I am so excited by my beautiful new tattoo by India Amara: http://indiaamara.com
I love India's work - she also did the hummingbird on my back a couple of years ago. If you're thinking of paying her a visit, she works out of New Tribe in Toronto http://www.newtribe.ca
Lately I've been watching Masterchef Australia and a couple of episodes ago the contestants were making 'the perfect scone', which inspired me to try this British classic.
Apparently its all about the recipe, so I did a little digging and found one I liked by Rachel Allen. The original recipe stated it would yield 10-12 scones,but knowing the size of the crew I bake for, I doubled it and actually got around 30. Now before you get started, you will need to make sure you have a few bits of kit in your kitchen, which you might not already have, though to be fair you can get on without them:a rolling pin (I used a pint glass)
This little dolly was spotted by my mates while shopping in Singapore. O dear.
This gorgeous apple cake has a lovely moist consistency, with a hard, almost cookie - like base. Think apple crumble with a cheesecake bottom. I highly recommend you serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Soooooo good.
I suppose Chocolate Orange flavouring is a little bit seasonal. One might even suggest, they're a bit too festive for a Sunday in that long long week before January pay day rolls around. I'm not sure really. Are there other times of year for Chocolate Orange flavoured things? I mean, orange Smarties are still flavoured chocolate orange, aren't they? And that's year round. And Club biscuits - you can buy those any time of year right? And chocolate orange Kit Kats! It's not exclusively a festive flavour, is it?
In truth, these were an idea I had round about Christmas time, when all those ads for Terry's Chocolate Orange were on the telly - but what am I going to do? Wait another 12 months and hope I don't get too busy doing the Xmas party circuit to remember to bake them? I think not. Besides, I still had all those little candied oranges left over from a jar of candied lemon & oranges slices I bought and they needed using. The base for this recipe is from my Chocolate & Ginger Cupcakes. I figure, if you've found something that works, stick with it.For the cakes:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons natural orange essence
3 heaped teaspoons grated orange rind
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 180 Celsius. Line 3 muffin trays with paper cases.
Measure out everything but the eggs directly into a large mixing bowl and beat together until thoroughly blended. Add eggs one at a time and beat well in between.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool slightly in the pan then transfer to a rack to cool completely before frosting.
For the icing:
115 grams butter
1/2 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons natural orange essence
4 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup of milk
Beat together in a medium sized bowl.
My only other comment on icing cupcakes this week is: God bless the person who invented disposable piping bags. They are genius. I got a little box of them for Christmas and today was the first time I'd used them. A complete dream to clean up (even if they aren't the most environmentally friendly solution). Thanks Colette!
This has taken ages to complete. But one of my goals for 2010 is to try and finish some of the half completed projects I had laying around - I'm extremely pleased with myself that by the second week of January, I've already made some progress - though I admit, my enthusiasm will probably wear out soon.
This lovely quilt is a pretty simple pattern. I found the idea online on an American site, where a woman had suggested using pages from an old TV Guide as pattern templates. Living in the UK, I didn't have access to old copies of TV Guide, but I vaguely remember the size, so instead used A5 sized envelopes to measure my rectangles. This double bed sized quilt required 110 pieces. I used a combination of new fabric from my local fabric shop in Dalston market, as well as some up-cycled fabric collected from various retired pieces from my wardrobe. The effect is pretty colourful and I'm happy to say it looks lovely on the pull out sofa in the the spare room. We have a friend coming to stay for a few days tonight, so hopefully it will also keep her pretty warm!
I've been using the same chocolate chip cookie recipe since I was a teenager. Sourced originally from the infamous Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, its a fantastic recipe which has served me well for many many years.
The only unfortunate fact of these cookies, is that once they've cooled down, the really are cookie- hard. Crumbly yummy cookies, but missing that soft chewy loveliness you find in some great store - bought brands. How do they do it? Ever since my first Chips Ahoy Crisp N 'Chewy, I've aspired to create a chewy chocolate chip cookie. I'm trialling this recipe for the first time and I can tell you - straight out the oven, they are spectacular. But will the chewy promise hold true tomorrow? I'll ask my taste testers for their opinions in the morning. For the cookies:375 grams plain flour
I'm sorry guys, I know it's been awhile since my last post. The autumn was a busy time - lots of places to go (Las Vegas, Munich, Haifa & The Hague), lots of festive parties to be at...not so much time for baking & blogging.
