This recipe is not one of my own, it was a gift from a friend- the ingredients and baking instructions all put into a Kilner jar. All except the eggs. It looked lovely in the jar and I didn’t make this for some time as I just liked looking at all the colours in it.

Although this is a bit like cheating just wanted to post it to show that baking can be really easy and done by anyone. Plus this way you don’t need to go out and buy all those different ingredients that may just sit in a cupboard for years until the next time…

Ingredients
Scarlet Bakes Belgian White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookie Mix
1 Large egg
75g butter

Method
1. Beat the butter until soft
2. Beat the egg in a separate bowl, then stir to combine.
3. Add all the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
4. Place teaspoons of mixture on greased baking tray. Make sure they are well spaced.
5. Bake for 12-14 minutes in a pre-heated oven.
6. Leave to cool on the tray (if you can resist) and then enjoy.

Ingredients in the cookie mix if you want to make from scratch:
Flour, Sodium bicarbonate, white chocolate, light brown sugar, Demerara sugar, cranberries, vanilla sugar, salt.

This recipe is one I have taken from my mums book of recipes, one that we often made as children, I remember always having great fun smashing up the biscuits with a rolling pin- perfect for anger management or getting out any stresses you may have!

One of the great things about this recipe (apart from it being really yummy) is that it doesn’t require using the oven. It’s relatively quick and easy, the only waiting is while it’s in the fridge. So go on, give it a try…

Ingredients
4oz Butter
1 dessertspoon brown sugar
3 dessertspoons cocoa powder
3oz raisins or sultanas
2 tablespoons golden syrup
8oz Rich Tea biscuits

Additional ingredients: Chopped walnuts, coconut, cherries

Method
1. Melt and mix together all the ingredients, except the biscuits, in a saucepan.
2. Crush the biscuits (this is where you get out the rolling pin! Put the biscuits in a bag before hitting them however).
3. Add the crushed biscuits to the mixture.
4. Once fully mixed place into a Swiss roll tin and press down.
5. Leave to harden (in the fridge).
6. Later turn out and cover with melted chocolate.

I actually adapted this slightly and poured on the melted chocolate before placing in the fridge to harden. Both ways work equally well, it’s up to personal preference.

I’ve not made this for a really long time and after recently having Yorkshire puddings with my Nana, it gave me a real craving for more lovely batter! There are lots of slightly different ways to make the batter, for me the key is to get as much air in it as possible, so get those wrists strengthened!

Some people like to use lemonade or beer to create more air, some people (my Nana) like to stand outside and beat it to get as much air in as possible. I used Soda Water for this recipe, so as not to get any taste as you would from beer or lemonade. I don’t measure how much flour/milk/soda water I put in, I just go with how it feels, when you are beating it it doesn’t want to be too stiff.

I made this for my housemates and it got demolished very quickly. I was pleased with how it turned out as our oven can be a little temperamental, so it’s often hard with the timings. Just keep an eye on it, if it’s starting to brown on top but still raw in the middle, turn down the heat on the oven.

Ingredients
Plain Flour
2 eggs
Semi skimmed Milk
Soda Water
8 Sausages
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Rosemary
Thyme

Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Once it’s up to temperature place the sausages in a overproof dish with some olive oil in the oven.
2. While they are cooking, mix up the batter. Mix together the salt and flour together.
3. Crack the eggs into a well in the flour and mix.

4. Add in some milk and soda water and beat, continually adding more liquid until runny.
5. Beat the mixture until you have lots of little bubbles.

6. Take out the sausages after about 10-15mins and pour the batter mix over them, so that they are about 3/4 covered.
7. Sprinkle with herbs; I use Rosemary and Thyme, and season with a little salt and pepper.
8. Cook for approx 30mins. To check if the batter is cooked put a knife into the mix and if it comes out clean its cooked.
9. Once cooked serve with onion gravy and enjoy.

Yes playdough!
I know you can’t eat this so you may wonder why I’ve put this on my food blog, but it is made in a very similar way to a lot of food recipes, and is a handy little thing to know how to make if you ever have children over to stay or have your own.

And why was I making playdough you ask? Well for Science- my science lesson at school our homework was to make playdough. Sounds like hard work going back to Uni doesn’t it?

This recipe is one given to me by the tutors at the University and worked quite well. I added glitter to some of mine, and as well as colouring also flavourings. To the green one I added peppermint and green glitter, which went down the best in my class. To the black one I also added rice- to give it a slightly different texture.

