastry cases are out of the oven, pop the vegatables on a small baking tray, drizzle in olive oil and roast in the oven for 30 mins.

3. Cover the bottom of each pastry case with a tsp of the tomato paste and then arrange the roasted vegetables upright in the pie case. Then drizzle with a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil and serve.  

Ghosty Cupcakes- Halloween Theme

So a favorite among many of us has to be Halloween! With costumes and sweets and of course, amazing cupcake designs this time of the year is one of my favorite times of year. To be honest, if you search on Google Images 'Halloween Cupcakes' you can get a range of different images showing some of the most intricate designs that I have ever seen but you can also get some designs that look just as good but they super easy to carry out.

Just the thought of little children running around shouting 'Trick or Treat' picking sweets from bowls full to the brim of haribos and chocolate in wrappers. I remember when I was a bit younger our next door neighbours would always have a Halloween party and they we would always bring round marzipan mice with little strawberry lace tails and chocolate chip eyes, though to be totally honest I never actually ate the mice, just the tails and the eyes!

So today I going to give you a Halloween cupcake recipe. The cupcakes are carrot cake as a lot of people in my family prefer carrot cake to pumpkin cake. I am going to decorate them with a cinnamon and cream cheese frosting though if you don't like cinnamon you can always leave it out. The icing will be shaped in a little ascending swirl and decorated with some chocolate chips for eyes to make a little ghost figure on top of your cake! If you aren't so keen on cream cheese you can always do a basic buttercream icing.

Now after all that chatting on here is the recipe. I hope that you enjoy and please tweet me with hashtag #angelichalloween.

Ingredients:  

175g of light brown/ muscovado sugar
150 ml of sunflower oil
2 eggs
zest of 1 medium orange
200g of grated carrots
2 tsp of mixed spice
200g of self raising flour
1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda

100g of butter
300g of cream cheese
100g of icing sugar
cinnamon, as much as you want
chocolate chips, to decorate


Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Pop some cupcake cases into a muffin tin and set aside for later.

2. Mix the oil and the sugar in a bowl and then whisk in the eggs. Then add in the orange zest and grated carrots and mix together until it is well combined. Then add in the dry ingredients (mixed spice, self raising flour and bicarbonate of soda) little by little so that everything is well mixed together.

3. Then fill each cupcake case half full with mixture making sure that each cupcake is filled the same. Put in the over for 20-25 mins so that when you touch the cupcakes lightly they bounce back or when you pop a skewer in it comes out clean.

4. Once the cupcakes are out of the oven you can start on the icing. Whisk the butter for a couple of minutes and then add in the cream cheese and combine. Then gradually add in the icing sugar and cinnamon. The icing should be soft and you should see no lumps of icing sugar that are not combined together.

5. Put the icing in a piping bag with a rounded nozzle and beggin. Once the cupcakes are cool start with the piping by starting on the outside and in circles go to the middle bringing the piping bag up so that the icing starts to tower on top of each other and end in a point. Then pop on two chocolate chips on to the icing for eyes.

Then your cupcakes are done and are ready to be eaten, after they have been photographed, of course.

Links:

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Email: bakingbuddiesblog@gmail.com  
  

Orange Spice Hot Chocolate

So, with Halloween just around the corner I have been loving all things festive. I particularly like the smell of spices such as cinnamon and clove. I have always loved it when you go into shops and you see the jars of spices that you can buy and use to scent your room. By combining my love of hot drinks and festive spice I have come up with a hot chocolate recipe to warm you up. It has been starting to get a lot cooler recently and I love it when it is raining outside and you can cosy up with a blanket, a hot drink and watch some YouTube or Netflix.

This recipe is a Orange Spice Hot Chocolate. I hope that you enjoy and love this just as much as I do. Xx

Ingredients:

8 cups of semi skimmed milk
7 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1/4 cup of caster sugar
zest of 1 orange
225g of dark chocolate
marshmallows and whipped cream, to serve

Method: 

1. Start by heating the milk in a pan, making sure that it doesn't boil. Add in the cloves and cinnamon sticks along with the sugar and stir. Make sure that you keep on stirring so that the milk doesn't form a skin.

2. Add in the orange zest and simmer for 15 mins. Over a pan of boiling water heat the dark chocolate in a glass bowl. Don't let the water touch the bottom of the glass bowl. Once the chocolate has completely melted, strain the milk and spice mixture so that all the cinnamon stick and cloves are no longer in the mixture. Slowly por the melted chocolate into the milk mixture over a very low heat and stir until well combined.

3. Pour the hot chocolate into mugs or glasses and top with marshmallows and whippy cream. If you want to make this more Instagramable you can add a sprinkle of cocoa powder and a piece of sliced orange to the top.

School Snacks- Healthy but Fun

Hey guys,

So as school or work has begun for basically all of us, I thought that it were about time that I write a blog post with ideas for yummy but healthy snacks. Some of these are shop bought and others will of course be homemade.

1. Nakd Bars

These healthy and nutritious bars are the perfect snack to bring with you on the go and with a variety of flavours, for berries to chocolate, they should have a taste to satisfy everyone. My personal favorite is Cocoa Crunch,which may sound unhealthy but is packed with 18% protein which is very important for your diet. These bars are also have another bonus, they are wheat, dairy and gluten free and they only have natural sugars.

