Bakes of Christmas #11

Almost 2013! Happy new years eve everyone! Sorry I haven't been the most loyal of bloggers recently, but things just keep cropping up and I really haven't had the time... sorry... so here is my eleventh bake of Christmas time... Chocolate truffles! Tasty and perfect for a New Year party snack, these little bites of chocolatey yumminess are just perfect for this time of year. I got the recipe idea from a combination of Cake Pops, and a recipe which I vaguely remember reading in an Usborne Children's Christmas book, these are really simple and would be easy for kids to make! Happy new year! xxxx

Enjoy 2012, while it lasts! :)
Much love, Alex-Rose xxx

Christmas Bake #10

I hope you  had a lovely Christmas, and "Father Christmas" was good to you all as well, he certainly was here and I received many lovely gifts from family and friends one of which was a new set of piping nozzles,  I'm such a baking geek, I know... and another "The Hummingbird Bakery Cupcakes" recipe book! So to test these gifts I baked some of The Hummingbird Bakery's vanilla cupcakes with pink vanilla frosting!

Lots of love Alex-Rose xxxx

Christmas bake #9

Oh god... Christmas so close! On the ninth day of Christmas (I know the REAL twelve days hasn't begun but, mine has!) I baked...Cupcakes! A real favourite  and always popular with friends; you cant go wrong with cupcakes! These are just simple vanilla cupcakes with plain butter icing and mini holly leaves with berries to decorate, you could use anything decorate them! xxxxx

Much Love Alex-Rose xxxx

Bakes of Christmas #8

Number 8 is Chocolate tiffin! I'm making this as little Christmas presents for my friends but you could use them as thank you's, Christmas treats, or party food! Almost the big day! Are you exited yet? Only 5 sleeps! xxxx

Much love Alex-Rose xxxxx

Bakes of Christmas #7

The seventh bake is... Muffins! Not fancy, not glamorous, but damn tasty! These ones are banana and chocolate but you could make them in any flavour you like! Muffins are such a tasty treat, perfect for a cold night in. You could try, white chocolate and cranberry, maple and pecan, coffee and walnut, or just double chocolate! Here's a picture of them! xxxx

Much love Alex-Rose xxxx

Bakes of Christmas #6

The half way point of the 12 bakes of Christmas  is... spiced cinnamon and raisin scones! Lovely, simple Christmas food! My history with scones is a little sketchy so when these beauties came out the oven it was more relief than excitement, they smelt and tasted gorgeous, try some for yourself. You can always experiment with the spices or fruit to get a different flavour, think Christmassy and tasty! What could possibly go wrong? xxxx

Much Love Alex-Rose xxxxx

Bakes of Christmas #5

Wow we're nearly half way through the 12 bakes of christmas! To mark this occasion is... Brownie in a mug! Sounds odd but tastes soooo good, and is perfect for cold winter nights! Its not the most glamorous of puds but god is it tasty! But my advice is don't, whatever you do, put too much oil in, because it will taste, well, gross. On that jolly note, try one for yourself (and family and friends)! Only 12 Days until Christmas YAY!

Much Love Alex-Rose xxxx

Bakes of Christmas #4

And the fourth bake is... Lemon Rich biscuits! These biscuits bring out the child in all of us, admit it, who doesn't get secretly exited by cookie cutters and shape biscuits? Only me? Well, these biscuits are really simple and  super quick so they're perfect for making with kids! I didn't do this but it's just a Christmassy thought, before you bake the biscuits insert a skewer into the top of the your shape and make a (large-ish) hole in the shape then once the biscuits are baked and cooled you can thread some ribbon through the hole and hang them as decorations on your tree! Have you put up your tree yet? Only 13 sleeps until Christmas! xxxx

Much Love Alex-Rose xxx

Bakes of Christmas #3

The third bake of Christmas is... Chocolate Yule log! Yes, yes, I know... I said I wasn't going to do the "classics" but this couldn't be the twelve bakes of Christmas without a Yule log! There's not much to say except that its delicious, but you probably already knew that; and if you've never tried one then... shame on you! No; only kidding, but you seriously need to make because its so easy and absolutely heavenly! xxxx

