Honey and cranberry loaf and baking adventures

butterThis loaf came about a little bit by accident. I had delicious candles that I was given by Cate from Queen B candles and I wanted to use them to complement something that I’d baked. The candles have this faint smell of honey when you light them, so I thought I’d make something honey-based.

(Queen B also writes a blog, it’s lovely to meet fellow bloggers! And Cate’s beautiful beeswax candles can be purchased at http://www.queenb.com.au/)

I’d already posted a recipe for honey jumbles (and they were delicious, check them out here), so that was out of the question. I’d also done honey tea cakes, so I was at a bit of a loss for what to bake. Browsing Pinterest for inspiration, I found this delectable looking bread, which  inspired me to come up with my own! Continue reading “Honey and cranberry loaf and baking adventures”

Home made sprinkles and excitement

glassI can’t believe I’ve not posted this recipe sooner. I was so excited about these sprinkles when I made them – I Instagrammed them, I gave people a sneak peak on Facebook, and I used them as soon as physically possible on my caramel doughnut cake.

And then I just forgot to share them with you!! My apologies, dear readers.

I can’t take credit for the idea (as much as I would love to!)…I got the idea from Pinterest, which directed me to I Am Baker, who had a tutorial up for home made sprinkles. I modified the recipe slightly to suit me – and they are so easy!! Continue reading “Home made sprinkles and excitement”

Scale apron giveaway ends soon!

Norman giveawayHello fellow bakers!

No recipe in this post – just a reminder that my scale apron competition closes at 5pm Sydney time today! Norman has taken a serious liking to it, he would have entered by now if he could! All you have to do to be in the running to win is like Baking with Gab on Facebook, like the most recent post and then email bakingwithgab@gmail.com with the subject “Scale Apron Giveaway” – that’s it!

The apron was donated to me for the giveaway by Ria from Zambella Gifts and Homewares – check out her shop, she has some lovely items!

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Jam Sandwich biscuits and simplicity

close upI love how effective these biccies are, and they’re only a little bit more work than a simple jam drop. They’re soft and jam-filled and delightful with an afternoon tea. The ruby red of the jam and the blackness of my tea look just gorgeous together and the sweetness of the biccies complements a strong black cuppa. I hosted a mini tea party for myself to celebrate the beauty of these biscuits – I’m not even ashamed to admit it!

They would suit an Alice in Wonderland themed tea party perfectly, so I think I’m going to have to hold another Mad Hatter’s Party like the one I did a few months ago (have you seen it? Check it out here!)

biteJam sandwich biscuits

  • 2 1/4 cups plain flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 225g butter, diced
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 1/4 cup strawberry jam
  • Icing sugar, to dust

doughPlace the flour and sugar together in a bowl and mix. Add in the cubes of butter and mix until large crumbs form. Add in the egg yolks and then the vanilla, mixing to form a cohesive dough. To help make the dough stick together better, add in the milk, one tablespoon at a time. You may not need all of it, so add it slowly.

Generally with dough, if it’s crumbly when you’ve mixed all the ingredients in, it will be crumbly when you roll it out. Play it safe and add in a little liquid so that you don’t have crumbly jam biscuits.

squaresKnead the dough (which should know make one big ball) for one minute with your dough hook (or for about four minutes by hand) and wrap in cling wrap, then pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Whip the dough out of the fridge and roll out to about 1/2cm on a floured surface. Grab your scone/biscuit butters (I chose crimped squares and circles) and cut
out an even number of shapes.
flouredNow take a second, smaller shape cutter (I chose a love heart, but you can use any shape) and press it into the centre of half of the biscuits. Re-roll dough and repeat. At the end of the process you should have about 24 individual biscuits, which will make 12 sandwiches. I kept the mini hearts that came out of the centre of the  biscuits and topped them with plain icing and sprinkles – they were a good addition to my high tea selection!

aboveLine the biscuits up on your prepared tray (they won’t spread, so you don’t have to give them too much room, don’t worry) and bake for 12-15 minutes. Allow the biscuits to cool completely before attempting to sandwich them together – it’s easier this way and saves you from burning your fingers!

When all the biscuits have cooled, separate the solid biscuits and the biscuits with heart-shaped holes. Take the biscuits with holes in them and liberally sift icing sugar over them. Set these to one side, they’ll be your top bisctuits.

sprinklesIf you’re using a chunky jam like the Bonne Maman jam I used, mash the chunks out so that it’s smooth and can be spread thinly. Spread a teaspoon of jam over the solid biscuits (these will be the bottom biscuits), taking care to not spread it all the way to the edge. Try to spread the jam slightly thicker at the centre of the biscuit, where the heart shape will be.

tiersTake a top and a bottom biscuit and squish them together, like a sandwich. These biscuits sound a little bit fiddly, but they’re so easy…and gorgeous!

Also pictured is my Peanut Butter fudge and Nutella fudge, which are both speedy to make and dangerously delicious.

 

 

 

Raspberry cupcakes and food obsession

close upMy last post was about giving in to the gym. It’s day four of me signing up to the gym and I’ve been good so far. Except for the fact that I spend my entire life pinning, instagramming and Googling baked goods.

To say I’m obsessed is an understatement. I’m fairly sure I was dreaming about eating these cupcakes last night, because I was awoken by a sharp pain – I’d bitten the inside of my lip hard enough to draw blood!

These gorgeous little cupcakes came about by accident. I was actually trying to create cupcakes with bubblegum icing; the cupcake was supposed to be a platform to raise my glorious bubblegum icing to dizzying sugary heights.

