Red velvet mini bundts

The 1st time I tried to make red velvet it was a massive disaster. After swallowing my pride a year later I'd plucked up the courage to give it another go. The 1 thing to note with red velvet is it's extremely expensive to make. I made mine with cream cheese frosting.With amazing support from friends Esther and Robert I learnt to make chocolate bun cases. I decided these cases would hold the frosting.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups of plain flour
1 cup of light brown sugar
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa
1 Tsp salt
2 Tsp baking powder
2 eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 cups of olive oil
1 cup of buttermilk at room temperature
2 Tsp of cider vinegar
2 Tsp of vanilla essence
1 Tbsp red food colouring
2 bars of white cooking chocolate

Frosting
8oz of cream cheese ( Philadelphia)
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
2 cups of icing sugar
1 Tsp of vanilla

Method

1.Preheat oven to 170 degrees.

2. Combine flour, brown sugar, white sugar, salt, baking powder and cocoa. Whisk all together.

3. In a seperate bowl whisk the eggs and slowly stream in the oiI. Add vanilla, vinegar and food colouring.

4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  Keep beating on low speed.

5. While the beater is running add buttermilk.

6. Distribute the mix into moulds. I used silicone heart and rose shaped moulds. I made sure to spray the mould with easy release spray first. 

7. Bake for 20 -25minutes.

8. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool. Then turn the moulds upside down and tap the cakes out.

9. After washing the moulds I used them as a template for my chocolate cups. 

10. Melt the cooking chocolate over boiling water and using a paint brush paint the chocolate onto the mould. Pop in the fridge till set then add another layar. Repeat until strong cup is formed. Then remove the chocolate from the mould and store in the fridge.

11. To make the cream cheese frosting whisk the butter for 3 minutes. Then add cream cheese while whisking. Sift in the icing sugar and vanilla. Have a sneaky taste and were ready.

Doggie treats

I love baking for those I love and that includes my baby dog Misty. After my friend Jackie sent me on some recipes I was eager to try a basic one first before giving the others a go. Plus Misty is ridiculously fussy when it comes to eating. Ensuring all ingredients were natural and healthy was a priority for me.

Ingredients
1 cup of oats (Porridge oats)
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp of ground cinnamon (Yuk)
2 Tbsp of water
1 Tbsp pure honey
1-2 Tbsp peanut butter

Method
1. Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Shape into biscuits.
3. Bake at 175 degrees for 20 minutes.

Misty loved these! They went down a TREAT..... dya get it treat lol ok I know that was lame. Enjoy :)

Chocolate & vanilla marble bundt

Whats a bundt you might ask? In my opinion its the bees knees of baking.See picture of my bundt pan below. I very much entered this bake blind.With no clue what I was doing. After finding the pan in TKMAXX ( aka heaven) I was mad to give it a try. I spotted some easy release cake spray which in fairness judging by the name is every bakers dream so for €3.99 that went in the basket too. 

Ingredients

2 cups Plain flour

2 Tsp Baking powder

1/2Tsp Salt

3/4 Cup Unsalted butter

1 1/2Cups + 3Tbsp Caster sugar

4 large eggs

1 Tsp Vanilla essence

1/3 Cup Cocoa 

1/3 Cup Hot water

1 Tbsp Instant coffee. I used Maxwell house.

1/4 Tsp Almond Extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees.

2. Spray the living daylights out of the bundt pan ensuring you get all the hidden dips. 

3. In a jug mix hot water,coffee, cocoa and 3 tbsp sugar. Mix thoroughly until smooth. Check for lumps.

4. Add the almond to the mixture and allow to cool. 

5. In a bowl sift flour, baking powder and salt.

6. In a seperate bowl put butter and beat for 2 minutes, gradually add the sugar and beat for 3 minutes. Add vanilla and beat. 

7. Gradually add the eggs and beat slowly.

8. Slowly add the flour mix. 

9. Transfer half the cake mix into the cool cocoa mix and stir. 

10.Alternatively spoon the cocoa mix and the vanilla mix into the pan. Then using a skewer swirl the stick through the mix creating a marble effect.

11. Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hr.

12. Allow to cool and shrink a little. Then turn the tin upside down and tap.

13. Stand back and admire the view :).

Chocolate custard cake

Boy do I love custard! So when I discovered the custard cake my mind was blown. All made from scratch even though the temptation to grab a tin from the shop was very strong.

