Baking Bar

Dairy Free Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

2013-06-19T16:47:00.001+01:00

Chocolate and hazelnut are two flavours which work so well together but instead of developing a recipe for a normal cake we decided to write a dairy free recipe using Alpro hazelnut milk. The hazelnut milk contains no dairy so is completely lactose free, and of course has a wonderful nutty flavour. We had tried the Alpro almond milk which also works with this recipe but if you want a deeper nuttier flavour use the hazelnut milk.

The Ingredients:
The Cake:
345g NEILL'S®Plain Flour
180g Dairy Free Margarine / Butter
330ml Alpro Hazelnut or Almond Milk
300g Caster Sugar
3 Eggs
3 tsp Baking Powder
3 tsp Vanilla Extract/Essence
0.5tsp Salt

The Chocolate Topping and Filling:

250g Icing Sugar
55g Dairy Free Margarine / Butter
60ml Alpro Hazelnut or Almond Milk
90g Cocoa Powder
0.5tsp Vanilla Extract

Recommended Equipment:
Food Mixer (Recommended Bosch MUM46A1)
Le Creuset 9x9inch Square Cake Tin / 2 x 20cm round cake tins
Joseph Joseph Nest9 Bowls

The How-To:

Preheat oven to 180c.

Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Mix in the vanilla extract.

In a large bowl sieve the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Mix the Alpro milk into the creamed butter sugar mixture alternating with the flour until all ingredients are combined.

Pour the cake batter into a prepared cake tin.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 40-50 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. 30-35 mins if using two 20cm round cake tins.

Allow the cakes to rest for 10 mins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cake is cooling we can make the topping / filling.

In a large bowl cream the butter until smooth.

Sieve the icing sugar and cocoa powder into the bowl.

Using a spatula work the icing sugar and cocoa powder into the softened butter. Dont worry if it is lumpy we will mix those out later.

Add the vanilla extract.

Using an electric mixer beat the mixture while adding the Alpro milk 1tbsp at a time until you reach the desired spreading consistency.

Once the cake is completely cool cover in the chocolate frosting. If making 2 x 20cm cakes you can use the frosting to sandwich the two cakes together.

You're Done!

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Peanut Butter Bundt Cake

2013-06-08T20:00:00.001+01:00

Recently we have been writing a lot more recipes for bundt cakes. These use to be exclusively seen in the USA however they are quickly gaining popularity in the UK and beyond. The main reason we favor bundt cakes for some of our recipes is that you get a lot more servings out of a bundt cake compared to a traditional round cake. We have written this recipe for a peanut butter bundt cake as we have received lots of requests recently for more peanut butter recipes. So this should keep you very happy indeed. This moist cake can either be topped with peanut butter frosting or drizzled with melted chocolate, both methods are just as delicious.

The Ingredients:

The Cake:
225g Butter
400g Caster Sugar
200g Light Brown Sugar
130g Peanut Butter
5 Eggs
375g NEILL'S® Plain Flour
250ml Milk (Half Fat or Full Fat)
1tbsp Vanilla Extract
0.5tsp Baking Powder
0.25tsp Bicarbonate Soda
0.5tsp Salt

The Peanut Butter Frosting:
100g Butter
260g Peanut Butter
250g Icing Sugar
5-6tbsp Milk

Recommended Equipment:
Food Mixer (Recommended Bosch MUM46A1)
Non Stick Bundt Cake Pan
Joseph Joseph Nest9 Bowls

The How-To:

Preheat oven to 160c.

Cream the butter, caster sugar and brown sugar together until smooth.

Beat in the peanut butter.

Beat in the eggs one at a time until well combined.

Beat in the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl sieve the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate soda and salt.

Beat this into the creamed sugar mixture alternating it with the milk until all ingredients are added to the cake batter.

Pour into a prepared bundt cake tin (or 2-3 traditional round cake tins).

Bake in the centre of the oven for 60 mins and then check every 5 mins until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 15 mins in the cake tin before turning out to cool completely on a wire rack.

When the cake is cool we can start making the frosting.

Beat the butter and peanut butter together until smooth.

Using a spatula or wooden spoon slowly combine the icing sugar with the creamed butter.

Once combined you can turn on the mixer again to beat it until smooth.

Add 1tbsp of milk at a time until you achieve a consistency to spread over the cake. I found that 5tbsp was the perfect amount.

Decorate however you wish. I added some grated dark chocolate.

You're Done!

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Strawberry Yoghurt Cake

2013-06-03T18:57:00.002+01:00

This is a wonderful light and tasty cake perfect for picnics or enjoying on a summers day. We love making this cake in a bundt cake tin as it makes a far bigger cake which you will get a lot of servings out of. If you dont have one of these you can use two normal.

The Ingredients:

The Cake:

440g NEILL'S® Plain Flour
6 Eggs (whites and yolks seperated)
400g Caster Sugar
260g Butter
260g Strawberry Yoghurt
1tsp Bicarbonate Soda
0.25tsp Salt

The Icing:
100g Icing Sugar
3tbsp Warm Water
A drop of red food colouring
0.5tsp Strawberry Flavouring

Recommended Equipment:
Food Mixer (Recommended Bosch MUM46A1)
Non Stick Bundt Cake Pan
Joseph Joseph Nest9 Bowls

The How-To:

Preheat oven to 170c.

Cream the butter and 300g of the sugar (keep the other 100g of the sugar aside for later) until smooth.

Beat in the egg yolks (leave the egg whites aside for later) one at a time until well combined.

Remove the cake mix from the mixer bowl and place into another large bowl, set this aside.

Ensure the mixer bowl and attachment are washed well and add the egg whites to the bowl.

Beat the egg whites on medium/high speed until soft peaks form.

Slowly add the remaining 100g of sugar to the egg whites and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

Set these egg whites aside for a few minutes.

In another large bowl sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

Fold the flour into the cake batter mixture until combined.

Fold the strawberry yoghurt into the cake batter mixture until well combined.

Now fold the egg whites into the cake batter mixture but do this gently so as not to knock out too much of the air. We need this to make the cake nice and light.

Pour the cake batter mixture into the greased bundt tin and ensure it is spread evenly around the edges.

Place in the middle of the preheated oven and bake for 50-55 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 10-15 mins before attempting to turn out. Leave to cool on a wire cooling rack.

Once cool you can decorate however you wish. If you are making this for a dinner party is makes a fantastic centre piece by filling the centre of the bundt cake with fresh berries and then drizzling the cake with some strawberry icing.

To make the strawberry icing simply mix all the ingredients together until smooth and drizzle over the warm cake.

You're Done!

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BakingBar Amsterdam Adventure 2013

2013-05-19T16:39:00.000+01:00

Between 20th - 24th May 2013 BakingBar will be visiting our favourite city...Amsterdam!

You can keep track of what we are up to by following our social networks.

We will be uploading all our photographs to Instagram.

We will also be uploading our Twitter and Facebook.

Banana Bread

2013-05-17T14:54:00.000+01:00

Banana bread is a firm favourite in our household and it is a lot simpler than most people think. The recipe is quick, simple and the results are just delicious! Pop the kettle on and have a slice.

The Ingredients:

120g Butter
120g Dark Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
500g Mashed Bananas
250g NEILL'S® Plain Flour
1tsp Bicarbonate Soda
0.5tsp Salt

Recommended Equipment:
Food Mixer (Recommended Bosch MUM46A1)
Silpat Non Stick Baking Sheet
Non Stick Loaf Pan
Joseph Joseph Nest9 Bowls

The How-To:

Preheat oven to 175c.

Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.

Beat in the eggs one at a time until combined.

Beat in the mashed bananas.

In a separate large bowl sieve the flour, bicarbonate soda and salt together and make a well in the centre.

Pour the banana mixture into the centre of the bowl and begin to fold together with the flour.

Mix the ingredients together only until they come together. Do not overmix.

Pour the bread mixture into the prepared loaf tin.

Bake in the centre of the oven for approx 1 hour or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Leave for 10 mins in the loaf tin to cool before turning out to cool completely on a wire rack.

It is optional but we love brushing our banana bread with some thin icing made with 5tbsp icing sugar and 1tbsp of warm water. Brush this on while the banana bread is still warm and it will be absorbed.

You're Done!

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Lemon Marmalade Scones

2013-05-15T21:13:00.000+01:00

We know how popular afternoon tea is becoming but sometimes its nice to put a slight twist on it. We spotted a new marmalade from Strawberry Fields Foods called Lemon Tea Marmalade and thought it would taste great with scones! So we have written this recipe to use with either StrawberryFields Foods marmalade or another marmalade (preferably lemon) of your choice.

The Ingredients:

360g NEILL'S®Self Raising Flour

90g Butter

40g Caster Sugar

180ml Milk

2tsp Vanilla Extract/Essence

1tsp Baking Powder

1 Beaten Egg for brushing scones

100ml Whipping Cream

Some Lemon Marmalade

Recommended Equipment for this recipe:

Food Mixer (Recommended Bosch MUM46A1)

Silpat Non Stick Baking Sheet

Roul'Pat Non Stick Worktop Sheet

Joseph Joseph Nest9 Bowls

The How-To:

Preheat oven to 200c

Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and butter to a large bowl (no need to sieve flour).

Using your hands rub these ingredients together until you get a bread crumbs consistency.

Heat the milk in a saucepan or microwave until luke warm (Do not boil).

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract/essence.

Pour the flour mixture into a food mixer and attach the dough hook.

Turn the mixer on low speed and slowly pour the milk into the centre.

Mix this together until a dough forms, do not over mix.

Flour a work surface and pour out the dough.

Sprinkle with flour, fold and turn, sprinkle with more flour. Do this 3 or 4 times until it becomes less sticky.

No need to roll out this dough, simple press down until about 1.5 inches high.

Using a cookie cutter cut out the scones and place on a baking tray. This recipe makes about 9 or 10 Scones.

**Top Tip - Dip your cookie cutter in flour before making each cut. This stops it sticking as much**

Leave some space between each scone as they do expand slightly.

Brush the top of each scone with a little beaten egg. This makes them a nice golden brown.

Try not to get any egg on the sides of the scones as this will stop them rising.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 10 mins. Remove and allow to cool.

When almost cool beat the whipping cream in the food mixer using the balloon whisk attachment for a few mins until the cream becomes stiff.

Using a knife or spatula spread a little of the cream onto the bottom half of a sliced scone and then add a little lemon marmalade on top. Gentle add the top half of the scone and press down gently.

