The Sunday Roast

Bonsoir everyone! (yeah, I'm getting ready for my French speaking exam. Which, ahem, is on Tuesday. Oh my,my,my,my,my,my,my,my,my...)

Brace yourselves. I'm going to do something different right now.

I know, I know... what's going on? I'm mixing it up. Big style.

So here it is guys. My new initiative! It's a little bit more personal than just a recipe, and I've taken inspiration from other blogs who do similar things to this.
I'm pretty excited about it! It just means you kinda, get to know me more and hopefully, I might get to know you more.
Plus, I'll be keeping up my 'one-post-every-week' mantra. Which, I understand has been a bit, well, rubbish recently.
Stoooopid exams. Stoooopid revision. Stoooopid everything.

And the title? Well, I think 'The Sunday Roast' is quite an apt name
Roasting the previous week and whatnot. Always with lashings of gravy. Always.

So, lets get this show on the road, shall we?

This could either prove, or spectacularly shatter any illusions that I'm a really boring person.

Let's do this.

1) Oh. HELLO. What are those two beautiful photos up deeeerrr? Well, they're my Granfy's birthday cakes! Yeah.. he's easily pleased.

"How about a Frangipane tart Granfy?"
"Coffee and walnut?"
"No thanks Jess. I just like a good ol'cupcake."
Literally. What? He's like, the easiest customer. Ever. Every family needs a Granfy.

And I KNOW, it seems like I'm stuck ridin' on the Birthday Bake Bus. It's a rut. But I'll totally get off. Soon. Spontaneously. Probably in Scotland.

Anyway, I think Granfy enjoyed the cakes. Bless.

2) Ahem. Uh. On the subject of Birthdays... uh. well. uhm. This is a little awkward but, uh...

I'VE RECENTLY TURNED 17. OH MY GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.
17 sounds so much older than 16 doesn't it?!
Don't worry. I totally understand that you didn't get me a card or anything.
I'm not bitter. Nope. Not me. At all.

3) Oh, my. Is that the rumbling of an engine I hear in the distance? The unmistakable rumbling of a blue 2005 Vauxhall Corsa to be precise. DATS RIGHT. I'M CRUISIN' FOR A BRUISIN'. YE-AH.

Oh look at us. I have been personally designated as Harry's chauffeur for the foreseeable future.

Of course, I'll have to learn to drive first... DETAILS, DETAILS.
I don't even care. I have a car. The 'L' plates are on. Let's tear up the tarmac.

4)  You know those things that just kinda.. make your tummy feel all warm and fuzzy inside? I get that a lot. Because a lot of things make me happy. But nothing really makes me happier than when someone puts the time aside to bake something special. Just for you. And this year, on my Birthday, I was lucky enough for people to do just that.

First off : Mumma Shiner. Y'know, if you saw us together you'd know instantly that we were mother and daughter. We look the same. Talk the same. Laugh at the same things. I think it freaks people out sometimes.

But, very much unlike me, Mumma very much dislikes baking. I know. Crazy. I guess the cakey gene skipped a generation.
But this year was different, AND LOOK AT WHAT SHE MADE. Teaming up with my Nana, the two of them made this beautiful thing for my Birthday! I saw it. I melted. I had 1... 2 pieces. Okay 3.
But oh sweet Mary Berry was it amazing. Looks like the cakey gene didn't skip a generation after all.

Ohmigod. Don't these look delish? It's cause they were. My wonderful friend Jamie (who makes the best Turkey burgers and wasabi sauce. Like, ever) very kindly thrust this exciting looking tin into my hands. Oh my word. I tell you. Brownie cupcakes? I was not disappointed. And nor were hungry lunch-timers. 

Okay, so. Hands up. Who loves mini things?

ME, ME, ME, ME, ME!
Literally, puppies. Sausage rolls. Frogs. Teeny weeny tiny cakes. LIKE THESE ONES.
Oh goodness. Don't they just make your heart melt?
And not only that...

They were jam-packed into a cake tin. All for me!!

Absolutely gorgeous. And truly delicious. I really envy the baking abilities of my friend Rosie.
She can just look at flour, sugar and eggs and it turns into something beautiful.

And here is the lovely lady herself! Thank you so much Rosie. You really do look dazzling in that tiara.

