Spicy Gingerbread

Hello again...long time no blog...it feels like every blog I write these days begins with an apology for my absence, but sorry I haven't posted anything since January, but unfortunately I haven't had much time to do much baking in the last year, however recently I've been experimenting with gingerbread recipes and thought i'd squeeze a few Christmas baking blogs in before the year is out! I decided to bake some gingerbread as I've been watching cheesy TV Christmas movies and that inspired me to do some Christmas baking, then it dawned on me, that to my recollection I have never baked gingerbread, so thought I should experiment. Also the photo's for this blog were shot entirely on 35mm colour film that expired over 10 years ago, I have got into recently got into film photography so I thought why not combine my passion for baking with my passion for film photography, hence why the photo's were shot on a SLR from 1979. Hope you enjoy the recipe!!

Almost Healthy Cookies

I'm so sorry to have neglected this blog for so long! But its a new year and in 2019 I aim to post more frequently. I thought to kick off 2019 i'll start with a recipe that might suit those people who are looking to eat a bit healthier going into the new year. So I've attempted to create a recipe that is a bit healthier, by designing a fruit, oat and nut cookie! But it's still not that healthy, hence the name 'Almost Healthy Cookies!' Hope you enjoy the recipe...

Ingredients

4oz Butter
4oz Demerara Sugar
1 tbsp Golden Syrup
4oz Self Raising Flour
2oz Oats
2oz Roughly Chopped Hazelnuts
2oz Sultanas

Method

1. Firstly pre heat the oven to 180℃.
2. Next cream together the butter and the sugar, until light and fluffy.
3. Add the Golden syrup and mix in.
4. Now add the flour and the oats, once the mixture is uniform you can add the sultanas and hazelnuts.
5. Using a tea spoon, get a heaped tea spoon amount of the mixture and role into a ball in the palm of your hand. Place each ball on the baking sheet about an inch apart to allow for spreading, squish them down slightly and then place them in the oven of 12-15 minutes, depending on how soft or crunchy you like your cookies.
   
   

Enjoy!!

Pita Bread

Long time no blog... Apologies for the lack of blogs in the recent months, but with assignment deadlines and other things I have struggled to find the time to write a blog...sorry. But better late than never!

I have recently been on a trip to Israel and Palestine, and one of the many highlights of the trip, was the food, in particular the Pita bread! I enjoyed Pita bread with most of the meals I had in Israel, but this authentic Pita was far superior to any Pita bread I had ever had in the UK, so when I returned back to England I craved the soft, light and fluffy Pitas I had eaten in Israel. I therefore decided to develop a Pita recipe of my own, and here it is....

Scotch Pancakes

It's Pancake day, so for February's blog I thought I'd share my families Scotch Pancake recipe. This recipe is really simple and makes scrumptious pancakes! My favorite thing to put on pancakes is Nutella and banana but with these pancakes you can keep it as simple or as decadent as you like. Hope you have a great Pancake day and enjoy this recipe...

Christmas Pudding Cookies

IT'S CHRISTMAS!! So for this months blog I have created a Christmas themed confection. Christmas pudding double chocolate chip cookies. These indulgent cookies are perfect for baking in the week between Christmas and new years, and a tasty treat to go along with all of the other sweet Christmas delights. So here's the blog....and Merry Christmas!

S'mores Tartlets

For Octobers blog I decided to experiment with a few ideas, which resulted in the creation of the S'mores Tartlet. S'mores are a great, heart warming treat, perfect for an October's day, so I thought: Why combine a S'more and a tart, making a S'mores tartlet? This recipe combines a crisp short pastry tart case, with a rich chocolate filling and an indulgent marshmallow meringue icing, topped with a chocolate drizzle. So here is the recipe...

Dutch Apple Muffins

This months blog marks one year since my first blog, so I thought i'd be experimental, and develop a new muffin recipe. It's Autumn which means our house is full of cooking apples, picked from my Grandparents tree's, so I have incorporated the apples into the recipe by reinventing my Dutch Apple Pie into a muffin recipe. This muffin is full of autumnal flavours and perfect for a cosy September evening. So here's the recipe....

