bakingwithgab – Page 8 – Baking with Gab

Coconut macaroons and ease

These little morsels are the easiest of easies. They’re also super delicious. Which is why I chose to make them while I’m still getting used to my oven. As you can see, they browned pretty darn quickly, but I tend to like my macaroons on the toastier side anyway. It gives them a wonderfully crunchy shell, which contrasts beautifully with the sweet, squidgy inside. Continue reading “Coconut macaroons and ease”

Bakewell cupcakes and English food

Recently I spoke about discovering the deliciousness that is an Eton Mess. There were many things in my year of living in England that stuck out, and I’m just realising that waaaay too many of them are food-related. Yorkshire puddings? Possibly the simplest of all of my food discoveries, but so satisfying. Yorkies – the label says they’re not for girls, but I ate so many of those chocolate bars! I visited tea shops and bakeries and bought ridiculously cheap 12 packs of doughnuts from Asda more frequently than I’d care to admit.

I relished in the healthy things too – proper Sunday roasts, complete with boiled cabbage (which I LOVE) and brussels sprouts with Christmas dinner. Continue reading “Bakewell cupcakes and English food”

Lemon lavender bundt and elegance

I have a thing about bundts. I’m not even trying to be funny. I think bundts are gorgeous. I don’t even mind that they’re un-iced, which is unusual, because I am a big fan of buttercream! There is something about the shape of them that just screams elegance to me – the lines are so beautiful, so precise. To complement the beautiful form of bundts, I went with classic, elegant flavours, lemon and lavender.

The sharpness of the citrus works beautifully with the softness of the lavender. The Boy was not a big fan of the lavender, he much preferred the batter before the dried lav was added . If your intended audience is as critical as The Boy is, simply omit the lavender, this recipe works beautifully as a lemon bundt. Continue reading “Lemon lavender bundt and elegance”

Eton mess and birthdays

This humble little dessert is my way of getting excited about the long weekend coming up. I love that Australia gets the Queen’s birthday as a holiday, even though England don’t. The best way I could think of to celebrate her birthday long weekend was to make one of the most English desserts I could think of.

It has a special place in my heart because I hadn’t heard of Eton Mess before I lived in England. I was excitedly informed about this delicious dessert, only to find out that it’s pretty much a deconstructed pavlova. That’s not to say I was disappointed though! I was thousands of miles from home and the pub close to where I was staying prided themselves on their Eton Mess – it was like having a little taste of home close by. Continue reading “Eton mess and birthdays”

Cashew, Cobs & caramel fudge and texture

If you haven’t noticed already, I get kind of excited about food. I love putting unexpected flavours together (basil and chocolate, anyone?), I love putting a twist into classic recipes, and I’m really loving playing around with textures to avoid the sameness that can creep into an indulgence like fudge.

Don’t get me wrong, I ADORE simple, speedy fudge. I would have eaten my Nutella fudge all by myself if my siblings hadn’t found out about it. And the peanut butter fudge? I basically did eat that all by myself!

But this fudge is different. It’s kind of grown up. I’d venture so far as to say that it’s a little bit classy!

The smoothness of the chocolate fudge is gorgeous. It’s rich and suave. If this fudge was a person, it would probably be Richard Branson.

The addition of the jersey caramels, Cobs popcorn and the cashews. Make it brilliant, crunchy and a little bit nuts.

Probably still like Richard Branson…

I was a little worried about posting this recipe, because I thought that it was kind of ugly. It’s bumpy and chunky and not as pretty as the recipes I usually post. But the response to the preview photo I posted yesterday on Facebook was fabulous. I love that you guys see beauty in this chunky little delight.

Personally, I think that the alliteration of these three additives (as well as the taste) makes them the best. No matter what combination of ingredients is in the bite that you take, I promise it will be glorious.

Cobbs, cashew and caramel fudge

400g dark chocolate
395g tin sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp thickened cream
½ cup cashews
¾ cup jersey caramels, roughly chopped
1 cup Cobs salted caramel popcorn

Grease a 20cm square tin and line it with baking paper. You only need to grease it very lightly, just so that the baking paper has something to adhere to.

Chop up your caramels. Try not to chop them too finely, they’re beautiful when they’re big and chunky. Leave your cashews and salted caramel popcorn whole. Set these to one side.

Pop your chocolate and sweetened condense milk into a saucepan over a low heat. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Don’t worry if you can’t get the mixture completely smooth, a few little chunks of chocolate won’t make any difference to the finished product. Add in the thickened cream to give it a glossy sheen.

Take the chocolate mixture off the heat and stir in your caramels, cashews and Cobbs popcorn. Working as quickly as you can, distribute them evenly throughout the mixture, making sure everything is covered in the chocolate fudge. Pour into your prepared pan and smooth it down as best you can. Don’t bother making it perfect, there’s something to be said for delicious, ugly imperfection. refrigerate for at least an hour.

That’s it! Sit back and snack on any popcorn or caramels that you’ve got left over.

Remove from the fridge ten minutes before you want to serve it and slice into small squares. It’s super rich, so you only need a mouthful or two!

The great thing is, you can substitute the additives with anything – make a marshmallow, choc-popcorn and walnut fudge. Or M&M, jaffa and white choc chip fudge. There are so many great possibilities.

Choc chip slice and change

I usually dislike change. I like adventures, but I am all for stability. Which is why moving has kind of thrown me off a little bit. Not having access to internet, for example, has resulted in very few posts recently. Not having access to a camera (I used to use my dad’s) means that even I do bake, I can’t show you. Not having an entirely set up kitchen yet means that my baking has slowed.

