Gingerbread biscuits

Hi guys!

I don't know about you but a big part of the christmas festivities includes eating and making food...and drink but I will cover that part next week! To get me into the festive feel of things today (I say today but i've been trying to put bake these and put this tutorial up all week!), I am going to making gingerbread biscuits. These are yummy warm and are the perfect accompaniment to a mug of piping hot chocolate. 

Ingredients Needed:
125g butter
100g dark brown muscovado sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup
325 plain flour plus some for dusting
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon & cloves
5 tbsp royal icing
2 tbsp water
decorating bits - silver balls

1) In a non stick pan melt the butter, sugar and syrup together. Stir together until combined.

2) In another bowl add all your dry ingredients; flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, nutmeg and cloves and stir together until combined.

3) Take the saucepan off the heat (make sure the liquids not boil) and add in the dry ingredients. Stir together until it forms a ball.

4) Let the dough cool down for a few minutes and roll it out onto a floured surface. Using cookie cutters of your choice, cut out shapes and place on baking trays lined with greaseproof paper. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees and cook them for 9 -10 minutes.

5) Once cooked remove from the oven and whilst they are warm, poke a hole at the top in order for you to put a string through them and hang them up.

6) Mix together the water and royal icing and decorate the biscuits however you like.

Tip: Dust the cookie cutters with flour to prevent them form sticking to the dough

I hope you enjoy baking these as much as I did. Do you guys have any christmas food traditions or bake something special during the festive period? I know for me I always enjoy eating loads and loads of panettone (with lots and lots of butter). 

Like always If you don't already follow me on all the social media platforms, get following and I also wanted to add a quick little plug for myself because I have a online store where I sell handmade cards which are designed and produced by me! If you do have the time I would really appreciate if you could check it out,  curlyneedle.bigcartel.com :)

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Alex's Bad Idea To Bake Birthday Cake!

Hey Guys, Alex here, 

TW: im talking about cake... run away if you're on a diet!

So Its was my 22nd birthday :( i'm getting old! 

Usually I would leave the baking antics up to someone else but today i decided i wanted to make my own cake.. and without blowing my own trumpet, i'm actually not that bad at baking.

Here are a few examples of my previous baking extravaganzas;

Easter Surprise-birthday cake

Friends birthday:- The Killer Bunny form The Monty Python and The Holy Grail

So as you can tell, things don't usually go to plan, At least i try? Amirite?

This is what I plan my cake to look like:-

Cue Baking time with alex

What you will need;-

For the Cake mix-

• Self Raising Flour 
• Caster Sugar 
• Eggs x4 
• Hot choc powder 
• Butter 
• Baking Powder 
• Mixing Bowl 
• Whisk or Electric mixer 
• Baking tins 
• spatula 
• baking parchment 
• Spoons- table and teaspoon and normal spoon 

For the Icing and Decor-

• Mixing Bowl 
• Knife 
• Mixer whisk 
• Marshmallows 
• white chocolate buttons 
• hundred and thousands 
• rainbow belts 
• Blue food colouring

Bish, Bash, Bosh

my way of baking is really simple, haha bet you couldn't tell, i just like to bang it all in at once and hope for the best.

So first things first ( am a realist- im sorry i will let my self out)

- Set Your oven to 180 degrees please!!

- Then weigh all your 4 eggs together this can vary and is important. Mine weighed around 250 grams, this is now going to be the measurement for your Butter, Caster sugar and your flour.

- Bash all them in together, for chocolate cake, take out 2/3 tbs of flour and replace it with about 2/3 Tablespoons of Chocolate Powder.

-I then put all of the ingredients into the mixer along with the eggs

- Make sure there are no egg shell :P

- Also a teaspoon of baking powder is needed at this moment!

Next up in simple baking with alex you need too;

- Mix until the batter is an even colour and consistency,3-4 mins for everyone with an electric mixer, for all you man powered mixers just keep whisking away till your arm is going to drop off :) about 10mins

- Once the batter is not too thick and gloopy but smooth and silky, evenly distributed between 2 lined/ greased baking trays

Put the cake mixtures into the oven set the timer around 35/45 minutes, mine took 1hour and 20mins! dunno where i went wrong on that one... :s its best to test by sticking a probe/kebab sick into the cake if it comes out clean its probably done, another way to test is to press on the cake slightly if it bounces back its done!

Once baked leave the cakes in the tins to cool for 5 mins! then gently remove t leave on a wire rack to cool for a further 10-20 mins.

Ice Ice icing it!