Denia, Spain

This is not the kind of blog that I would usually post and is not going to be a regular thing, but August has been a quite a busy month for me; I went to Spain for a while and have just returned from a mission trip in Romania, this has meant finding the time to bake has been quite difficult. So I thought for August's blog I would experiment with a new page that I have been thinking about creating for a while. This page I have named 'marfaloveslife', it's not going to be a page that I post regularly on but will have the occasional post which will consist of various topics other than baking. For this blog the topic will be Travel and I will share a short summary of my trip to Denia, Spain. Hope you enjoy...

Mud Cake

This months blog is a recipe that I grew up on, it's a simple recipe but very indulgent. This recipe is called 'mud cake' but I promise there is no actual mud in it, it gets it's name from the rich dark chocolate colour and flavour. A chilled slice of mud cake, straight out of the fridge is the perfect treat for a hot summers day. So here is the Recipe...

Flapjack

A good Flapjack recipe is a must have, this recipe is my mum's recipe and she's known for her flapjack. This recipe is easy to make, and creates a flapjack which is moist, sweet and decadent. We often make this recipe in our household to bring to events like buffets and cake sales but also just for sweet snack now and then. So here's the recipe for quick and easy flapjack...

Opéra Cake

Firstly I apologise for the lateness of Aprils blog, I recently had my 18th birthday so finding the time to post this blog was difficult. As I just mentioned I recently had my 18th so thought I'd share with you the cake that I made for my birthday, Opéra cake. Opéra cake or Gâteau De l'Opéra is a classic French dessert, this cake is delicate but decadent and perfect for special occasions! Opera cake consists nine intricate layers of chocolate ganache, coffee buttercream and syrup soaked sponge. Note: this recipe is for a large cake to serve around 20 people so halve the quantities if you don't want such a big cake. I have simplified the traditional recipe slightly so anyone and everyone can make it. So lets get into the recipe...

Millionaire's Shortbread

Millionaire's shortbread is one of my favourite sweet treats. Three layers of indulgence, buttery shortbread base, thick, gooey caramel topped with crisp dark chocolate and decorated in an elegant white chocolate drizzle. I have combined the best bits from all of my favourite recipes for caramel shortbread to create this recipe. So here's my recipe for the ultimate millionaire's shortbread...

Ingredients

Shortbread

• 225g Plain Flour
• 25g Self Raising Flour
• 165g Salted Butter
• 83g Caster Sugar
• Splash of Milk (about 1-2 tbsp)

Caramel

• 200g Condensed Milk
• 150g Salted Butter
• 50g Caster Sugar
• 50g Golden Syrup
  

Topping

• 200g Dark Chocolate
• 50g White Chocolate
  

Method

1. Pre heat oven to 160℃ and grease an 8" square tin. 
2. Cream together the softened butter and the caster sugar until well combined.
3. Sift in the plain flour and the S/R flour gradually until a crumbly dough forms.
4. Add the milk until the shortbread dough can be held together- make sure the dough is not too wet but still slightly crumbly.
   
5. Press the dough into the tin and bake for 15-20 minutes until slightly golden brown.
   
6. Whilst the shortbread is cooling in its tin, put all the caramel ingredients in a heavy based pan over a low-medium heat, stirring constantly until a deep, golden, caramel colour.
   
7. Pour the caramel over the shortbread whilst in the tin, level it out and leave to set in the fridge or at room temperature.
   
8. When the caramel has set, melt the dark chocolate and pour over the caramel, making sure its level and even, drizzle the melted white chocolate over the still wet dark chocolate to get a clean finish. 
   
9. Leave to set in the fridge or at room temperature.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Enjoy!

Ginger Snap Biscuits

This is my families recipe for perfect Ginger snap biscuits. This 'snappy' recipe creates a great balance of spicy ginger and sweet, buttery biscuit. These ginger biscuits are great paired with a warm hot chocolate on a cold February afternoon. So here's the recipe...