Much love Alex-Rose xxx

Bakes of Christmas #2

My second bake of Christmas is...  Christmas muffins! They're so easy and uber tasty, the recipe suggests you make then as mini muffins but I couldn't find my mini tray... so mine are (as you've probably noticed...) just Christmas Muffins! I have to say though that the muffins themselves were really easy but the decorations.. not so much! I don't have a mini holly leaf cutter, so had to make every single little leaf by hand(!), with a teaspoon; never again!! Aside from that these were really good fun, getting really Christmassy round here now! Two down ten to go! xxx

Much love Alex-Rose xxxx

The First Bake of Christmas

My first "Bake of Christmas" is... Peanut butter and Chocolate squares, a perfect treat to share around with family in front of the TV! I got this recipe from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess, a book that I would really recommend to anyone who loves to bake! Another thing that you could use these tasty squares for is presents! With Christmas is drawing near if you, like me, are not all that organised (Oh god...) then you might be starting to panic (just a little) about what your're going to give everyone! If you wrap a few of these with some tissue paper and ribbon then they can make a really simple, but beautiful gift! Only 19 days till Christmas! Are you exited yet? 

Much Love Alex-Rose xxxx

Twelve Bakes of Christmas!

Finally... we have SNOW! I don't know about you but where I am we had our first snow today (at long last), YAY! I know lots of people who hate snow and all the cold and frosty mornings that it brings, but I love snow; so today was a great day! I also thought that seen as today was the first day of proper winter (CHRISTMAS) weather, that today would be a good day to begin my "Twelve Bakes of Christmas" my very own tribute to the Christmas season! As the name suggests over the next few weeks I will be baking and creating twelve delicious bakes for Christmas. I don't really want to add the usual Christmas fruit cake or Christmas pudding to my Christmas bake list because they're the classics! This is a list dedicated to a few of my (many) winter bakes; things that I think are just perfect for snacking on whilst watching Christmas specials on telly, or big puddings to share with family and friends!

Much love Alex-Rose xxx

Breakfast Time!

Pancakes really are the royalty of breakfast time; king or queen? I'm not sure which! This morning was particularly dreary and grey... but inside we were warm and happy with a plate full of golden pancakes! Drizzled in syrup and scattered with frozen raspberries (yes frozen! They are delicious and keep really well) they were heavenly! The recipe is so easy too, all you need is a small mug, a large(ish) jug, plain flour, 1 egg, and milk. Measure 1 mug full of milk and pour it into the jug, then crack the egg into the milk,  finally measure 1 mug of flour and pour that into the milk mix. Whisk until totally lump free with an electric whisk and your pancake batter is complete! There is much debate within our house as to which is better, thick pancakes or, thin pancakes, big pancakes, or little ones! But the beauty of this batter is that it will make all different variations of pancake to suit all different needs. If your wondering, I am definitely on the small, but thick pancake team!

Much love Alex-Rose xxxx

PS. Only 1 month until CHRISTMAS! How time flies? xxx

Busy times!

Well, things are very busy round here at the moment because my sister's French exchange partner is coming to stay and so we're all running round trying to make our house look normal..! To add to all the usual drama of having a guest, it's also her birthday today (the day she's coming) and so I had been elected to bake the cake, Chocolate! You can't really go wrong with that... we hope... I didn't want to try anything too off the wall in case I put in something she didn't like, so I stuck with a simple chocolate sponge, jam and butter icing filling, and chocolate icing. lets hope she likes it! Here's some pictures of the cake; what's your thinking? xxx

Lots of love Alex-Rose xxx

Little Biscuits

I'm not usually a biscuit person, but recently I decided that  I really wanted to bake some cute little biscuits.  The recipe is so versatile because it can work for any celebration and little number biscuits make a nice alternative to party bags at kids party's. Just decide on your theme when you choose your cutters, anything should work so let your imagination run wild! I made some simple iced stars, hearts, and circles, they looked really delicate with light pink icing! Find the recipe by clicking the link at the bottom of the page. Here's some pictures of how mine turned out! xx

Much love Alex-Rose xxx

Chocolate and Marzipan Muffins

I made these as a gift for relatives  and think it's fair to say that they went down a treat! These are some really simple and beautiful cakes, using an easy muffin recipe anyone can make these muffins. By putting the marzipan into the muffins before baking the marzipan is soft and the cake sweet. You can't go wrong with chocolate butter icing, but if you want, you could change the flavour for something else! I decorated the muffins with marzipans roses, they make the muffins look really professional, and sophisticated. You might think that the roses would be hard to make but they really aren't! By they are really simple, as long as you keep your hands cold, then the marzipan should be fairly easy to work with! Make them as a gift or just as a treat for yourself!