You're Done!

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Low Fat Low Sugar Chocolate Mousse

2013-05-06T10:16:00.001+01:00

We know that Easter is just over so many of you will have lots of chocolate in your cupboards, or in our case bellies. Either way we decided that we would create a recipe for our column in Zomppa Magazine based around chocolate, a little something you can enjoy without feeling too guilty. A lot of us suffer from the problem of ‘chocolate addiction’ and we all need our chocolate fix from time to time. These delectable little chocolate mousses are the perfect accompaniment to a family meal or just a little something special to have in the fridge for those chocolate emergencies. On the other hand if you fancy making something a little more decadent use your favourite milk chocolate.

The Ingredients:

140g Good Quality Dark Chocolate

160ml Boiling Water

Half sheet of Gelatin / 0.5tsp Gelatin Powder

The How-To:

Place the gelatin in a small bowl with enough water to cover it, this allows it to 'bloom' in preparation to be used.

Either measure out 160ml of freshly boiled water or bring to the boil in a saucepan. If using the saucepan method measure the water afterwards to ensure it is still 160ml as some will boil off as you bring it to the boil.

Place the boiling water in a large bowl above another bowl of ice cold water and immediatly add the piece of gelatin (do not add the water it was soaking in).

Immediately add the good quality dark chocolate broken into small pieces into the boiling water.

As you start stirring the boiling water will quickly begin to melt the chocolate, once the chocolate begins to mix with the water you can start using an electric whisk. Wear an apron as this can be a bit splashy!

Continue to beat the chocolate mixture until there are no lumps of chocolate yet, you may need to scrape the bowls sides down a few times during mixing.

Continue to beat the chocolate until the cool water beneath the bowl begins to cool and set the chocolate, this may take 5-10 mins. You will notice the chocolate mousse change from a thin frosting type consistency to a thicker chocolate fudge consistency.

Once you reach this stage you can spoon the chocolate mousse mixture into any small serving glasses or dishes, leave the decorating until later as this may sink into the unset chocolate mousse mixture.

Place the chocolate mousses into the fridge to set, this can take 2-3 hours but is best if left overnight. These will keep in the fridge for a few days covered with a little clingfilm.

Remove from the fridge a few minutes before serving and decorate however you wish. We recommend chocolate curls.

You're Done!

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Keeping a Recipe Journal

2013-04-19T10:53:00.000+01:00

If you're like us you will always have scrap pieces of paper containing recipe notes in bags, wallets, recipe books, pockets and just about everywhere else you can imagine. Its amazing how many things you jot down to remember 'later' not realising that later often means weeks or months down the line and that is if the note doesn't get lost along the way!

We desperately set out last month to end our notes disorganisation. Being a little OCD the chaos was causing us unnecessary stress and confusion, not to mention mess.

We have always had the habit of handwriting all our recipes and articles, (even this one you're reading now!), before publishing them here and throwing away the notes. We decided action had to be taken! We're very keen writers and believe strongly in keeping the art of handwriting alive, especially in the day and age of laptops and iPads. We purchased a lovely hardback black notebook and ever since it follows us everywhere, always with at least a couple of recipes or articles in the process of being written.

After completing 20+ pages in the book we realised how wonderful it looked to have the 'original' BakingBar recipes and articles all in our notebook, what an amazing legacy to pass down!

The one compromise we never make with keeping our journal is the pen we use. You enjoy writing so much more with a pen you are comfortable writing with, its a very good investment to encourage your writing. We prefer the fountain pen as it has elegance and class as well as a quality of writing that a ballpoint pen simply cannot replicate. Are we pen snobs? We don't really care, it's whatever you feel most comfortable writing with. Our Sheaffer pens follow us everywhere which our notebook does. A top tip - when writing with a fountain pen blot your page after you finish writing before turning over to write on the back, this stops ink being passed onto other pages.

We know a lot of our readers do not necessarily own blogs or websites themselves which is why we think it is even more important and extremely useful to start keeping a recipe journal or notebook. This not only records your recipes and ideas in one place for safe keeping and easy reference but gives you a book which shows your journal and development of your baking skills as you try more complex and exciting recipes. Not to forget something to pass on to future generations to try their hand at a recipe which you maybe wrote yourself or found on our website.

In conjunction with National Stationery Week which runs from 22nd - 28th April Sheaffer has decided to run a fun competition! You can enter here for your chance to to have your handwriting analysed by a professional graphologist at Sheaffer if you are selected as one of the winners picked each week! You don't get an opportunity like that everyday!

So get practicing your handwriting in case you are picked as a winner, maybe you can send in one of your handwritten recipes if you win the handwriting analysis, encourage that graphologist to give baking a go too!

Oh and here is a exclusive! Keep tuned as we will be running a competition in the next few days to giveaway a few of our favourite recipe journals to give a few of you that extra motivation to start keeping a recipe journal.

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Easter Simnel Cake

2013-03-30T14:31:00.001Z

Simnel Cakes are traditional cakes made in Britiain and Ireland during the Easter period. The origin of this cake is quite unclear but it is believed the word 'Simnel' dates back as far as 1226. It is without doubt, as with many traditions, the cake has evolved over the years but the below recipe is based very closely on a recipe passed down three generations in my family. This cake is made, without fair every Easter that I can remember. It is therefore my pleasure to share this fantastic cake recipe with you for you to enjoy with your own family.

There are quite a lot of steps to this recipe not none of them are complicated at all so dont be put off.

The Ingredients:

500g Renshaw Golden Marzipan
175g Butter
175g Light Brown Sugar
250g NEILL'S® Plain Flour
300g Mixed Dry Fruit (Recommend Whitworths)
50g Glacé Cherries
0.5tsp Baking Powder
5 Eggs (4 for recipe and 1 more for glazing later)
1tsp Ground Cinnamon
1tsp Ground Nutmeg
0.5tsp Ground Cloves
2tsp of Jam (preferably apricot but use any jam if you dont have any)

The How-To:

Preheat oven to 150c.

Prepare an approx 20cm cake tin (the loose bottomed ones are perfect for this recipe). Use non stick cooking spray if possible as this will make release a lot easier, alternatively line the bottom with a piece of baking paper.

In a large bowl place the flour, baking powder, mixed dry fruit (we recommend Whitworths extra juicy mixed fruit, this contains raisins, sultanas, currants and mixed candied peel), glacé cherries and spices.

Mix these ingredients together until evenly combined.

In a separate bowl cream the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy.

Add this creamed mixture to the large bowl of dry ingredients.

Add the 4 eggs (not 5!, remember to keep one aside for later).

Using a wooden spoon mix these ingredients together until all ingredients are evenly combined, no need to use a mixer for this part. The cake batter will look pretty much like a fruit cake or Christmas cake at this point.

Set the cake batter aside and unwrap your marzipan. We recommend using Renshaw Golden marzipan, its just superior to other brands we've tried, used by my grandmother and her mother, why change now. Some people use white or natural marzipan, you can certainly use this but we find golden looks much better for this recipe.

Divide the marzipan into three.

Wrap up 2 of the pieces again to stop them hardening. Roll out the third piece on a non stick surface (or use a tiny bit of icing sugar to stop it sticking) until it is around the same size as your cake tin you are using. Set the cake tin on top and use a sharp knife to cut around the base to get the exact size. Carefully set this aside for a moment.

Place half of the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and smooth down. Place the round of golden marzipan on top and gently push down so that is is even.

Place the rest of the cake batter on top, again smoothing down.

We highly highly recommend you wrapping a piece of baking paper around your cake tin, this stops it from browning too quickly or burning. It also makes the cake rise evenly. Simple to make, cut a piece of baking paper the length a bit more than the circumference of your cake tin. Fold this piece of baking paper in half width wise and secure around the cake tin with either a safety pin or cocktail stick.

Carefully place your lovely cake into the lower shelf of the oven and start your timer.

Bake for approx 1hr 30 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Remove from the oven but allow to cool in the cake tin until almost cool.

Remove to a wire cooling rack to cool some more.

Unwrap your remaining two portions of golden marzipan. Roll out another round circle the same size as your cake tin, again cut this out using a sharp knife. Set this aside. Using our other portion of marzipan roll out 11 marzipan balls, these symbolize the 11 apostles minus Judas. You don't have to use all the marzipan to do this, the size of your marzipan balls is up to yourself.

We now recommend you turning your cake upside down as it gives a completely flat surface to work on. Brush the top of the cake with your jam (whether apricot or any other jam) giving it a thin layer, this is only to stick the marzipan, you don't want it sliding off.

Carefully place your round circle of marzipan on top of your cake and press down gently. Crimp the edges of the marzipan however you wish, we use the end of a wooden spoon gently pressed into the edge to give a slight ridge.

Using just a little jam stick your marzipan balls evenly around the edge of the cake.

Seperate your last egg and throw away the yolk. Brush the top of the marzipan balls and the top of the cake with a little of the egg white and place under a grill on high heat for 1-2 mins, watching constantly. You are looking for a light brown colour developing from the egg whites.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

This cake will keep for up to a week in an airtight container.

You're Done!

Happy Easter from BakingBar

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Belfast Cookery School Experience

2013-03-20T19:32:00.001Z

If you live in Northern Ireland you will most likely have heard of either the Mourne Seafood Bar or Belfast Cookery School. Having heard countless positive reviews about the cookery school we decided that we just had to try it for ourselves. We decided to opt for the ‘Steak Night’ in the cookery school schedule, being keen on ordering steaks when out in restaurants we liked the idea of being able to master cooking a steak at home for ourselves. So the date was set and we added it to our diaries!

Chef Shea Trainor giving a demonstration.

Before we talk about the actual cookery class we feel it is important to tell you a bit about the background of the Mourne Seafood Bar itself as this is in close association with the Belfast Cookery School. One of the key aspects of the Mourne Seafood Bar is that they pride themselves on locally sourced ingredients; in fact they have gone one massive step further! Their oysters’ mussels and cockles are cultivated in their very own shellfish beds in the nearby Carlingford Lough and any steak or chicken is all reared locally too. The Mourne Seafood Bar also loves to introduce its patrons to some lesser known local seafood such as gurnard, ling and John Dory, we think this is just fantastic. The Mourne Seafood Bar has two restaurants, one in the village of Dundrum at the foot of the wonderful Mourne Mountains and one in the heart of Belfast City Centre next to the cookery school. So if you’re passing by either why not pop in for a spot of lunch with a very local theme.