And last, but by absolutely no means least. These absolutely adorable butterfly cakes made by the gorgeous Jenny (the studious looking one in the red top). Not only were these superbly light, they even had a little glazing of jam underneath the butter cream! Jenny said she wanted to recreate my favourite cake (Victoria sponge) but in miniature! She knows me so, so well.

5) HOLD UP GUYS. The Great British Bake Off won a BAFTA tonight!! Mel and Sue never looked so happy. No sign of Benedict Cumberbatch though. Sad.

Tweet Pin It Now!

Marbled With Love.

I want to take this time to ask one simple question first.
Just to give me some peace of mind, and to reassure myself that I am not actually an alien, or a Geordie Shore cast member, or something...
Did anyone else realise that the clocks went forward today?

I didn't. And it was a shock to the system.
There I was, snuggled like a little caterpillar in my bed. No rush.
10:30am... yeah. I still got time.
'JESS. NANA AND GRANFY ARE HERE!'
What the.. ?!!?!?!?!

Turns out. I hadn't changed my clock the night before. It was actually 11:30. And my fam had arrived in all their Easter-Egg-bearing glory, and I was still in my jammies...
Daylight savings. You rascal.

Despite that one (rather embarrassing) occasion... I like to think I'm kinda good at remembering things.
Like an elephant.
They have good memories, right? Yeah. I'm an elephant.

So when it comes to birthdays, I reckon I'm pretty much on that.
Okay, so remembering your friends' birthdays is a given. Yeah?
Well no. It's not.
There are people who check their facebooks. Just in case.
I know who you are.
And in a lot of cases, birthdays just kind of... come and go. People don't really want a fuss.
But I like love making a fuss. People secretly love being fussed about. They do.
And when I say 'people', I mean my friends.
My wonderful, crazy, cake-eating, instagram-loving friends.
We make a fuss of each other, even when we say 'ooh noo, it's just another birthday. Don't do anything special! It's not worth it.' - when really, we know we're going to be absolutely BOMBARDED with cake.
Because that's what we do on a birthday.. We bake and bake and bake, until there's cake on the floor, cake in our hands, cake round our mouths, and at least 50 new photos on everyone's instagram accounts.
I love it so much!

This latest Birthday Gift Extravaganza was for my really close friend, Sunny.
Let's talk about Sunny.
She's the kind of girl who can just do everything,
she can cook, bake, take a good photo, do maths...
And thanks to her, I've now found somewhere to buy pumpkin pie filling!
(Tesco have this new American grocery section which makes me so happy)

So what do you give a girl who does all that, for her birthday?

Well, you make a heart shaped marble cake,
put it on a miniature cake plate,
and wrap it in spotty cellophane with beautiful pink ribbon.
Duh!

Making a fuss is totally worth it. Especially when you get a smile at the end. :)
Oh.. and an instagram picture on Sunny's account.
If that's not appreciation. I don't know what is.


N.B - I'm just going to give you the recipe for a whole cake. Is that okay?
Cause of course, my heart-shaped tin was really small so I made cupcakes with the rest of my mixture.
Experiment with it!
Makes 1 Batch of Chocolate Chip and Vanilla Marble Cake Mixture
Ingredients
225g soft margarine
225g caster sugar
275g self-raising flour
2tsp baking powder
4eggs
2tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 tbsp cocoa
2tbsp of hot water
50g plain chocolate chips

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degress
Grease and line a 30x23cm cake tin
Measure the margarine, sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs, milk and vanilla essence into a large bowl and beat well until blended
Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin, but blob the spoonfuls apart
In another bowl, blend the cocoa and hot water and add it to the remaining mixture with the chocolate chips
Spoon mixture in between the blobs of vanilla mixture to fill the gaps
Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean
leave to cool and enjoy!!

[recipe taken from Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book, cake tin from Kitchenmonger]

Tweet Pin It Now!

Zingalingin' Orange Cake.

Okay everyone, please don't diss me for being unoriginal.. I reckon I've seen a photo like this before.

Is it deja vu? OH YEAH, because I've used a similar one on this post. But actually, now that you look at them both... if you scrutinise them side by side (as I am doing right now... me = no life) they're not that similar at all... what was I worrying about?
Stop making me worry.

