Apple Muesli Slices

It's been such a busy couple of months for me, what with Christmas and starting a new job I've really been feeling quite stressed recently. I love weekends so much and really try to make use of every second and make the time last as long as possible. I think one of the reasons I enjoy baking so much is that I find it so relaxing and calming and I really enjoy eating what I've made during the following week at work!

I started the year thinking it's time for the new year diet. Two days later I decided 'baking wanabee' and 'dieter' don't really add up well and decided to stick to running instead. Good plan I think. I have made a few resolutions this year (none of which are anything to do with the word diet). One is to try and source healthier products for myself and my home. I've started with mineral make-up, lush natural face wash and organic shampoo. Good start! The second is to try and spend the year perfecting the perfect cupcake recipes. I found this really cool website: www.cupcakefetish.com which has loads of reviews on cupcake shops and it got me thinking. So, i'm going to taste and sample all different cupcakes from shops around London and spend many an hour in the kitchen trying out different methods and ingrediants.

I know everyone, likes to have a healithy start to the new year and so I started my January baking with these apple muesli slices (see pic above). I didn't really follow a recipe, i just grabbed a bowl and threw in anything I could find: raisins, sunflower seeds, oats, honey, muesli and a bit of butter and baked it in the oven - they are perfect 'pick-me-ups' for the first weeks back at work.

This afternoon I am going to make carrot and orange soup for dinner followed by fruit and marizpan cupcakes. Bliss!

Magnolia Bakery - NYC

Happy 2009! I had a great Christmas and New Year and hope you did too.

Before I start my New Year baking, I wanted to show you my pics of Magnolia Bakery in New York. We were lucky enough to visit our friends there in November but I was so busy posting about Christmas baking I never had time.

Magnolia bakery is where Carrie went to buy a cupcake in SATC and that is what started the cupcake trend. It was like a dream, the shop was full of cupcakes and larger cakes and cookies and the choice of flavours was just mouth watering delicious! I had the one above in the right hand corner. It was topped with cream cheese and autumn sprinkles and I honestly have never tasted anything like it. It tasted divine. My friend got the one of the left (the cream one) and it was a red velvet cupcake with traditional whipped vanilla icing. Heaven. I couldn't believe how red the sponge was. Deep, dark, smooth, velvet red.

Other flavours included pumpkin cupcakes with maple cheese frosting, german chocolate with coconut-caramel-pecan icing and coconut cupcakes with meringue icing. I wish I could have tried them all!

And just to make your mouth water a little bit more, other totally gorgeous american offerings in the bakery included: pecan pie, bundt cakes, brownies, blondies, whoopi cookies, pumpkin spice cake and devil's food cake.

They really were the best things I've ever tasted. If you go to NY you must try these cakes! And what a cute interior...

Mince pies

I can't believe it's nearly Christmas already! Time has gone so quick. I've been busy baking every weekend nearly but I have found time to watch all the Christmas cooking programmes on TV! I loved 'Nigella's Christmas' especially! Today I have been busy finishing my third Christmas cake, baking ginger cookies and decorating them and making mini rum chocolate puddings!

The other day I had some time to make my first ever Mince Pies, they were delicious! I cheated a little and did it the 'express' way by using shop bought mincemeat but I did make my own pastry! They are so great to get out when people come and visit. Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you all have a fun and festive time!

Christmas Cake - number two

Here is the second Christmas cake I have been working on for my two friends. It is another fruit cake covered in marizpan and then covered in black sugarcraft. Black is an unusual colour to choose for a Christmas cake but I thought it would look really effective with the white stars!
I cut out lots of little white sugarpaste stars and used a stamper to mark snowflakes. I dusted the snowflakes with shimmer dust and the effective was all shimmery and sparkly!
I also cut out larger stars and stuck them to the side of the cake.
I also added little silver balls to finish off! I love the stars and snowflakes and the contrast between the black and white. I hope my friends like it too!

Santa came early this year as for my birthday I was given the Nigella Chritmas book that I have been dying to get my hands on! I am so pleased - thanks Saff - I love it! :)

Christmas Cake (Number one)

This is the first of the four Christmas cakes I am making this year. This was also my final piece for my baking class (I came third which I was pleased with!). It is a 6inch fruit cake, covered in marizpan and then covered in sugarpaste. I then decorated it with some of the techniques I have learnt over the past few weeks. Below is an example of crimping using a special crimping tool.
I cut this circle out (below) using a scone cutter and then used a patchwork snowflake cutter to create the snowflake pattern and brushed over it with shimmer dust. I then cut out lots of stars, brushed them with shimmer dust and stuck them on using royal icing.
I coloured some marizpan red and green and rolled it together. I then gently placed it around the bottom of the cake and then piped royal icing around the edges of the cake board.
So far I have made 3 out of the 4 cakes - 2 of them are waiting to be marizpaned and iced so watch this space for more christmas cake ideas. Anyone for a slice?

Chocolate Christmas Wreaths

I took this idea from the Nigella Christmas book (which I'm hoping get for Christmas from Santa!). In her book she uses cornflakes and a sugar coating I think but I used rice krispies and a chocolate coating! It was so easy to do, I just poured some rice krispies into a bowl, covered them with melted chocolate, placed large spoonfuls onto a piece of tin foil and then made a hole in the middle. To add some extra Christmas charm I sprinkled them with Christmas sprinkles!

I also filled mini cupcake papers with the chocolate rice krispie mixture and added some more sprinkles!

The sprinkles are snowflakes and candy canes - so sweet!

Royal Icing

I wanted to do a quick post on royal icing before I commence with the Christmas baking! I love royal iced cakes but if your just starting out it may be easier to cover your cake with sugarpaste. Either way, both look and taste delightful!

I made this cake and iced it at my baking class, it has 4 layers of icing! I finished it off with some piping around the edges. Always make sure your cake is covered in marizpan before starting to cover it in royal icing!

To make royal icing you need:
2 egg whites
1ml lemon juice
500g icing sugar, sieved
5ml of glycerine

Make sure you have an extremely clean bowl. Place the egg whites and lemon juice into the bowl and use a clean wooden spoon to stir the egg whites and break them up so that they mix with the lemon juice. Add some of the icing sugar and use the wooden spoon to mix together. Keep adding more icing sugar and stiring until you get the consistency you want. I usually beat it until it looks smooth and glossy. Then stir in the glycerine. This helps to keep the icing soft once the cake has been cut. Always allow the icing to rest before using it, usually for about an hour and always make sure it is covered in a damp cloth when not using otherwise it will become dry. When you are ready to use it, give it another stir as this will help to dispearse any air bubbles that may have formed!

I will do another post after Christmas about the different consistencies and other points about royal icing such as piping, flavouring and colouring it. I hope this helps you cover your christmas cake! Let the Christmas baking begin...