Now that you have a bit of background on the seafood bar we can introduce you to the cookery school itself. The cookery school was the very first purpose build cookery school in Belfast which allows you to book single classes based on what you want to learn. The school, like the seafood bar uses locally sourced ingredients from seafood to steak and chicken. The cookery school is open to all levels of experience from beginner to professional you’ll definitely pick up some top tips from the professional chefs of the Mourne Seafood Bar.

Classes at the cookery school are all taken by the professional and highly qualified chefs of the Mourne Seafood bar, Chef Wayne Carville, Chef Shea Trainor, Chef Andy Rea or Chef Franco Cutrona. For our class learning how to cook the perfect steak we had Chef Shea as our teacher. Upon arriving at the cookery class evening you are welcomed with a glass of wine as wait for your other fellow students to arrive, this gives the perfect opportunity to make acquaintances with the other people there to learn the same as yourself. Everyone is seated at two large communal tables which add to the relaxed feeling of the class. The chefs make it very clear that they do not want the evening to be stressful, it’s all about learning and fun and in our opinion you learn a lot more from a class if you are enjoying it. The cookery school has a specially designed portable workstation at the front of the classroom; here the chef will demonstrate the ingredients and method which you will use to create your very own gorgeous meal. The chefs are all very keen to demonstrate how the cookery school is at the forefront of the latest cookery technology. How can a cookery school use latest technology we hear you ask, well the cookery school uses some fascinating induction hobs. If you haven’t heard of these you’ll be wanting one in your kitchen after using them at the cookery school. Induction hobs are quite complex but work through magnetism and electrical resistance which causes the heat. It’s all quite technical but it means faster cooking a lot more energy efficient. The hob only heats in the area where the pot or pan makes contact so no wasted heat. The other magic trick which this type of hob performs is that as soon as the pot or pan is removed from the ring the process of electrical resistances ceases and the heat stops immediately meaning the ring is fairly cool to touch. Chef Shea demonstrated this in our class with a lot of ‘ooooh and ahhh’s’ from the gathered students. This makes this type of cooker a lot less likely to burn you accidentally. Each workstation is modern and well designed so everything you need to create your masterpiece is at your fingertips.

Thai Steak Salad

In the steak evening class which we attended, like all classes you make two courses. In this class we made a starter of Thai Steak Salad and a main of Sirloin Steak with Spicy Potato Wedges and Diane Sauce. First you will receive a demonstration at the front of the class and then pick a workstation for the evening. During the demonstration the chef will allow you to taste his finished dish which we found excellent in knowing how you wanted to tweak your own creation, a little more chilli, a little less etc. Here you will begin to create your wonderful meals under the guiding eye of the chef who walks throughout the class during the lesson; at no point do you feel out of your comfort zone. Once you make your starter you return to the dining tables and enjoy your meal with your fellow students and as if by magic your wine glass will be refilled, as every glass should be. Once everyone has finished their starter, there is never any rushing; you will be demonstrated on how to create the main meal. The process is exactly the same and you then sit down to enjoy your meal you have prepared yourself. You leave the class feeling accomplished in learning new skills and will undoubtedly want to show them off to your friends!

We highly recommend Belfast Cookery School whether it is for yourself or a group of friends; they even have a gift vouchers option, what a perfect surprise for someone! You can visit the Belfast Cookery School website here.

Chef Shea Trainor

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Easter Gift Guide 2013

2013-03-16T16:10:00.000Z

Due to the amazing feedback you all gave us for our Christmas and Valentine’s gift guides we have decided to do our first ever Easter gift guide. The variation of different Easter gifts is larger than ever in 2013 so we have chosen some of our favourites to share with you. We have personally tried and tested all the items which we listed so these are our personal recommendations. Artisans and chocolatiers have been busy planning their exciting 2013 Easter ranges for months so there are some incredible creations from large brand names as well as smaller family run businesses.

Charbonnel et Walker

Charbonnel et Walker is yet another long established and reputable company with members of the Royal family counting towards some of its loyal and illustrious clients. The original setting up of the business was encouraged by Edward VII himself who convinced Madame Charbonnel, a highly skilled chocolatier from Paris to form a partnership with Mrs Walker and establish a chocolatiers in Mayfair, London. Charbonnel et Walker is one of the few companies to be endorsed by the Royal Warrant as chocolate makers for Her Majesty the Queen, and they are immensely proud of this. It will come as no surprise to anyone that a company with this reputation of commendation will produce some of the finest chocolates imaginable. We tried their Fine Milk Chocolate Selection Easter Egg. The packaging and presentation, including the Royal Warrant crest of course, is sophisticated and elegant. It is a pleasure opening and unboxing this Easter egg to reveal the delicately placed fine milk chocolates inside the egg, only revealed when you open the egg itself. A true treasure of an Easter egg.

Rococo Chocolates

We first discovered Rococo Chocolates just before Valentine’s Day and we haven’t looked back. Their passion and drive to create the best chocolate delights time and time again is inspiring, with a bit of humour thrown in for good measure! The two Easter items we have selected from Rococo are the Easter Egg filled with a selection of ganaches (£16.50) and the Dirty Bunnies (£5.95). The Easter Egg is beautifully presented in a traditionally designed Rococo Chocolates box which opens to reveal a beautiful shimmering golden egg, which in turn opens to reveal the beautifully crafted chocolate ganaches. We don’t spoil the surprise by revealing the flavours but they are mouth-watering! If you want a gift which is something small but equally delicious the humorously titled Dirty Bunnies are something which should be on your list. The little bag contains two chocolate praline rabbits and a selection of chocolate covered roasted coffee beans to imitate rabbit poo, funny eh!

Cocoaloco

Cocoaloco is one of those special chocolate companies where you know a lot of love and passion goes into the crafting of their chocolates. All Cocoaloco’s chocolate is organic; they even use packaging which makes minimal impact on the environment. Sarah and Rory of Cocoaloco set out to make their company “build a premium treat reputation around words like approachable, affordable and genuine choice” and they have certainly done that! We have been sampling some of their Easter’s products over the past few weeks and there is something for everyone’s taste. Their milk chocolate Easter eggs are mini, luxuriously smooth and come in adorable packaging alike an egg box, fun! If you fancy something a bit more substantial but not as traditional as an Easter egg they offer fantastic Easter themed chocolate animals almost completely solid chocolate! We've tried their milk and dark chocolate bunny and chicken, a quirky Easter gift! If you want a small gift for those office friends or just a little extra something for someone we found some little bags of chocolate heaven! Cocoaloco have put together two different bags of solid chocolate eggs. One bag is made up of the finest dark chocolate or if you have a sweeter tooth then the marbled white and dark chocolate eggs are maybe more your thing. We thought their bunny chocolate lolly was fun too!

Marks and Spencer

Marks and Spencer’s is a name instantly recognisable and associated with quality. They have a wide range of Easter gifts available in stores nationwide. The small selection of items we picked to write about in this guide are the delectable box of 5 small beautifully crafted Easter eggs all with individual flavour themes and small selection of small Easter treats available in most stores. The selection of 5 eggs comes beautifully presented in a long box complete with imitation straw for decoration. The chocolate is of the finest quality and melts in your mouth. The other small items are the Bubbly Mint Chocolate Egg, Honeycomb Truffle Crunch Bunny and Bubbly Chocolate Bunny, excellent gifts for your office friends!

Betty’s

We love companies who have long, established and illustrious histories and Betty’s is one of those companies. There is a lot of history behind the business and even a little mystery around where the name Betty actually came from! Its far too much to explain here so grab a tea or coffee and pop over to Betty’s website to read ‘The Betty’s Story’ about where this fabulous company came from here . Their Easter range offers both the traditional and the modern. We love their Swiss milk chocolate egg, stippled with dark Grand Cru chocolate and hand-decorated with a jolly white and dark chocolate Gloucester Old Spot pig, relaxing among spring flowers. This is sure to make any of your friends and family envious. For those small gifts or the little something extra their adorable boxes of milk and white chocolate lambs are both delicious and cute.

Lindt

When a company has been mastering chocolate making since 1845 you can be pretty confident they know what they are doing. Year after year Lindt improves and advances their wonderful range of chocolates and they have not failed for Easter 2013! This year we would say their key Easter egg is their Heavenly Hazelnut Egg Milk (£19.99), a wonderful milk chocolate egg rolled in roasted hazelnuts and then, to top it all off, rolled in yet another layer of chocolate. Making this their thickest most decadent Easter egg to date! If you’re after something a little simpler but just as delicious they also have on offer their Lindor Shell Egg (£8.19) including some astonishingly delicious Lindor truffles including Milk, Irish Cream & Stracciatella. Easter also wouldn’t be complete without a Lindor Easter Bunny or a whole family of them as they are now available in loads of different sizes and even colours, milk, dark or white.

Whittard of Chelsea

Whittard never fail to come up trumps when you’re looking for a classy and sophisticated gift. Another company with a long and illustrious history, being formed in 1886 stocking over 130 varieties of tea, many coffees, hot chocolates, china and lots more. This Easter they offer a little something alternative to chocolate, something which can be brought out especially for Easter each year or used all year round. These are the wonderful bone china bugs decorated with two decorations either 'Easter Parade’ or ‘Bunny Hop’ (both £8). If you’re looking for something a little chocolatier they offer jars of milk chocolate eggs covered in multi coloured foil, beautifully presented in an imitation glass jar. Perfect for the impromptu Easter egg hunt!

Artisan du Chocolat

Artisan du Chocolat believes in creating “luxury through individuality, innovation and exceptional craftsmanship”. This is evident from their reputation for being one of the leading chocolatiers in the UK. Gerard Coleman, founder and artisan chocolatier sources the finest cocoa beans from around the world and transforms them into wonderful artisan chocolates and chocolate treats. This process is done in-house in the UK unlike many chocolatiers who simply import the readymade chocolate. This love and dedication to providing the very best quality by making it himself is the key to Artisan du Chocolat’s continued success. Artisan du Chocolat always has something innovative and appealing for every occasion and this Easter is no different. We love their new character eggs, the perfect treat for a child, but equally bring a smile to any adults face! Each one has its own look and personality, which one will you get? These are available in full size (£17) or in miniature form in boxes of 6 (£15.99). The full size character egg comes in wonderful box with shredded paper to protect the egg, but wait; it isn’t any paper its edible shredded paper flavoured with apple! Amazing! If you fancy something a little different then we highly recommend you check out the Crème de la Crème Eggs collection (£9.99) packaged in the chic and tasteful bunny inspired box.