On Christmas morning however, it appeared that Santa and all of his helpers were conspiring to get me back on track! Look at my hoard of baking goodies! No less that 200 baking cases varying in size from 'mini' to 'Texas -sized' ?!, a whole new set of piping nozzles, some great books including a lovely cookbook sent all the way from Australia and some fab retro pics. A visit to the Harrods boxing day sale (there really is only one sale) procurred me some new measuring cups and the brightest coloured measuring spoons on the planet. So here it is - the first Sunday of the new year and I'm ready to bake. Over the coming weeks, I'll be posting my latest creations, along with a few backdated entries from the autumn. (That's right, don't think my taste test team let me off the hook that easily!)Thanks for reading - I hope you have an awesome 2010!‘Let's get one thing straight - I don't like modern American cars. They are totally devoid of character and it is sometimes difficult to believe that they are produced by the same country which, throughout the 50's and 60's , brought us a steady stream of hugely powerful examples of chromium winged magnificence.
They are still big yes but the stately grace of yesteryear has been replaced by a clumsy awkwardness, most of the outer body panels are plastic and they seem to have been put together by a bunch of 11 year olds who've just had their first week of basic metalwork at a young offenders institute. They are shapeless too, resulting no doubt from some intense aerodynamic research which probably went - "Gee Hank, this brick flies when I throw it - let's make it that shape" . It's amazing too how the American 'Automobile' industry has stretched the boundaries for what colour it's acceptable to paint a car - of course there are the usual whites and reds and the odd black - and then there's that hideous mixture of grey/gold/pearl which looks like someone has carefully spread bird droppings evenly all over the outside and is no doubt promoted as being 'European' to the hapless residents of South Dakota who actually buy cars that colour.
No, when you look at an American car you have to think 'transport(ation)' and nothing else.
Imagine my surprise then when on a recent trip to the US I went to the rental car station at the airport to pick up my 'Chevy' and after 2 weeks driving it I wanted to adopt it an bring it home! I knew what to expect even before I saw it - it was big, boxy, and was painted that pigeons' guano shade of metallic sick. But when I drove it - My God!. It was smooth, it was comfortable - no comfortable is not the right word - it was like taking your comfy bed with your favourite duvet out on the highway. It was automatic which meant I could light up a ciggy while stationary in traffic without having to worry about all that clutch, neutral, handbrake stuff. And it could move! Just for fun I decided to accelerate as quickly as I could away from the lights (maybe not the cleverest thing to do in Texas) I was thrown back into the (luckily) huge upholstered drivers seat as the big beast leapt forward with a throaty roar from it's gas guzzling V8. ( I think I even said yeeehaw! at one point!).
So where's this going I hear you all say?
Well, I'd have walked past the Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cupcake in the bakery as I would have walked right by the Chevy in the lot (car park).
And what a pity that would have been.
Despite it's less than inspiring appearance (OK - 3/10) the taste more than compensated - the mixture of peanut butter and chocolate gave the full on, full spec, fully loaded, 12 speaker, six cup holder, no down payment and 0% finance supercharged taste overload.
Like cruising in the Chevy down the 114 outside of Dallas on a sunny summer evening, with some good music on the radio - magnificent!
Taste (10/10)’
‘Thank you, it was very nice! Appearance - 7/10 Taste - 9/10 - very nice texture - not too heavy or light as lots of cakes are!’
