Chocolate Candies

In order to slightly redeem myself for my absolutely awful swiss roll, I made some chocolate candies. They're not very hard or technical to make but they're very pretty!

I made them for my work colleagues to see us through a night shift and they were yummy! The chocolate was a mix between dark, milk and white. I personally don't like too much dark chocolate so it was predominately milk chocolate based.

I used a standard silicone chocolate mold that I got from Lakeland (http://www.lakeland.co.uk/16442/Silicone-Chocolate-Box-Shapes)

Plus a whole load of sugar decorations from Lakeland and Sainsburys. It was the first time I ever used popping candy and it was laaaavely! Will definitely use it again!

 

The Classic Swiss Roll

I have NEVER made a swiss roll before and was advised by my colleagues there are 2 ways to make a swiss roll:

1) push them down a hill and

2) follow Mary Berry's recipe!

I used the second method from Mary Berrys Complete Cookbook  to make the very basic and classic, swiss roll with strawberry jam.

I have never even made this type of sponge before and it went wrong from the beginning. I deviated from the recipe. I know, I know I shouldn't have done that!! The recipe stated 4 large eggs. I used 5 small ones... I thought it would be fine as my eggs were so tiny but no, it wasn't. Although, the sponge has risen and it is a good colour however it is slightly over cooked and smells very eggy!

As you can see from the pictures, it looks okay however I have not rolled it tight enough. I had a small slice and didn't really like it due to the eggy taste however my mum said it was okay - but Im pretty sure she is just being polite!

I am now determined to perfect the classic swiss roll, things have definitely been learnt from this attempt so hopefully next time will be better - or at the very least not so eggy!

Mums Goats Cheese and Caramelised Onion Tartlet

Today for our lunch, my mum made us goats cheese and caramelised Onion tartlets!

Goats cheese and caramelised onions are 2 of my favourite things to eat in the whole wide world! I can't get enough of them! So I was very happy when my mum made me all this for my lunch!

YES the pastry is shop bought but everyone has to start somewhere with pastry...right??
One day we will attempt to make pastry...one day! However, there were NO SOGGY  BOTTOMS so Mary Berry would be pleased!!

These tartlets were SO unbelievably yummy and delicious and heavenly and oh so luscious! A perfect lunch!

Mums Homegrown Food

Mum has grown...

On the left, the big peppers are Capsicum Peppers - part of the chilli family but these peppers are more sweet than spicy. These can be eaten raw with dips like humus and has more vitamin C in it than an orange! Mums favourite recipe to use them in: making fresh tomato sauce.

In the middle - Parsley.

Top Right - Money Maker Tomatoes - firm family favourite, used in everything. Mum has had a large crop of these this year and we are literally giving them away! We have too many!

Right Middle - Basket of Fire Chilli Peppers - These 2 little chillies, just as the name suggests are very hot! These have been grown outside on the patio and have now been moved into the conservatory as the weather has changed.  Mum suggests: you do not need a lot of these! Although, these are not as hot as the Scotch Bonnets she grew last year so she is pleased to have chillies with a variance in heat. Mums favourite recipe to use them in: home made sweet chilli dip!

Bottom Right - Lemon Thyme

Bite Sized Pinwheel Snacks

Recipe: Bite-Sized Pinwheel Snacks by Lorraine Pascales 'A Lighter Way to Bake'

Im definitely trying to bake healthy bakes, so when I saw 'A Lighter Way to Bake' by Lorraine Pascale I knew this would be a book for me.

Lorraine states 'I have made these super-small on purpose, so you can have a little almost guilt-free snack when you want a very tiny treat' - and I completely agree! They are tiny but very rich.

Making them was...okay. The recipe was simple enough to follow and making a template of the size to roll the dough out to was wise, however when rolling both doughs out I found they stuck to the greaseproof paper A LOT. So a pallet knife is definitely needed!

I have never attempted to roll anything in my life...so that was interesting with sticky dough! So I'm fairly proud of the results of my little biscuits!

For the vanilla dough I used a vanilla pod (that my mum brought back from Dubai, if I may add!) and Bournville Cocoa for the chocolate dough.

My Verdict: When the pinwheels were cooked, they were very yummy! You could definitely taste both the vanilla and the chocolate layers. It has very much a shortbread texture so I would recommend this bake as an afternoon treat with a cup of tea! Its a fairly easy bake and will make again!