Montezuma’s Chocolate

Montezuma’s is a funky company always buzzing with fresh new ideas and they have not failed this Easter either. Montezuma’s love to work with flavours to combine what they think works best in their fine chocolate. This Easter, if you’re eco minded Montezuma’s are offering two Eco Eggs one Dark Chocolate with Cocoa Nibs and the other Milk Chocolate and butterscotch pieces (both £7.99). Both eggs are packaged in biodegradable cardboard container and the eggs themselves are wrapped in foil. We haven’t seen anything like them before; let’s hope other companies follow in their footsteps. If you’re looking for something more substantial and with a sense of luxury their Super Thick Half Dark and Half Milk Chocolate Egg with Truffles (£17.99) is perfect. This egg is perfect for either the hard to buy person or those of us who find it so difficult to choose either Milk or Dark chocolate, you can have both with this egg! The egg is made of thick chocolate meaning more chocolaty goodness. The egg is also filled with some of Montezuma’s fine truffles, it would be rude to say no.

Haribo

Easter isn’t all about chocolate, there are other options too. Haribo has come up with some wonderful Easter themed sweets. We love their mini bags of Easter themed sweets which are included in several of their gifts such as the Easter Fun Bucket and Haribo’s first ever re-sealable pouch! We think they are a brilliant alternative for Easter egg hunts in the garden or around the house. The Easter Fun Bucket is brilliant for kids too as it includes some suggestions on what they can do with the bucket after they inevitably empty it. One of the suggestions is to use it as a plant pot, an excellent kids project with summer just around the corner! Some other gifts including the Bouncing Bunnies box is a perfect alternative to a traditional Easter egg, again including mini bags and the box even includes details on how to use the pop out bunnies as a game. You cant mention Haribo without thinking of their Starmix, so they have come up with another brilliant gift which is a gift box containing a bag of the traditional Starmix and another special bag which contains just the fried eggs.

Black River

Just like chocolate, Easter isn’t all about eggs. But if you’re still chocoholics like us and need your chocolate fix then Black River offers simple straight forward exceptional quality chocolate bars. Why not buy a few, tie a ribbon around them and there you go, a perfect classy gift. Easter shouldn’t be all about kids getting Easter eggs, adults deserve them too so treat yourself or your loved one. Black River is rather special chocolate, in fact its very special. Black River chocolate is made of single origin Jamaican Trinitario cocoa beans. These are produced in long established farms in the famous Blue Mountain region of Jamaica. The beans made to make Black River chocolate are flown straight from Jamaica into London Gatwick airport so you know exactly where your chocolate has come from and been. Black River chocolate was even voted as Jamaica’s international chocolate brand, you can’t get much better than that! The bars we have chosen as this year’s recommended Easter gift are available either singly (£5.50-£6.00) or as a pack of 4 (£22). They are Milk, Dark, Vanilla Chocolate and even a Sugar Free bar! They are all made with the single origin Jamaican Trinitario cocoa beans and sweetened with cane sugar. Treat someone to something dark and exotic this year.

Butler’s Chocolate

Butler’s Chocolate is Ireland’s favourite luxury chocolatier for over 80 years, being originally founded in Dublin in 1932 by Marion Butler and then bought in 1959 by the Irish Sorensen family who still own 100% of the business today. Butler’s Chocolate take pride in their heritage, even offering the ‘Butler’s Chocolate Experience’ which allows you to see behind those secret chocolate factory doors. Their Easter range for 2013 is something very special indeed. From adults to kids alike there is something for everyone. The Medium Milk and Medium Dark chocolate eggs (£9.50) come elegantly wrapped and full of delicious chocolates or truffles. If you’re after something for the kids look no further! Butler’s have created wonderful large chocolate rabbits (£7.50) all with quirky expressions. These are available in milk, dark or white, our favourite is the delicious melt in your mouth white chocolate rabbit.

Thorntons

Thorntons is another well-known and reputable brand known by children and adults alike for decades, in fact Thornton’s recently celebrated their 100^th Birthday! Thorntons was set up by Joseph William Thornton in 1911 who then handed the business to his two sons who made it into what it is today. Easter is all about tradition, but what about something traditional with a quirky twist? Thorntons have designed two chocolate eggs which incorporate two very well-known and traditional desserts, Tempting Trifle and Black Forest Gateaux (£9.99 or 3 for £20). The Tempting Trifle egg is made of custard flavoured white chocolate packed with fruity jellies and colourful sprinkles. The Black Forest Gateaux egg is made of luxurious dark chocolate crammed with juicy black cherries which burst with flavour. Treat yourselves!

Lucky’s

Lucky’s have a well-established and popular chocolate shop in London called Lucky’s Wonderland. This is a place of wonder and amazement, a real life chocolate paradise! Lucky’s love coming up with fresh, unique chocolate flavours. This Easter, keeping with traditional theme they have released a Humpty Dumpty range (individually £6.95). We tried four of the wonderful flavours available. The Lord Dark Toffius is made of 60% cocoa dark chocolate with delectable dulce de leche filled shells. The Duke Of Nutting Hazel egg is made up of 40% cocoa milk chocolate with luscious praline & hazelnuts filled shells. Lucky’s also have two other Humpty Dumpty eggs, the milk chocolate egg filled with Bailey’s ganache and the milk chocolate egg with the scrumptious peanut butter filling.

Chocolate Easter Eggs

2013-03-13T20:54:00.001Z

Easter is almost here! We have a fantastic Easter Gift Guide coming up in the next few days so keep posted. But in the meantime to get you in the Easter spirit we have a short and easy method for you to make your own small Easter eggs. To get your chocolate perfectly smooth you need to temper the chocolate. A term you may have heard before and often conjures thoughts or horror which put people off giving it a try themselves, but it can be easier than you think. They key is to use good quality chocolate, it doesn't matter whether you use white, milk or dark chocolate. The second key is to use a cooking thermometer or sugar thermometer. We personally always use our trustworthy Thermapen.

The Ingredients:
To make around 6 small eggs you will need about 400g of chocolate. If you want to make a larger quantity the recipe remains exactly the same.

The How-To:

Place a glass or heatproof bowl over a saucepan with just enough water that it doesn't touch the bottom, this is important.

Bring the water to a boil.

Place 2/3 of the evenly broken / chopped up chocolate into the bowl.

Allow to slowly melt, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or spatula. We've been loving the spatula's from Leila's General Store lately! These are available in a lovely range of pastel colours from here.

When the chocolate has completely melted and the mixture is smooth remove from the heat.

Place on a heatproof surface and wrap a clean kitchen towel around the base of the bowl to insulate it and keep some of the heat in.

Now we need to start using the cooking / sugar thermometer.

Add the remaining 1/3 of the evenly broken / chopped up chocolate and stir through the melted chocolate. The chocolate will melt quite quickly.

We now need to bring the temperature of the melted chocolate down to certain temperatures. This is different for each type of chocolate. Milk is 30c, Dark is 31c and white chocolate is 27c.

It will take a while for the chocolate to cool to these temperatures but it is essential when tempering chocolate.

Once the chocolate has reached this temperature you are ready to pour it into whatever moulds you are using to create your Easter treats. We love the Wilton Silicone Easter Egg mould which is available in the UK from The Bake Store here.

When pouring the chocolate into the moulds, depending on the moulds you are using you can either create solid chocolates or hollow chocolates. To make hollow chocolates you need to pour some melted chocolate into the mould and then turn the mould to allow the chocolate to cover all of the surfaces. The simpler method is to make solid chocolate shapes.

A top tip when pouring your chocolate into the moulds is to first pour a little chocolate into the mould and using a pastry or silicone cooking brush, brush the chocolate into all the small indents and decoration of the mould. This will reduce any chance of the mis-shaped chocolates when they are turned out.

Allow the chocolate to solidify at room temperature if possible. This may take a little while.

You're Done!

Simple Cupcakes

2013-03-05T20:26:00.001Z

We have decided to post this very simple recipe as it is our foolproof cupcake recipe, you can customise the flavourings however you wish. The frosting recipe is for butter-cream frosting. In the coming months we will be experimenting with other cupcake toppings so keep tuned. For these cupcakes we used the fantastic range of cupcake decorations from www.cakedecoratingsupplies.co.uk. They have a wide range of different types of sprinkles from coloured sugar to sugar strands.

The Ingredients:
Cupcakes:

150 g Butter
150 g Sugar
3 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract (or other flavour)

A few drops of colouring (optional)
150g NEILL'S® Self Raising Flour

2 tbsp Milk

Buttercream Frosting:

450g Icing Sugar
110g Butter
0.5tsp Salt
3tbsp Milk
2tsp Vanilla Extract (or other flavour)

A few drops of colouring (optional)

The How-To:

Preheat oven to 180c.
In a large bowl place the butter and sugar.

Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth and pale. You can see a sneaky peak at the gorgeous Leila's General Store range of spatulas which we will be using in more of our recipes very soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Fold in the vanilla extract and any colouring if you choose to add any.

Sieve the flour into the cupcake batter and add the two tbsp of milk. Fold the ingredients together, do not over stir.

Place tablespoons of the cupcake batter into cupcake cases.

Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 15 mins or until the cupcakes spring back when pressed lightly.

Place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

When the cupcakes are cool we can begin by making the frosting.

In a large bowl beat the butter until smooth and creamy.

Now gradually add the icing sugar a little at a time. You may want to use a wooden spoon to cream this icing sugar with the butter or you will end up in a cloud of icing sugar if you use the electric mixer. Add the flavouring (in this case we used delicious bubblegum flavour) and salt at this stage to help bring the mixture together.

Now we can move back to using an electric mixer. Add the milk and any colouring you choose to use and beat on a medium / high speed for around 10 mins or until the mixture is smooth. You can add more icing sugar or more milk to change the consistency slightly if you wish.

You can either spread the frosting on the cupcakes using a palette knife or use a piping bag and large nozzle. If you decide to use a piping bag a top tip is to stand the bag in a tall glass when you are filling it, giving you one less thing to worry about.

When frosting we find it easier to start on the outside and work your way in. We're hoping to post a video demonstration on frosting cupcakes in the coming months.