To top all of this off, the beautiful rustic table that I bought for our dining room didn’t fit through our door (insert crying face here), so we’re borrowing one from my brother’s generous girlfriend (who has been coming up lots recently!)

All of these things are different to what I am used to!!

What I do like about change though, is that it is a catalyst for experimentation. Lacking a cake tin, I opted to go back to my parent’s house and use their kitchen and camera. I was also equipped with their fabulous house warming present to the Boy and I, the Country Women’s Association Cook Book. Aren’t parents fantastic? Continue reading “Choc chip slice and change”

Moving and lacking

Hello dear readers.

This is a bit of an unusual post (namely because there is no recipe involved) so I’ll keep it short. Lacking is the theme of my life at the moment, but it’s going well. It’s an adventure!

I haven’t been posting any recipes lately because The Boy and I have moved out. I talked about it in my last post, so check that out if you haven’t already.

Our kitchen is a bit of a shambles – I barely have enough room in our little apartment for all of my props and baking tins!! The Boy has imposed strict conditions on how much of our place will be dominated by blog stuff (95% of the space is reasonable, right?), so I’m currently trying to jam all of my teapots into our linen cupboard.

I don’t know how long it will be before I manage to get the next recipe up, but I promise that I’m trying to get the place in order as quickly as possible so that I can get recipes on the blog. We also have no internet, which would kind of getting in the way of blogging if I was doing it.

In the meantime, keep an eye on my Instagram feed. That is just about the only thing in my life that is thriving right now. You can take bets on how many days it takes for us to get our dining table up three flights of stairs (we’re on day five of no table at the moment) and see various photos where I perch my tea cups on things that are not tables.

There is a distinct lack of Norman, I must admit. That won’t be for long though, I’m going home to visit the handsome man next week.

For now, this photo of chocolate and vanilla cupcakes will have to keep you satiated. They were the first things I baked in my new kitchen (!) and they were for a charity event at work. It’s going to take a bit to get used to the oven, but they turned out okay! I couldn’t help but sing “chocolate and vanilla, swirl, swirl” as I was making them.

I hope some of you are Orange is the New Black fans!

Looking forward to regular internet and regular baking adventures!

Chocolate raspberry muffins and familiarity

Chocolate and raspberries are such a familiar combination. One of those things that I always fall back to when I need a fail-proof result. The sweet and tart notes of the raspberries, mixed with the sophistication of the dark chocolate turn out perfect, comforting little bites of homely muffins.

I always have raspberries in my freezer. They’re an easy way to jazz up a dessert, they’re a great addition to a smoothie, and I happily munch on them straight from the freezer sometimes. Actually, the reason I whipped up this recipe was because I needed to finish off my freezer stockpile. Continue reading “Chocolate raspberry muffins and familiarity”

Roasted cauliflower soup and immunity boosters

I mentioned in my last post that my brother’s girlfriend wasn’t well. She’s starting to get better, and I kind of want to claim her recovery.

I made her super muffins (packed with antioxidants and vitamin C) and this soup, which only contains ingredients aimed at boosting the immune system. There are no sugar or dairy products in here, just hearty vegetables and delicious spices. I hate to get all informative, but I so rarely post “healthy” things that I get excited when there are actual benefits (other than deliciousness) to my recipes.

Cauliflower, the star ingredient, is packed full of vitamin C to aid your recovery. It makes up the bulk of the soup, and the gentle roasting gives it a beautiful taste. Cauliflower is also anti-inflammatory. Continue reading “Roasted cauliflower soup and immunity boosters”

Blueberry cranberry muffins and colds

It’s probably not hard to see that I love cooking. One of the things that I love about cooking is the sharing aspect. I love nothing more than foisting food upon my loved ones. So when somebody that I love is unwell, I turn to food for the solution.

My brother’s girlfriend currently has a terrible cold, so I made her an immunity-boosting soup and these muffins.

They’re packed full of blueberries and cranberries, which have antioxidants, vitamin C by the bucket load.

Lemon zest is great for eradicating toxins in the body. I realise that the sugar is probably counteracting the eradication slightly, but when you’re sick you need comfort food. We can’t be good all the time, right?

You’re doing your body a favour by eating one of these little muffins. Go on, make a batch.

Blueberry cranberry muffins

Makes 24

1 cup frozen blueberries
¾ cup dried cranberries
2 tbsp water
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
100g butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
2 ½ tsp bicarb

Topping:

1 tbsp lemon zest, grated
1/3 cup sugar

Put ½ a cup of the blueberries and ¼ cup of the cranberries into a small saucepan with the water and one tablespoon of the sugar. Heat the mixture over a low-medium heat, stirring constantly and squishing the berries as you go. Keep on the heat for 5-8 minutes, until the water has mostly evaporated and you’re left with a small amount of syrup. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool. If you want a berry pulp, grab a fork and mash the berries further – I kept lots of whole large chunks in mine, but you can make them whatever consistency you like.

Cream together your butter and sugar, then add in the vanilla and eggs. Mix well. Mix in the bicarb, then gently fold in the remaining blueberries and cranberries so that their colour doesn’t bleed into the mixture.

Mix together your sugar and lemon zest for the topping. Set this to one side.

Spoon into cupcake cases, then top with 1 tsp of your blueberry cranberry mixture, then sprinkle a generous teaspoon of the lemon sugar topping over the mixture. When the sugar topping bakes, it should caramelise slightly to create a satisfyingly crunchy coating for the top of the muffin.