So basically. Here's the deal. I live in England. Therefore, there's hardly any sun.. like, nil sun. Zilch. None.
Especially in this first part of the year. I know it's been wintery and all... but just so DREARY. It really makes me sad. And I lose all my baking mojo when I'm sad.
So whenever we have good weather... I'm gonna blog about it. That's just how deprived I am!

BUT, HEY, LOOK!
The sun came out on Tuesday!!! I mean... it went straight back in again (as in, the next day Mr Sunshine was nowhere to be found and I woke up to the same old grey, misty murk that I've been used to for the last 16 years of my life) and has rained for the the rest of this week.
But it was there, I saw it! I swear!!

And, as I'm sure you'll all agree, everything just seems so much better in the sun!!

Your clothes fit better, your skin looks clearer and you can forget your coat at the door, striding out with a confident smile that says 'No need for an umbrella. No need. At all. About-bloomin'-time.'
Sometimes you just feel like you deserve to smile like that, y'know?

And so, in this crazy whirlwind of happiness, sunglasses and 'gradual tan' buying - yes. I know what you're all thinking. IT'S MARCH JESS. Well... I believe it's good to be prepared - my Nana's birthday came around. On the sunniest day!!
It must be fate.

And to match my sunny disposition, I baked Nana an equally sunny and zingalingin' - yeah, I made this up. It's kinda like crackalackin', but so much more fabulous - orange cake!

I tell you, my friends. I was feelin' freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh!

This is my kinda cake.
So light. So... so... ORANGE-Y.

I don't know why but I never really imagined liking an orange cake.
Please don't ask me for a reason, because I totally LOVE oranges!
I knew it could be incorporated into a cake... but... really? To tell you the truth, I was sceptical.

However, Mary Berry said it was, and I quote - 'always popular with the family'.
She's never wrong. Why is this? Because she's a Goddess. Truly.

You just bung every ingredient in...

And waheeeeeeeey we go!!!

I'm going to call this my 'sunshine' cake from now on.
Happy Birthday Nana! x

Ingredients

For the Cake

175g soft margarine

175g caster sugar

3 eggs

175g self-raising flour

1 and a half teaspoons of baking powder

grated rind and juice of 1 orange

For the Icing

2 tablespoons of apricot jam

100g icing sugar

finely shredded rind and juice of 1/2 an orange

Method

Preheat the oven 180 degrees.

Lightly grease and base line a 20cm deep round cake tin with greaseproof paper

Measure all the ingredients into a large bowl and beat well until thoroughly blended

Turn into the prepared tin and level the surface

Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 35 minutes until well risen and springy to the touch

Leave to cool

For the Icing

Measure the apricot jam into a small pan and gently warm through

Brush onto the top of the cake

Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and mix in the orange juice

Pour over the top of the cake and spread with a palette knife

Leave to set then decorate with the orange rind
(I added the little iced flowers... as a spring-time addition to my Sunshine cake!)

P.S. I'm now getting a wised up on the ol'social network front!
You can follow me on twitter : here

And, you can follow me on pinterest : here

Check it out! I'd love to hear from you all!
Much love. xx

[recipe taken from Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book]

Tweet Pin It Now!

An apple a day...

Well, hey there. It's me again!
And have I got a treat for you...
Yes. Yes I do. A special treat.
In fact, it's so yummy you'll want to make it again and again.
Serve it hot or cold. It's that wonderful.
I'm drooling just thinking about it...
I'm really bigging this up aren't I?

But seriously, it's great. Seriously. Trust me.
You trust me right? You should. It's me!

Look everyone look! I made apple cake!
'An apple a day.' Geddit? Ahahahaha...

Anyway, so I have to say... I love this cake. I. Just. Love it.
With all that fruit and spice jam packed into it. What's not to love?!

And bless its cotton socks, it's not the most beautiful of cakes. But that doesn't matter, because it tastes absolutely spectacular.

If you could manifest the saying 'it's what's on the inside that counts' into a cake... this would be my cake of choice.
See why I love it so much now?!

Oooooh, and did I tell you? I made it for mum's birthday yesterday.
Now, please excuse me while I just go and polish my halo...