You're Done!

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Herbal Tea Infused Cake

2013-02-23T19:53:00.004Z

After trying the fantastic Adagio Teas Berry Blast herbal tea we knew we just had to try and incorporate it into a recipe. We have come up with a cake recipe which uses the tea in both the cake and the frosting and don't worry, no tea bits in the cake! You can use any herbal or fruit tea for this recipe but the flavour of the Adagio Tea is superior to any others we tried.

The Ingredients:
The Cake:
250g Butter
250g Caster Sugar
250g NEILL'S® Self Raising Flour
4 Eggs
120ml Boiling Water
4tbsp Berry Blast Loose Leaf Tea (or other)

The Frosting:
180ml Boiling Water
400g Caster Sugar
4 Egg Whites
3tbsp Berry Blast Loose Leaf Tea (or other)
0.5tsp Cream of Tartar

The How-To:

In a small bowl add the boiling water and tea leaves.

Allow these to brew for 10 mins stirring occasionally to ensure the tea infuses as much as possible.

Sieve out the tea leaves.

Place in the fridge to cool while continuing with the recipe.

Preheat the oven to 170c and prepare two approx 20cm round cake tins.

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together until pale.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.

In a separate bowl sieve the flour.

Add the flour into the creamed sugar mixture alternating with the cooled tea. Don't worry if the vibrant colour of the tea disappears when you add it to the cake mix, the subtle fruity flavour remains. If you want to add a few drops of food colouring this is optional.

Pour the mixture evenly into the two prepared cake tins levelling out the cake batter.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the cake tins for 10 mins before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Now we need to make the frosting. This is type of frosting has a marshmallow like texture which works wonderfully with the fruity flavour of the tea.

In a small bowl add the boiling water and loose leaf tea leaves. Allow these to brew for 10 mins stirring occasionally.

Sieve out the tea leaves and measure out exactly 160ml of the tea (the ingredient list asks for 180ml of water as the tea absorbs some of the water when brewing), drink the rest (you wouldn't want to waste it!).

Add the 160ml of tea to a heavy bottomed saucepan and add the sugar and cream of tartar. Try not to splash any of the sugar grains up the side of the saucepan as these may burn.

Place the saucepan over a medium heat and slowly bring to a gentle boil.

Continue heating until the temperature reaches 115c then remove from the heat straight away.

In a large bowl beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks.

While continuing to beat the egg whites on a low speed slowly start adding the tea/sugar syrup. Careful not to let it splash as it will be very very warm.

Continue until you have added all the tea/sugar syrup.

Continue beating for about 10-15 mins until the frosting thickens. It will thicken as it cools, beating helps speed up this process.

Immediately spread the frosting on the bottom half of the cake, you wont want to add too much frosting in the middle of the cake as it makes cutting it later a little messy.

Place the top half of the cake on top of the bottom half. Add the remaining frosting to the top and sides of the cake and decorate how you wish. The frosting will continue to set as it cools, you can place in the fridge to speed this up if you wish.

You're Done!

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Adagio Teas – Tea On The Go

2013-02-13T19:25:00.000Z

There is a tea revolution happening! Gone are the days when you only drink loose leaf tea while sitting and have afternoon tea with cucumber sandwiches and dainty cakes. There is nothing at all wrong with this, in fact we love it. But it shouldn’t be the only time when you feel you can drink wonderful and unusual teas. A tea revolution is happening all across the world, from offices to schools and everywhere in-between.

Travel mugs have been available for a long time but are almost always solely used for coffee or plastic tasting ready brewed tea. Thankfully Adagio have had their creative minds working overtime and come up with a fantastic idea, which of course makes drinking their loose tea a complete breeze.

Let us present to you the next big thing in drinking tea on the go. The Adagio ActiviTEA. This is a beautifully designed double layered glass flask but with one striking difference. It actually includes a tea infuser in the lid. This allows you add the water and then insert your close tea into a small metal infuser, screw on the lid, turn upside down and allow to brew. You can then remove the used tea leaves and get on with your day. The ActiviTEA even includes a handy hand strap for easy grip.

If you own one of the equally fantastic Adagio IngenuiTEA’s you can make the tea in this teapot and transfer into the ActiviTEA if you please. The choice is yours.

The ActiviTEA is brilliant for keeping your tea warm for a long period of time, but it is equally as good at keeping your iced tea cold! Going for a jog or cycle? Why not take a healthy iced tea with you.

We have reviewed many of the Adagio loose leaf teas but we have included below all these review again with the addition of some new teas for you to enjoy.

Black Tea
Yunnan Gold		Cream Tea
Variety – Black Tea		Variety – Ceylon Black Tea
The Yunnan Gold is a very unique tea and very different to any we have tried before. It has a cocoa and black pepper flavours with a milk chocolate texture. This might sound like a weird combination of flavours and qualities for tea but in our opinion it is a must-try tea!		This tea is luxurious and silky smooth in texture which has the delicious aroma of vanilla cream. The sweet aroma of this tea is enough to make those around you envious. Add a little cream for that added sense of indulgence. Craving something sweet? Pop on the kettle and have a cup of this tea.
Mango Tea		Strawberry Tea
Variety – Ceylon Black Tea		Variety – Ceylon Black Tea
This tea has a wonderfully sweet tropical smell of mango. This tea like so many other flavoured tea finds its roots in Ceylon black tea. Leaving a pleasant delicate aftertaste of perfectly ripened mangoes and is just as delicious served cold as iced tea. We also enjoyed this tea with a little milk and sugar, or if you’re counting the calories a little squeeze of honey.		We were afraid that this tea would be overly sweet judging just by the smell from the packet but while this tea was brewing we realised this was not the case at all. This tea has a wonderfully pleasant fragrance of summer strawberries. This variety of Adagio teas will have summer memories flooding back to you. This tea is also amazing served as iced tea with a squeeze of honey on a warm summers day, or just when you fancy it.
Earl Grey Lavender Tea		Coconut Tea
Variety – Black Tea		Variety – Ceylon Black Tea
Earl Grey is one of the most well known traditional British teas. The subtle notes of lavender compliment the delicate citrus flavour of the Earl Grey. Tiny lavender buds are visible in the loose tea leaves. We were at first worried that the lavender in this tea would be overpowering but the flavours compliment each other and work together perfectly. Wake up your senses with this fabulous variety of tea. This tea has quickly become one of our favourite Adagio teas.		With the delicate yet delicious tropical smell of coconut wafting from your mug of coconut tea you are transported, albeit in mind to a far off tropical paradise. The coconut is not overpowering but instead maintains a refreshing aftertaste. This tea works fabulously well with milk and a little honey or sugar, for that mind-afternoon lift which we all need. This is an unusual tea but one which will be kept stocked in our house from now on.
English Breakfast Tea		Black Dragon Pearls
Variety - Black Keemun Tea		Variety – Black Tea
This is the classic British tea. The fairly strong smoky aroma may not be for everyone but is definitely worth trying. We have tried many different companies adaptions of the English Breakfast tea and they all vary greatly, but this is one of our favourites. The smoky flavour comes from the Keemun tea leaves used in this blend, these are not usually used in other English Breakfast teas as they are generally more expensive. This makes this Adagio blend a little different and with a hint of luxury. We think this tea is best served with just a little milk, as with conventional tea.		Black Dragon Pearls are very similar looking to Jasmine Phoenix Pearls which we have reviewed and written about previously, with one major difference, the flavour. Dragon Pearls release a subtle yet delicious smell of cocoa as they unfurl while brewing. This tea has a wonderfully rich and smooth taste which makes drinking this tea an absolute pleasure. You only need 2-3 pearls per cup as these tiny balls of delight unfurl to reveal a surprisingly large amount of tea leaves. This is definitely one of Adagio Teas ‘show teas’ if you want to show off something to your friends of family which they are unlikely to have seen or heard of before.
Chocolate Chip Tea
Variety – Black Tea
If you are like us and get those chocolate cravings a little too frequently this tea may just be a relief! Chocolate in tea….madness you may think! But it works and it works well. Add a little sugar and you almost imagine you’re tucking into a chocolate chip cookie. This tea makes an excellent alternative to a dessert or just an unusual tea to show off to all your friends. Not a tea we would drink every day but we are glad we have it in our cupboard for those times when you just need something a little chocolaty!
Herbal Tea
Blood Orange Tea	Chamomile Tea
Variety – Herbal Tea	Variety – Herbal Tea
The first thing you will notice about this variety of tea is its mouth-watering smell. This is another tea which is great hot or cold served with ice. This tea is one of the most refreshing we have tried in quite some time and it will certainly waken up your taste buds. The tea itself is caffeine free and is blended with orange peel, hibiscus flowers and rose hips. Delicious!	Chamomile has been known for its healing and calming properties since the ancient Egyptian period, it is therefore not surprising that the best chamomile flowers come from the Nile valley, Egypt. As always Adagio Teas have ensured to get their chamomile tea blossoms from the best source available, Sakaran Village, Egypt. This is a caffeine free tea so absolutely perfect for a bedtime treat to promote calm and tranquillity. If you have tried tea bag forms of chamomile tea you simply must try Adagio Teas loose chamomile as in our opinion it is 100x better! This tea has a very subtle yet recognisable and delicious apple aroma as it is brewing. Join the ancient Egyptians and enjoy a cup of this wonderful tea to help you unwind.
Berry Blast	Pina Colada
Variety – Herbal Tea	Variety – Herbal Tea
This is a phenomenal tea! From the moment you unseal the packet you teased by the delicious and mouth-watering scent of wild berries. When you brew this tea the colour first looks weak but it soon develops into the most gorgeous ruby red colour. This tea is already surprisingly sweet from the addition of the berry pieces including cranberries, blueberries and rosehips but if you have an exceptionally sweet tooth a teaspoon of sugar brings this tea alive. Take so long to drink your tea it goes cold? Not to worry, this tea as just as nice cold, some people might find it even nicer served as ice tea on a summer’s day. This is a must for any tea lover.	If, like us you are partial to a cocktail on the beach when on holiday this tea will transport you back to those relaxing moment, whether you’re sitting in the office or just returned from the gym. The scent of perfectly ripe pineapple, fresh apples, coconut and rosehips are instantly recognisable and invokes a sense of calm. This is truly a relaxation time drink as it is completely caffeine free meaning you can enjoy it anytime of day. If it is a hot summers day we cannot think of anything nicer than this tea served cold with ice with a few pieces of sliced pineapple, just add a straw, some sand and a beach and you’re there!
Green Tea
Jasmine Phoenix Pearls	Citron Green Tea
Variety - Green Tea	Variety – Green Tea
This tea is very unique but you have to understand the work which goes into making it to really appreciate its delicate floral flavours. This tea is prepared by hand by a farmer called Lin Chui in Fujian Province, China. Phoenix Pearls are hand rolled into tiny tight balls which slowly unfurl in a wonderful way as the tea brews. This is why we love the IngenuiTEA teapot from Adagio Teas as it allows you to watch how your tea behaves as it brews, this might sound strange but nearly every tea acts slightly differently, almost dancing in the water. This tea is as smooth as silk to drink and has a delicate aftertaste which is so commonly associated with green teas.	This refreshing tea has a subtle taste of citrus. From the moment you open the pack the scent of lemon and lime is very noticeable but this I not as intense when brewing the tea. This tea maintains a wonderful golden colour when brewed and has the perfect balance between grassy green tea and wonderful citrus flavour. This tea truly awakens the senses and readies you for the day ahead. With a touch of honey this teas flavour really comes alive. Served cold it is the perfect alternative to lemonade.
Raspberry Green	Earl Grey Green
Variety – Green Tea	Variety – Green Tea
This tea is very similar to the Herbal Berry Blast tea which we review above with the main difference that it is green tea. So if you are looking for the benefits of green tea but with a phenomenal flavour then this is the perfect tea for you. This tea, unlike the Berry Blast tea brews to produce a golden colour which disguises the flavour until you smell the summer notes of raspberries and rose petals. This is a very smooth light tea and incredibly easy to drink. Make this tea into a flask of iced tea and take to your next picnic, you’ll be the centre of attention.	Earl Grey tea is traditionally a black tea but there is little reason why the same flavours cannot be shared with different varieties of tea. As we have already tasted a Rooibos Earl Grey tea which was every bit as nice as a traditional cup, if you are looking for the health benefits of antioxidants which are so prevalent in green tea but still want your Earl Grey tea fix then this is the perfect tea for you. The green tea base makes this tea incredibly smooth. The citrus notes of bergamot are delicious as you wait for the tea to brew, as well as the pleasant looking bright blue cornflowers which float throughout the tea as it brews.
White Tea
Jasmine Silver Needle Tea	White Peach Tea
Variety – White Tea	Variety – White Tea
This tea is very special indeed. The amount of work which goes into making this tea taste as sophisticated and enchanting is incredible which is why it is one of the most revered Chinese teas. Gathered over just a few days in early spring this truly is special. The jasmine aroma is added to the tea in a very precise way. When the silver needle tea is collected in the spring it is stored until the summer when the jasmine blossoms begin to bloom at night. Jasmine blossoms are collected and laid on a bed of the silver needle tea which open during the night and infuse the tea with their delicate aroma. The jasmine blossoms are then removed and the process repeated the next evening and the next until the required level of jasmine infusion is obtained. It’s very satisfying to drink this tea knowing the amount of work which has went into its production. A very special tea in our opinion.	With the instant aroma of fresh peaches this tea is hard to resist. This does have some natural sweetness but can be enhanced with a little honey or sugar if desired. You will most likely have seen many peach flavoured iced teas and this is for a very valid reason, it is both delicious and refreshing. Adagio Teas White Peach teas is perfect to make iced tea with the addition of a little honey and ice. White tea is absolutely packed with important anti-oxidants including high levels of polyphends which are believed to fight and kill off cancer causing cells, lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease, not bad for a humble cup of tea!
Rooibos Tea
Honeybush Vanilla Tea	Rooibos Earl Grey
Variety – Rooibos Tea	Variety - Rooibos Tea
This tea has a delectable scent of warm vanilla cookies. Caffeine free, this tea is perfect to enjoy in the evenings when snuggled up with a good book. Delicious all ways, either black, with milk or even as iced tea. This tea is certain to make all those around you hungry with its enchanting scent.	If you love traditional Earl Grey tea you will absolutely love this Rooibos caffeine free alternative. The refreshing citrus aroma of bergamot is evident as soon as you break the seal on the packet and immediately makes the connection back to the traditional black tea version of Earl Grey. A wonderfully relaxing tea for bedtime…or anytime!
Chai Tea
Spiced Apple Chai Tea
Variety – Chai Tea
This is a delicious, smooth, lightly spiced tea. It has every taste of autumn that you could want, from the warming notes of cinnamon to the fragrant scents of ginger, cloves and apple. The perfect tea for the cold nights starting to come in. We love this tea with a little drop of honey and milk. So grab your favourite book and cosy up in front of the fire with a cup of Spiced Apple Chai tea.