But the icing never really made it. It didn’t taste as bubblegummy as I’ planned (don’t get me wrong, it was delicious, it just wasn’t bubblegum flavoured), but it didn’t matter, because the cupcake outshone it!!

The cupcake is light and airy. It’s delicately fruity and a little bit like eating a raspberry cloud. Or how I imagine that would taste. The icing is sweet and soft, the perfect complement to the raspberry cloud!

biteRaspberry cupcake clouds

Makes 24

  • 120g butter
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ¾ cup raspberries
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups flour
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1-2 tsp pink food colouring (optional)

Icing:

  • 50g butter
  • 50g cream cheese
  • ¼ tsp strawberry essence
  • ¼ tsp orange blossom water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups icing sugar

raspberriesPreheat your oven 180°C and grease a 12 capacity cupcake tin.

Cream your butter and sugar together until pale. Add in your raspberries and blend until smooth. This should take 1-2 minutes to eliminate all of the lumps and bumps. You can leave chunks of raspberry in if you’d like, but I prefer them all mixed in, it makes for a smoother batter.

mixAdd in the teaspoon of vanilla and then the eggs, one at a time.

Scoop your flour into the mixture and mix well, ensuring no pockets of flour remain. Add in the milk and combine.

At this point, the raspberries will have added a slight tinge of pinky-purple to the mixture, so you don’t have to add colouring. If, like me, you can’t resist a pop of colour, add in some pink food colouring!

That’s it! These cupcakes are so simple, but the result is so impressive.

lolliesSpoon the mixture into your prepared cupcake tins and bake for 16-18 minutes.

Once the cupcakes are out of the oven, allow them to cool for ten minutes. While they cool, mix the butter and cream cheese together until there are no lumps and the mixture is pale. Add in the strawberry essence, orange blossom water and vanilla, followed by the icing sugar. Keep blending until all are combined and smooth.

sceneDecorate using a piping bag, or just spoon it onto your cupcakes and smooth with a knife. I added little chewy lollies to the top of mine, but don’t worry if you don’t have any they’re sweet enough without them!

Serve with a strong black cuppa to balance out all of that sugar.

Enjoy!

Nutella fudge and gym memberships

stackBaking with Gab is slowly killing me with buttery, sugary kindness. It’s a good thing!! I’m not complaining, I’ll happily take the ridiculous sugar highs with the lows, and the cravings as simply being a part of the blog. I love baking and I love the satisfaction of creating something delicious and beautiful out of raw ingredients.

It just means that I need to go back to the gym.

I don’t always bake things that are ridiculously bad for you, but I’m not going to pretend that they’re all calorie free. They’re baked and delicious and that’s all I care about! I haven’t been in a gym for about two years, but I figure that Baking With Gab is going to be a long-term thing, so I need to start looking after my body a bit more. I’m  having a seven day trial, and then most likely signing up.  Continue reading “Nutella fudge and gym memberships”

Doughnut cakes and delicious sprinkles

side viewI’ve got a thing for doughnuts at the moment. It’s coming into Summer here, and I think I just love the idea of a cinnamon doughnut on hot days. I’m always disappointed with the quality of bakery doughnuts – why don’t they ever taste like they did when I was younger?

I’ve started to wonder whether my standards were lower on my childhood, or whether doughnuts actually did just taste better. I made mini jam doughnut cupcakes recently, which satisfied my desire for crunchy, cinnamon sweetness, but Sunday afternoon calls for something a little bit special. This cake is moist and cinnamony and really sticky! I recommend cutting it with a sharp, thin knife so that your icing doesn’t cling to the knife too much! Continue reading “Doughnut cakes and delicious sprinkles”

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes and Tea Parties

skyI felt like it had been a while since I’d held a tea party, so I set about fixing that today. I had a beautiful table runner that I’ve been wanting to use, and I didn’t just want to use it in any old run-of-the-mill photo shoot. I received the runner from Ria from Zambella Gifts, and she’s so passionate about her beautiful linen that I couldn’t help but get excited about it too. The runner has the recipe of a chocolate cupcake on it written in a beautiful script, so it didn’t take much for me to be in love with it! (Ps. You can buy Ria’s linen here.)

Ria is currently offering my readers a free gift with purchase (I’m not sure what, it’s a surprise!) just enter “Baking with Gab”into the comments section when you checkout…get shopping!

This recipe is a cupcake version of the rich chocolate cake that I posted here – the sheer amount of cocoa and the addition of milk and coffee make it decadent and dense, but smooth at the same time. Continue reading “Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes and Tea Parties”

Quick set Peanut Butter fudge

biteIt wasn’t until last year that I came to realise how fantastic Peanut Butter was. I spent years hating the consistency of it, the way it stuck in my mouth even after I’d finished eating it. All those years, wasted!

I don’t know what made me change my mind, I can’t pinpoint it, I just know that I have seen the error of my ways, and plan to eat my weight in these Peanut Butter fudge squares to make up for years of lost Peanut Butter eating. Continue reading “Quick set Peanut Butter fudge”

Honey jumbles and celebrating food

closeI’ve had one of those weeks that really inspire you to love food. I had fabulous breakfast with a friend (which I couldn’t help myself but Instagram, check it out!), I reminisced about chocolate milkshakes, I watched my mother darling throw together an amazing meal to entertain a crowd and I had an unexpectedly delicious meal last night in Newtown.

I feel as though there are times in your life where you’re more appreciative of food than others. And seeing as I’m in this deliriously food-focussed mood, I picked out a jar of honey I’ve had sitting in my pantry for months and decided to make the most of it. Continue reading “Honey jumbles and celebrating food”