The BEST chocolate chip cookies

The best chocolate cookies… a very daring expression but I believe it’s definitely justified! I have made a lot of cookies in my time, from soft and gooey to crunchy and chewy (ha!) But these… these…. just WOW!

Take a bite…

Hard and slightly crunchy on the outside to chewy and soft in the middle, littered with chocolate chunks and a sprinkling of fleur de sel. Well, the cookie monster would definitely take a bite out of these!

I got the recipe from my favourite cookbook of the moment, Lily Vanilli, and adapted it slightly but adding more chocolate and using muscovado sugar to make sure it had that chewy middle!

A delicious closeup

I still have about a third of the cookie dough sitting in my freezer, just waiting to be made into fresh cookies! That’s the great thing about this recipe, you don’t need to wait for the dough to chill, and the whole process of making and baking the cookies takes under an hour from start to finish!

I will be making these for my upcoming bake sale on 26th June, let me know if you want any more info!

One more shot, I couldn’t resist!

Chocolate Spice Cake

This cake reminds me of honeyed spice cake, very moist, but not too dense. It’s actually quite light and fluffy, with a gorgeously sweet Biscoff-Maple glaze!

Smoothed to Perfection

The Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 130g plain flour
• 45g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp ground cinammon
• 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 55g dark brown sugar
• 100g caster sugar
• 235ml milk with a squeeze of jemon juice (you can use any milk here, even dairy free!)
• 80ml sunflower oil
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• For the glaze:
• 85g biscoff/speculoos
• 125g icing sugar
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• Splash of milk
• Chocolate to decorate (optional)

Method:

• Sift the flour and cocoa powder into your mixing bowl or stand mixer, and add in the rest of the dry ingredients
• Mix until well combined and no lumps remain
• Add in the milk, oil and vanilla and mix well
• Make sure all ingredients are well combined then pour into a lined loaf tin and bake on 175oC for 40-45 mins
• When cake is baked, leave to cool and make the glaze
• Sift in the icing sugar into a mixing bowl and add in the rest of the ingredients
• Mix vigorously until you get a thick glaze
• When cake is cooled, pour over the top and leave to set
• I grated chocolate over the top for a pretty finish

Moist and fluffy spice cake

 

Want a slice?

 

A special dinner

Of course it was Valentine’s Day yesterday, and I received my first ever roses delivery (ahhh!) Not being a fan of all the romantic slush, all I wanted was (obviously) a really yummy dinner. Of course that means cooking it myself!

Roses are red

I decided to cook my first EVER steak (shock horror) followed by melt in the middle chocolate puds. Basically my dream dinner. I cooked the steak in a pan with olive oil and garlic seasoning.

My medium rare steak

The boyfriend’s well done steak!

After a gorgeous main course of steak with roasted sweet potatoes, asparagus and beans, it was time for the main event.

Melt in the middle chocolate fondant puds served in my new Le Creuset dishes.

Melt in the middle chocolate dessert

The original recipe was for 8 people, so I halved it and made 2 puds in my rather large ramekins! I also made these dairy free.

Ingredients:

• 100g dark chocolate
• 100g margarine
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 55g caster sugar
• 30g plain flour
• 1tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Melt the chocolate and butter in bain marie
2. Whisk eggs, yolk,vanilla and sugar until doubled in size
3. Fold in chocolate and margarine mixture when cooled
4. Sift in flour and fold together
5. Spoon into ramekins
6. If using extra large ramekins like mine for only 2 puds, bake for 19 mins on 180oC. If making 4 puds, bake for 15 mins
7. Serve with custard, cream, or ice cream!

Little pots of joy

Please sir, can I have some more?

I might have finished mine rather too  quickly and stolen a cheeky spoonful of the boyfriend’s… but that’s why he loves me right?!

Did you make or get made anything special yesterday?

Valentine’s Quick Treats

Happy Valentine’s Day (like you could forget!) If you’re at a loss about what to whip up, i’ve got 2 very easy and quick treats for you to make.

Chocolate covered oreos and Marshmallow krispies… Love themed of course!

Pink Marshmallow Cake

I <3 Oreos

To make the oreos, I melted a LOT of Cadburys dairy milk, submerged the oreos in them, then lay them out on a baking sheet and added heart sprinkles. I put in the fridge to harden, then drizzled white chocolate on top.

To make the krispies, I melted a knob of butter over a low heat with a few squares of white chocolate. When this was melted, I added a bag of mini marshmallows and some red gel food colouring. Once melted, I added to a bowl and mixed in rice krispies til they were covered. I transferred the mixture to a pan covered in baking paper and let set, before adding an extra drizzle of white chocolate.

The finished krispie cake!

Grab one before they’re gone!

These are both so quick and easy to make, you can do them once you’re home from work. Enjoy! What are you making this Valentine’s Day?