Ingredients
Your will need:
1/2 cup of salt
1 cup of plain flour
1 tablespoon of cream of tartar (Cream of Tartar is a natural powdered
raising agent for use in scones, drop scones, soda bread and a wide
range of other recipes)
1 tablespoon of oil
I cup of boiling water (from the kettle) mixed with
some food colouring

Method
1. Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and then mix vigorously with the hot water.
2. Continue stirring until mixed thoroughly.
3. Turn out of the bowl and play!
4. To store put into little plastic sandwich bags or wrap in cling film.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 4,300 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 7 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

I started off well after the first episode inspired by the upside down cakes. I’d never actually made an upside down cake before, and now I’m not really sure why- they are really quite simple! And no fiddly icing or after decorations to deal with.

My first attempt was a classic- the pineapple upside down cake. This went down really well, and a couple of days later I make a mango upside down cake, which again, barely had any crumbs left over. I really like having the butter/sugar combo on the top as it keeps it lovely and moist.

Sadly my SLR camera was out of action that week, so my only photographs are from my iPhone.

Ingredients
Tinned Pineapple
50g Brown Sugar
50g Butter for the topping
100g Butter for the cake
100g Caster Sugar
100g Self- raising flour
2 eggs
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Vanilla essence
Glacé cherries

Method
1. Mix together the butter and brown sugar, then line the base and sides on the tin with the mixture.
2. Arrange pineapple rings and cherries on the base of the tin.
3. Place flour, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla essence and baking powder into a bowl and mix. Also add 2 tbsp of the pineapple juice and beat until it has a creamy consistency.
4. Pour mixture into the tin on top of the pineapple.
5. Bake for 35 mins on 180C/ Gas 4.
6. Leave to stand for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a plate.

This recipe was from the BBC Good Food website.

My first attempt at making an apple strudel.
I have a cooking apple tree in my back garden, and although I love apple crumble I wanted to make something different with them.
I had some ready-made puff pastry in the fridge and it seemed only right to give a go at making strudel.
Most recipes use filo pastry, but this actually worked quite well, although I would like to give my next attempt a go with filo to see the difference.

Ingredients
Apples
Caster Sugar
Lemon Juice
Ready Made puff pastry
Sultanas
Cinnamon

Method
1. Slice the apples and place in a bowl with sugar, lemon juice, sultanas and cinnamon. Stir and leave to the juices to soak into the apples.
2. Lay out the puff pastry so that it is in a rectangular shape.
3. Place the apple mix down one side of the pastry, and fold over the other side to get a long oblong shape.
4. Brush the top with the remaining sugar/cinnamon mix.
5. Bake in the oven for about 30-35 mins at 180C or until golden brown and crispy.
6. Serve with cream or custard.

A little long overdue- this was actually made for a summer BBQ- which as you can all see has now long gone!
This was my first attempt at trifle making, it was a request from one of my friends. Took me quite a while to make as I would complete one layer and leave it half a day- so it felt like it dragged on a little bit! But you do need time for the layers to set.

Ingredients

Sponge Fingers
Strawberry jelly
Fresh Strawberries
Double cream
Custard

Method

1. Place a layer of sponge fingers into the bottom of a dish.
2. Top with a layer of sliced fresh strawberries. Pour over the top some strawberry jelly once cooled slightly and leave to set in the fridge.
3. Next is the custard- you could make your own, but I cheated and used an instant packet. Mix up and poor over the set jelly.
4. To whip the cream, place in a bowl and using an electric mixer whip until stiff.
5. Spread this over the set custard and decorate to you liking.

I’ve really enjoyed that past couple of weeks, being at some of the venues and also watching the Olympics on the TV. London really has done us proud and everyone’s mood has been lifted. I’m not sure what I will do with myself while waiting for the Paralympics (oh yes, maybe some baking!). Last weekend in the spirit of the Games and to support Team GB I baked these Olympic inspired cupcakes, with a white chocolate and raspberry filling.

Ingredients

1 Egg
4oz self-raising flour
4oz butter
4oz caster sugar
vanilla essence
punnet of raspberries
100g white chocolate
pinch of salt
splash of milk
Icing Sugar
Butter for the icing

Method

1. Cream together the butter and sugar.
2. Add the egg and mix together. Gradually add the flour, stirring continuously.
3. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence and a pinch of salt. If needed add a little milk to the mixture.
4. Chop the chocolate, not too finely so that you get nice chunks. Quarter the raspberries and add both to the cake mix.

5. Spoon into the cake cases to about 3/4 full.
6. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for about 15 mins or until golden brown.
7. Once cooked remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
8. Make the buttercream icing and add a little melted white chocolate to flavour, and decorate.

This post doesn’t have a recipe sadly as my friend Hannah made these and it’s a secret recipe. She did tell me the ingredients however- dark chocolate, sugar, butter and a bit of flour.
They tasted amazing- so rich and this size of pot was almost too much. They had the perfect consistency, light and spongy on the outside, and oozing melted chocolate in the middle. I may have to steal the recipe from her when she’s sleeping…