Sunday 1 June 2014

Sorry for the HUGE delay!

Good evening!

I am currently on a train (first class, by the way! It was cheaper than a standard ticket for some reason) back to Carlisle after an amazing half-term at home. A few days ago I realised how long it's been since I posted anything to this blog, and I apologise for that! With placement and half term, I haven't had chance to make many interesting things, but even once a week I will try my best to make something worth posting.

Or, if I don't manage to do that, I might find a recipe online that grabs my attention and post it here, so I can still give you some inspiration. Whatever it is though, I will attempt to post more regularly.

Sorry again, and thanks for waiting!
Emily xx

Friday 16 May 2014

Cheesy Potato and Sausage Casserole

Hello, and apologies for the long break between posts! The past two weeks have been so busy with placement preparation and the last few assignments of the year. But now I'm back with a brand new recipe for you! This will show you how to make cheesy potato and sausage casserole (with a few extra bits). There are slightly more ingredients in this than usual, but it's still cheap and easy!




What I used:

  • 2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled
  • 3 sausages
  • 4 tbsp plain flour
  • 4 tbsp butter (I used Flora light)
  • 200 ml milk
  • Pinch of salt and pepper or herbs
  • A generous sprinkle of grated cheese
  • Cheese sauce (optional)
  • Sweetcorn (optional)

What I did:

  • Cut the potatoes and raw sausages into small chunks. It might be easier to use a serrated knife to do this, or a very sharp one (unlike mine. I've used it so much it's gone blunt.) 
  • Boil the potatoes on a medium-high heat for about 15 minutes. While the potatoes boil, heat some oil or frylight and fry the sausages until they just begin to turn brown. 
  • When the potatoes and the sausages are done, transfer them to a glass roasting dish. Gently toss them about to mix, add the flour, salt, pepper and butter and mix again. (The butter isn't absolutely essential.) At this point I added sweetcorn too.
  • Measure out the milk and pour into the bowl, making sure it forms an even layer. I don't particularly like milk so I was a bit worried about this bit, but once cooked it disappears and makes the casserole nice and creamy!
  • If you want to use cheese sauce to make the recipe extra creamy and cheesy, then make the sauce as normal and pour evenly over the top. I didn't use it on mine as I thought the milk would make it creamy enough for me!
  • Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. After this, take out of the oven and remove the foil. Add the grated cheese, sprinkle with pepper or herbs and put back in the oven for an extra 5 minutes or so until the cheese has melted. 



So there you have it... an easy, creamy casserole for everyone! As with a lot of the recipes I post, this can be altered and experimented with according to your own tastes. You could add veggies such as onion, pepper, etc. Or try it with a different meat like fish, bacon or chicken. You could even swap the milk for stock (vegetable, beef, whatever takes your fancy) and see how that turns out! Have fun with it, make it your own and make sure to tell me how it works - I'd love to hear from you!

Tweet a picture to @minimcwitch
Or email minimcwitch@gmail.com







Monday 5 May 2014

Yoghurt-Coated Chicken Chunks

For as long as I can remember, chicken nuggets have been a massive part of my life. I have been, and always be, obsessed with them. But this time, instead of buying them from a shop, I decided to make my own! These yoghurt-coated chicken chunks are amazing with homemade chips, mash, roast potatoes... anything that takes your fancy. 


Looks like chicken from a takeaway... but a LOT healthier!!

What I used:
I forgot to measure out the ingredients, so they are very rough... I just used what I thought looked the right
amount, and added bits where I needed to!