2. Carrots and Hummus

By simply chopping up some carrots and popping them into a tub with a spoon of hummus you could have an amazing snack. Carrots are full of healthy minerals and vitamin A. Carrots are also full of antioxidants in ample amounts. Hummus is a great way to get extra protein into the body. It made from chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice and salt. It is also full of flavour and I love it.  Chickpeas help to lower cholesterol!

3. Pitta bread

Another snack to have is pitta bread, in particular, whole wheat ones. They are a good way to get more fibre into your system and help to fill you up as they have a high carbohydrate content. I often put something like ham in them for lunch or you can add marmite or any filling of you choice.

4. Chocolate

Once a week or something like that I like to have something a little bit sweeter and richer. You can have a chocolate bar or a chocolate covered rice cake (my favorite). Having dark chocolate is better for you but there is no problem in having a treat ever so often.

5. Smoothies

Smoothies are something you can make on a daily basis and take into school. They can be filled with whatever you want from something super healthy like goji berries and kale to yoghurt and banana but either one is good. To boost the energy that a smoothie gives you should add oats. They are full of fibre, they give you energy and they also help to lower cholesterol. You can have these throughout the day to keep you going.

6. Granola bars

Granola bars are one of the best snacks to go to school with. They can be packed with all sorts of different oats and berries which will slowly release energy throughout the day. You can make you own ( recipe down below) or you can simply by them in packs from the shops as they sell them pretty much anywhere.


Hope that this gave you some ideas into what kind of snacks to bring to school
Xx.

Granola bar recipe: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/7001/cinnamon-berry-granola-bars

Links:

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Email: bakingbuddiesblog@gmail.com



  

Autumn Blog Post and Butternut Squash Soup

With Autumn now in full swing, though it has been rather sunny recently, I thought I would do an Autumn post with ideas and thoughts and of course a recipe.

Autumn is one of my favorite times of year. I love layering up and snuggling in front of the tv with a mug of homemade soup or some sort of warming concoction. I just love waking up on a clean crisp morning with the bleak sun in the sky and see the ground littered with red and orange leaves.

Of course there is Halloween, This is honestly one of my favorite times of the year, along with Christmas, my birthday and family events, as you can go all out with home decorating and cake decorating. There are some amazing halloween cupcake designs out there that can be super simple but they can look amazing. In some case you just need some marshmallows, colourful icing and a creative imagination.



But I have to say that my ultimate autumn/winter favourite has to be homemade butternut squash soup. I made this for the first time last year and it was literally the best soup that I have ever had. It was thick and silky but I added no cream or creme fraiche so it was still super healthy. It was a hit with most of my family (all except those who don't like soup). Soup is also something amazing to have around at this time of year and if you make it in a big batch  you can reheat it  multiple times for different dinners. you could even put it in a flask and reheat it at work.

So with much digging I seem to have found the recipe that I use last year to make this soup.
Butternut Squash Soup  

Ingredients: 

3 small butternut squash, about 1.6kg (3 ½ lb) total weight
about 2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated nutmeg ( you can add as much or as little as you would like)
25g (1oz) butter
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 large carrots, roughly chopped
2 large sticks celery, sliced
1.1-1.3 litres vegetable stock
sprig of fresh rosemary 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. 

2. First peel the butternut squashes. This can be quite hard due to the shape, you can use a knife or a potato peeler. Then chop into large chunks and pop on a well oiled tray. Cook for about 30 mins.

3. One the butternut squash has been cooked through you can begin to start the main part of the soup. Melt the butter in a pan and add in the roughly chopped onion, celery and carrot. Cook them for 5-10 mins so that they begin to soften a little. Then add in the stock, rosemary and any seasoning (salt and pepper) that you want. Bring up to the boil and partly cover  and simmer for 20 mins.

4. After 20 mins add in the butternut squash. Use a liquidiser or a hand held food blender and whizz until it is as processed as you want. Stir and then it is ready to serve.

Just remember that you can serve this straight away or you can reheat whenever you want. I love having this with crusty rosemary bread with it.

Rosemary Bread.

Just take a slice of bread and rub it with a few stalk of rosemary. You can also do this with garlic.

Links:

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Email: bakingbuddiesblog@gmail.com    

General Favorites

Hey all,

I am absolutely loving autumn at the moment. All the winter soups and woolly jumpers and bonfires and lets not forget my birthday! Autumn is one of my favorite times of year and I love it so much, so don't be surprised if my Instagram (which is currently broken) and Twitter.

With my favorite time of year approaching I thought that I would write a favorites post. As per usual this will range for baking bits to clothes favorites to anything else I can think of that I have been enjoying. So I hope that you enjoy....

 My first favorite this month has to be The Great British Bake Off. I absolutely love the GBBO and I have been watching it all the time recently. I am not up to date at the moment but I find that it goes so quickly and I feel like it started not that long ago. I always miss it when it isn't on.