A recipe from the The Primrose Bakery Book - guaranteed to be amazeballs!

Ingredients

300g plain flour

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp 

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

170g raisins

115g chopped walnuts

120g unsalted butter at room temperature

230g granulated sugar

1 large free-range egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

500g apple sauce (from a jar) or unsweetened stewed apple

Icing sugar, for dusting

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 4.

Grease one 23cm cake tin, 6-7 cm in depth and line the base with baking paper.

Sift the flour, bicarb of soda and baking powder into a bowl.

Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and mix well.

In another bowl, combine the raisins and walnuts and then add a small amount of the flour mixture to coat them.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat well.

Beat in the flour mixture, 1/3 at a time, alternating with the apple sauce.

Finally, stir in the walnut and raisin mixture with a spoon until well combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin.

Bake in the centre of the oven until the top is a golden brown colour and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Let it cool in it's tin before turning out onto a wire rack.

Dust a little icing sugar on the top before serving, if liked.

(also, you can serve this warm with double cream... 

oooh yeaaahhh.)

Tweet Pin It Now!

Coffee Victoria Sandwich - A quick kick of caffeine for those January weekends.

Good morning! Good evening! Good afternoon!
Golly, I'm shattered! What a week it's been... First week back at school (always a toughy) early mornings, healthy lunches, essays, gym, late nights. Yep! It's definitely January!
But hey-ho, it's not all doom and gloom I promise. :)
And although I'm trying to steer well clear of anything sweet, stodgy, chocolatey or just flavoursome in general (yeah... Ryvitas... they're not the same as real bread) I prooooomise I'll keep sticking stuff on here for all of you to enjoy, especially if you're not still feeling bloated from the holidays!
Last week, (last Thursday to be exact) it was my brother's 22 birthday and, of course, I was put on cake making duty!

Now, Joe's a bit of a coffee fiend (being a student I suppose it was a substitute for food most of the time) and so am I (I love a large cappuccino on a cold day) and I think it's the perfect pick-me-up for the January blues!

  

I picked this recipe out from a recipe book I got for Christmas Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book and of course, in true Mary style, it's gorgeous!

Ingredients

4 eggs, beaten

2 heaped tablespoons of instant coffee

225g soft margarine

225g caster sugar

225g self-raising flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

For Filling and Topping

50g soft margarine

175g icing sugar, sifted

1tbsp coffee essence

1tbsp milk, optional

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Grease and line 20cm sandwich tins with greaseproof paper.

Place the eggs in the bowl and stir in the coffee until dissolved.

Add the remaining ingredients and beat well until thoroughly blended.

Divide the mixture between the sandwich tins and level out.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 25 minutes or until well risen and the tops of the cakes spring back when pressed.

Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

To make the butter cream...

Blend together margarine, icing sugar and coffee essence until smooth.

Add milk if necessary.

Use half the butter cream to sandwich the cakes together, spread the remaining on top.
Decorate!!!  

Tweet Pin It Now!

The Drizzliest Lemon Loaf.

Happy Birthday Fabian!

Have no fear my lovely cinnamon swirls, Jess is here! Ah, ah, ah! Okay, so, I promise that I have a good excuse for being so silent recently. I know it's unacceptable. Look at me, wanting to start a blog, reaching someone in Spain, posting a recipe, being all 'blogworthy' and then just... mute. I apologise, I really do. However this latest instalment I'm sure will go down well with you all.
Yes. Indeed. Make way everyone. The Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe has arrived.
Original right? No, I didn't think so either.
I know it's generic, but I really do believe that no baking archive (blog/book/scroll/bible) is complete without this gorgeously simple bake. There's just something so fresh about the zing of lemon and sugar coinciding with a crumbly cake that makes my mouth water.
So what's caused Jess to share with us her lemony adventures? I hear you ask.
Well of course, being the storyteller and general chatterbox that I am... I will tell you.
Actually, it's not greatly exciting (I live in a village remember, not a lot goes on. In fact, getting caught up in a cow crossing is pretty much the highlight of any day) however, this particular cake was requested of me a while ago from a friend who managed to get me a ticket to Glastonbury Festival next year! I was so unbelievably happy that without thinking I exclaimed 'Fabian, oh my gosh! Thank you so much!!! I'll bake you anything you want. You name it, I'll bake it.'
I instantly realised that right there, he had the perfect opportunity to conjure up any crazy concoction in his head and I would be faced with the challenge of baking it... I felt weirdly nervous as he thought of what he fancied.
And then, with a smile spreading across his face he said 'Y'know what? Lemon Drizzle is my absolute favourite...'
Unfortunately, it all got forgotten about with the whirlwind of work/revision etc. until now.
Today was Fabian's 17th birthday and I decided not to back out on a promise. So he finally got his lemon drizzle. I think he enjoyed it. ;)
And so, my little sugar plums, my Lemon Drizzle Loaf! (Taken from The Primrose Bakery Book - These recipes are wonderful!)

