We're on the Rocky Road!

Just a quick one! Here's a photo of our family's rocky road. I think that everyone has their own version and this one is ours. It's very simple and I'm happy to share it with you.

Our Rocky Road.

1 large block of Whittakers Coconut chocolate (if you can't get this then a large block of milk chocolate and some dessicated coconut will do)
1 small block of dark/plain chocolate
mini marshmallows
red jelly frogs, chopped!
scotch finger biscuits, crushed
sprinkles of any colour for the top.

Line a tin with cling film. Melt the chocolates in a large bowl over a pan of boiling water and when runny add the other ingredients. Keep adding while the ingredients are able to be well coated with chocolate. Tip into the prepared tray and add the sprinkles. Put into the fridge to harden and then chop into chunks. It may last long enough to be put into a tin but that doesn't happen here!

Another Birthday Cake!

Now, I'm really proud of this one! And what's more it was easy peasy. I can't take credit for the idea as I nabbed it from over at The Pantry where there was a discussion over decorating a birthday cake for a 21st birthday. The cake recipe came from August's Australian Good Food magazine and the chocolates from Darrell Lee, if I'd been back in UK it would have been Thorntons!
Anyway, here's what I did:

Easiest Ever Chocolate fudge cake

225g self-raising flour
50g cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
275g brown sugar
250g soft butter
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
75g melted dark chocolate

Fudge icing
200g soft butter
200g pure icing sugar
200g melted dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 180c or 160c fan. Grease and line 2 20cm round sandwich pans
Place flour, cocoa, baking powder, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla extract and melted dark chocolate in a food processor and process until smooth. If the batter is a little stiff, add 2-3 tbsp water and process again.
Divide mixture equally between prepared pans, smooth surface and bake for 35-40 mins, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans for 5 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the icing, place butter and icing sugar in a clean processor and process until combined. Add melted chocolate and process until smooth. Sandwich together layers of cake with half of icing and top with remaining icing.

I put the batter in a single cake pan rather that having 2 halves and used half of the fudge icing to cover the cake. I used a couple of boxes of mint sticks which I cut in half and stuck round the edge. They didn't need holding up with the gold ribbon but it was there just in case! Then I just put most of the contents of a box of Darrell Lee chocolates over the top, adding some of their foil covered 'Pick and Mix' to add a bit of glamorous colour!
OH, whose birthday it is feels very special and now we're just drooling away until it's the actual day and we can eat it!

Yoo hoo! I'm back!!

I couldn't bear to repeat myself by asking where does time go to but it's scary to find out that my last post was back in May. Well, as John Lennon said "Life is what happens when you're busy making plans." or something very similar. Since my last post I've been offered a new job and am in the process of taking it up so on my previous performance I'd say that the next post after this will be at Christmas!

Anyway, how do I do justice to this unpreposessing slice of cake? It may not look much but it is so yummy that I could have another slice before I finish telling you about it. Looking through my books this morning I came across this Sticky Date Cake in Delia's Cookery course. Having nearly all the ingredients I thought I'd have a go and I'm so glad that I did. This is one wonderful cake. The recipe is below and then I'll tell you the bits I changed!

Sticky Date Cake

Ingredients

• 225g (8oz) stoned dates, roughly chopped

• 110g (4oz) raisins

• 175g (6oz) sultanas

• 110g (4oz) currants

• 275g (10oz) butter

• 275ml (10 fl oz) water

• 1 x 400g (14oz) tin condensed milk

• 150g (5oz) plain flour

• 150g (5oz) wholemeal flour

• 3/4 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

• 1 generous tablespoon chunky marmalade

• A pinch of salt

• You will also need a 20cm (8in) square cake tin, greased and lined with baking parchment.

Preheat the oven to 170C, 325F, gas mark 3.

• Method

• Begin by placing all the fruit in a largish saucepan (it needs to be large, because the mixture splutters a lot), then add the butter, condensed milk and water and bring everything up to the boil, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon to prevent the mixture sticking. Now turn the heat down to low and simmer for exactly 3 minutes, stirring now and then. After 3 minutes, transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and let it cool down for approximately 30 minutes. While it's cooling, weigh out the flours and sift them into a bowl with a pinch of salt and the bicarbonate of soda. When sieving wholemeal flour you frequently find small quantities of bran left in the sieve: these can be tipped on to the already-sieved flour.