A second favorite is a recipe book that I have come across. Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook. It is such a beautiful and well put together book. The drawings and photos have been put together so well and it is such a beautiful book. It is full of some amazing recipes packed with colour and flavour.

Another favorite has been nakd bars. They are probably the best and tasty snacks that I have had. They come in a variety of flavours from berries to chocolate to orange and have around 18% protein per bar. My personal favorite is Cocoa Crunch. These bars are also have another bonus, they are wheat, dairy and gluten free and they only have natural sugars.

My final favorite has been Fentimans Rose Lemonade. I first had it when I went to a Roast Lunch with family and I have been in love with it ever since. I tried it a while ago but I haven't had it in ages. It is basically the most amazing lemonade I have in a long time and I really recommend it.

This month I am going to try my hardest to try and upload on time every dead line. I want to try and work on the content that is in each post and the photos too. I hope that you enjoy this blog post and if you want to see more please subscribe.Thank you for all your support xx

Links:

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Email: bakingbuddiesblog@gmail.com

Simple But Useful: Basic White Sauce

Hey guys,

Over the past few weeks, I have been helping my mum with cooking lunch and dinner and I have realized that in a lot of dishes my mum has made a basic white sauce and then added things to it depending on the dish.

This is probably one of the most basic things I have/will ever put in my blog but it is so useful sauce.

Lasange- For the white sauce that tops the dish and is put on top of the pasta sheets I add some grated cheddar cheese, you can add as much or as little as you want depending how much flavour you want.

Fish Pie- I added parsley to the sauce, which I then put all over the fish, before topping with mash potato.

Method: 

1. Put the butter in a pan and heat until liquid.

2. Then add in the flour little by little until it becomes an almost very wet consistency that kind of gathers together when you whisk it. Keep stirring for 2-3 mins so that you cook out the flavour of the flour.

3. You are then ready to add the milk, pour in a good amount and stir. The sauce needs to be quite thin so make sure you keep adding the milk until it is at this consistency.

4. Lastly add any flavouring (cheese, parsley, salt and pepper...)

I hope that you enjoy my occasional tips and tricks blopg posts. Please subscribe and thank you for all your support.

Anja x

Links:

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Email: bakingbuddiesblog@gmail.com  


    

Doggy Cupcakes

Hey guys,

So I know that this is not the usual recipe that I write up on Mondays and Thursdays but I thought that I would do this anyway. I have two dogs and their birthdays are coming up soon so I took inspiration from other blog posts to make my own. I have played around with a couple of different recipes to make my own. I hope that you enjoy. BTW photos are coming soon.

Ingredients:

1 medium egg
1/4 cup of vegtable oil
1/3 cup of light honey
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1/4 cup of peanut butter
1 cup of carrot, shredded
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1 tsp of baking powder

 Icing:

tub of cream cheese
4 tsp of peanut butter

Method: 

1. Start by preheating the oven to 175C/fan 165C. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake cases. In a bowl, mix the flour and vegetable oil in a bowl and then add in the honey. Once well mixed add the vanilla extract, peanut butter, egg and shredded carrot. Last of all add in the baking powder.

2. Once well mixed spoon the mixture into the cases so that they are around half full. Then pop them into the oven for 20 mins and leave to cool. Then you can start on the icing.

3. Get a disposable piping bag and put a nozzle at the end. Fill the piping with cream cheese and once the cakes are cool pipe a swirl, starting from the outside and going into the middle. Pop the 4 tsp of peanut butter into a small pan, heat until it has thinned down.

4. Then leave to cool and then drizzle onto the cupcakes. Get a tiny dog treat and pop on the top. Keep in the fridge for 2 days maximum or your dog can eat them straight away.

I hope that you enjoyed this recipe
Anja x

Links:

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Email: bakingbuddiesblog@gmail.com  

Double/Triple Chocolate Biscotti

Hi guys,

My favorite combo at the moment is hazelnut and chocolate. I came across this recipe about a week ago and as I have never made biscotti before so I decided to have a go at this recipe. I haven't decided what I think of this recipe but I have made them and they seem to be a very good hit in my family so I think that maybe some of you will like them too.

I have used nuts in this recipe which some people don't like so you can take them out and replace them with something else like cranberries or raisins. I hope that you enjoy and if you do alter the recipe then please let me know and I can try it out too.

 Ingredients: 

100g of whole hazelnuts
100g of unsalted butter
3 medium eggs
200g of caster sugar
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
325g of plain flour
2 tsp of baking powder
3 tbsp of cocoa powder
110g of dark chocolate, roughly chopped
To finish:
 150g of dark chocolate

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Once the oven has heated up pop all the hazelnuts into the oven and toast for 4-6 mins or until they are golden brownish. Then take out of the oven, leave to cool and chop in half.

2. Pop the butter into a dish and put in the microwave and heat until the butter is liquid (using ten second bursts). Put the eggs into a bowl and whisk for a couple of minutes, until frothy. Then add in the sugar and vanilla extract and whisk for 3-4 minutes until thick. Then pour in the butter while whisking at a medium speed.

3. Once all mixed in add in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt by using a wooden spoon. Keep on mixing until you cannot see any specks of flour or cocoa powder. Then toss in the hazelnuts and roughly chopped chocolate. The dough should be quite stiff (though mine wasn't and I had to add some extra flour).