I chose to use Buttercream Icing. This link will show you how to make the perfect buttercream..
after following these instructions i popped a dap of blue food colouring into the icing for the 'sky effect'

Final Touches

The next bits the best, smother the cake in the blue icing- smooth with a knife- add a dash of water onto the knife creates a glossy effect. Leave this to dry/set, for a quick setting times i recommend you  put the iced cake in the freezer, not only will the cake set fast, but when slightly frozen the cake is much easier to decorate.


While this is going on I separated my marshmallows white and pink. The pink well they got eaten! The White need placing in a microwavable bowl and microwave for 40 seconds on 600wt. Mix with a spoon this makes the marshmallows loose their shape and become sticky and gooey. Then dust a part of table/chopping board with icing sugar and cover your hands in it take clumps of the marshmallow and form cloud like shapes and place on the cake for desired shape/style.

Dust the cake in hundreds and thousands do this at your own risk they go everywhere!!

Now the Rainbow belts need forming into semi circles- place in the freezer to set- I did a few for experiment sake this method worked the best
Leave for 5-10 mins


Once they have set slightly take one and form a rainbow on the marshmallow clouds I used some icing sugar and water and wedged it into the clouds held it for a few seconds for it to set in place and well….






Daadaaa…

Add candles for finished look…

I hope this has tickled your tastebuds for cake! 

Please find me on social media and look at all my other crazy Ideas!

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Chai Latte Cupcakes

Well hello there! :) Happy Monday guys! 

As many of you know (or don't) this week (Thursday to be precise) is Diwali! Diwali is celebrated by Hindu's, Jain's and Sikh's and all for different reasons. As some of you may or may not know i'm Sikh, so come thursday I will be going to the Gurdwara (sikh temple) to celebrate. Diwali is a significant day to Sikhs around the world, as it celebrates the realise of our 6th guru, Guru Hargobind Ji. 

Inspired by this Indian festivity, I decided to make some chai latte cupcakes. The star ingredient of this recipe has to be the chai latte mix by drink me chai. I literally love this stuff, it has a sweet taste to it and it makes me feel warm and happy.  Okay so lets get to it! 

 You Will Need:

• 100g self raising flour
• 100g brown sugar
• 100g butter
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons of Drink me Chai's 'spiced' mix 
• 1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract 
• 1 small cup of milk
• Buttercream frosting
• 1 stick of cinnamon, 3 cloves and cardamon pods
• Cupcake cases

1) Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees. Measure out the flour, sugar, butter, chai mix, vanilla extract and put all in the ingredients into a mixer. Crack the eggs into the mixer bowl and add 7 tablespoons of milk. 

2) Mix all the ingredients together until combined. Do not over mix, I repeat DO NOT OVER MIX! this causes the cupcake to become  tough, dense and bread like, and no one wants that. 

3) Spoon the batter into the cupcake cases and bake for 15-20mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.  

4) Whilst the cupcakes are baking, it is time to infuse the milk. Put the remaining milk into a small pan add the cinnamon, cardamon and clove. Let the milk simmer for about 10 minutes then leave to cool. When its cooled you can add a couple of teaspoons of this to any buttercream of your choice (I was lazy and bought buttercream from the supermarket). The rest of the milk you can drink, it tastes amazing! :) 

5) Pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes and they are ready to eat. 

For all you chai/cha lovers out there I highly recommend trying these, and don't forget to tweet me a picture if you do make these! :) 

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Quick Carbonara

The first time I had carbonara was actually at Pizza Express (kids menu). So that was a long time ago, but ever since then I was hooked. This is originally made with spaghetti and parmesan cheese, but I made it with the spirally pasta (Fusilli) and Cheddar cheese. YES people! Cheddar cheese! Obviously if you prefer parmesan do use that, I'm not much of a fan so I use Cheddar. 

For the people who are not sure what carbonara is, it basically is a pasta dish made with bacon, eggs and cream. It super easy to make and you properly have these ingredients at home already! So lets get started. Oh and this recipe is just the right amount for 1 person

You Need:

• 1 egg
• 70ml double cream
• 30g grated Parmesan or Cheddar cheese
• 3 slices of pancetta or bacon of choice
• 2 handfuls of pasta
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

 1) start of by boiling water in the kettle. Add the pasta to a pan with some salt and olive oil, then add the boiling water and cook pasta according to the instructions on the packet. 

2) In a bowl add the egg, cheese, cream, salt and pepper. This will be out sauce so just leave that to the side for the time being. 

3) Grab a none stick frying pan and add the olive oil. Once the oil has warmed up add the bacon. What I normally do it a cut the bacon into pieces by using a pair of kitchen scissors. Once the bacon is nice and crispy (about 5 minutes) you can add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. I crushed by garlic using one of those garlic crusher thingy bobs. I know it looks like a lot of garlic but I do love my garlic! 

