Check ma bunz

CHELSEA BUNS! These were fab. Little warning: if you microwave one, only do it for a few seconds because after that the sugar in the middle heats up to a devil temperature and you will burn your little greedy fingers (like I did).

Chelsea Buns (dough):

• 250ml milk
• 60g butter
• 500g white bread flour
• 1tsp salt
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of dried yeast
• 50g caster sugar
• 3 egg yolks (beaten) 

Pre-heat oven to 200c. Melt the butter and stir it into the milk, mix in the eggs and yeast. In a separate bowl mix up the flour, salt and sugar. Tip the liquidy bowl into the dry-ingredients bowl to form the dough. If it's too dry add a bit of water and if it's way too sticky add some flour (it should be quite sticky though). Then the FUN BIT - knead the dough for around half an hour, the more you go for it the better dough you'll get. When your arms get tired, pop the dough somewhere warm for an hour so it can rise. 

When the hour is up roll out your dough into a big rectangle that's about as thick as your finger. Then for the filling:

Filling:

• Dark muscovado sugar
• Raisins 
• Cinnamon 
• 60g melted butter
• Some icing sugar

Brush the dough with the melted butter then sprinkle the dark muscovado sugar and raisins all over it (be generous), sprinkle the cinnamon on top. Now roll the whole think length-ways so it looks like a giant sausage and start cutting chunky slices off it. Lay these slices next to each other (swirly side up) in a tin, sprinkle a little more cinnamon on the top of them if you fancy. Leave for another hour so they get even fatter. After this put them in the oven for about 20-25 mins. Mix the icing sugar with a bit of water and drizzle over the top. Done! Now you can eat too many and feel sick for the rest of the day.

almondy orange cake/orangey almond cake

It's bloody freezing in Paris right now so I wanted to make something a bit wintry and christmassy but I didn't have any cinnamon/ginger/clove flavours so I decided to go with orange. This cake is so good slightly warm with a cup of tea (what isn't?).

Orange and Almond Cake:

• 170g caster sugar
• 170g butter
• 170g self-raising flour
• 2 big eggs
• 40g ground almonds
• Pinch of salt
• Rind and the juice of two pretty fat oranges 
• Flaked almonds (you can miss these out)
• Some brown sugar for sprinkling (you can miss this out too)

Preheat oven to 180c. Mix the butter and sugar together until fluffy then tip in the flour, eggs, salt and ground almonds. Stir until smooth then pour the mixture into a medium sized loaf tin. Sprinkle the flaked almonds and the sugar over the top and baked for around 45 mins. Remove from oven taking care not to touch the top of the cake with your fingers as the sugar on top with get REALLY hot and burn burn burn. 

Poké-cake

Too many pommes too many many pommes

We had a giant fruit bowl full of apples and after doing 'sliced-up-apples-with-maybe-some-yogurt' for dessert everyday for a week, I decided to make a slightly more appealing Gâteau aux pommes. Here's the recipe:

Apple Cake:

• Some apples, maybe around 6ish.
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of honey
• 250g butter
• 240g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 240g flour (self-raising or if you're using plain just add some baking powder)
• A glug of milk
• 3 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of ginger

Pre-heat oven to 180c. Start by stewing your apples. Peel them, chop them (keep them quite chunky though) and throw them in a pan over a very low heat with a splash of water, a teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of honey and a tablespoon of sugar. Leave them until they're all soft and stewed-looking. 

For the cake, cream the butter and the sugar until really fluffy. Add in the eggs, flour, cinnamon, ginger and milk and mix well. Tip half of the mixture into a large cake tin and then layer the stewed apples gently over the top so they thinly covers the whole of the mixture. I used the biggest pieces and only a little bit of the juice but experiment! Tip the rest of the mixture on top and smooth it carefully over the apples. Place pieces of a non-peeled, non-stewed apple on top then stick it in the oven for around 40/50 minutes. This cake is really good when it's still a little warm and gooey from the oven, délicieux!

Just a coffee please...

This weekend I was off to the country helping out at a party. I made six cakes - lemon drizzle , orange drizzle , chocolate and orange , chocolate, coffee and walnut, and banana choc-chip. I've posted most of these recipes before (click the links!) but here are the others:

Coffee and Walnut Cake:

• 225g butter
• 225g caster sugar
• 4 big-ish eggs
• 225g self-raising flour
• Pinch of salt
• Splash of strong coffee 
• 100g chopped up walnuts (keep them chunky)

Pre-heat oven to 180c. Mix the butter and sugar together really well then add the flour, eggs, salt and coffee and stir. Fold in the walnuts then tip the mixture into a tin (I used a loaf tin) and pop in the oven for around half an hour.