4. Split the dough in half and pop each half of dough onto two lined trays. Pop in the oven and bake for 25-30 mins. Once baked leave until completely cooled. Once completely cooled, you can chop the logs into biscotti. Using a serrated knife, cut the loaf into thin slices about 1 cm thick. Then pop back into the oven for 10-15 mins so that they bake all the way through. Then remove from the oven.

5. While cooling, melt the rest of the chocolate in a bowl and once the biscotti has cooled dip a 1/3 or so of each biscotti into the chocolate and leave to set.

I hope that you found this recipe and please use the hashtag #bakingbuddiesautumn.

Thank you
Anja xx

Links:

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Email: bakingbuddiesblog@gmail.com  

Brownie Cupcakes and Peanut Butter Frosting

Hey guys,

I love brownies. They are my ultimate comfort food and as I am warming to peanut butter I thought that I could mix them together and make a perfect snack. So here is a recipe that I have whizzed together. I hope that you enjoy.

Ingredients: 

225g of plain chocolate
85g of unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
200g of soft brown sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
140g of plain flour

175g of unsalted butter
220g of icing sugar
110g of peanut butter

Method: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C. Then line a 12 hole cupcake/muffin tin. Pop the butter and the chocolate in a medium pan and heat over a medium heat. Once the chocolate and the butter have melted take off the heat.

2. Whisk the eggs and the sugar together, then add the vanilla extract. Stir in the flour until well combined. Then add in the chocolate butter mixture. Spoon the mixture into paper cases until they are half full and then bake for 25-30 mins.

3. Once the cakes have cooled start on the icing. In a bowl beat the unsalted butter for around 30 secs to soften. Then add the peanut butter, once well mixed, add the icing sugar little by little. Then put a nozzle in a piping bag and put the icing in the piping bag.  Then starting from the outside and circling into the middle.

Then these cupcakes are done x

I hope that you enjoy this recipe and please tweet me pictures of your bakes using the hash tag #bakingbuddiesautumn. By the way, is anyone watching The Great British Bake Off?

Thank you 

Anja x

Links:

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Email: bakingbuddiesblog@gmail.com  

Plum and Almond Crumble Bar

Hey guys,

So todays recipe is going to be the first in a series of #autumnwithangelicbaking. This is a recipe that can be had as a pudding with custard or as a snack if you seal a couple of slices in a Tupperware box and take to school or work. Plum is a very autumnal flavour so is perfect for this time of year.

Please use the hashtag #autumnwithangelicbaking and send me any photos of bakes that you have made or any other recipes that you want me to see. Thank you for all your support my blog. Well lets get into it....

Ingredients:

250g of hard unsalted butter
225g of caster sugar
300g of ground almonds
140g of plain flour, plus another 25g
2 eggs
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of baking powder
6 plums, sliced into sixths and stoned
50g of flaked almonds

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Then grease and line a tin that is roughly 20 x 30cm. Pulse the butter, sugar and ground almonds in a food processor until it resembled breadcrumbs. Spoon half of the mixture into a bowl and set aside for later.

2. Add all of the flour into the mixture that is in the food processor and blend until it forms a dough. Once a dough has been formed, tip the dough into the lined and greased tin. Press the dough around the bottom and the edges of the tin and bake for 15-20 mins or until golden brown and leave to cool.

3. To make the filling take the remaining butter, almond and sugar mixture and pop back into the food processor (saving a few tsps for the topping). Then add the eggs, 25g of flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Then pulse until the mixture resembles a batter like consistency.

4. Spread over the cooled base evenly and then top with the plum pieces and scatter over a little extra caster sugar and cinnamon. Then bake for another 20 mins and once this time is up sprinkle over the couple of tsps of almond, butter and sugar mixture along with the flaked almonds. Bake for around another 20 mins or until it looks golden brown.

5. Then leave to completely cool and then you can slice it up into bars to take as a snack to school/work or for puddings.

The hint of cinnamon in this dish really helps to make this more of an autumn/winter pudding. I hope that you enjoyed this recipe and don't forget to subscribe and send me your photos.

Anja x

Links:

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Bread and Butter Pudding

Hey guys,

So I hope that you enjoyed my french inspired post of macaroons but today's recipe is a bread and butter pudding. Instead of using bread I tend to stick to brioche. My mum has always made bread and butter pudding and I have never been particularly keen but I over time I have started to warm to it. This is a Delia Smith recipe that has been pasted down to me by my mum.

Just to let you know, I doubled this recipe when I made it.

My top tip is:

Always use white bread, I have found that brown bread just doesn't work that well.

Ingredients:

8 slices of white bread or brioche (I used brioche)
Unsalted spreadable butter
50g of currants
275ml of of milk
60ml of double cream
50g of caster sugar
3 eggs
freshly grated nutmeg (you can use as much or as little as you want)

Method: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and butter a enamel baking dish (2l). Butter all the slices of brioche and cut them in half. Arrange one layer of the brioche at the bottom of the enamel dish. Sprinkle over half of the currants.