4) By this point your pasta should be cooked and before you drain all the starchy water away, grab a spoon and pour 4 tablespoons of the starchy water into your sauce mixture. The reason I do this is to bring up the temperature of the sauce. Not sure if that makes sense but it works just trust me! Add the pasta to frying pan.

5) Mix everything together and then turn the heat off. 

6) Add the sauce and toss pasta to mix everything together. The egg should cook with the warmth of the pasta and bacon. If you do keep the pan on the heat when adding the sauce, you will end up with a scrambled egg sauce rather than a smooth rice sauce. 

7) Your done! plate it up and serve immediately. 

If you do manage to make this please tweet me a picture!! 

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Garlic and Rosemary Mushrooms

This is a quick and easy recipe if you're in a rush. I used to make this a lot a uni, all you need is a couple of ingredients and 10 mins!

Ingredients: 

• Chopped Mushrooms
• Garlic cloves (add as many/little as you want) 
• Oil (4 tablespoons)
• Rosemary (can use mixed herbs instead)

First- Chop the garlic cloves and rosemary into big or small pieces. In a bowl add the oil, rosemary and garlic so they can infuse. 

Second- Chop up the mushrooms and pour the oil into pan along with the mushrooms. Keeping the heat to medium. Once the mushrooms have shrunk and become darker in colour, you can add the rosemary and garlic as well as salt and pepper to taste. Cook these all together for about 2-3 minutes. And your done!  

You can add a sauce to this and boil some pasta and it becomes and instant meal. Hope you enjoy making it :)

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Butternut squash soup with chilli & crème fraîche

Hey guys! April here, and I'm making soup!

(This is what its ment to look like!)

Soups are the only way I will eat any sort of vegetables, so I try and make lots of different types of soups to keep up my 5 a day veg!

Here I’m going to tell you how to make my favourite soup-

Butternut squash soup with chilli & crème fraîche

Serves 4

Calories Protein Carbs Fat  Saturates Fibre Sugar  Salt

  264           5g          28g    15g     7g           6g      17g   0.61g

Ingredients

1 butternut squash, about 1kg, peeled and deseeded

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

2 onions, diced

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

2 mild red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped

850ml hot vegetable stock

4 tbsp crème fraîche, plus more to serve

Method

~Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

~Peal the skin off the squash, I didn't and you could tastes the chunks! yuk

~Cut the squash into large cubes, about 4 cm/1½in across, and then toss in a large roasting tin with olive oil.

(Roast for 30 mins, turning once during cooking, until golden and soft.)

~While the squash cooks, melt the butter with the oil in a large saucepan, then add the onions, garlic and ¾ of the chilli.

(Cover and cook on a very low heat for 15-20 mins until the onions are completely soft.)

~Tip the squash into the pan, add the stock and the crème fraîche, and then whizz with a stick blender until smooth. for a really silky soup, put the soup into a liquidiser and blitz it in batches.

(Be careful with a stick blender! I'm still finding soup all over the kitchen because I lifted it out the pan too early) 

~ season to taste.

~Serve the soup in bowls with swirls of crème fraîche and a scattering of the remaining chopped chilli.

finito! 

 And here is my finished dish! 

I didn't sprinkle more chilli on top of the soup because, for me, it was spicy enough.

So have a go and create this beautiful healthy soup!

Toodlepip xx

Too find more of my social media ramblings, check me out!

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♥

BBQ Halloumi Skewers

During our last week at uni we decided to have a bbq, and a successful one it was! Can't say the same about the weather. But hey we do live in England ;) This was April's first time trying halloumi cheese. She loved it. A lot. So here it is our recipe for halloumi skewers. 

These are the basic items needed for the skewers. At uni we did add chicken pieces that were marinated in Nandos sauce, you could also add vegetable such as mushrooms or red onions.  

For the marinade you need 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (normal olive oil will do as well), a hand full of mint chopped up (rosemary can be used in replacement of mint), Juice of half a lemon and salt and pepper to taste. 

Chop up your vegetables into bite size chunks. Add your vegetables and marinade into a big bowl and mix it all together. Leave to marinade for half an hour to a hour. You can leave it to marinate overnight for a stronger flavour. In the mean time soak the wooden skewers in water until needed. This prevents the skewer from setting on fire when it comes to bbq-ing. 

When your ready to bbq, thread pieces of halloumi and vegetables onto the skewer. Be careful when adding halloumi pieces as they are break very easily. 

Place skewers on the bbq and turn every minute for about 3-4 minute. 

and then your done! Hope you enjoy :) 

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