• When the fruit mixture has cooled, stir in the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda using a large metal spoon, then add the marmalade. Now spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and, because this cake does get rather brown on top if not protected, you should cover it with a double square greaseproof paper with a hole the size of a 50p piece in the centre. Then pop it on to the centre shelf of the oven and bake for 2-21/2hours.

• After removing the cake from the oven, let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out on to a wire rack. This is quite a large cake that will keep well for several weeks in an airtight tin and even improves with keeping. If you prefer, you could make this in two 450g (1 lb) loaf tins and halve the cooking time.

It really is so simple and the things that I did differently were to replace the chunky marmalade with ginger marmalade and use mixed fruit instead of weighing out all the others.

Doesn't Time Fly?

I can't believe that it's a year since I started blogging but when I look back I began with Teenboy's birthday cake and here is this year's offering. Actually, I'm a bit late as the cake has been and gone so I can confidently say that it was a success!

I did have a long hard think as to what cake would go down well with a 16 year old and he was too busy with living to give a great deal of thought to it so I went with a recipe that I've been wanting to try, Nigella's Chocolate Guinness cake!

I just love the thought of chocolate and guinness together and the frosting on top makes it sound wonderful. It is also so easy to make which gives it the big thumbs up around here. If you haven't tried it do give it a go and don't worry if you haven't got easy access to guinness as I just used a Tasmanian stout which tasted pretty good! If you have a copy of Nigella's Feast you'll find the recipe there!

250 ml Guinness
250 g unsalted butter
75 g cocoa
400 g caster sugar
142 ml sour cream
2 eggs

1t tbsp real vanilla extract
275 g plain flour
2 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
For the icing:
300 g Philadelphia cream cheese

150 g icing sugar
125 ml double or whipping cream
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180oc, butter and line a 23 cm springform tin
Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter gradually, and heat until the butter has melted. At which time, whisk in the cocoa and sugar.
Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and pour into the brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the bicarb and flour.
Pour the cake batter into the greased, lined tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack as it is quite a damp cake.
Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar, then beat together. Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency. Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of a pint.

Things have changed such a lot since I started this blog. I'm no longer a student but am working in community services as a family counsellor and loving it. However, it does mean that time is a little more hard to come by and Tuesday nights are a rush to finish work, get home, feed everybody, make next day's lunches and then get out to orchestra practice so imagine my delight when OH came home early and got this gastronomic feast ready for us all! He invented the curry recipe but I know that it contained Patak's Madras paste. The raita was his own and very delicious. I'm hoping that Tuesday nights will become a regular cooking feature for him!!

More Hearth Warming!

The gingerbread and wedges have disappeared and the tin is looking rather empty. The weather is still cool at night but we are having lovely autumn daytime temperatures with loads of sun. Well, that's the weather update! Now to refilling that tin!

Way back in February I got the yearning to do some yeast cookery and rootled around for a Chelsea bun or Lardy Cake recipe. However, when I came across this I knew that I just had to have a go. These are gorgeous, sticky, spicy and yummy so well worth repeating and they do fill the house with the most delicious aroma! May I present my

Swedish Cinnamon Rolls

50g melted butter

300ml warm milk

1 egg

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

85g custard powder

500g strong flour

1pack/ 1 teaspoon dried yeast (7g)

150g brown sugar

2 heaped teaspoons cinnamon

50g room temp butter

50g Philly cheese

15g butter

100g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

A squeeze lemon juice

If your flour is cold put it in a bowl and either warm in the oven or give it a few seconds in the microwave. Then add the sugar, salt, custard powder and yeast and mix well together. In a jug mix together the melted butter, egg and milk and add to the dry ingredients. Knead until smooth and elastic. This is a really good way to burn the calories that you will take in from eating the buns or you could do it all in your mixer if you have a dough hook!

Cover the bowl with cling film or a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 10-20 minutes.

Meanwhile mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon. You could also add sultanas or raisins if you liked.
Knock back the dough and roll into a rectangle. Dot the dough with the softened butter and then sprinkle the sugar/cinnamon mix over. Roll the dough up into one long roll and seal the edges with a little milk. Don't roll the dough too tightly or the buns will pop up in their middles!