Custard Cake

Happy New Year Cake Snobs! Here’s the first post of my Christmas catch – up, and its a goodie! I was asked to make a birthday cake for my boyf’s sister. This was a challenge as it had to be dairy free, and she doesn’t really like cake, only the buttercream frosting!

However, one thing she does like is custard, so I made her a light victoria sponge, with a ribbon of custard running through it, with mini cupcakes and custard buttercream on top!

Custard Birthday Cake

This cake went in about 24 hours flat, the dairy free buttercream was thick and addictive, and the cake was fluffy and moist thanks to the custard filling. The birthday girl loved it and I hope you will too!

I adapted a recipe from the BBC Good Food website and substituted in margarine to make it dairy free, as well as making my own custard icing and using soya custard in the cake.

Mint choc chip cupcakes

Every once in a while there is a celebration of the kind where cupcakes are required. A celebration of this sort happened to occur last weekend, as my dear and gorgeous cousin turned 25. Even though we were staying in to watch a TV marathon of X Factor and Take Me Out, lots of nosh was needed, and nosh we got! My cousin and I cooked up some shredded duck yumminess with noodles and pancakes (nom!) and she baked some cakes for dessert. However, no party would be complete without birthday cupcakes…

Mint choc chip cupcakes

The view from above

 

I had to surprise her with these dairy free delights! And it seemed like everyone enjoyed them too:

Om nom nom

I made these out of ingredients I already had, and they were definitely a success, so I shall be making these again!

Summer Sorbet

Lemon sorbet with frozen raspberries – enjoy the British summertime whilst it lasts with this deliciously easy summer sorbet!

Ingredients:

400g caster sugar
700ml water
250ml lemon juice (6-8 lemons)
1 lemon, unwaxed, zested

Method:

Firstly, freeze a handful of raspberries before making the sorbet!
Next, put the water and caster sugar in a pan and gently heat until the sugar has dissolved. Dont stir it, but you can swirl the water round to help it dissolve.
Leave the sugar syrup to cool completely before adding the lemon juice zest to the syrup.
Chuck this all in an ice cream maker and leave to churn for half an hour! Take out and transfer to a freezer dish, and scatter your now frozen berries over the top! Freeze for another 10 minutes then serve!

*Adapted from BBC Good Food

Chocolate brownie birthday cake

I made this ooey, gooey, deliciously indulgent chcoolate cake for a very good friend of mine’s birthday. Needless to say, it was gobbled up before the end of the evening!

Ingredients:

100g butter
175g caster sugar
75g light brown sugar
125g dark chocolate
1 tbsp golden syrup
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder

Method:

In a saucepan, place the butter, both sugars, chocolate and golden syrup and melt gently on a low heat until it is smooth and lump-free.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Once the wet mixture has cooled down, add to the dry mix and beat using an electric beater. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until mixture is smooth. Do not over mix! Pour the mixture into a greased and lined 9inch cake tin.
Bake in oven at 200oC for about 25-30 mins.
When a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out 1/3 clear, take the cake out the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

My preference is to serve this warm with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream! Also featured on Groupon.

Comfort Food: Brownie Cupcakes!

Whether you’re in need of some TLC or just fancy a cheeky indulgence, whip up a batch of these brownie cupcakes to satisfy your chocolate craving!

I topped them with a swirl of vanilla icing and a drizzle of caramel for extra naughtiness! Get the recipe here on Groupon’s city blog

English Flapjacks!

Well if there’s one thing we know about England, it’s that the weather is totally changeable! So these homebaked flapjacks are perfect for snuggling up with in front of the TV when its rainy, and just as good packed in a picnic! Plus they are so easy to make, and can also be made gluten and dairy free!

Ingredients:

• 350g jumbo oats – I found some gluten free oats from Waitrose which tasted scrummy!
• 220g Light brown muscovado sugar
• 100g golden syrup – gotta be Lyle’s!
• 140g butter or marge
• 100g chocolate of your choice

Method:

In a large saucepan on a low heat, combine the sugar, syrup and buter. With a wooden spoon, stir until all the ingredients have melted together to form a lovely treacle-y gloop! This should take a few minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and stir in the oats about a third at a time, until they are all covered. Line a 9×13 inch tray with baking paper, and also grease this with butter/marge. Dollop the mixture into the tine and bake until golden brown, for about 20 mins on 18oC.

Remove and leave to cool fully. Melt chocolate of your choice (Cadbury’s Dairy Milk does it for me!) in a bain-marie (Boil a saucepan of water and set a heatproof glass bowl over it.)

Cut your flapjacks into squares and dip in chocolate. Set on a plate to cool and lick the bowl clean. Consume flapjacks at a steady(ish) rate and dont forget to hand out to loved ones! Makes about 15 flapjacks.