Much love Alex-Rose xxxx

S'mores

Brrrrrrr, I don't know about you but I certainly feel that winter's on it's way, dark, cold and freezing! So there's nothing better than something sweet and easy to warm you up. S'mores are a perfect tasty treat for cold winter days, and great party food too! I personally have never had s'mores that were cooked (well... not cooked but... heated) on a camp fire but I've heard people say that's where they are normally made. So if you; like me, don't always have a fire to hand then you can make them just as well in a microwave and I'm guessing you could make them under the grill too (but I've never tried it myself). I'm kind of guessing here but I think that S'mores originate from America, and my first experience of them was at my American friend's house, the classic recipe uses American Graham crackers which aren't available in the UK! So here in England I use either cream crackers or rich tea biscuits, they work just as well! S'mores taste good, are easy to make, and look good too, but as well as all that they are kind of exiting to make in the microwave because the marshmallows expand and billow out then when you take them out of the microwave they will shrink back but are still gooey and chooey and YUMMY! Try them for yourself!

Much love Alex-Rose xxx

Trick or Treat?

Trick or Treat? Happy Halloween everyone! With it being Halloween and all, it seemed only right to bake some thing creepy and Halloween themed, so today I made marshmallow ghooly pops, and spider web cupcakes. I love Halloween and I love chocolate and I also love really easy and pretty things so these bakes were just perfect! Also the marshmallow pops are sooo quick and easy to make that you could give them to any trick or treaters as a tasty Halloween treat! Alternatively you could just treat yourself to a tasty treat! Click the link at the bottem of the page for the recipe! xx

Much love Alex-Rose xxx

Chocolate chip and Banana loaf!

Over ripe bananas... Urrrg! Horrible, and just generally disgusting things with no use at all! Wrong! If you, like me, are fussy about bananas and only like them when they are just perfectly ripe then you will know just how depressing it is when you look in the fruit bowl (hoping for a tasty banana) to see some sad old, over ripe bananas, but today I made use of these squishy leftovers by making a banana loaf cake! My fist experience of bananas in a cake was when I was little and a friends mum made some banana muffins,  I loved these! But had never really had anything with bananas in since. So today I decided to make a chocolate chip, and walnut banana loaf! A really tasty way to get rid of the old bananas! Follow the link at the bottom of the page for the recipe xxx

      

much love Alex-Rose xxx

Cloudy Skies

Well, I know this is a BAKING blog, but I just couldn't resist the temptation to share my lovely new painted nails with you all. The weather at the moment has been rather dull, cold and drizzly  the only exception from the greyness was Saturday morning when we were greeted by SNOW! Yes, I really mean it! Snow, in OCTOBER! It's not even been Halloween and we've already had snow! I really am feeling christmassy already! So I think it's fair to say that autumn/winter has officially set in, so as a final goodbye to what has been a rather cloudy summer I painted my nails as cloudy blue skies! Really anyone can do them because, well, lets just say I'm not exactly the best at painting nails... but these looked great! All you need is blue, clear and white nail varnish and some cotton pads, first paint two coats of blue and then leave then to dry, next paint some white onto a cotton pad and then (quickly so that the paint doesn't dry) sponge onto your nails! Some of the fluff from the cotton pads may transfer onto your nail, that's fine just pick it off, wait a little while for the white to dry and then paint over with your top coat, all done! Enjoy! 

Much love Alex-Rose xxxx

New look!

Well, as you can see the blog's had a bit of a make over, hope you like it! xxxx

Chocolate and Rasberry cake

I made this cake a while ago for my mums birthday and have been meaning to put the recipe on but have just not had chance! This cake is definitely not one for any bakers who aren't total chocoholics because it's VERY chocolatey and might be just a little much for some... But I personally love it! It looks really nice as well because the icing goes really glossy and smooth! Click the link below for the recipe!


Much love Alex-Rose xxxx

Muffins!