Ingredients
155g self-raising flour, sifted
1tsp baking powder
155g golden caster sugar
20g cornflour
155g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 large eggs
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

For the Drizzle
160g granulated sugar
juice of 2 lemons

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 4. Grease 1 x 900g loaf tin and line with baking paper or a loaf tin liner
Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and cornflour into the bowl or a food processor. Pulse the mixture for 4 seconds, or mix with a wooden spoon until evenly mixed.
Add the butter, eggs and lemon zest and juice. Process briefly until evenly blended, or beat with an electric hand whisk until evenly blended.
Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and level the top with a spatula.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown, or when a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Leave the loaf to cool.

The Drizzle
Stir the sugar and the lemon juice in a jug.
Prick the loaf all over with a fork, pour the drizzle over the loaf and allow it to set.

(apologies for the pictures not being so great, the artificial lighting in the common room was terrible!)

Tweet Pin It Now!

'Lighter Than Light' Cakes - With White Chocolate Leaf Decoration.

And so, my little chocolate drops I bring you my first recipe!!
It's been an absolutely MANIC day. As well as remembrance day (haven't they had wonderful weather for the ceremony? I also really loved Queenie's poppy brooch. Note to self: Make one next year...) we've celebrated my Auntie's Birthday and also watched an INCREDIBLE firework display this evening! (I was so excited, in fact, that I completely forgot to take my camera, otherwise there would be MILLIONS of pictures posted on here to show you all!)
With the little amount of time that I had, the 'baking morning' I had scheduled was cut a little short! But I did spend time mulling over something short and sweet to bake. My conclusion? Of course, it had to be.. Fairy cakes. The speed demons of the baking world. :)
However... I wanted to give them a slight autumnal twist, (after all, I'd gotten cute little floral paper cases for them to bake in) and added these clever little white chocolate leaves for decoration which I took from a book named 'Cakes & Cake Decorating, Step by Step', I found it in a second hand bookshop and it's a godsend! They're so easy, but so effective, whoever came up with this idea is an absolute genius!
These little spongey gems are so light and fluffy, they take no time at all and go down a treat.
Happy Baking!

Makes 24

Ingredients

225g butter (softened)

225g caster sugar

4 large free-range eggs

225g self-raising flour

For The Leaves

150g white chocolate (however, you can make this cute decoration with any type of chocolate!)

Method

Preheat the over to 180 degrees. Line two bun trays with 24 paper cases.

Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a tablespoon of flour with each addition and beat really well after each addition.

Fold in the rest of the flour.

Spoon the mixture into the cases (until about 3/4 full)

Bake for 20 minutes (until the tops spring back when touched, or when a skewer inserted comes out clean.) and cool them on a wire rack.

Leaves

Have a wander round your garden, find any leaves you think are the right size for the size of your cakes (mine were pretty small, so I put two on some cakes, I'd say rose leaves are the best!)

Melt the chocolate.

Using a very small paintbrush, carefully spread the melted chocolate on the underside of each leaf (be careful not to go over the side of each leaf)

Leave on a piece of baking parchment until completely set. (I usually put them in the fridge, and they usually take about 10 - 15 minutes to set, but it depends)

Once set, very gently peel the leaf from the chocolate and arrange them on each cake.

Once you are happy with your arrangement, gently sprinkle some icing sugar on top of the cakes for a prettier effect, and make up a small amount of icing with icing sugar and warm water.

Gently dab a bit of icing on the back of each leaf and place on the cake. Leave to set and stick. 

Tweet Pin It Now!