  • 3 mini chicken breasts (3 was slightly too much, so I'd probably use 2 next time)
  • Paxo natural breadcrumbs
  • A sprinkle of mixed herbs and salt
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • Natural Greek-style yoghurt
  • A drizzle of Flora vegetable oil
  • Small amounts of margerine


What I did:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and prepare the ingredients.
  2. Prepare a glass roasting dish with a drizzle of oil.
  3. Cut the chicken breasts into rough chunks.
  4. Pour enough yoghurt into a bowl to coat all of the chicken. Stir the yoghurt until it is smooth and creamy, then add in the lemon juice and stir. 
  5. Pour the breadcrumbs into a separate bowl. Add enough herbs and salt to taste.
  6. Pick up each piece of chicken, either with your fingers or with tongs, and coat it in yoghurt. Make sure all of it is covered, but make sure it's not drowned in it - just enough for the breadcrumbs to stick!
  7. Transfer the yoghurt-coated chicken into the bowl of breadcrumbs and roll it about to get it completely covered.
  8. Place the coated chicken into the glass roasting dish. Repeat until all the chicken is covered. 
  9. Cover the dish loosely with foil and put it in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove, turn the chicken over and cook for a further 20 minutes until golden brown and crispy. 
  10. Remove from the oven and serve! 

You could serve this chicken with a lot of different things to make the meal that you fancy... pasta and cheese or tomato sauce, mashed potatoes, roast potatoes... you could even make your own chips and make it feel like you're eating a healthier takeaway! There are so many options, so have fun with it and experiment to make the perfect meal for you!

Friday 2 May 2014

Yoghurt & Honey-Drizzled Granola

Good afternoon! It's a warm and sunny day here, and I've been getting into the habit of trying to eat healthily again. For today's afternoon snack, I wanted to avoid the chocolate and go for something better. So I played around with a few ingredients, and concocted an amazing mix of vanilla yoghurt and honey-drizzled granola. It can be made for a snack, for breakfast or a dessert!


What I used: 

  • Fat-free vanilla yoghurt
  • Asda Hawaiian Crunch Cereal - oat clusters with banana chips, raisins, dried pineapple, coconut, papaya and sunflower seeds
  • Clear set honey
  • Lemon juice
  • Raisins


First, I poured some yoghurt into a bowl and drizzled about 2 teaspoons of lemon juice into it. Next time I make this, I would add more lemon juice because it didn't affect the taste of the yoghurt much. I then poured some granola onto the yoghurt and drizzled it with honey. I love raisins, so I sprinkled some extra ones onto the top. 

And that's it! It takes about 2 minutes to prepare, and is perfect for any time of the day.

I hope this gives you some ideas about how to eat a healthier snack or breakfast. And remember, you can experiment with the ingredients you like to make your own healthy snacks!


_______________________________________________________________________


I've had a few ideas...

I have a question for you... I've had a few ideas about where to go with this blog, and new types of posts I can write to fill the gaps when I'm not cooking anything worth posting. I've been doing research on things like different types of food, healthy eating and lifestyle. So I thought about transferring this research to my blog to share it with you. These are my ideas...

  • Records of the food I eat, over a certain amount of days
  • Tips, e.g. how to save money on food shopping, how to make unhealthy food healthier, etc.
  • Health benefits of particular foods
  • Things that aren't necessarily all about cooking, but do involve the food you eat. For example, how to be happy and stay positive. 

These kinds of things are the posts I've read online myself, and really inspired me. All I want to do is inspire you in the same way. So, what do you think?


Tuesday 29 April 2014

Almost at 1000!

We're almost at the next milestone... 1000 page views! I am so pleased that this blog has taken off well, and that I've had this many views on just 15 posts!


It's so close to the 500 views milestone just a couple of weeks back, so thank you, and I hope you keep coming back for more!!

Emily xx

Monday 28 April 2014

Pizza Wraps!

I discovered this a while ago and since then, I haven't stopped making them. The name is self-explanatory really... it's a pizza in a wrap! You can add anything you want into them, and eat them on their own or with a side (like chips) so they're perfect for any meal. Plus, they only take about 10 minutes to make!



What you need:
  • A wrap - I use large ones so I can fit everything onto it
  • Tomato puree
  • A sprinkling of cheese - depends on how much you like
  • Preferred fillings

Step 1: Chuck everything on!




Preheat the oven to about 200°C.

Lay the wrap on a big plate to stop all the fillings falling everywhere. Alternatively, use a baking tray, as you'll need that later on anyway.

Start by squeezing a blog of tomato puree into the centre of the wrap and spreading it all over. As you can see, I didn't go right to the edges on mine - I put everything fairly central so it was easier to wrap.