2. In a measuring jug measure out the milk and the double cream. Mix them together and stir in the caster sugar and whisk in the eggs one at a time.

3. Then add another layer of brioche, pour over the custard mixture that you have made and sprinkle on the rest of the currants. Pop in the preheated oven and bake for 30-40 mins. This pudding is best served warm and I usually have it with icecream!

I hope that you enjoy this simple but classic recipe.

Anja x

Links:

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My Trip to France in Photos

Hey guys,

So I have quite a few photos which I took when I was away in France because I love to keep my memories and photos so that I can back on them and I thought what better than to show you some of the food and the views that I experience in France. 

Just to give me a bit of background to the holiday. We started the first week in Deauville in a house that belonged to some family and we stayed there for a week. We then went to the outskirts of Paris to go and visit some friends. Although we only stay for the weekend we drove into Versailles and saw the most amazing musical fountains and they're all like a maze and they were just so beautiful. We then went to centre parks where I didn't really get that many photos but some of the food that was amazing. One night we went to a crepe a buffet well my brother ate about five crepes and I only managed to down liked to but I just love French culture so much and to be able to go there and try the food and see some of the architecture and the fountains was amazing to be able to fit so much into just a small space of two weeks.

So now I finish blabbering on here are some of the photos from the week some of these photos are taken on my iPhone and some of them are taken on a Canon EOS 100D.

Some macroons we bought at the local super market. They were so tasty and were the inspiration for my chocolate macaroons with a white chocolate and rasberry ganache. 

We went to a little cafe called Cafe Plumber which was located in the centre of Deauville. 

Macroons I saw in a beautiful patisserie window. 

The Musical Water Fountains at Versailles 

Links:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/angelicbaking_x/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bakingbuddies_ 

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/AngelicBaking/ 

Email: bakingbuddiesblog@gmail.com  

Basic Buttercream Recipe

Hey guys,

So here is a little extra blog post for a friend (Instagram: faithy.b). It is a simple butter cream recipe.

Ingredients:

600g of icing sugar
300g of butter

Optional extras: 

Food colouring
Flavoring extracts
Lemon zest
Orange zest
Cocoa Powder

Method: 

1. Beat the butter for at least a couple of minutes before you add the icing sugar. Then ass the icing sugar little by little so that you don't get covered in icing sugar. Pop a shaped nozzle into a piping bag and fill it with the icing. Then decorate!!!

You can add whatever you want to the icing sugar. Sometimes I add some food colouring or lemon zest to change it up a bit. Sometimes just leaving the icing plain can be nice and adding fresh berries on top or royal icing cut outs.

Hope you enjoy
Anja x

Links:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/angelicbaking_x/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bakingbuddies_ 

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/AngelicBaking/ 

Email: bakingbuddiesblog@gmail.com    

Chocolate Macarons filled with a White Chocolate and Raspberry Ganache

Hey guys,

So as you may know, if you follow me on twitter is that last week I came back from France promising some French inspired recipes. I took inspiration from the amazing patisserie shops and bakeries that were filled with all sorts of hand crafted treats.

Today's recipe is inspired by some beautiful macaroons that my parents picked up in the local supermarket. They were simply delicious. My favorite being chocolate, had a crisp shell filled with a soft centre and creamy filling. So I thought that I would put my own twist on the macaroons which we tried and make up my own recipe. I looked at a couple of other people's blogs and took my inspiration from a variety of different recipes which I kinda jumbled all together to make this one.

So here we go and I hope that you enjoy this recipes as much as I have done, making it.

Ingredients: 

125g of icing sugar
1 tbsp of cocoa powder
200g of ground almonds
3 small egg whites

For the Filling: 

65 ml of pouring cream
100g of white chocolate
50g of raspberries, coarsely chopped

Utensils:

Large metal spoon
Measuring spoons
Piping nozzle (rounded with no extra detailing)
Electric Whisk
2 disposable piping bags
2 large metal bowls

Method: 

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a big baking tray with greaseproof paper and set aside for later. In a bowl, mix the ground almonds, sifted icing sugar and cocoa powder.

2. In a separate bowl whisk the egg white with an electric whisk until you can hold the bowl above your head and they don't fall out on top of you (until stiff). Then bit by bit, fold the egg whites into the dry ingredients.

3. Pop the plain nozzle into the piping bag and pop the macaron mixture into that piping bag. Snipe the end of the piping bag so that the end of the nozzle just sticks out. Pipe 26 small blobs (around 3cm in width) onto the lined baking tray leaving a bit of space between each one.

4. Once all of the blobs are finished smooth each one over with a wet finger. Then leave for around 30 mins to dry and 'form a skin'. After 30 mins pop the macaroons into the oven for around 15-20 mins or until the macaroons feel firm when you touch them (don't press too hard or they will break and crack).

5. Whilst the macarons are cooling you can start on the white chocolate and raspberry ganache. Firstly heat the cream in a small pan until it starts to bubble. Then take the pan off the heat and pop in the white chocolate, stirring it as it melts. Once all of the white chocolate has melted, pour the white chocolate ganache into a bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave in the fridge for 40 mins.