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Simple Crepes

2013-02-11T21:41:00.000Z

Whether its pancake Tuesday or any other Tuesday actually, its hard to resist the traditional French crepe. This is a super simple recipe that will only take you a couple of minutes to mix up and then a couple of minutes to make. The melted butter is combined in the pancake batter meaning you do not need any oil in your pan when cooking.

Crepes are a traditional French snack but is so versatile it is also ate as parts of main meals. A crepe is considered by many as a type of pancake. The main difference between traditional pancakes and crepes are crepes have no raising agent or sugar meaning they do not rise when cooked. These delicious thin pancakes are perfect for rolling, folding or eating however you like.

Ingredients:
120g NEILL'S® Plain Flour
120ml Milk
120ml Water
30g Melted Butter
0.5tsp Salt
2 Eggs

The How-To:

Add the flour to a large bowl and add the two eggs.

Add the water and milk and whisk together until combined.

Add the melted butter and salt and beat until the mixture is smooth.

Preheat a large frying pan or crepe pan on a medium heat.

Pour 1/3 of a cup of the batter into the centre of the pan and swirl around so the batter covers as much of the pan as possible.

Cook for about 1min 30sec on the first side.

Turn and cook for a further 1 min until golden brown.

Remove and place on a plate to cool.

The traditional way to serve crepes is either rolled or folded into a triangle. You can be as simple or adventurous with your toppings and fillings. Anything from chocolate, maple syrup, cheese and ham, butter....nearly everything works.

You're Done!

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Vanilla Fudge

2013-02-09T21:16:00.000Z

A lot of people are daunted by even the thought of making fudge, we have to admit we use to fall into this category too. But as long as you have a good recipe to follow and all your ingredients prepared it can be a fun and amazing experience. Home-made fudge tastes so much better than shop bought, not only because its fresher but because of the fact you made it with your own hands.

The one essential piece of equipment is a candy thermometer or another cooking thermometer which can be used for candy. These come in thousands of varieties all with apparent specific purposes. After trying many different types and brands we have found our favourite...the Thermapen. It isn't at the budget end of cooking thermometers but if you take a fancy to cooking with sugar then this is an absolutely fantastic investment. In fact we have found ourselves using our Thermapen during the cooking of most of our meals too! From chicken to fish it has hundreds of purposes. The technology used in the Thermapen means that it gives you a very accurate temperature reading very very quickly. And we absolutely love the craftsmanship and thought which has went into its design, simply flick open the probe and the device turns on, close the probe and it turns off, simples! You can choose from a multitude of colours and patterns meaning that your cooking thermometer can be as great a part of your kitchen as any other kitchen appliance, big or small.

A recipe which we make over and over again is our Vanilla Fudge, its fairly quick to make and is always a crowd pleaser.

The most important tip we have is to read the below recipe instructions before starting so you are prepared for every step.

The Ingredients:
90g Butter
455g Caster Sugar
150ml Double Cream
170g Evaporated Milk
1.5tsp Vanilla Extract

The How-To:

In a large saucepan add the butter, sugar, double cream and evaporated milk and gently mix together with a wooden spoon. (We recommend using a wooden spoon with all recipes where you are boiling sugar as we find this reduces the chance of crystallisation of the sugar and therefore grainy fudge). Stir the mixture together only enough that the sugar gets moistened but try not and splash any sugar up the sides of the saucepan.

Now bring the mixture to a boil on a medium heat stirring only occasionally with your wooden spoon to stop the mixture sticking to the bottom. Using your sugar thermometer carefully monitor the temperature and continue to boil until the temperature reaches 115c (240f).

Remove the saucepan from the heat and beat in the vanilla extract with your wooden spoon. Some people find it easier to pour the fudge out into a heatproof bowl to do this part. Be careful as the fudge is incredibly hot. A top tip here is to pour the fudge out of the saucepan, do not scrape the sides of bottom as you may get some sugar crystals into your nice smooth fudge.

Continue to beat the fudge until the mixture thickens slightly, this happens as it begins to cool.

Now pour the fudge into a baking tray lined with baking paper. We tell you what size of tray to use as some people like their fudge thin and some lick it chunkier. The size of tray we used was 8 inches x 7 inches.

Place the fudge into the fridge to make it set quicker. The length of time will vary according to how cold your fridge is. You can test the fudge with your finger and when it is suitably firm slice up using a sharp knife. If you want clean cut edges wipe your knife with every cut you make.

You're Done!

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Jammie Valentine's

2013-02-02T18:14:00.000Z

If buying Valentine's gifts just isn't your thing how about baking something for your loved one instead? Nothing too difficult but still with a touch of love. We found this fab silicone heart shaped baking tray from Bake Store.

These Jammie Valentine's are a fun take on one of our most popular recipes...our Jam & Coconut sponge cake recipe.

The Ingredients:
190g Caster Sugar
120ml Milk
110g Butter
2 Eggs
190g NEILL'S® Plain Flour
1.5tsp Baking Powder
2tsp Vanilla Extract
0.5tsp Red Food Colouring (Optional)
5tbsp Jam
2tbsp Water
100g Desiccated Coconut

The How-To:

Preheat oven to 180c.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and creamy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Beat in the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl sieve the flour and baking powder together.

Fold the flour into the creamed butter sugar mixture alternating with the milk.

Ensure the mixture is mixed enough to combine all the ingredients.

Blend the red food colouring through the batter ensuring it is mixed in well.

Fill your cupcake cases / silicone moulds 3/4 full of the cupcake batter.

Bake in the centre of the oven for around 20 mins, times will vary according to the size of the cupcake cases / silicone mould sizes. The sponge should be firm to touch and bounce back slightly.

Allow the cupcakes to cool for 5-10 mins in the moulds before gently removing.

We can now create the jam and coconut topping.