Sprinkle the cheese onto the passata, and top that with any fillings you have. I tend to put half the cheese down first, then most of the toppings with the rest of the cheese. It all melts together that way!






Step 2: It's pizza origami time...


Carefully fold two sides of the wrap in towards each other, so it looks like this. This is where you need to start controlling the ingredients, or it could get very messy... trust me, it's happened far too many times!

The two sides should stay down fairly well, because the ingredients will stick to each other. If not, the next fold will stop them coming apart. It's like pizza-wrap origami!



~ Top Tip ~ 
If you find that the folds aren't sticking too well, try using a few blobs of tomato puree as glue!








Fold the bottom of the wrap over the top of the two folds you just did, so it looks like this. It should reach to about the middle of the wrap, leaving room for the top half to fold over next.

You're almost done!










Finally, fold the top of the wrap to meet the bottom fold. Use some tomato puree glue to stick the wrap together, as this part won't have much filling on it. If it's not sticking very well and keeps wanting to pop back up again, carefully pick up the wrap and flip it over so that the opening is on the bottom.

Transfer the wrap to a baking tray and put it in the oven for 5 minutes. The wrap should feel crispy when you tap it gently with a fork. If it doesn't feel crispy enough, put it back in for 2-minute intervals until it browns and crisps up. If you have master-wrap-flipping skill, you could try turning it over and toasting the other side for a few minutes!







So there you have it... a pizza wrap. Very easy, quick, cheap and you can eat it for any meal. Perfect student food! I made mine with homemade crispy potatoes... another little recipe for those coming soon!

Thank you for reading, and I hope I've made you hungry...

Sunday 20 April 2014

Back to Uni Soon...

Good afternoon!

Since being home for two weeks, I haven't done any of my own cooking (being home is always a good excuse to have everything done for you, *wink wink*) so I haven't had much content for the blog... but I'm back to uni life tomorrow so there will be plenty more to post! 

Thank you for being patient, and Happy Easter!

Thursday 10 April 2014

Sausage & Sweetcorn Pasta Bake

As a uni student, one of the quickest and easiest things to cook with is pasta. But it gets a bit boring sometimes, so making it into a pasta bake is the perfect way to make pasta interesting! There are so many things to add into the recipe, but I made mine with sausage and sweetcorn. Two of the biggest requests from my survey are more blog-style chatty posts, and more meal recipes. So this will hopefully cover both of them!


Pasta bake just isn't the same without the amazing cheesy topping!

What I used... 
These are very rough ingredients as I tend to measure by how much I fancy eating...

  • Penne pasta - I measure it by pouring the right amount into the bowl I'll serve it in. Remember to pour a bit less into the bowl than you'd like, because it roughly doubles in size when it's boiled!
  • Approx 4 tbsp sweetcorn
  • 3 sausages (And I'm not afraid to say that yes, I used Asda Smart Price sausages... they worked fine!)
  • Enough passata to mix into the pasta well (usually comes in a carton, with the consistency of smooth tinned tomatoes, like soup! See the photo below)
  • A handful of grated cheese



When I got all of the ingredients together, I preheated the oven to 180°C. I placed my three frozen sausages on a baking tray which I covered in foil first, to stop it getting too greasy from the sausages. The sausages took about 30 minutes to cook, so I began preparing the pasta after about 15 minutes.


I poured the pasta into a saucepan and covered it with hot water from the kettle. I then set the pan on the hob at a high heat and sprinkled some salt into the water - salt water boils at a lower temperature so the pasta cooks slightly quicker. Don't add too much though - I did once, and my pasta tasted salty. Not nice, unless you aim for salty pasta.

To test when the pasta is cooked, stick a fork into it to see if it feels soft. If you still can't tell, eat a bit. It might be briefly horrible if it's still a bit hard, but it's the best way to tell!




I cut slits through the middle of each sausage to let
the fat escape


When the sausages were cooked and the pasta was near-enough done, I took the sausages out of the oven. I used a fork and a sharp knife to cut them into rough chunks.