6. Once the ganache has thickened up, add in the chopped raspberries and stir to achieve a sort of ripple effect. Peel the macarons off the baking parchment and pair them up with another one of a similar size. Then fill a piping bag with the white chocolate and raspberry ganache (you don't need a nozzle). Simply snip the end a pipe a blob of ganache in the middle of one macaron half and sandwich the the two halves together. Repeat this step for all of the other macarons.  

And there you have some beautiful macarons. I hope that you all enjoy this recipe and please share it.
Anja x.    

Vegan Chocolate and Honeycomb Parfait

Hey guys,

How are you all? I am back from France and I had such a good time. Now as promised I do have some traditional french recipes which will be coming in the upcoming weeks but while I type them all up I have another recipe which caught my eye whilst I was going through a couple of different pudding recipes.

I haven't actually done any vegan recipes yet but I know a lot of people with allergies so maybe some of these recipes will help you too. If you have any allergies that you would like me to work around and get a recipe for then please do let me know in the comments below.

Ingredients: 

200g of dark chocolate
85g of blanched almonds
150g of dairy-free margarine
85g of glace cherries
100g of dried cranberries
 5 tbsp of granulated sugar
2 tbsp of golden syrup
1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda

Method: 

1. The first thing that you need to do is make the honeycomb. Start by greasing a baking tray with vegetable oil. Melt the granulated sugar and the golden syrup in a pan over a low heat. Once the granulated sugar has dissolved into the golden syrup, turn up the heat and bubble the syrup until it a rich golden colour.

2. Whisk the bicarbonate of soda into the syrup and once it starts to foam up pour into the greased baking tray. Then leave it to cool on the side for 20 minutes and once it has completely cooled roughly chop up.

3. Line a 450g loaf tin with enough clingfilm so that it drapes over the edge by 7-8cm. Break up the dark chocolate and roughly chop up the almonds. Melt the chocolate and the margarine in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water.

4. Take the bowl of melted margarine/chocolate off the heat and stir in the almonds, cranberries, honeycomb and glace cherries. Spoon the mixture into the lined tin and level off at the top. Fold the loose ends of the clingfilm over the parfait and freeze for an hour.

5. Take the parfait out of the freezer and pop in the fridge until it is completely set. Once you are ready to serve take out of the tin and slice up.

I hope that you found this recipe useful.
Anja x

Links:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/angelicbaking_x/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bakingbuddies_ 

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/AngelicBaking/ 

Email: bakingbuddiesblog@gmail.com  
         

 

Baking With Kids- Vanilla Cookies

Hey guys,

I have 4 younger siblings and I sometimes love to bake with them. But often recipes that I want to do are too complicated or just not very fun for them. But I have found a couple of recipes that you can recreate very easily at home. These vanilla biscuits have melted sweets on the inside which look super cute.

Ingredients: 

100g of butter
300g of caster sugar
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
2 eggs
500g of plain flour
2 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of cinammon
pinch of salt
a dash of milk
a handful of coloured hard boiled sweets

Method: 

1. Grease and line two baking trays with parchment. Cream the butter and the sugar together until pale and fluffy. Then add in the vanilla extract and the eggs, one by one. Beat in well. Then add in the plain flour, little by little so that the mixture doesn't split. Mix in the baking powder, cinnamon and a dash of milk.

2. Leave the dough to cool of an hour or so. Then preheat the oven to 190C and roll out the dough. Using different  shaped cutters cut out as many biscuits as you can and make a well in the center of each biscuit. Fill each well with some crushed biscuits and bake for 10 mins. Leave until completely cool before you move them.

This simple recipe can be adapted in many ways and it is still one of my favorites. Please tell me any other recipes that you would like to see.

Anja x   

July Favorites

Hey guys,

Today's blog post is going to be a new blog post which will be the first in a series this series as you can probably tell from the title is a monthly favourites series. It will include my favourite foods recipes bloggers and other general favourites so let's get started...

My first favourite is a food favourite and this is salad. I absolutely been loving having a salad for lunch or if I've had a big meal during the day then I'll have a salad for dinner. I think they're so nice in the summer and I generally have iceberg lettuce, avocado, tomato, pepper and sugar snap peas. I make my own salad dressing using about a teaspoon of mustard and a half teaspoon of cider vinegar pinch of sea salt pinch of pepper and about three or 4 teaspoon of olive oil. I do generally change up what I have in my salad so sometimes it I might have a bit of chicken or some olives but you can basically change up what ever you want in a salad and it can be different every day! Salads are also super healthy and they're good meal to have if you're on a detox week. 

Next is a drink favourite and this is cucumber infused water. Now infused water has been a big thing so far this year and I've only just started to get into it. I love putting cucumber in my water throughout the day as it just gives it that extra flavour, makes it really yummy and also just a lot healthier and you can get lots of extra vitamins from it. Another favourite of mine is strawberry and lemon infused water. I just chop up a couple strawberries and put them in a glass of water with ice and squeeze in a little bit of lemon juice for extra flavour. I have done a blog post on some fruit infused water so I will leave a link to that at the very bottom of this post.