Ingredients

• 4oz Sel Raising Flour
• 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
• 2 tsp Ground Ginger (or 1 tsp if you want it less gingery)
• 2oz butter
• 2oz sugar
• 2oz golden syrup 
• pinch of salt (optional)
  

Method

1. Pre heat the oven to 180℃
2. Sieve together the self raising flour, bicarb and ginger together in a bowl, and set aside.
3. Melt together the golden syrup, sugar and butter over a low heat.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients gradually and mix together into a loose dough.
   
5.  Roll teaspoon amounts of dough into balls using floured hands and place on a greased baking tray. This recipe should make about 20-24 biscuits.
   
6. Place in the oven for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Enjoy!

Florentines

I first came across Florentines when watching the Great British Bake Off a couple of years ago, but it hasn't been until recently I started to research and experiment with recipe's. These delicate, nutty biscuits are the perfect January treat- Lacy, light and not too fattening. So here's my recipe for lacy Florentines....

Ingredients

• 55g nuts of choice -I used Almonds and Hazelnuts (Add more nuts if you want more nutty)
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 55g sugar
• 3 tbsp honey
• ½ tsp salt
• 55g plain flour
• 1 tbsp orange zest (optional)

• 50g Dark Chocolate
  
  
  

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 190℃.
2. Coarsely chop or crush with a rolling pin or use a food processor to crush the nuts into larger and smaller chunks.
3. Place the nuts, butter, sugar, honey and salt together in a saucepan and melt together on a medium heat, when the butter, sugar and honey is one uniform caramel turn the heat up to a high heat and then allow to boil for 1 minute.
   

   
4. Take off stove and sift the flour into the caramel mixture, stir vigorously until a very wet batter/ dough is formed, if you are including orange zest stir it in too.
5. Dollop teaspoon amounts of the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment- leave plenty of space for spreading. This mixture should make 24-16 florentines so 2-3 baking sheets will be needed. Bake for 6 minutes or until golden brown.
   
6. Allow the florentines to fully cool before removing them from the baking sheet.
   
7. Melt the dark chocolate over a Bain Marie or in the microwave. Drizzle the melted chocolate over one side of each Florentine, using a piping bag or just drizzle using a spoon/ fork.

Enjoy!

Cranberry and Hazelnut Biscotti

It's Christmas time, so for Decembers blog I wanted to share one of my favourite Christmas treats. This is my recipe for Cranberry and Hazelnut Biscotti, the perfect accompaniment to a hot cup of coffee or a rich hot chocolate. This recipe is based on the Biscotti from GBBO: Big book of baking, I have adapted the recipe and added my own twist in order to create this Christmas favourite!

Hazelnut Praline

• 80g hazelnuts (unblanched)
• 80g caster sugar

Biscotti

• 150g softened butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 1 egg + 1 egg yoke
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 375g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 50g dried cranberries

• 60g white chocolate (melted)

Method

1. First make the praline by melting the sugar and hazelnuts in a heavy based saucepan over a medium to low heat, avoid stirring. When the sugar is completely melted stir the sugar and hazelnuts until all the nuts are coated, then pour out onto a sheet of baking paper and leave to set. Once set, crush the praline into some larger chunks and some crumbs, in a food processor or with a rolling pin.
   
2. Preheat the oven 180°C. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Crack the egg and egg yoke into a separate bowl and whisk in the vanilla extract. Gradually add the egg mixture to the butter mixture in three separate stages beating well between each stage. 
4. Sift the flour and baking powder into butter mixture and fold together, lightly knead the biscotti dough and fold in the crushed praline and cranberries.
5. Split the dough into two separate halves, shape into two oblong loaves about 1.5-2cm thick, place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 30 minutes.
   
6. Once baked take out of the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes and put the oven down to 150°C, then using a serated knife slice each loaf into about 8-10 slices, each about 2cm thick. Place each slice back onto the lined baking tray as seen in the photo and bake for a further 20 minutes. 
   
7. When the finished biscotti is cooled drizzle melted white chocolate over one half of each biscotti (optional).
   
   
   Enjoy! And Merry Christmas!