I used a colander to drain the pasta and tipped it back into the saucepan when drained. I then turned the hob down to a low heat, placed the pan back on and poured in about a quarter of the carton of passata onto the pasta. I used a spoon to mix it all together, added the sausage chunks and sweetcorn and mixed them in.

When it was all nicely mixed, I poured the mixture into a glass roasting dish ready to go in the oven (still left on from the sausages).









I made sure the pasta was spread evenly in the dish and sprinkled the grated cheese on top.

The time to leave it in the oven for depends on how melty you want the cheese, and how crispy you want the surface of the pasta to be. I like mine very melty and very crispy and brown, so I put the dish in the oven for about 20 minutes. There is no need to cover the dish with foil because it will melt and crisp up better without it.

After 20 minutes, the pasta was ready to serve! I made enough for 2 portions so I left half to cool and ate it for lunch the next day. Forward planning as a uni student is always good.






Pasta bake is so easy to make and is a great alternative to simple pasta. You could add more vegetables, different meat such as chicken or mince (bolognese pasta bake is amazing!), fish such as tuna or salmon, cheese sauce instead of tomato... the list is endless! Experiment and have fun!

Sunday 6 April 2014

Shortbread for Vegans!

Right at the start of the blog, I posted a recipe for shortbread. This is the same recipe, but this time the butter has been substituted for a vegan-friendly version. This was made by Twitter user @Dont_ask_why, who followed my recipe and changed bits. Thank you for sending the photo and visiting my blog! 


As this recipe has already been posted, I won't post it again. For the original recipe, click here

For the vegan-friendly recipe, the butter was substituted for coconut oil with a 1:1 ratio (use the same amount of coconut oil as you would butter). It's as simple as that... one substituted ingredient! Also, to add something different to the shortbread, some cinnamon sugar was sprinkled on the top. 

So, this just goes to show that there are always different options to experiment with recipes and make them your own. If you have made or experimented with a  recipe that worked well, please email a photo and a description to minimcwitch@gmail.com or tweet it to @minimcwitch, and I will feature them on the blog. Thank you!

Friday 4 April 2014

THANK YOU!

Emily's Cooking Club has reached 500 views... and sailed right past it!!


I know compared to a lot of blogs it's not a massive achievement, but for me it is. Especially that I've only had the blog for less than a month, and really just started it to keep all my recipes and ideas together. Thank you for visiting and reading, and a lot of thank yous to people who keep coming back! I must be doing something well :D 

Emily xxx



Thursday 3 April 2014

Early Easter Cakes!

Hello everyone! It's been a few days since the last post, and I'm in the mood to take a break from assignments and post another recipe! I know it's a couple of weeks until Easter, but I finish uni for a 2-week break tomorrow and I'm in the mood to post a recipe for cute Easter cakes! This recipe is extremely easy and makes about 12 good-sized cakes.


Little Easter cakes... perfect for gifts (or keep them all for yourself)



What you need:
An easy way to remember this recipe is by the numbers '4442', and you'll see why...
Mix those ingredients!!

  • 100g/4oz butter (softened)
  • 100g/4oz caster sugar
  • 100g/4oz self raising flour
  • 2 eggs
...such an easy recipe to remember for the future!

For the buttercream:
  • 140g/5oz butter (softened)
  • 280g/10oz icing sugar
  • 1-2 tbsp milk
  • few drops of food colouring (optional - I didn't use any)
What to do...
  1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas 4.
  2. Mix together the butter and caster sugar until smooth and creamy.
  3. Add the flour and egg, and mix. I usually add a bit of each at a time; I add a little flour, then an egg, and mix together. Then I add the other egg and the rest of the flour and mix that. By mixing in less flour at once, it's slightly less messy!
  4. Distribute the creamy mixture into 12 cake cases (or a few more if needed).
  5. Bake the cakes for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
  6. When cakes are baked, take them out of the oven and leave them to cool on a wire cooling rack. Make sure they are completely cool before adding buttercream.
To decorate...

Mix together the ingredients for the butter cream until smooth and creamy. This is the chance to add anything into it, like food colouring... I like to add sprinkles into the buttercream sometimes too! 