In a small bowl combine the jam and water together and mix until smooth. This creates a thin enough mixture that we can paint it on using a pastry brush.

Using a pastry brush paint the jam onto the cupcakes where you want the coconut to stick.

Place the desiccated coconut in a shallow bowl.

Dip the painted cupcakes into the coconut face down and then lift out.

Place on a wire cooling rack to dry slightly.

Decorate with extra jam or however you choose.

Once completely cool store in a air tight container.

You're Done!

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Valentine's Gift Guide 2013

2013-02-02T16:21:00.000Z

It will soon be Valentine’s Day and choosing the right gift can be difficult, especially for that person who has everything. We have put together a selection of the best of the best gift choices this year. Most of us end up buying our other halves supermarket chocolates or flowers, which isn't very imaginative at all. Getting something a lot more thoughtful can only be a click away in a lot of cases, so it couldn't be easier!

Hotel Chocolat

Hotel Chocolat has come up trumps again this year with their absolutely fantastic range of Valentine’s chocolates. Hotel Chocolat really know what they are doing with chocolate and there is something for everyone’s price range. The ‘Sealed with a Kiss’ chocolates box (£45) is an amazing selection of everything scrumptious; from salted caramels to champagne truffles this box has it all. We adore the ‘Love Birds’ selection (£10) which includes delicious tangy strawberry chocolate hearts surrounded by melt in your mouth chocolate love birds. Or if you’re looking for a small gift which still includes a touch of luxury Hotel Chocolat’s Queen & King of Hearts (£5.50) is perfect. Coming in either 40% milk or 70% dark chocolate these casts of two chocolate playing cards are a gorgeous treat to share. The amazing presentation of all of Hotel Chocolat’s treats makes receiving them as a gift an absolute pleasure for anyone.

Adagio Teas

Adagio Teas truly have a gift for every occasion and Valentine’s Day is no exception. Drinking loose leaf tea is really coming back into fashion as more and more people are discovering the huge variety of teas available, you quickly discover your favourites.

Adagio Teas have put together a wonderfully presented set of three tins of gourmet loose leaf tea called ‘Love Petals’ (£19). This set contains enough tea to make around 150 cups of tea! And being comprised of three completely different teas, gives the recipient a good variety to choose from. The selection comprises of ‘Hugs and Kisses tea’ (Rooibos, rose petals, cornflowers, vanilla flavour, almond flavour, cream flavour and caramel flavour), ‘Sweet Nothings tea’ (White tea, sunflower petals, lavender buds, apricot bits, peach flavour) and ‘Ripe for Romance tea’ (Black tea, cocoa nibs, raspberry leaves, raspberry pieces, chocolate flavour, raspberry flavour).

The Willoughby Book Club

This is a Valentine’s gift with a bit of difference! Have you ever wanted to buy your loved one their favourite recipe book but not known exactly what they want? Well The Willoughby Book Club takes that decision off your shoulders. This wonderful service allows you to pay upfront for 3, 6 or 12 month book subscription where they will send the lucky recipient 1 book each month. There are various other book categories to choose from other than cookery, these include couples books, natural history, classic books and more. All you need to do is specify the answer to some different questions about the recipient (these differ for each category of books) for the cookery books two of the questions are which their favourite cuisine is and whether they like baking. These questions ensure your loved one gets something they will be interested in while still keeping the element of surprise. The books come beautifully wrapped and would be a pleasure to receive each month. The Willoughby Book Club is a small family business based in South Leicestershire, England and run by Adam and Chloe who ensure plenty of love goes into choosing your books. The Willoughby Book Club has already been featured in The Guardian and we can certainly see this being the next big trend!

Cocoaloco

Cocoaloco is one of those special chocolate companies where you know a lot of love and passion goes into the crafting of their chocolates. All Cocoaloco’s chocolate is organic; they even use packaging which makes minimal impact on the environment. Sarah and Rory of Cocoaloco set out to make their company “build a premium treat reputation around words like approachable, affordable and genuine choice” and they have certainly done that! Having received awards such as The Times Organic hero award (2008), ‘the best producer in Sussex’ gong among many many others, this is a company to watch, for they will go far!! Some of their Valentine’s range which we love includes decadent milk chocolate champagne truffles (£5.99 for 6 or £11.49 for 12), these are made with the finest Vandieres champagne and tossed in milk chocolate flakes.

Or how about trying the special Valentine’s hearts and flowers slab (£11.99), this is a generously sized slab of finest milk chocolate with raspberry flavoured chocolate flowers and luxurious dark chocolate hearts. Or if you are after something simple but to the point why not try Cocoaloco’s dark and raspberry chocolate hearts (£3.99) which are all inscribed with phrases for your Valentine.

Paul A Young Chocolatiers

Paul A Young has been selected by Channel 4 as one of the most influential foodies under 40, we thought we would begin for that fact, as it really shows Paul’s dedication to the fine art of chocolate making. Paul has worked for many famous and influential chefs in his illustrious past including the renowned Marco Pierre White as his head pastry chef. He now has three artisan chocolate shops in London in Soho, Islington and Central London which are all beautifully and tastefully presented. Paul’s fine chocolates can only be purchased in store, the perfect excuse to visit! Paul has come up with something for everyone this Valentine’s Day, some very ground-breaking and creative flavour combinations. These include ‘The Hipster’ - Cocoa nib Bourbon tobacco sour, ‘The London Gent’– black pepper and treacle caramel ganache truffle or more along the lines of love with ‘The Love potion’ – jasmine flower, ylang-ylang, geranium, vanilla and lavender or Rodda’s Cornish Clotted Cream, real champagne, rose and raspberry heart. Or if you are after something a little more substantial than chocolates Paul has revamped their famous brownies in time for Valentine’s day by adding chipotle chilli, sea salt and a sugar crust.

Montezuma’s Chocolate

Montezuma’s Chocolate is always at the forefront of chocolate innovation. They have again excelled themselves again with their fantastic Valentine’s offering. The first thing that will strike you about Montezuma’s chocolate is the amount of thought which has gone into their packaging and presentation. This makes opening any Montezuma’s gift a complete pleasure. We absolutely love the Truffle Collection (£11.99) which includes 16 truffles made up of Milk Chocolate with a Peach and Passion fruit Centre and Milk Chocolate with Lime and Crunchy Hazelnut. Or if you are after a little extra to add to your Valentine’s gift Montezuma’s Chocolatehearts with butterscotch pieces (£3.99 are to die for.

Whittard

Whittard always have a gift for every occasion. Whittard has been around since 1886 so what they don’t know about tea and coffee isn’t worth knowing. We have selected a special collection of their items for a ‘coffee lover’s gift’. This comprises of the wonderfully varied selection of Whittard’s 9 most popular ground Coffees from around the World which is beautifully presented in a gift box and individual boxes for each coffee. Coffees include Monsoon Malabar, Santos and Java, Sumatra, Guatemalan Elephant, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Pico Duarte, Colombian, Costa Rican and Mocha Djimmah. To go alongside this wonderful collection of coffees Whittard offer a Flavoured Coffee Syrups Set which comprises of Vanilla, Gingerbread, Hazelnut, Caramel and Cinnamon. Add a bit of extra extravagance to your coffees made in your own home. You’ll think twice about buying high street chain coffee again.

Rococo Chocolates

The fantastic handmade treats made by Rococo Chocolates are out of this world. The marshmallow game cube (£15) is like eating clouds. It isn’t a stereotypical Valentine’s thing to give marshmallows as Valentine’s presents but your loved one will be far from disappointed! The delicious vanilla, cherry and raspberry marshmallows are handmade by their talented principal chocolatier Barry Johnson. If you are after something a little chocolatier then Rococo offers a beautifully crafted box of 8 handmade, hand painted mini chocolate heart halves. (£11.95). These little wonders are sure to impress your loved one with the love and detail which goes into the creation of these beautiful chocolates.

Belfast Cookery School

Belfast Cookery School, nestled in the heart of Belfast city centre offers the gift for all foodies who seem to have everything else. We cannot think of a more suitable experience gift than to treat yourself and your loved one to a cookery class in this renowned and award winning cookery school. The classes are in an intimate number 16 ensuring you have plenty of interaction with the chef and the other students. With the variety of classes including steak class, bread making, and seafood among many others there is a fantastic choice to suit everyone whether they are a complete beginner or wanting to improve those cookery skills. The top chefs from the Classes are priced at £50 per person. Price includes dinner and a glass of wine. Keep tuned for a special feature article we will be doing on Belfast Cookery School in the next week.

Blonde Amsterdam

We discovered Blond Amsterdam while we were Live Blogging from the city earlier this year. If you missed this you can read our Live Blog which we have kept on the site here. Blond Amsterdam has created a treasure trove or new, modern, fresh design ideas on their ranges. One of our favourite gift ideas from Blond Amsterdam is the Travel Coffee Cup for coffee on the go! Of course make sure to browse their other ranges for other gift ideas. Not a fan of coffee not to worry! Blonde Amsterdam has an amazing range of tea cups, saucers and even cake plates. Our favourite is the Pink Cup and Saucer with matching cake plate. Jazz up your tea parties a little with Blonde Amsterdam!

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Gluten Free Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze

2013-02-01T21:19:00.001Z

This is a wonderful gluten free chocolate cake. Delicious whether you are gluten intolerant or not, everyone loves this cake. So if you want to wow your friends this is the perfect cake. Its extremely simple and hard to get wrong. A lovely addition to a cup of tea or coffee.

In place of flour this recipe uses ground almonds, this not only acts to bind the recipe together but adds a wonderful nutty flavour.

The Ingredients:
The Cake:
120g Caster Sugar
120g Butter
200g Dark Chocolate
4 Eggs
180g Ground Almonds

The Chocolate Glaze:
60g Dark Chocolate
30g Butter
1.5tbsp Milk
1.5tsp Honey

The How-To:

Preheat oven to 180c and prepare an approx 20cm cake tin.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light in colour.

Separate the eggs and set the egg whites aside for later.

Beat the egg yolks into the creamed butter and sugar.

Set this mixture aside.

In a heatproof bowl above a saucepan of boiling water melt the dark chocolate. Always ensure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl as this can cause the chocolate to burn.

When the chocolate is smooth and completely melted remove from the heat and allow to sit for 5 mins.

While beating the cake batter mix gradually pour half the melted dark chocolate mixture into the batter.