With a sharp knife, cut the roll into about 12 buns. They should be about 1 1/2 inches thick. Place in a lined tin (I use my roasting tin) so they are not quite touching and leave to rise for about an hour. They should now be doubled in size and just touching.

Bake for 15-20 mins at 180 degrees C until light golden brown and when you knock the bottom of the tin it sounds hollow.

To make the frosting beat together the Philly cheese, 15g butter, vanilla essence and lemon juice and then add the sieved icing sugar. Pour over the buns before they cool.

These are great with a cup of coffee or for a huge sugar hit, try hot chocolate!!

This should keep the wolf from the door while I get on with Teen Boys birthday cake!

Baking warms the home....

....and the hearts! It's turned into a really cold Autumn here or I'm really becoming 'Aussiefied' and finding temperatures that I once would have thought nothing of now shiveringly cold. Anyway, the coolness is a really good excuse to spend time in the kitchen baking and of course, warming the house!

This week I've used 2 recipes, one new and the other familiar but both had the house smelling wonderful. The new recipe is for a very dark and sticky gingerbread and comes all the way from Scotland from Rita who spends some of her time on Violet's Pantry, the foodie forum where I also hang out. This recipe is from her mother and is so easy that I love it! The gingerbread turns all glossy and sticky overnight and I have the feeling that it won't last long!

Very Dark and Sticky Gingerbread

Melt the following ingredients-: 1/2 pint of milk 5ozs dark soft brown sugar 2tbsp treacle 2tbsp syrup 4ozs butter/marg

Cool until barely warm then add

2 beaten eggs and then

1/2lb S.R Flour 1/2 teasp bicarb. soda 1tbsp each ginger, cinnamon, and mixed spice and a pinch of salt.

This makes one 2lb and one 1lb loaf, line the tins.

Bake for 75 mins @ gas 4/ 180c / 350f

This is even better if you can resist cutting it for a day or two.

Now, these Mincemeat Wedges are absolutely wonderful and hit the mark when I fancy a mince pie but don't want to be making pastry. I got the recipe from Maria, who is one half of the inspiration behind Sweet and Simple Bakes, the monthly baking challenge that I try to join in with. If you want to find inspiration for loads of lovely bakes then do go to her blog, the link is up on the right hand side, just look for The Goddess's Kitchen. It's a wonderful place to go and drool too!

Mincemeat Wedges

Makes 12

Ingredients

225g/8oz/2 cups self-raising wholemeal flour

75g/3oz/6 tbsp unsalted butter, diced

75g/3oz/⅓ Demerara sugar

1 egg, beaten

115g/4oz/ ⅓ cup good quality mincemeat

6oml/4 tbsp milk

crushed brown or white sugar cubes or a mixture, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 200oC/400oF/Gas 6. Line the base of a 20cm/8in round sandwich tin and lightly grease the sides. Put the flour in a bowl, add the diced butter and rub in with your fingertips just until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.Stir in the Demerara sugar, egg and mincemeat. Add enough milk to mix to a soft dough. Spread evenly in the prepared tin and sprinkle generously with the crushed sugar. Bake for about 20 minutes until firm and golden. Cool in the tin, then cut into wedges to serve.

The smell in the house is almost festive and has me really looking forward to the long weekend that we're taking the kids on in July when we hope to do Christmas in July in a fantastic mountain lodge at Turon Gates, but I'm sure you'll hear more of that as time goes on!

Choc-chip Oat Cookies

Well, here's my offering for the Sweet and Simple Bakes challenge this month! Please click on the link on the right and look at all the other entries and grab the recipe too. These were lovely cookies and the mixture makes loads so there are plenty for hungry soccer teams and lunch boxes. They are really simple to make and although mine look much more 'rustic' that the challenge photo, it didn't stop them from being eaten!

I thought that the recipe seemed a bit familiar to me and as I was browsing through my copy of The Chocolate and Coffee Bible I came across the recipe but they were called biscuits and looked much rounder, flatter and crisper! Ah well! Anyway, the good thing about browsing 'The Bible" is I've discovered a load of new recipes to try especially in the pudding section and as we're moving into cooler times here I'm sure that they'll be welcome!