Winter Wonderland, London

 

This is me at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park.

I had an amazing mulled Kopparberg cider at the Nordic Bar and also a traditional German sausage with mustard at one of the market stalls.

Sausage Rolls at Christmas

 

I got taught how to make sausage rolls by a close family friend when I was young, and making them is now a Christmas tradition.

 

I use ready rolled shop bought puff pastry and good quality sausage meat.

Lie three long sausage strips across the pastry and cut along the pasty, leaving room either side of the sausage.

Brush egg along one side and fold the pastry strip over the sausage. Use a fork to crimp along the edge to seal the pastry.

Then cut into individual rolls and make a slit in the top of each roll.

Brush the tops with egg and transfer onto a lined baking tray.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes in a hot oven.

 

Gingerbread Biscuits

 

I baked gingerbread men and stars to give as Christmas gifts.

350g plain flour

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

2tsp ground ginger

1tsp cinnamon

125g butter

175g dark brown sugar

1 egg

4tbsp golden syrup

 

Sieve all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Then add the remaining ingredients and mix until combined and forms a dough. Chill for 30 minutes and preheat oven to 180C/gas 4.

Roll the dough fairly thick and cut out shapes.

Place on a lined baking tray and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until dark brown.

 

I left mine to cool then decorated them with a simple icing sugar and water icing.

 

Chocolate and Pistachio Biscotti

I used Stacie Stewart's recipe for biscotti to make for my friends as part of their Christmas presents.

The picture below is after its first baking.

 

 

Then the dough gets cut into strips and baked again at a lower temperature.

Great recipe, my strips were quite thick so were more like a brownie texture.

 

Nut Fudge Brownies

Great brownie recipe from Stacie Stewart's Stacie Bakes cookbook. Really moist.



Best Hot Chocolate Ever

I had the best hot chocolate I've ever had the other day at Cocoba, Bluewater.

 

I had a cinnamon hot chocolate, and my friends had a ginger hot chocolate and a mint cold chocolate.

 

All served with a delicious chocolate truffle.

Happy Halloween!

 



 

Pumpkin Cake

 

150g butter

300g caster sugar

3 eggs

240g self raising flour

225g grated pumpkin

1tsp mixed spice

100g raisins

 

pumpkin seeds

caster sugar

icing sugar

orange juice

 

Preheat the oven to gas 4. Cream the butter and sugar.
Add the remaining cake ingredients and mix well.
Bake for 45 minutes.

 

Sprinkle pumpkin seeds with sugar and bake on a tray for 10 minutes. Add a few drops of orange juice to a small bowlful of icing sugar. Spread onto the cooled cake and add the seeds.

 

 

Soda Bread

This is my first attempt at soda bread.

 

170g plain flour

170g self raising whole wheat flour

1/2tsp salt

1/2tsp bicarb

 1/2 pint warm milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice

Combine all ingredients with a fork. Turn onto a baking tray, score, sprinkle with oats and bake for thirty minutes at 200C/gas 6.

Gluten Free Orange Cake

This recipe came from my cousin's mother in law. She's Australian and cooked it for me when I went out there with oranges from her garden.

2 oranges

250g sugar

250g ground almonds

5 eggs

Boil the oranges for thirty minutes, then blitz. Whisk the sugar and eggs together then add the almonds and the orange pulp. Bake for an hour at 200C/gas 6.

This time I just topped the cake off with chopped chocolate.

Broadstairs Food Festival, Kent

Here is a selection of the delicious baked goods at last weekends Broadstairs Food Festival.

 

I had a hog roast roll, crepe, falafel wrap, Viennese finger and a blackberry cider over the weekend. All were delicious!

The Hidden Hut, Porthcurnick Beach, Cornwall

 

Heard good things about this place, really want to go. The Hidden Hut cafe on the south coast of Cornwall serving lunch and occasional Feast Nights!

Ibiza Cocktails

Here's a selection of cocktails I enjoyed in Ibiza, June this summer.

 

Cafe Mambo..

 

 

 Cafe de la mer..

 

 

Ocean Beach Club..

 

Tuna Steak @ Bentleys Bar and Grill, Margate

 

Really tasty tuna steak with hot wasabi dressing.

Great cocktails at Bentleys too.



Birthday Cake

Thought I'd share this lovely birthday my friend Rachel made for her mum.

Pecan Bourbon and Cinnamon Buns

 

I made these from Stacie Stewart's new cookbook, Stacie Bakes. Great recipe, I didn't have enough pecans so added a few walnuts.

Here's me getting my book signed at The Cake and Bake Show in London...

 

 

Bellini @ Rickus, Margate

Wicked Bellini at new, Eastern European restaurant and cocktail bar in Margate.

Bourbons!

250g brown flour

125g unsalted butter

125g light muscovado sugar

2tbsp golden syrup

50g cocoa powder

1tsp bicarb of soda

3tbsp milk

  

1 egg white

60g light muscovado sugar

125g butter

25g cocoa powder

 

Blend all the biscuit ingredients in a processor. Roll out and mark bourbon shapes. Chill for 30 minutes. Bake at 180C/gas 4 for 25 minutes. Leave to cool.

For the frosting/Swiss meringue, whisk the egg white and sugar over heat until the sugars melted. Then whisk off the heat until thickened and add remaining ingredients. Fill the biscuits.

Pizza @ The Great British Pizza Co., Margate

Delicious, crispy parma ham and rocket pizza at GB pizza, Margate.

Fig and Cheese Bagels

I got this recipe from The Great British Bake Off Showstoppers book.

The original recipe was for fig, walnut and gruyere bagels. The walnuts and gruyere was meant to be drizzled on top after they baked. I didn't have any gruyere so just sprinkled on cheddar when they came out of the oven.

The recipe made twelve, so I froze most them.

They still taste great defrosted.

Patty and Bun, St James Square, London

Amazing, juicy 'Jose Jose' Chilli Burger in a brioche bun, coupled with chips with rosemary salt.

Get there before 12 if you want a seat for lunch.

Incredible.

Paella @ Cafe Mauresque, Canterbury

Lovely seafood paella at Cafe Mauresque.

Located down one of the side roads from the Cathedral, serving Moroccan/Spanish food.

Tea Cakes

I made these Tea Cakes from The Great British Bake Off Showstoppers cookbook, Mary Berry's recipe.

Here's the marshmellow thats inside..

 



Pulled Pork and Slaw @ The Greedy Cow, Margate

This pulled pork sandwich was amazing.

Wicked place in the middle of Margate's Old Town.

EDF Zingy Cupcakes

I love the cute EDF Zingy on all the adverts.

I made mini vanilla cupcakes then covered them in orange fondant icing and decorated. 

This Blog

I'm 23 years old and love baking. I hope to open a cake shop in Cornwall. Here's what I bake and eat.