"Look at me, I'm cuter than all the rest..."
I used a teaspoon to blob the buttercream onto the top of each cake. You could use a piping bag to make cute swirls and patterns on the cakes, but I decided to go for the 'blob' approach instead. I then added 2 little mini eggs onto each cake and sprinkled it with some pink and white decorative balls to finish it off. 

This recipe is so easy to make and doesn't take long at all. Plus, you can have fun with the decorating! You could change the decoration and add chocolate chunks, edible decorations such as butterflies, or non-edible decorations such as fluffy yellow Easter chicks! I'll be making some more Easter cakes when I'm at home next week, so make sure I post a photo of how to use the cute little chick decorations.

Have fun, and thank you for reading! Also, if you've got a free two minutes, please fill out this very short survey to help me improve the blog in the future! :)


Saturday 29 March 2014

Just a Quick Survey

I have created a short survey that I would be really grateful if you could fill out... it's about the layout and content of the blog, and your comments will help me a lot when improving the blog in the future! Thank you :)

You can find the survey HERE.

White Fish and Potato Bake

Welcome back to the Cooking Club! Today I'll be trying out a different style of post, with a lot more photos but less of a solid recipe to follow. For tonight's meal, I decided to make baked white fish, topped with thinly sliced potatoes and melted cheese. It tastes amazing, and it's healthy too! I made this just to serve 1, but you could increase the ingredients depending on how many you're cooking for.


Thinly sliced potatoes with melted cheese and herbs... and there's fish under there somewhere too


What I used:
  • 3 baby potatoes (unpeeled)
  • 2 medium-sized fish fillets (frozen)
  • Salt and mixed herbs to taste (you could use pepper instead of herbs)
  • A little grated cheese (the amount you use just comes down to personal preference)

What I did:




First of all, I prepared everything I needed. I preheated the oven to 200 degrees, grated the cheese and put it back in the fridge until I needed it. 

I then sliced my potatoes with a sharp knife to make sure they were cut nice and thin (see the picture to the left). I left the skins on the potatoes, because once cooked, they go all crispy around the edge. (Plus, they contain a lot of nutrients, like iron and potassium, that you wouldn't get if you peeled them!)



Next, I drizzled about a tablespoon of oil into a glass roasting dish. I then placed my two frozen fish fillets into the dish. I decided not to cook them first because they might have gone a bit mushy after the full cooking time. Also, I didn't defrost them first. I left them frozen, so the excess water meant that they remained more moist after being cooked, instead of drying out. The fish fillets looked quite big when they were still frozen, but they did shrink quite a bit whilst being cooked, which made them a perfect size. 




I then spread the potato pieces all over the surface of the fish fillets, making sure every space was filled. I had more potatoes left over after covering the fish, so I slotted them into gaps and let them slip down the sides so that the fish was covered. 

After the potatoes were evenly spread, I sprinkled them with salt and herbs, and a little bit of the cheese. I then covered the dish loosely with tin foil.

When everything was how I wanted it, I put the dish in the oven for 20 minutes to bake.





After 20 minutes, I took the dish out of the oven to check it. To check if the fish was cooking, I stuck a fork into the top of it between the potatoes. By this time, it should feel soft, but still not quite cooked. I sprinkled on the rest of the cheese, covered it back up with the foil and put it in the oven for another 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes was up, took the foil off the dish and put it back in the oven for a few extra minutes - 10 minutes max - for the cheese and potatoes to crisp up. Then it was ready to serve!!



The finished dish:


I used a large slotted spoon to transfer the fish and potato bake to my plate. I completed the dish by serving it (to myself!) with sweetcorn, which went really well with the fish, and added a little bit of sweetness. 

Overall, this turned out really well! I based this recipe on a YouTube video I saw when I was trying to get some cooking inspiration. The video was for an Italian dish using a similar base, but added ingredients like onions, tomatoes and rocket leaves. If you'd like a dish like this but with more vegetables, then you could go and watch that video for more inspiration!