‘Appearance 8.9/10 This is, as ever, a very good looking cup cake. A light spongy base topped in quite flamboyant fashion by dark chocolate, cocoa-ish icing and actual peanuts, which it appeared were in turn covered in the choclately mixture. The sponge also seemed to contain flecks of some dark material - possibly more cocoa, which made it look a bit like a leopard. Taste 8.9/10 Combining chocolate and peanuts is always going to be very pleasing to me. I really like both of these ingredients. While that US company that makes the Reece's Pieces might've cornered the chocolate and peanut confectionery mass market - I have always found their snacks to be a bit insipid and not that good. This cup cake on the other hand effortless-ly combines these two flavours to ecstatic effect, especially with the inclusion of actual peanuts on top of the cup cake. Again, the sponge base is superbly moist and gets the balance of sponge to cocoa flecks spot on. The chocolate mixture atop the cup cake is nice and dark and really manages to bust the flavour out. All in all one of the best - it gets a pitchforkmedia-esque 8.9 as this should hopefully maintain it's cult-underground status and therefore not get big headed and turn into a Reece's Pieces-esque behemoth’
‘This is a cupcake of such resplendent majesty that I am fearful I may not possess the vocabulary necessary to define its unique qualities. For centuries, humankind has dared to dream that one day a cupcake would be created that would rise above the vulgar serfs of the confection world and take its place as the king of cakes, the sultan of sweetmeats, the duke of dainties. Such a day has arrived. Taste, texture, consistency; this cake exceeds expectations in all these categories, perhaps even rendering future cake-making and experimentation obsolete – perfection has perhaps been produced. The concept of a cake which pleases me more than this is quite frankly a terrifying consideration. To conclude, I award this cake 9.8 out of 10; a staggering mark but one that might confuse given the gushing praise heaped upon said delicacy thus far. The simple fact is that I perceived the nuts to be an unfortunate garnish, since I am not a fan of seeds or kernels in a chocolate treat. This is an exceedingly small slight however on an otherwise sensational effort.’
‘Appearance: 7/10 - I thought that the presentation was on the whole rather good, it was a little slapdash but added a homemade look which I think appeals to the cupcake connoisseur. Taste: 8/10 - As the first cupcake that i have eaten in a long time I thought a great peanut and chocolate combination. Just the right amount of chocolate spread on top and the perfect sprinkling of crunchy peanuts. A valiant scrumptious effort!’
‘8 for appearance and 9 for taste. Love this cake reminded me of the consistency of a ginger loaf but clearly a cake when you bite in. I like a cake that has a touch of salt in it rather than sweetness the balance was perfect for my taste buds. More like this please’
‘taste - this, despite being marketed as a peanut butter and chocolate cupcake, didn't really taste of peanut butter! it did taste pretty amazing though, so i'll let that slide. really loved the icing on this one - as you may know from my previous reviews, i'm not that big a fan of huge butter sugary icing, so this thin dark intense chocolatey layer, emphasis on the chocolate, was perfect for me, especially with chocolate covered peanuts - which i love. simple and effective. the cake texture wasn't too crumbly, wasn't too hard, great! 9.789 / 10 appearance - while maybe not a princess-like as previous cupcakes, this one looks more serious - as it's a serious cake. there's nothing to be taken more seriously than peanut butter and chocolate. a hardcore combination that sometimes divides nations. or, something. not immediately obvious what exactly is on top of the cake, but who cares, they taste pretty damn good. 6.5/10’
‘Appearance - The woodland squire look and feel is often not used enough in modern day life - i was amazed by the array of nuts which topped this master piece off. Flavour - Strong chocolate flavours are always a winner with me, the lumps of chocolate were a sweet treat for the palette. Moistness - Good balance of moisture in the texture. Didn't leave me with a dry mouth. Overall. 8/10 Extras points were added for the good measure of chocolate.’
‘Too fit for words!! Appearance - 9.98/10 Taste - 9.99/10! More please x’
‘Appearance: Crushed peanuts are not an ideal tool to decorate prettily with - the best you're gonna get is a pebble dash of nuttiness. But even with the messy look it does appeal, and you get a hint of the potential this little cup cake has - i guess how Kate Moss looks at Pete Doherty. Size of icing is also noted as being a thin layer - maybe my diamond shoes are too tight after weeks of luscious mountains of icing..??!! 6/10 Taste: Woop! Ever since Officer Reese's come across the idea to combine peanut butter and chocolate my taste buds have been over joyed. This cupcake totally lives up to and perhaps even out competes it's candy rival. The cake is fluffy, the chocolate icing is just right so it doesn't overpower and the choc chips are an added surprise which makes me smile. Great cake! 9/10’