Lorraine's Recipe: 

• 75g butter, softened
• 35g caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• seeds of 1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100g plain flour

After splitting the mixture 

• 10g cocoa powder
• 10g plain flour

1. Cream the butter and sugar, salt and vanilla seeds or extract together in a medium bowl. Add the flour and smoosh the mixture against the sides of the bowl to really mix it in and create a really soft dough, then split the mixture in half between two bowls. I like to weigh the whole amount and then divide it out evenly. Knead the cocoa powder through one dough piece and the extra flour through the other until well blended. Then, wrap the dough balls in cling film and put them in the fridge for a good 30 mins to 1 hour to firm up. 
2. When you are ready to cook the pinwheels, preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/gas mark 4. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside. 
3. Once firm, roll each dough ball out on a piece of baking parchment to a 20cm x 12cm rectangle. The dough can be tricky to handle, as it can break up and become soft very easily, but just work slowly and carefully to get the right shape and size. I like to straighten and neaten the sides by tapping a ruler or palette knife against them. Once done, pop the chocolate rectangle directly on top of the plain one. The easiest thing to do is to pick it up on the baking parchment and flip it over on top of the plain rectangle before peeling the paper away. 
4. Then, with the longest side facing you, roll the layers up together away from you, like a Swiss roll. Use the bottom sheet of baking parchment to help you lift and roll. Wrap the roll in the baking parchment and refrigerate once again for a good 30 mins or so until really firm. 
5. Once set, use a sharp knife to cut the roll into 20 x 1cm-thick slices to reveal the swirl shape, and arrange them (lying down) on the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 15-20 mins until just firm to the touch but starting to take on some colour. 
6. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool completely and firm up on the tray. I keep these in a little airtight jar for when I fancy a teeny bit of chocolate as a small, naughty snack. 

CAKE POPS

Cake pops are certainly a fad  but that's not a bad thing! I enjoyed making my cake pops...even though they look like a child made them. I've been wanting to make these for a while and yesterday Lakeland had a sale. So no stopping me there then. Half an hour later my mum and I came away victorious with bags full of baking equipment, determined to make cake pops. Later that night I was having a girly night in with close friends and thought they would be the perfect cake pop guinea pigs!

Making the cake pop batter was fairly simple, I just followed the recipe that came with the cake pop mould. The mould makes 20 cake pops and the recipe makes 40 - so I now have left over batter sitting in my fridge.

Vanilla Cake Pop Recipe - makes 40 cake pops

Ingredients

120g Butter

1506 Caster sugar

1 Tsp Vanilla extract

2 Eggs

180g sieved self raising flour

4tbsp milk

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 180c, gas mark 4.
2. Grease and lightly flour each cavity in both moulds.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until it's pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and eggs and mix well. Add half the flour and milk and mix. Add the remaining flour and milk and mix.
4. Place the bottom section of the mould (without the holes) on a baking tray and spoon the cake mix into each cavity. Make sure each cavity is full. Place the top section of the mould onto the base and lightly press down round the edge of the mould to ensure the bottom and top section of the mould are slotted together.
5. Place the cake mould on the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 15-20 mins. Test to check if they are done by inserting a cocktail stick into the hole at the top of the mould - the sticks should come out clean.
6. Once baked, remove the cake pop mould from the oven and leave the cake pops to cool in the mould. Once cool remove the cake pops and press the sticks into them. Dip the cake pops into icing/chocolate and decorate.

Even if I do say so myself, the cake pops came out pretty much near perfect when baked! They had fully taken the cake pop shape and the sponge was lovely and moist.

When coating in chocolate I had some trouble keeping the sponge pop to stay on the stick - I have since then read how other people got on with theirs and they dipped the end of the stick into the chocolate/icing and then speared the cake pop. I will definitely try this next time.

Decorating. Im not the most creative or light handed person so the decoration is a bit squiffy. But hey, I liked them!

The finished cake pops went down well with my friends so I will definitely make these again!

My verdict: It was a first time bake - fairly simple to make, just fiddly.

Equipment used: 

1.  Silicon cake pop mould from Lakeland http://www.lakeland.co.uk/17604/Silicone-Cake-Pop-Mould
2. Cake pop stand from Lakeland http://www.lakeland.co.uk/17646/Cake-Pop-Decorating-Stand
3. Cake pop sticks from Lakeland
4. Cake pop presentation kit from lakeland http://www.lakeland.co.uk/17941/Cake-Pop-Presentation-Kit
5. Sugar decorations