Now add half the ground almonds ensuring ingredients are mixed well.

While beating add the remaining melted chocolate and then the remaining ground almonds.

Ensure all the ingredients are combined.

Set this mixture aside.

Take the egg whites and in a clean bowl with clean mixer beat the egg whites until they are stiff.

Now fold the egg whites into the cake batter. The mixture will be thick so it is inevitable you will knock quite a lot of the air out of the egg whites, but do not worry.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and ensure the batter is level.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out without wet cake batter. The skewer will have some chocolate on it as the cake is quite fudgey.

Allow the cake to cool for about 20 mins before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

While the cake is cooling we can make the chocolate glaze.

In a heatproof bowl above a saucepan of boiling water melt the dark chocolate and butter together until smooth.

Stir in the milk and honey and continue to stir until all the ingredients come together.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool until slightly thickens. Do not worry as it will not thicken that much.

When the cake is still only a little warm flip it over, the bottom will now become the top.

Pour all of the chocolate glaze in the very middle of the cake. Using a spatula spread the chocolate glaze towards the edge and allow it to drip down. You may want to place a plate under the wire cooling rack as this part can be a little messy.

Once the cake is completely cool store in an air tight box.

You're Done!

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Coffee Syrup Cake

2013-01-21T21:14:00.001Z

We know we have a lot of coffee addict readers who crave for more coffee recipes. So we have worked together with Whittard of Chelsea to use one of their fantastic instant coffees to create a delicious moist coffee syrup cake. This cake uses instant coffee so no need to brew any coffee beforehand.
Whittard have a fantastic range of instant coffees which are not only handy but extremely tasty. This recipe uses the Irish Cream Instant Coffee as we feel it adds great taste to this cake. We will be experimenting with other flavours with new recipes in the coming weeks.

The Ingredients:
The Cake:
110g Butter
110g Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
90g NEILL'S® Self Raising Flour
20g Cocoa Powder
1.5tbsp Whittards Irish Cream Instant Coffee or another instant coffee brand.
2tsp Boiling Water

The Coffee Syrup:
50ml Boiling Water
40g Caster Sugar
1.5sbsp Whittards Irish Cream Instant Coffee or another instant coffee brand.

The How-To:

Preheat oven to 180c.

Prepare one approx 20cm cake tin.

Cream butter and sugar together until smooth.

Beat in the eggs one at a time until combined.

Sieve the flour and cocoa powder together in a separate bowl.

In a small dish mix together the 1.5tbsp Whittards Irish Cream Instant Coffee (or any instant coffee) with the 2tsp of boiling water and mix together until a smooth coffee mixture is formed.

Stir the flour mixture into the cake batter alternating with the coffee mixture until all ingredients are combined.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Allow cake to cool for 5 mins and then remove from the tin and place on a wire cooling rack.

We now need to make the syrup.

In a saucepan add the boiling waster, caster sugar and Whittards Irish Cream Instant Coffee (or any instant coffee) and heat on a medium heat until all the sugar dissolves and a smooth syrup is formed.

Prick the cake with a fork in a few places to allow the syrup to be absorbed by the cake.

Gradually spoon the syrup mixture over the cake slow enough that most of it has time to absorb.

Allow the cake to cool completely before slicing and enjoying.

You're Done!

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Pear & Vanilla Sponge

2013-01-13T16:39:00.003Z

We have long been fans of Strawberry Fields Foods variety of jams, but when we heard of their Pear and Vanilla Extra Jam we just had to try it, especially when we heard it won Great Taste Award Gold Star in 2012. Of course by try we mean try and work it into one of our recipes. This sponge cake recipe is super simple and you can use whatever flavour of jam you wish if you cannot get the one which we use from Strawberry Fields Foods.

The Ingredients:

250g Caster Sugar

250g Butter

250g NEILL'S®Self Raising Flour

4 Eggs

2tbsp Vanilla Extract

1 Small Jar of Pear and Vanilla Extra Jam

The How-To:

Preheat oven to 175c
Measure the butter and sugar into a large bowl.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light coloured.

Beat the eggs into the mixture one at a time until combined.

Stir in the vanilla extract.

Sieve the flour into the mixture and fold together until just combined.

Prepare two approx 20cm cake tins.

Divide the cake batter evenly between the two tins.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 28 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool for 10 mins before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Spread approx 2/3 of the small jar of jam onto the bottom half of the cake.

Set the top half on top of this. Sprinkle with icing sugar for a simple decoration or decorate how you wish.

The cake soaks up some of the gorgeous jam flavour if allowed to sit for a few hours.

You're Done!

Let the Sales begin

2012-12-31T16:54:00.000Z

It is the season of the sales. With everyone's purse strings being significantly tighter after Christmas many of us are looking around for bargains.

If we spot any sales which we think will be of interest to you we'll post them right here!

DotComGiftShop

We recommended DotComGiftShop several times in the past as we just adore their retro kitchen items. Well with a lot of their products having up to 40% off get on over there and grab yourself a bargain!

There is everything from retro aprons from £8.95 to £3.95. Or how about some Pantry Design Spice Jars which we adore down from £9.95 to £3.95!! We also spotted a beautiful Kings Choice Tea Caddy which we hope will soon we appearing in our kitchen, down from £6.95 to £2.95.

Whittard of Chelsea

We have also featured Whittard a lot during 2012 as we adore their china and tea ware not to mention their amazing instant teas and hot chocolates. There's a lot of bargains to be had in their sale so get over there and take a look.

We've spotted some fantastic teapots at prices too good to turn down. The one pictured is called Red Stars and is reduced from £20 to £10. There are also some gorgeous travel mugs which will come in handy in the chilly months ahead. The one pictured is called Aroma To Go Red Coffee Mug & Lid and is reduced from £15 to £10.

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Raspberry Ruffle Cake

2012-12-23T17:48:00.000Z

This will be our last post before the New Year. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have taken the time to read, bake and share all our recipes and articles in 2012. We look forward to bringing you even more exciting recipes in 2013 and beyond.

We wish all of you and your families a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

We know not everyone likes Christmas cake, in fact quite a few of our friends complain when we seem to make nothing but Christmas cake recipes during this time of year. So we have been thinking what we could create which is a little bit different. Recently we shared fantastic Raspberry Ruffles recipe with you. You can find this here. We had some Raspberry Ruffle mixture left so we incorporated this into a super simple cake recipe.

This is a delicious rich chocolate cake with a Raspberry Ruffle filling and coating, essentially an inside out raspberry ruffle cake. The cake is made in two parts, the cake itself and the frosting. If you didn't make the Raspberry Ruffles you will need to make up a little under half of the mixture according to the recipe here.

The Ingredients:
The Cake:
80g Coco Powder
40g Butter
300g Caster Sugar
250ml Milk
180g Plain NEILL'S® Flour
2 Eggs
2tsp Baking Powder
0.5tsp Bicarbonate Soda
0.5tsp Salt

The Frosting:
335g Icing Sugar
80g Butter
2tbsp Milk
1tsp Raspberry Flavouring
Red Food Colouring to tint pink
4tbsp of Raspberry Ruffle Mixture

The How-To:

Preheat oven to 180c.

Cream the butter and sugar together. Don't worry this is quite a dry mixture at this stage so will look a bit like crumbs.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Sieve the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate soda and salt together in a bowl.

Add the flour mix to the creamed butter and sugar, alternating with the milk until all the ingredients are all used up.

Try not to stir the mixture too much, stirring only enough to bring all the ingredients together.

Pour into two prepared cake tins (approx 8 inch) and even out the mixture.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 26-28 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool for 10 mins before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

While we are waiting for the cake to cool we can make the frosting.

In a large bowl beat the butter until it is soft and smooth.

Beat in the raspberry flavouring.

Using a large spoon mix in the sieved icing sugar until most of the powder is combined.

Now using an electric mixer beat the mixture until it is smooth.

Beat in a little red food colouring to tint the mixture pink.

Beat in approx 4tbsp of the Raspberry Ruffle mixture until distributed evenly throughout the frosting.

When the cakes are completely cool spoon about 1/3 of the frosting on top of the base layer and spread out evenly. Place the top layer on top.

Now spread another 1/3 of the frosting on top of the top later, spread this out evenly.

Now spread the final 1/3 of the frosting around the outside of the cake.

If you want to firm the cake up a little before cutting it can be put in the fridge for 30 mins.

You're Done!

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Raspberry Ruffles

2012-12-19T21:06:00.002Z

Raspberry Ruffles played a large part in my childhood so we have come up with a recipe which re-creates this classic. For those who do not know what a Raspberry Ruffle is, it is best described as having a sugary raspberry coconut filling covered in dark chocolate. The flavour combination is unforgettably delicious and you'll have yourself experimenting in making raspberry ruffle ice cream next.

The making of these fantastic chocolates is surprisingly simple and very quick.

The Ingredients:
175ml Evaporated Milk (Carnation is best)
175g Desiccated Coconut
1 Sachet (Approx 23g) of Raspberry Jelly Crystals
70g Icing Sugar
300g Good Quality Dark Chocolate

The How-To:

In a large bowl combine the coconut, jelly crystals and icing sugar.

Mix in the evaporated milk.

Continue to stir the ingredients together until they are thoroughly combined. Don't worry you cant over stir.

You'll start to smell a gorgeous raspberry scent by now.....resist temptation...and no the florescent pink colour shown in the picture below has not been altered in any way, it really is this colour without adding any artificial colours.

Pour the mixture into a baking tray and press out until approx 1 inch thick all over.

Place the baking tray in the fridge for 1 hour to allow it to harden and set. If you can leave it a bit longer it helps.

Melt the dark chocolate in a glass bowl above a simmering saucepan of boiling water.

Now you have two decisions depending on how you want the Raspberry Ruffles presented. You can either pour the dark chocolate over the Raspberry Ruffle mixture in the baking tray, therefore creating a tray bake style Raspberry Ruffle. Or you can cut the Raspberry Ruffle mixture into squares and dip into the chocolate.

If you choose the latter method it is a little messy but it creates wonderful individual chocolates which make excellent gifts. A top tip is to work quickly so the Raspberry Ruffle does not fall apart in the chocolate.

Place the tray bake or individual chocolates back into the fridge until the chocolate hardens.

Demarle make a fantastic product called the RoulPat which is essentially a non stick workstation to put on top of your kitchen worktop, this is excellent for working with these chocolates.

You're Done!

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