Wake Up To Muff!!

So recently I was asked to guest bake for a dope blog called Wake Up To Muff. 

The basic premise of the blog is this...

"One boy, one bike and a dozen muffins."

Tibbs or Count Spatula as he is also known, set up this blog about 4 years ago. Once a month he has a lottery, and 12 lucky winners across London will have a muffin hand delivered to their door, by a man (Tibbs) & his bike. 

The best way to get a feel for how cool this is is to check out his flickr with pictures of the drops. 

Picture courtesy of WUTM flickr

So enter stage left, me. We managed, via the wonders of social media to connect, and he asked me to guest bake for the 40th post. His original plan was to brew some beer, so I wanted to make something alcoholic in order to toast this milestone in the proper fashion. 

In the end I settled for Nigella's trusty Chocolate Guinness Cake recipe and used it to make cupcakes. The recipe will make about 18 muffin sized cupcakes but I doubled the frosting as you use more on cupcakes than you do with cake. 

Click here for the recipe link.

I'm also super, duper into homemade caramel... Given that there are very few ingredients, it's surprisingly fiddly. I had to make two batches as if you leave the sugar for a moment too long, it burns and tastes bitter. But persevere you must, it is worth it.

Click here for a post I did many moons ago with the recipe

Now that you know all about it, I encourage you to get involved! Maybe one day, you too, could wake up to muff...

Peace & Love

xx

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Chocolate Guinness Cake

I made this cake for the sole purpose of self-indulgence. I do like to bake myself a (chocolate) cake every now & then. The last time it was Delphine's Chocolate Cake - a beautiful authentic French recipe. This time it's a Chocolatey Guinness cake, courtesy of Nigella Lawson - click here for the recipe link.

I got the idea from my cousin. She came one Friday evening and cooked me the most delicious steaks ever ever ever & was raving about this recipe. She was right, it doesn't disappoint!

I made this in a tin that was a bit too big (hence the flatness) but to be honest, I like it & I think it stretched a bit further that way!

If you like chocolate cake, you'll like this one. You can't really taste the Guinness, well I didn't think so, but it's delicious and moist and stays fresh for a good few days after being baked. It's a bit like a giant brownie cake. So try it & let me know what you think!

Peace & Love
xxxx

Ps So I'm sitting down to write all about Chocolate Guinness cake when I realised that it was St Patrick's Day last Sunday. Get it? Guinness, Irish, St Patrick's Day...?
OK, so not the most exciting of revelations to be fair, but mildly amusing nonetheless! :)

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Day 22 - Christmas Cornflake Wreaths

This is yet another offering from the mighty Nigella Lawson's Christmas book - Christmas Cornflake Wreaths. They are basically made from marshmallows, cornflakes and sprinkles and as I love Chocolate Cornflake Cakes it seemed like a nice one to try.

Nigella says in her recipe book that the wreaths are very sweet and that children adore them. I'll be testing the children theory this Christmas but I would agree that they are very sweet. That said I did nibble quite a bit while I was making the wreaths so it can't have been that bad!

The wreaths can be made up to a week ahead and are really simple, here is the recipe if you want to try. 

Recipe (makes 12)

100g butter

200g mini marshmallows

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

250g cornflakes

Sprinkles

1. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat then add the marshmallows, stirring until all melted and smooth. 

2. Take off the heat and stir in vanilla and almond extracts followed by the cornflakes.

3. Take some mixture about the size of a small satsuma and roll into a ball. Then flatten using the palm of your hand and mould into the shape of a wreath, making a hole in the middle. The mixture is sticky but is slightly easier to work with if you lightly grease your fingers.

4. Decorate with sprinkles.

Leave to set for at least 2 hours and then store in an airtight container between sheets of greaseproof paper.

Wow, only two days left of the Advent Calendar and two days left until Christmas, I can't believe how quickly time is flying by, this time next week it will be all over!

Happy Cooking :)

Peace & Love

xx

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Day 20 - Prosecco & Pomegranate Jelly

Today is my first drink type post & I have been dying to try the Prosecco and Pomegranate Jelly from Nigella Lawson's Christmas Book that I stole from my sister!

There's something so regal and enchanting about pomegranates, I can sit there for ages picking the seeds one by one and as Prosecco is one of my favourite alcoholic beverages, this dessert is a match made in heaven.

To get the recipe click on this link which has taken the recipe from the book verbatim. I halved it and used 5 gelatin leaves as I wanted it to be set a bit firmer. I also used glasses rather than a jelly mould, mainly because I don't have a mould but also these glasses are way cuter. They were an early Christmas gift from my sister & I love them!

Another variation is to use shot glasses and top with Maraschino Cherries, I thought they looked pretty nice too. 

As an update, most Christmas presents have been purchased, all that's left are the homemade ones which need to be done as close as possible to the time... Such joy!

Enjoy

Peace & Love

xx

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Day 6 - Almond Star Biscuits

"Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground. Theodore Roosevelt"

Today's offerings are Almond Stars, Nutella (chocolate spread or a ganache) sandwiched between two biscuits, topped with some toasted almond flakes. This is a mash up of a Nigella recipe and my absolute favourite place on the internet, BBC Good Food.

Recipe

For the Biscuits

90g soft unsalted butter

100g caster sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC/gas mark 4.

2. Cream the butter and sugar until soft and pale, then beat in the egg until mixed thoroughly. Finally add the rest of the ingredients and mix until it becomes a soft dough.

3. Divide into two sections & place each one between two sheets of baking parchment.  Roll the dough out to the thickness of about 5mm and leave to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

4. Once chilled, cut out the shapes and place on one side of the baking parchment with a little bit of space between each one. You can re-roll the scraps to make more biscuits. I found the dough to be quite sticky once it gets warm so you will probably need to dip the cutters into flour to make it easier to cut.

5. Sprinkle some almond flakes onto half of the biscuits.

6. Place the biscuits onto a baking sheet and bake for about 10 mins. I turned the biscuits around after 5 minutes to make sure that they cooked evenly. The cooking times are approximate and will depend on your oven. Keep checking the biscuits regularly as they can quick go from cooked to burnt. When they are ready, they will have a pale gold colour at the edges but still be a bit soft - they harden as they cool.

7. Place the cooked biscuits on to a cooling tray and leave to cool.

8. Once the biscuits have cooled, sandwich two biscuits together, one with almonds and a plain one using half a teaspoon of Nutella or another filling of your choice.

These are great as a dessert or with a cup of tea in front of your laptop :)

Peace & Love

xx

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