For Christmas I was given the most amazing present - a shiny red Artisan KitchenAid! Now pride of place in my kitchen, this was my first attempt using it - a batch of delicious muffins to start the evening before heading to a New Year's Eve party.
Saturday 31 December 2011
Summer berry white chocolate muffins
For Christmas I was given the most amazing present - a shiny red Artisan KitchenAid! Now pride of place in my kitchen, this was my first attempt using it - a batch of delicious muffins to start the evening before heading to a New Year's Eve party.
Friday 23 December 2011
Chestnut chocolate truffle torte
This is my adaptation of a fantastic Delia Smith recipe which I've done several times before - this time though, I've added some chestnut purée to make it more Christmassy! It's the ultimate decadent chocolate dessert, so I'm rounding off Christmas dinner with it (accompanied by my summer fruit terrine and a spiced Christmas panna cotta).
Christmas panna cotta
This is my first attempt at making panna cotta - I've used a recipe by the Hairy Bikers which is so Christmassy I couldn't resist making it for Christmas dinner dessert to go with my summer fruit terrine.
Summer fruit terrine
OK, it's not summertime, but this is such a pretty looking dessert that I'm doing it for Christmas dinner. It's a Delia Smith recipe, which means it's foolproof!
White chocolate cranberry fudge
I love white chocolate and cranberries together (they make fantastic cookies) - and it makes very good-looking fudge for Christmas!
Chocolate orange fudge
A Terry's Chocolate Orange was always my favourite bit of a Christmas stocking - this is a fudge version for grown-ups!
Coffee liqueur fudge
For Christmas presents this year we're making fudge. It's a really easy basic recipe that just uses melted chocolate and condensed milk - we've made three flavours, adding liqueurs and different toppings and a different type of chocolate for each.
Sunday 18 December 2011
Apple and elderflower crumble pies
Our fridge was empty this morning, which always makes both me and Lu feel sad! Languishing on an otherwise empty shelf was a packet of ready-made pastry. This was a way to make it, and a slightly tired looking bag of granny smith apples, go a long way, and cheer us all up on a wintry day when everyone in our house is feeling under the weather! The pastry was enough to make 12 large muffin sized pies and 12 mini ones. A bit of spice, some elderflower cordial and the juice and zest of a clementine helped make them a bit more festive, what with Christmas only days away now. A mouthful of a mini apple pie like this can't fail to make you smile!
Saturday 10 December 2011
Blueberry citrus scones
These are my adaptation of a traditional scone recipe, using blueberries instead of raisins, a little lemon and orange zest, and a mixture of greek yoghurt and milk instead of buttermilk - the result is beautifully light, fresh and moreish! Best when split open and buttered while still warm, these are really lovely served with a dollop of greek yoghurt and a drizzle of honey - but you could of course also serve them the traditional way with jam and clotted cream.
Sunday 4 December 2011
Classic Victoria sponge cake
I made this with my nephew James for his 9th birthday today. It's his favourite cake, so we made a really big one - nine inch cake tins, 4 eggs in each - but of course this can be downsized. You really cannot beat a slice of this while still slightly warm (... but not too hot or the cream will melt out of it like an avalanche!)
Saturday 3 December 2011
Cakeapés!
Yesterday was my step-mum Jane's 60th birthday and rather than making one big cake, I decided to make a selection of mini-cakes - cakeapés, if you will! The recipes are all on here separately:
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