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