Ingredients
4 Eggs -room temperature
1 Tsp Vanilla essence
1 & 1/4 cups of caster sugar
110g Melted butter
1/2cup of plain flour
1/3cup of cocoa
2 cups of lukewarm milk
1 Tbsp icing sugar

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.
2. Grease & line a loaf tin. Well at least thats what I used ;).
3. Seperate the egg yolks from the whites. This is always great fun... not a great one for the nerves.
4. Beat the whites until stiff and put aside.
5. Whisk the egg yolks, vanilla and sugar until creamy.
6. Add melted butter & mix for 30 sec.
7. Add flour and cocoa and mix well.
8. Pour in milk gradually and beat .
9. Add the whites in one third at the time.
10. Pour into the tin and bake for 60 min.
11. Allow to cool and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Strawberry scones

Whats better than a freshly baked scone in the morning! Usually I make sultana scones but for a change I fancied trying strawberries.

Ingredients
Make 6 scones
225g Self raising flour
150ml Buttermilk
Pinch of salt
25g Caster sugar
25g Margarine
1 egg

Method
1. Sift flour and salt into a bowl and mix adding the sugar.
2. Rub in the margarine using your fingers.
3. Add buttermilk and strawberries.
4. Mix and add the egg.
5. Turn out the dough and lightly knead. Then roll out the dough and using a cookie cutter cut out like below.
6. Glaze with milk and bake in a preheated 220 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Rasberry crumb bars

Rasberry crumb bars. Certainly one of the healthier options on my blog so far. They resemble a breakfast bar so without further a do lets rock and roll.

Ingredients
1 cup Plain flour
1/4 Tsp Baking powder
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 cup of  rolled oats.
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup of seedless rasberry jam.

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees.
2. In a bowl whisk flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in the rolled oats (porridge oats) and sugar. Using your fingertips break up the lumps.
3. Add 2 cups of the oat mixture to a greased and lined baking tray. I used a rectangle one. Flatten the mixture.
4. Spread the rasberry jam ontop then top with the last of the oat mixture.
5. Bake for 34 -38 minutes.

Chocolate strawberry barrell

On one of my shopping sprees I spotted baby strawberry's. They are ridiculously cute. I desperately wanted to bake something using them. I came up with the idea of a chocolate strawberry barrel. The weather was a bit of a problem when it came to assembling everything but I was still fairly happy with the result.

Ingredients
200g Plain flour
40g Cocoa
240g Caster sugar
3 Tsp Baking powder
80g Unsalted butter
2 eggs
200ml Milk
2 Tsp Vanilla essence
Kitkats 6
Baby strawberry's

Icing
226g butter
600g icing sugar
50g Cocoa
2 Tsp Vanilla essence
4 Tbsp Milk

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Grease and line a 8 inch baking tin.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into a bowl and whisk.
3. In another bowl whisk the butter and sugar until fluffy then add vanilla and eggs. Whisking slowly.
4. Add milk and the flour mix alternatively. 
5. Bake for 20 - 25 min.
6. Allow to cool.
7. Using a large round cookie cutter cut out 3 circles of sponge.
8. For the icing whisk butter for 3 min. Add icing sugar and cocoa and whisk slow for 1 min. Add vanilla and milk and whisk for 3 min.
9. Sandwiche the 3 layars of cake together using the chocolate buttercream. Then cover the sides in buttercream.
10. Break up the kitkats into fingers and stick around the cake onto the buttercream.
11. In the top of the barrell place the mini strawberries.

Ice cream cupcakes

Thanks to my good friend Corrina who introduced me to the idea of ice cream cupcakes for the first time. Ideal for kids and big kids too! Finding the correct wafers can be tricky as a lot of shops only stock the long narrow ones.

Ingredients
To make 12
200g Plain flour
40g Cocoa
240g Caster sugar
3 Tsp Baking powder
80g Unsalted butter
2 eggs
200ml Milk
2 Tsp Vanilla essence
Box of wafer cones
Flakes to decorate

Icing
226g Butter softened
600g Icing sugar
2 Tsp Vanilla essence
4Tbsp Milk

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. In a large bowl mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt and whisk.
3. In another bowl whisk butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs abit at a time whisking slow.
4. Add milk and flour mix alternatively.
5. Place the wafer in a bun tray puttin one wafer everywhere a bun case should be. Spoon the mix into the wafers. Only fill each wafer to half way or they will overflow.
6. Bake for 18 -20 min. Allow to cool.
7. For the icing whisk the butter for 3 minutes. Sift in the icing sugar, and beat on low speed for 1 min. Add vanilla and milk beat for 3 minutes. 
8. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes like you would see on an ice cream cone. Place a flake ontop and cover in sprinkles.

Reeses chocolate chip peanut butter cups

I dunno what possessed me to try and make these but the idea came to me and I said shur how hard can it be! Plus the peanut butter cups were half price in the shop :).