Recently I have been absolutely loving the weather, we have had a bit of a heat wave here in the UK and is just been so nice to get a little bit of summer sunshine. Just to be able to go out in the sun in the morning and eat my breakfast in the garden. It's just been really nice to finally catch a little bit of sun and get some use out of my new sunglasses which are from accessorise and they are kind of like the ray ban aviator style so I've been loving them as well as this gorgeous weather. It's also nice because I can play out in the garden with my younger siblings.

I have been lucky enough to go sailing a couple weeks ago which has been so much fun. It was basically a massive outdoorweek and we went sailing every day, we went surfing one day in the week and it's so much fun to be outside and although was in particular sunny the whole week apart from like the last two days is it's nice to get a little bit of fresh air and have fun! 

Now onto TV favourites. I have absolutely been loving this season of  Pretty Little Liars. I definitely recommend it as a series to go and watch if you're kind of into almost like thriller kind of style-ish TV series. Another TV favorite is Gossip Girl. I love this series, though it isn't to everyones tastes.
series to go and watch if you're kind of into almost like thriller kind of style-ish TV series. Another TV favorite is Gossip Girl. I love this series, though it isn't to everyone's tastes.

I have recently been more interested in other bloggers and YouTubers. My current favorite blog is My Baking Addiction, it is an easy access blog that has a variety of recipes and is definitely worth checking out. And my favorite Youtuber is Elise. She runs the channel MyCupcakeAddiction. Her recipes are amazing and there are a varitey of different recipes that are for a range of abilities.

So I hope that you liked this blog and please let me know if you want to see more blogs like these, once a month. I love to hear your opinions on my blog and for you to get involved. You can always email me at bakingbuddiesblog@gmail.com or simply tweet me.

I also hope that you like the new blog name and layout. I felt that it was time to re vamp the blog and make it a little bit more personal. Thank you so much for all the support that I have had from you it means so much to me. Baking and blogging are two of my favorite hobbies and I love that I can share them with you.

Anja x

Links:

Infused Water Blog Post: http://bakingbuddiesblogs.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/three-fruit-infused-waters-tasty-but.html

Instagram: https://instagram.com/angelicbaking_x/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bakingbuddies_ 

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Email: bakingbuddiesblog@gmail.com  

 

Stuffed Paratha

Hey guys,

I have realised that I don't have any Indian recipes on this blog. So I thought I would bring a taste of India to my blog. This recipe is pretty simple but tastes amazing. Enjoy! 

Ingredients: 

300g of chapati flour

Pinch of salt 

50g of unsalted butter

Stuffing: 

250g of sweet potatoes

1 tbsp of sunflower oil 

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed 

1 tbsp of finely chopped red chillies

1 tbsp of finely chopped fresh root ginger

2 tbsp of chopped coriander 

1/2 tsp of garam masala 

Pinch of sea salt 

Method:  

1.  For the dough, sift the flour and salt together. Add in the melted butter and water and bring the mixture together to form a soft dough. Knead for 5 minutes and then leave the dough in a bowl with clinglim over the top for 1 hour.

2. Boil the sweet potatoes by using the instructions on the packet and then drain them. Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and fry the red onions for 3-5 mins so that they are soft but not yet browning. Add the garlic, chilli and ginger and continue to fry for 1-2 mins.

3. Add the cooked onion mixture to the sweet potatoes and mash well. Add the coriander, garam masala and a good seasoning of salt and beat until smooth. Set aside to cool.

4. Then divide the dough into four equal pieces. Knead each piece and then roll into a thin disk shape. Put a quarter of the filling into the middle of each disk and lift up the edges to form a purse shape. Lightly roll them out, being careful that the filling doesn't seep out. 

5. Then heat up a frying pan to a medium heat and fry the parathas for 2 minutes each side. Brush them with oil and then fry then for 30 seconds so that they crisp up and get a little more colour.

I hope that you enjoyed a little bit of Indian flare to my blog. Please make sure that you subscribe and tweet me using the hashtag #bakingbuddiessummer.

Xx.

Pizza Bianca with Parma Ham, Rocket and Mozzarella

Hey guys, 

Here is a savoury recipe to change things up a little bit. As you can tell from the title we are making pizza! I love pizza but this is a healtherish recipe. This recipe is good for all those that don't like tomato sauce. 

Ingredients:

500g of strong white flour

Pinch of salt

7g sachet of dried yeast

350ml of warm water

60ml of olive oil 

Semolina, for sprinkling

Topping: 

200g of mozzarella

Freshly ground black pepper

4 slices of Parma ham 

Handful of wild rocket

Method: 

1. Preheat the oven to 240C/475F/gas 9. Very lightly grease a baking tray and place in the preheated oven.

2. Sift the strong white flour in a bowl, add a pinch of salt and the dried yeast. Make a well in the centre of the flour and slowly add in the warm water. Mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together. Then add the olive oil and mix until it forms a soft dough. 

3. Place the dough onto a floured surface and knead the dough, using the heel of your hand and folding the dough over. Do this for 10 mins. Place the dough into a bowl and cover with cling film for 30-40 minutes or until it has doubled in size. 

4. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead a little bit. Then using a rolling pin, roll out the dough as thin as you can. Sprinkle the hot baking tray with semolina and then pop the dough onto it. 