Finally it's almost the weekend! So to celebrate today I made some double chocolate and hazelnut muffins, really easy and just as tasty,they're really quick and use mostly ingredients that you just have to hand, so you can make them any time!








Much Love Alex-Rose

Lemon Drizzle Loaf

Seems like ages since my last post, but just haven't had chance! So last night I finally had time to whip up a cake, mmmmmmm... Anyway back to the point,  I was baking this cake for my book club/cake club (10% book's, 90% eating cake!) so I decided to make a classic lemon drizzle loaf, it was really simple! It took about an hour in total, but because the majority of the time is taken up by the cooking you can get on and do other things whilst its baking. So here's the recipe:

More Cakes!

Last week it was tray bakes this week its cupcakes! If like me, your missing summer and the warmth already, then colourful cupcakes are just what you need to brighten these cold autumn days! They're really simple but taste great, anyway, it's Friday so give them a go! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 175g Self raising flour
• 125g Butter (softened)
• 175g Caster sugar
• 2 Medium eggs
• 1 Generous teaspoon of (good) vanilla essence
• Cupcake cases
• 12 Hole muffin tray

Method:

Start by beating the butter until smooth, then beat in the sugar. In a big mug whisk the eggs and vanilla essence until combined. Add (slowly) to the butter and sugar (add it in gradually so that it doesn't curdle, if it does, just carry on and when you add the flour it should be fine) then finally sieve in the flour and fold gently until fully combined before spooning (about one and a half tablespoons each) into your cases and placing in the oven for 18mins. Finite! xx

Next you need to decorate them, you can use whatever colour, or whatever sprinkles you like for them I chose yellow and colourful spots because they're bold and jazzy!

Ingredients:

• 75g Butter (softened)
• 240g Icing sugar
• 1 Tablespoon of milk (semi-skimmed)
• 2 Teaspoons of good vanilla essence
• Food colouring
• Sprinkles of your choice!

Method:

First beat the butter, next sieve on half the sugar then beat until smooth, add the vanilla essence then the other half of the icing sugar and beat. If it needs it add the milk but it quite often doesn't! Pipe or swirl over your cooled cupcakes and then decorate with sprinkles! Enjoy! Much love Alex-Rose xxxx

Chocolate Bourbon Cupcake Recipe

So here it is the recipe for my chocolate cupcakes! This recipe makes 12 good size cupcakes but I'm sure you could make more if you didn't fill the cases as high as I do!

Ingredients:

• 175g Self-raising flour
• 125g Softened butter (the recipe for regular cupcakes that I use says to use unsalted but it doesn't really matter)
• 175g Caster sugar
• 2 Medium eggs
• Up to 3 tablespoons of semi-skimmed milk (for the consistency)
• 6 Tablespoons of coco powder
• 4 Bashed up bourbon biscuits

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c/350f/gas mark 4, and set aside a twelve hole muffin tray lined with cases.

Start by beating the butter until it is smooth then beat in the sugar. In a large mug whisk the eggs and then add VERY (to avoid curdling) gradually add to the butter and sugar. Next sieve in the flour and the coco powder, fold gently until fully combined, add the milk until the mixture is to a dropping consistency. Spoon into the cases and then push in the pieces of biscuit, about three each. Put them on the middle shelf of the oven for 18 minutes. Check them and test by inserting a skewer and seeing if it is clean when removed. leave to cool.

Now for the icing!

Ingredients:

• 75g Softened butter
• 240g Icing sugar
• 1 Tablespoon of semi-skimmed milk
• 3 Tablespoons of coco powder
• 3 Bashed bourbon biscuits

Method:

Beat the butter, then put half the icing sugar and the coco powder in the sieve and add slowly to the butter, beat gently, add the other half of the icing sugar. If your kitchen is very warm, or if you intend to pipe it then you probably won't need the milk, but if not add the milk and beat again. Swirl onto your cooled cupcakes and decorate with bourbons.