Ingredients
Unsalted butter for greasing
175g Plain flour sifted
1 Tsp Baking powder
125g Margarine melted
85g Light muscovado sugar
55g Caster sugar
1/2Tsp Vanilla essence
1 egg
125g Plain chocolate chips
Reeses peanut butter cups 12

Method
Pop the peanut butter cups in the freezer 5 min before you start.
1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and put bun cases into a bun baking tray. Stay with me here I'm not mad I swear!
2. Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat until well combined. It feels so good to chuck everything in together.
3. Spoon tablespoons of the cookie dough into the bun cases. Don't overfill the cases maybe put 2 tablespoons or a little less into each.
4. Bake for 15 - 20 min keep an eye on them.
5. When they come out of the oven take the peanut butter cups from the freezer and with your hand press them down into the top of each cookie cup. The fact they are slightly frozen keeps them from melting and breaking.

Twirl cupcakes

Continuing my quest to recreate all bars as cupcakes I moved onto the Twirl! Even saying the word makes me want one with a cup of tea. Getting the colour right on this one was important so after getting some purple colouring all that was left was to add yellow somehow. Of course it was after these were done I made the discovery of a 2 colour piping nozzle. Oops.

Ingredients
To make 12 cupcakes

9 oz Plain flour
3 oz Cocoa
3 Tsp Baking powder
17oz Caster sugar
300ml Milk
150 ml Olive oil
2 eggs
300ml Boiling water
Twirls 6

Icing
226g Butter softened
600g Icing sugar
2 Tsp Vanilla essence
4Tbsp Milk
Purple colouring
Yellow chocolate balls

Method
30 min Before starting halve 6 of the Twirl fingers and place in the freezer.
1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. In a large bowl mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, and sugar.
3. Pour in milk, oil, egg and beat until smooth.
4. Pour in boiling water and beat.
5. Pour into cases, adding a frozen Twirl into each case and bake for 15 minutes.
6. Allow to cool.
7. For the icing whisk the butter for 3 minutes. Sift in the icing sugar, and beat on low speed for 1 min. Add vanilla and milk beat for 3 minutes.  Add purple food colouring.
8. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and place half a Twirl finger ontop of each one.
9. Sprinkle yellow chocolate balls over the icing.

Coconut Lamingtons

Until now I had never heard of lamingtons. I racewalked before in Lemington spa but thats about as close as it gets! As I searched for inspiration I stumbled across coconut ones and that was it decision made.

Ingredients
Oil or butter for greasing
175g Plain white flour
1Tbsp Baking powder
175g Unsalted butter softened
175g Caster sugar
3 Eggs beaten
1 Tsp Vanilla essence
2 Tbsp Milk
2 Tbsp Desiccated coconut

Icing and coating ingredients
500g Icing sugar
40g Cocoa powder
85ml Boiling water
70g Unsalted butter melted
250g Desiccated coconut

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line a 9 inch square tin. I used a round one recession and all beggers cant be choosers right?

2. Sift the flour and baking powder Into a large bowl and add butter, caster sugar, eggs and vanilla essence. Beat well until the mixture is smooth then stir in the milk and coconut.

3. Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth the top with a knife. Bake for 30 -35 min until risen and golden brown.

4. Leave to cool. Cut into 16 squares and prepare to create the greatest mess you have ever seen. 

5. For the icing , sift the sugar and cocoa into a bowl. Add water and butter and stir until smooth. Spread the coconut out on a large plate. Dip each square of sponge into the icing then into the coconut covering all sides. I was advised to use a fork to dip but everytime I dipped it fell in so I resorted to dunking with my fingers. Boy it was messy. 

6. Place on baking paper to set.

Double Chocolate Mint Sponge

Who doesn't love mint? Its jaw dropping good :) of course thats just my opinion. I came across this recipe in Edinburgh and couldn't wait to get stuck in. Of course our local shops in Ireland don't exactly have everything so I had to swap a few bits.

Ingredients
Oil or melted butter for greasing
150g plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp baking powder
175g unsalted butter softened
6oz caster sugar
3 eggs beaten
1 tbsp milk
1 mint aero bar crushed
140g chocolate spread
2 mint crisp bars crushed & frozen
Some melting chocolate

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease two 8 inch sandwiche tins and line with baking paper. ( I used 9 inch but sssssh)
2. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl and beat in the butter, sugar and eggs. Mix until smooth. Add in frozen mint crisp bars and stir in milk.
3.Spread the mixture into the baking tins. Bake for 25 to 30 min until risen and firm. Turn out onto a rack to cool.
4. Sandwiche the 2 cakes together with chocolate spread.  I used Panda :).
5. Sprinkle crushed mint aero over the top and drizzle melted chocolate over it.

I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out and boy was it tasty! Very simple to make too :)

Nutella Cupcakes

Thankfully I made these before the price of Nutella increased. It was one of my toughest times reading that hazelnuts were becoming scarce so the price would increase :( many a night has been spent devouring it. Time to discover a new comfort food I think. Below is my recipe for Nutella cupcakes.