Thank you for reading this post and visiting my blog. I hope I can come back with more inspiration for you very soon!

Monday 24 March 2014

Cathy Cassidy: Dreamcatcher Blog-zine

One of my favourite authors Cathy Cassidy shared my scone recipe on her blog-zine, Dreamcatcher! It's a pleasure to be featured on the blog and I'm really grateful. Thank you Cathy!

See Cathy's post here!

Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate truffles are heaven for the ultimate chocoholic. They are so easy to make (and even easier to eat them all). They can be covered and flovoured with a lot of different things, which makes them perfect for little birthday, Christmas or Easter presents! This recipe will make approx 30 truffles.

Finished truffles, covered with cocoa powder and presented in tiny cake cases!


You will need:

  • 300g / 10½oz chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 30g/1oz unsalted butter
  • 250ml double cream
  • pinch of salt
  • Cocoa powder, icing sugar, chopped nuts, coconut, etc. to cover the truffles
  • Optional: flavourings such as mint, orange or lemon. This can be done using zest of the fruit, or bottles of food flavourings. 
Method:
  1. Bring a little water to a simmer in a saucepan. Put the chopped chocolate and butter in a large bowl and set it over the simmering water. (Make sure the bowl doesn't touch the top of the water). Stir the mixture until it is melted and looks glossy.
  2. Heat the cream in a separate saucepan until it is almost boiling. Don't let it reach boiling point so it bubbles, but just under boiling point.
  3. Pour the hot cream over the melted chocolate and mix together until smooth and combined well. Stir in a pinch of salt.
  4. Line a roasting tin with greaseproof paper and pour in the chocolate mixture. Set aside for a while to cool, then chill in the fridge for a couple of hours to set.
  5. Once the mixture has cooled and set, prepare the different ingredients to cover the truffles, such as the icing sugar and nuts. 
  6. Roll out the chilled chocolate mixture into small balls using your hands. Roll the ball in your chosen ingredient until the truffle is completely coated. (This is the messy bit!)
  7. Place the finished truffles onto a tray or plate and chill until ready to serve.
Finished truffles, not yet coated with cocoa powder


This recipe is very easy, and the majority of the preparation is leaving the truffles to cool and set. But they're worth the wait! I covered mine with cocoa powder, and didn't flavour them with anything. However, you could try coming up with your own combinations... mint and nut? Orange and cocoa powder? Lemon and icing sugar? You decide! They're so versatile, so you could a little selection box as a special gift for someone! 

Have fun experimenting, and if you do give them a go, I would love to see photos!

Saturday 22 March 2014

Update!

Hello!! This is my first post that isn't food related, but it's just a quick update. 

I've changed the name of my blog to Emily's Cooking Club instead of Cake Club. I've made a lot of food in uni that I'd like to share as well as cakes, so I thought I'd make this more of a general food blog. I've got quite a few recipes lined up to share, like chocolate truffles and cottage pie... so keep a look out for those!

I'd be really grateful if you read a post on my blog to give it a quick share on Google+ if you have it (you can do that by clicking the Share button at the top of the blog), or sharing the link on Twitter, Facebook etc. by clicking on the little buttons below. Thank you!

Fabulous Flapjacks

I fancied making flapjacks for a while, but never realised how easy the recipe was! With just a few ingredients and a bit of patience, these flapjacks are simple but amazing. I made plain golden syrup flapjacks, but they are very versatile with plenty of different variations. 


My flapjacks, cut and cooled. Very popular with my flatmates.

You will need:

  • 250g porridge oats
  • 125g butter
  • 125g sugar (recipes suggest brown sugar, but I used normal white sugar)
  • 2-3 tbsp golden syrup (depending on how dry or moist you want them)