5. Top the pizza with mozzarella and black pepper and bake for 10 mins or until the crust is crispy. Drape the Parma ham over the pizza and scatter the wild rocket over that. Season and then serve. 

I hope that you enjoy this recipe and don't forget to tweet me and use the hashtag #bakingbuddiessummer. 

Xx. 

Summer Key Lime Pie

Hey guys, 

So here is another #bakingbuddiessummer recipe. As a lover of all things citrus this is an amazing summer pie. 

Ingredients: 

8 egg yolks

2 x 397g tins of condensed milk

Zest and juice of 5 limes 

450ml of double cream 

Crust: 

500g of digestive biscuits

200g of unsalted butter

(A 23cm pie dish)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas 3 and then grease a pie tin. 

2. Roughly break up the digestive biscuits and put in a food processor and process until finely ground. Then melt the butter and slowly pulse into the biscuits. 

3. Then press the biscuit mixture in the pie dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 mins or until golden and firm. Then set aside until completely cool. Turn down the oven to 150C/300F/gas 3.

4. Put the egg yolks, condensed milk, lime juice and zest in a bowl and mix well with a balloon whisk. Then mixture will naturally thicken. 

5. Pour the mixture into the cold pie crust and bake for 20- 30 mins. The filling should be firm but still soft in the middle. (not wobbly!) Leave to cool and then cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 

6. When you are ready to serve the pie, whip the cream and using a piping bag, pipe on top of the pie. To finish, decorate with a little lime zest. 

Please tell me if you like this recipe and any other recipes that you want to see this summer. Tweet me any recipes that you have been making with the hash tag #bakingbuddiessummer. Thank you for all your support, please check out some of my other recipes. Love you all, 

Xx. 

Maple syrup and Pecan Muffins

Hey guys, 

Hope you are all having an amazing summer.  I have just come back from sailing and have realised that I need to upload a blog post so sorry if this is a bit late. After this post I will go back to normal and upload on a Monday and. Thursday. The theme for the next week or two is going to be healthy summer food that still has amazing flavour. This is because I am having a bit of a detox week after all the fudge I ate when sailing in Cornwall! 

These muffins are pretty basic but they are super delicious and are perfect for a summer snack. 

Ingredients:

350g of plain flour

160g of caster sugar 

3/4 tsp of salt

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda 

375ml of buttermilk (if you don't have this just mix 375 ml of milk with a tsp of lemon juice) 

1 egg

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract 

70g of unsalted butter

240g of shelled pecans, chopped plus 12 pecan halves

200ml of maple syrup

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/ gas 3. 

2. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Then add the egg and mix in. Add in the flour. The mixture may become a little stiff so add all the butter milk to loosen up the mixture.

3. Add in the salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. To give the cake a bit more flavour add the vanilla extract and 100ml of the maple syrup. 

4. Once the maple syrup and vanilla extract has been well mixed, add in the pecan nuts and stir until well distributed. 

5. Spoon the mixture in a lined cupcake/ muffin tin until 2/3 full. Drizzle the remaining maple syrup over the top of the muffins and finish off with half a pecan nut on top of each one. 

6. Bake for 20-30 mins or until sponge bounces back when you touch it. Leave the cakes to cool and the. They are ready to eat. 

I hope that you enjoyed this recipe and please tweet me by using the hashtag #bakingbuddiessummer so I can see all of your bakes over the summer. See you soon . 

Xx.

Marbled Muffins

Hey guys,

Another recipe for you guys. I hope that you enjoy! By the way I have an important announcement coming up in around a week. If you want to stay up to date then follow me on Twitter.

 

This is a simple Swiss roll. They look really professional if they are done well and can be perfect for the summer season.  This recipe is from the Children's Book of Baking Cakes.

Ingredients: 

 

3 large eggs

125g of caster sugar 

125g of plain flour

1 tbsp of tepid water

2 tbsp of caster sugar

150g of fresh rasberries

2 tbsp of raspberry jam

Method: 

 

1. Heat the oven to 200C/400C/gas mark 6. Grease and line a swiss roll tin. (these are very shallow, rectangular baking trays). 

2. Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk together with the sugar until the mixture is pale and thick. Then sift in half the flour and fold in with a big metal spoon. Make sure you are careful as you don't want to knock any of the air out of the eggs.  Then sift in the rest of the flour and add in the water. Make sure that everything is folded and well combined. 

3. Then pour the mixture into the pre-greased tin and use the back of the metal spoon to smooth the mixture out. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until pale gold and springy. 

 

4. Cut a piece of baking parchment that is slightly bigger than the actual tray. Lay it out and scatter the caster sugar over it. Run the knife around the tin and then turn the cake out onto the baking parchment. 

 

5. Peel off the old parchment and then roll up the cake, from the short end, with the new baking parchment inside. Then unroll and leave to cool. 

 

6. Then make the filling. Put the raspberries into a bowl, mash them with a fork and mix in the jam. When the cake has cooled, spread the filling over, evenly and roll it up again, this time without the parchment. The cake is ready!!!

 

For more summer recipes, please subscribe and check my links out below. 

 

Xx.