Ingredients
To make 12 cupcakes

9 oz Plain flour
3 oz Cocoa
3 Tsp Baking powder
17oz Caster sugar
300ml Milk
150 ml Olive oil
2 eggs
300ml Boiling water

Icing
230g Unsalted butter
240g Icing sugar
222g Nutella
3-4Tbsp Heavy cream
2 Tsp Vanilla essence
Sprinkle of salt
Chocolate chips
Hershey' s chocolate sauce

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. In a large bowl mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, and sugar.
3. Pour in milk, oil, egg and beat until smooth.
4. Pour in boiling water and beat.
5. Pour into cases, and bake for 15 minutes.
6. Allow to cool.
7. For the icing whisk the butter for 3 minutes. Sift in the icing sugar first then Nutella and beat on  medium speed for 1 min. Add vanilla then the cream and  beat for 3 minutes. 
8. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and sprinkle chocolate chips ontop. Drizzle Hershey's chocolate sauce over it.

Bounty Cupcakes

I'm a big fan of coconut so I figured why not bake with it. As a kid I loved Bounty bars so behold the Bounty cupcake.

Ingredients
To make 12 cupcakes

9 oz Plain flour
3 oz Cocoa
3 Tsp Baking powder
17oz Caster sugar
300ml Milk
150 ml Olive oil
2 eggs
300ml Boiling water
Bounty 6 bars
Desiccated coconut

Icing
226g Butter softened
600g Icing sugar
2 Tsp Vanilla essence
4Tbsp Milk
2oz Cocoa
Desiccated coconut

Method
30 min Before starting halve 6 of the bounty segments and place in the freezer.
1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. In a large bowl mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, some coconut and sugar.
3. Pour in milk, oil, egg and beat until smooth.
4. Pour in boiling water and beat.
5. Pour into cases, adding a frozen bounty into each case and bake for 15 minutes.
6. Allow to cool.
7. For the icing whisk the butter for 3 minutes. Sift in the icing sugar, cocoa and beat on low speed for 1 min. Add vanilla and milk beat for 3 minutes. 
8. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and place a bounty ontop of each one.
9. Sprinkle coconut over the icing.

Rolo Cupcakes

Who would you give your last Rolo to? If it was me .. I'd say nobody! Those packets are far too small :). I haven't mastered caramel frosting just yet so instead I used yellow buttercream.

Ingredients
To make 12 cupcakes

9 oz Plain flour
3 oz Cocoa
3 Tsp Baking powder
17oz Caster sugar
300ml Milk
150 ml Olive oil
2 eggs
300ml Boiling water
Rolos 3 pks

Icing
226g Butter softened
600g Icing sugar
2 Tsp Vanilla essence
4Tbsp Milk
Yellow food colouring
Hershey's chocolate sauce

Method
30 min Before starting place 12 rolos in the freezer.
1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. In a large bowl mix flour, cocoa, baking powder and sugar.
3. Pour in milk, oil, egg and beat until smooth.
4. Pour in boiling water and beat.
5. Pour into cases, adding a frozen rolo into each case and bake for 15 minutes.
6. Allow to cool.
7. For the icing whisk the butter for 3 minutes. Sift in the icing sugar and beat on low speed for 1 min. Add vanilla and a dash of yellow food colouring and milk beat for 3 minutes. 
8. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and place a rolo ontop of each one.
9. Drizzle the Hershey' s chocolate sauce over the icing.

Put your pj's on, throw your feet up and sink your teeth in :)

Malteaser Cupcakes

Seen as though I'm a self proclaimed chocaholic I continue to search for ways to combine cupcakes and chocolate. Malteaser cupcakes I thought why not! How hard can this be. The first time I made them I made the dreadful mistake of putting Malteasers straight from the packet into the cupcake batter and baking them. Sorry to those who tried it and your teeth. I learnt a little secret after that! If you put the Malteasers in the freezer for at least 30 min beforehand they don't harden in the oven they only defrost.

So now that you know all my secrets lets get baking!

Ingredients

2 bags of malteasers 

4 1/2 oz of plain flour

45g cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

245g caster sugar

150ml full fat milk

75ml olive oil

1 egg

150ml boiling water

Icing

113g softened butter

300g icing sugar

25g cocoa

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 tbsp milk

Method

1. Make sure half your Malteasers are frozen. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.Pop buncases into a bun tray.

2. In a large bowl mix flour, cocoa, baking powder and sugar.

3. Pour in milk, oil, egg and whisk until nice and smooth.

4. Pour in the boiling water and beat.

5. Pour the mixture into the bun cases and pop a frozen malteaser into each. Bake for 15min. 

6. Remove from the oven and cool. 

7. For the buttercream icing whisk the butter in a bowl for what feels like eternity or 3 min. Then add the icing sugar and cocoa and whisk slow for 1 min. Finally add the vanilla and milk and whisk for another eternity. 

8. Pipe the icing onto the cupcake and top with a malteaser.