Method:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C/Gas 4. Grease a baking tin with butter.
  2. Place the golden syrup and butter into a saucepan on medium heat and leave until the butter has melted. Stir well to mix the melted butter and syrup.
  3. Add the sugar to the mixture and heat gently until it has dissolved. Stir the mixture again.
  4. Add in the porridge oats and stir it all together until the oats are covered with the syrup mixture. The oats should stick together and become harder to stir. 
  5. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin and spread it evenly with the back of a spoon or spatula. Make sure the surface is nice and flat. 
  6. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. The flapjack will be slightly soft when you remove it from the oven, and harden when cooled. 
  7. Place the tin on a cooling rack and cut the flapjack into squares, rectangles... whatever shape takes your fancy! Leave in the tin to cool and turn out onto the cooling rack. Store the flapjacks in an airtight container such as a plastic food box.
Try adding mixed fruit to your flapjacks!
Photo credit: lickyouownbowl


These flapjacks worked out really well and were popular with my flatmates... as I didn't have a box available, I stored them overnight on a plate wrapped with cling film and they were still good. Next time I make these, I will probably add more golden syrup as I would have liked them to be a bit more gooey. I might also try adding mixed fruit or chocolate. Overall though, these were easy and fun to make, and don't take long at all.

As I said above, flapjacks are very versatile. You could try adding mixed fruit, chocolate chips, drizzles of chocolate on the surface, nuts, spices such as ginger, caramel... the list goes on! BBC Good Food has a long list of variations for you to try out.

Saturday 15 March 2014

Easy Shortbread

With only three essential ingredients, this is another very easy recipe to make. Perfect for handmade gifts or just for snacking, they look good, smell great and taste even better! This recipe will make about 20-24 shortbread.

Looks, smells and tastes amazing.

You will need:

125g/4oz butter
55g/2oz caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
180g/6oz plain flour

Method:

  1. Heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Lightly grease a baking tray.
  2. Beat the butter and the sugar together until smooth.
  3. Stir in the flour to get a smooth paste. Turn on to a work surface and gently roll out until the paste is 1cm/½in thick.
  4. Cut into rounds or fingers (I made fingers) and place onto a baking tray. Sprinkle with caster sugar and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
  5. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until pale golden-brown. Set aside to cool on a wire rack.

Original recipe from BBC Good Food



I loved making this recipe so much that I made it twice in the space of about three days. As you can see on the photos, I cut my fingers slightly too wide and they spread in the oven. They were more like squares than fingers, but it didn't change them at all... still amazing! I noticed that they browned very quickly, so be careful to check them often when they are baking. 


As an alternative, you could try making these with chocolate chips or chunks. I used some spare chocolate, cut it into rough chunks, and pressed that into the mix. Also, you could try decorating the top of the shortbread with icing, chocolate drizzles, or anything that takes your fancy! A quick recipe with only three ingredients... what's not to love?

Simple Scones

These scones look, smell and taste amazing, yet they are extremely easy to make. This recipe makes plain scones, however you could try adding cheese or fruit to make variations. 

These were my scones just out of the oven

You will need:

225g/8oz self raising flour
pinch of salt
55g/2oz butter
25g/1oz caster sugar (I used granulated sugar but it works the same)
150ml/5fl oz milk
1 egg, beaten, to glaze (alternatively use milk - I did!)

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
  2. Mix together flour and salt. Rub in the butter (cover butter with flour and rub between your fingers until you make a breadcrumb-like texture)
  3. Stir in the sugar and add the milk to make a soft dough.
  4. Turn onto a floured work surface and lightly knead. Pat or roll out the dough to about 2cm thick.
  5. Use a 5cm/2in cutter to cut out the scones. Knead leftover mixture together, pat out and press shapes again until all the mixture has been used up. (I had a little left at the end so I made it into a tiny tester scone... a good way to use leftover dough!)
  6. Brush each scone with beaten egg or milk. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until risen golden brown.
  7. Take out to cool and serve with butter and jam, or maybe clotted cream.
Perfect with butter and jam!

The preparation took me about 20 minutes (but that's because I forgot to wash some of the things I needed and kept forgetting to get the right things from the fridge), but it should take about 10 minutes when you are fully prepared! So altogether, the recipe takes about 30 minutes at the most to prepare and bake. 

It's fast, it's cheap and it's very easy to make. I would definitely recommend this recipe for anyone to have a go at, as I can't even think of anything I would change next time.

If you decide to make them, I hope you have fun!