Coffee Icing:

• 125g butter (softened up a bit)
• 200g icing sugar
• Splash of strong coffee
• Pinch of salt
• Some walnuts for the top

Mix the butter, sugar and salt whilst adding the coffee in small splashes until it's nice and silky and a lovely caramel (...or coffee) colour. Spread it over your cake once it's properly cool and then sprinkle the walnuts on top, ta-da!

The banana cake I made was a little too stodgy for my liking so I won't post the recipe I used but instead lead you here . My mum sent me this link so I'm going to follow these tips next time. 

My favourite banana cake recipe is always this one as it's so moist and tasty and has a kind of carrot-cake vibe to it. Although the one I made was a little dense it still tasted pretty good, also the kids had picked most of the cream-cheese topping off it before it even reached the party and it still disappeared super quick so I'll not label it a complete failure.        

It's only drizzling

Easiest cake ever but it's SO GOOD. Just substitute the lemony bits for orangey bits and you have orange drizzle cake which is also SO GOOD.

Lemon Drizzle Cake:

• 225g butter
• 225g caster sugar
• 225g self-raising flour 
• 4 eggs
• A pinch of salt
• The rind of one lemon
• The juice of one lemon (watch out for the pips)

Pre-heat oven to 180c. Mix the butter and sugar together really well until it's nice and creamy, then chuck in the rest of the ingredients. Tip it all into a loaf tin and bake for about 40 mins. For the icing just slowly add teaspoons of lemon juice to a pile of icing sugar until you have a nice consistency and drizzle it all over the cake once the cake has cooled. C'est super facile, non?

Voila. I used the wrong sugar in the cake (due to not being able to read the writing on the packets in the super market) so it was a little grainy but not a complete disaster - first cake made in a Paris kitchen!

Joyeux anniversaire bébé

Unfortunately I am missing my girlie's birthday because I am now living in Paris and am no longer just a smelly bus ride away.

Happy birthday to my classy oiseau!

Luckily the cupcakes I made her were still fresh for her birthday, probably due to some sort of wonderful birthday magic (I put them in the freezer). I made three types...

Mojito Cupcakes:

• 120g self-raising flour
• 130g caster sugar
• Pinch of baking powder
• 100ml milk (best if it's whole milk)
• 1 egg, beaten 
• 40g butter 
• 1 lime (rind and juice)
• Handful of fresh mint

Pre-heat your oven to 170c. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, mix in the rest of the dry ingredients. Grate the rind of the lime into the mixture and then add the juice. Slowly add the milk and egg whilst mixing until it's all lovely and smooth. Chop up your mint into really tiny bits and mix well. Put the mixture into paper cases (makes about 12ish) and bake for around 25 minutes. 

Mojito Butter Cream:

• Handful of fresh mint
• 1 lime (ring and juice)
• 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract
• 250g icing sugar
• 80g butter
• Milk

Chop up your fresh mint into really little bits (leave some sprigs for decoration if you want) and then beat everything together until really smooth and fluffy. Use the milk in little splashes until you get a nice consistency. Pipe/spread the icing over your cupcakes and you're done!

Next were the...

Marshmallow (vanilla) Cupcakes: 

• 120g self-raising flour
• 130g caster sugar
• Pinch of baking powder
• 120ml milk (best if it's whole milk)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 40g butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 170c. Cream the butter and sugar together until nice and fluffy. Add in the dry ingredients and mix. Beat together the egg, milk and vanilla and add it into the mixture splash by splash, mixing all the way. Spoon into around 12 paper cases and bake for 20 minutes or so.

Marshmallow Butter Cream:

• 170g butter
• 280g icing sugar
• 1 whole jar of marshmallow fluff (this is the sweetest icing ever)
• Teensy drop of vanilla essence 
• Glace cherries to decorate

Mix the butter and sugar together and then add the fluff and mix for agessssss until nice and smooth. Pipe onto your cupcakes and pop a cherry on top.

And finally (these were my favourite)... 

Lemon and Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes:

• 120g self-raising flour 
• 130g caster sugar
• Pinch of baking powder
• 100ml milk (best if it's whole milk)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 40g butter
• 1 lemon, rind and juice
• 2 handfuls of fresh strawberries 

Pre-heat oven to 170c. Mix butter and sugar until nice and fluffy. Chuck in dry ingredients and then add the lemon, milk and egg and mix well. Chop up your strawberries (keep them quite chunky) and gently fold into the mixture. Spoon into paper cases (about 12ish) and bake for 25 minutes.

Lemon Butter Cream:

• 250g icing sugar
• 80g butter
• 1 lemon (just the juice)
• Milk
• Something cute to decorate them with 

Mix everything together really well until light and fluffy, use the milk in little splashes to get the right consistency. Spread onto the cupcakes (once they have cooled) and decorate however you want!

Voila! Three different types of cupcakes, happy birthday Faye!