Hope you enjoy these delicious little chocolate monsters! Much love Alex-Rose xxx

Chocolate Bourbon Cupcakes

Sorry its been such a long time since my last post, but I've just been so BUSY! So last night I whipped up some mouthwateringly yummy chocolate bourbon cupcakes! I came up with the idea after eating a cake that had an Oreo inside of it so I decided to make my own version, and as I am most definitely a self confessed chocoholic my cupcakes had to be on chocolate overload! I'll post the recipe tomorrow as I don't have very long, but here's some pictures... Much love xxx

Tasty Flapjacks

Mmmmmm... Just finished a little supper snack of flapjack and I can confirm that they are delish! Nice and chewy too, my other flapjacks can sometimes be quite hard and crunchy but this new recipe is nice and chewy! Yummy! Much love xxx Alex-Rose xxx

Flapjack's!

Peanut-butter Chocolate chip Flapjacks

Today I made Peanut butter and chocolate chip flapjacks, I make flapjacks quite often but today I decided to change the recipe by adding some peanut butter and dark chocolate chunks! They look delicious fresh from the oven I can't wait to try them! They're really easy to make and really quick too. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 250g Rolled oats
• 75g Light brown sugar
• 3 tbsp Golden Syrup
• 150g Butter
• 3 Heaped tbsp of Peanut butter
• Dark chocolate chips (as many or as little as you like)
• 100g Milk chocolate

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 160c (for a fan oven).

In a glass bowl heat the butter, sugar, and golden syrup over a pan of simmering water. Once all the ingredients are fully melted, take the bowl off the heat and set aside.

Beat the peanut butter in a small bowl until smooth, set aside.

Put the oats in a large bowl and add the peanut butter, melted sugar mix, and chocolate chips, then mix well. Pack into a fairly deep baking tray and cook in the pre-heated oven for 30 mins (check at 25 mins) the flapjack will still be quite squishy when you take it out, but it will firm up a little as it cools. 

While your flapjack is cooling, melt your milk chocolate and then set aside. 

Slice your flapjack into pieces (I cut mine into long pieces, then slice them up from there) drizzle the melted chocolate over your flapjack pieces. Enjoy! Much love xxxx Alex-Rose xxxx

All Gone!

Well, I think it's fair to say that the brownies were a success! As only one day since baking, they're all gone! Much love xxxx

Brownie Heaven

Triple Choc and Hazelnut Brownies

Yum yum!

This recipe is really easy to prepare, and its worked every time (touch wood!).
So here it is, Chocolate Brownies!

Ingredients:

285g Dark Chocolate (The recipe says at least 70% coco solids but I've never used that stronger chocolate! Mine is normally about 54%)
115g Unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
450g Soft light brown sugar
6 Large eggs
1 Tablespoon of good quality vanilla extract
160g Plain flour
1 Tablespoon of baking powder
Dark,milk,white chocolate, and hazelnut chunks (enough to sprinkle over your tray before baking)
Rectangular brownie tin (aprox 12"x 8" and 1" deep)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 150c/gas mark 2. Grease and line your baking tin and set aside for later.
Next melt your dark chocolate and butter in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water. Leave to cool.

Ready for the oven

Put the sugar into a large bowl, separately, beat the eggs and vanilla extract until combined, and add to the sugar. I find that the mix is often quite lumpy, but just keep mixing and it will smooth out. Set the bowl aside, and take this time to chop your hazelnuts and chocolate into medium sized pieces. Now your melted butter and dark chocolate should be cool, add this to the sugar and eggs and mix well until fully combined. Sieve in your flour and stir again! Finally pour into your tray and sprinkle with plenty (don't be shy, the more the better!) of nuts and chocolate. Put in the oven for 30-40 mins, check at about 35 mins! You'll know that they are done when you can spike a fork into the centre of the tray, and it comes out clean of mix.

Leave to cool in the tin, then when the brownie is semi-cool slice with a sharp knife in the tray. Use a spatula to remove your slices from the tray! Enjoy! xxx


Ps. They taste great served with vanilla ice cream! xxx

Looking good!

First Post!

Hey guys! So exited as this is my first real post! Today I baked Triple  Chocolate and Hazelnut brownies! I've made brownies quite a few times before but today I decided to jazz things up a bit by adding Milk, Dark, White chocolate and hazelnut chunks! They looked so tasty before I put them in, just gotta wait for them to be ready! Much love xxxxx

This is me

Hi guys, I'm Alex Rose and this is my blog, all about my romance with baking! I love baking cupcakes, cookies, pastries and all things tasty! Much love xx