Bake Bake Bake

...why yes, I did watch the Great British Bake Off last night. How did you know?

This morning I made 4 shortcrust pastry tartlets using this recipe. Tonight I will make a caramelised red onion and goats cheese filling.

I've also baked a big white loaf. This was made using one of mum's cooking books. I've attempted the loaf quite a few times this summer and feel like I'm getting closer. I will detail more about the loaf when I feel I have mastered it.

xxx

Roast Chicken Stuffed with Mozzarella, Pesto and Cherry Tomatoes

Mum has been a busy bee at work lately, so I thought I'd make her something tasty for dinner!

This is so so simply to make,
Simply pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees
Slice each chicken breast (same as number of guests) like a sandwich
Spread with pesto, then layer with mozzarella and cherry tomatoes
Bake until the chicken cooked through (white)
Take out of the oven, glaze the top with butter and cook for a further 5 minutes.

I've served this on a bed of salad, but would be lovely with homemade wedges for hungry hungry hippos.

xxx

Personalised T-Shirts

I'm still knitting the scarf... but these things take time!
So in the meantime, I had some fun with my boyfriend making personalised T-Shirts using transfer paper.

It's really fun and simple. I went for a mix of vintage-inspired pictures in the shape of a heart.

And for James we jazzed up a classic picture of one of his favourite Mathematicians using fabric pens over the transferred picture (yeah, nerd).

Fun, fun, fun! Now.. back to knitting.

xxx

Learning to Knit

Well, with a Mother like mine, it was inevitable that I would learn to knit. What I didn't realise is how addictive it is!
I've been trying lots of different small patterns to practice and to get a feel for the all important tension. Here are my first baby steps into the knitting world...

Even though these are quite tight, I think making friendship bracelets as a child has helped me get a grasp of the tension needed.
I'm really pleased with them, especially my first cable knit!

Now I've moved onto my first project. The scarf!
Nice and simple, but still extremely exciting. It's knitting up quickly, so hopefully it won't be too long until I can post it on here.

Also, Charles, I'm one step closer to that Cable Knit Onsie...

xxx

Pesto & Cheddar Savoury Muffins

These Pesto and Cheddar Savory Muffins made a delicious alternative dinner. I actually made 6 of these for three people, but I think it would be nice next time to try and make them twice as big so each person can have one big old muffin to themselves. 

(The following recipe has been adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients:

50g Butter
175g Plain Flour
2 Tspn Baking Powder
1/2 Tspn Paprika

2 Eggs
125ml Milk

80g Cheddar Cheese
20g Pine Nuts
6 Tspns Pesto

Recipe:
1) Preheat the over at 180 degrees and prepare your baking tray with muffin cases (I use silicon cases) 

2) Gently melt the butter over a low heat. Once done, do not clean the pan. Pour the butter into a small bowl and beat with the milk.
3) Lightly toast the pine nuts in the pan you used for the butter.
4) In a large mixing bowl sift the flour, baking powder and paprika together.
5) Add the egg mix to the flour mix and fold in. The end result will be slightly lumpy.
7) Spoon this mixture into a muffin case until half full, then add a tspn of pesto on top and fill up the case with more mixture.
8) Sprinkle the lightly toasted pine nuts on top.
9) Bake for 25 minutes. 

Served with roasted vegetables, crisps, some of Mum's lovely handmade bread and a nice glass of chilled white wine.

They were delicious and satisfyingly filling. I will definitely be up for making them again! I'd also really like to try making a savory muffin that doesn't rely so much on cheese. I just found this recipe for a vegetable muffin and think I will be giving it a go soon. 

xxx

Summer Fete Bakeathon

From the loving request of my Nan, I have been busy baking away for the Hayling Island Summer Fete. I managed to rustle up four delicious batches of cupcakes. For these I used a mixture of online recipes + a few variations that I will describe below.

Chocolate Cupcakes

An essential dessert for any fete!

(6 cakes) The sponge recipe was taken from this link.
For the frosting I whisked together 100g butter, around 1 tbspn of coco powder and 100g of icing sugar. But this link as a pretty awesome chocolate frosting recipe.
The garnish was made from sifted icing sugar and a malteser.

Banana Muffins 

They came out beautifully, I would strongly recommend making these!

(8 cakes) The sponge was made using this recipe, and I am definitely keeping that somewhere safe!
The frosting was a simple butter cream. If you haven't made it before, this is a pretty good guide (though I would use Vanilla Extract instead of food colouring).
To garnish, I used British style cake toppings and more maltesers.

Strawberry & Cream Cupcakes

Very British, perfect for a Summer Fete.

(8 cakes) For these delicious summer treats, I used this recipe. Whilst the sponge was lovely, the icing was terribly runny. I would suggest using a fraction of the suggested strawberry puree (more like 50g).

For the garnish I simply used some delicious British strawberries. 

Lemon Curd Cupcakes

Because I freakin love Lemon Curd!

(12 cakes) To make the sponge I used this recipe, although they tasted great, I was disappointed at the density of the sponge and highly recommend looking for an alternative recipe.
I also used a Delia Smith Lemon Curd recipe instead of the one specified in this recipe. It was from her book Winter Collection. Great book.
The frosting was a simple icing (icing sugar + water) which I mixed with the Lemon Curd.

Apparently they were all bought. I'm relieved.

xxx

Wedding Dresses

Kindly, and thankfully, Cheryl was a nice Bride who wanted her Bridemaids to look lovely for her big day. So instead of yellow puffy dresses, we got these very fun and very clever twist dresses.

They are brilliant because they allow each Bridesmaid to wear the dress in a way that suits them. As you can see from the photos below, this came in very handy for us mixed bunch of Bridesmaids. 

They also hung really nicely and were easy to cut to size because they were made of Jersey - and trust me, I needed mine to be cut a lot shorter!

However, it wasn't really about our dresses at all. It was all about this beautiful lady. I think her dress is elegant and classic (which mirrored the whole essence of her Wedding).

Congratulations Cheryl, you look dazzling.

xxx