Chilli chocolate challenge

Ever heard of Russian roulette? This is essentially a chocolate roulette, a game of chance, with one in 5 chocolates being a throat scorcher.

It starts off with a selection of chilli chocolate buttons, placed in front of the players. Each player is to take a button. The chocolates are mixed up and have different heats, ranging from low to extra hot. It can work as a party game or a dare, but I would recommend serving these with a glass of milk, having learnt my lesson the hard way.

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe

There is nothing quite like the light, fluffy chocolate buttercream and soft cocoa infused sponge of a chocolate cupcake. The cheeky chocolate cupcake is a great treat after a long day and can be used to help relax. Here is my recipe for the "Chocolat Chaud" (hot chocolate) cupcake. I hope you like it!

Super easy rose cupcakes

Ever wondered how to make a decorative rose cupcake, without the fiddly fondant or risky buttercream? Get down the supermarket and get yourself a pack of pink pig sweets, and you are all set!

Coconut and raspberry cupcakes

Alternate option: Traybake

Ingredients

For the cake
4oz margarine or butter
4oz caster sugar
3oz self-raising flour
2oz desiccated coconut
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs

"John Whaite Bakes" book review

On Saturday, I was incredibly excited to receive a new recipe book for playing the lead in my drama group's performance of "Peter Pan". The book was "John Whaite Bakes", a book I had been very eager to get! I was a great fan of John Whaite on The Great British Bake Off, and even more so because I had my photo taken with him at The Cake And Bake Show in London 2012 (see my Cake And Bake Show post for the pictures). I was very happy about getting this new book.

A vintage spread

Last Friday i decided to do something a little different for my "baking day". With too many complaints on how I was trying fatten my family up with so many cakes, I made something a little healthier. Jam tarts. But to make it even better, I made a mini photo shoot with the collection of vintage teacups I have. The result was some very pretty pictures that look very quaint indeed. I hope you like them!

Lemon drizzle loaf cake

Friday. My favourite day of the week. The last day of school before the weekend, and my baking day. What could be better? Today's bake was a lemon drizzle loaf cake. I had made this dish only once before on my work experience, where I had a great week working in a kitchen! That was a while ago though, so I may as well have been new to the recipe.

Orange chiffon cake

A day off school, and what better is there to do than bake a cake? The next item on my "baking to-do" list was a chiffon cake. After trying an incredibly light cake at "The Cake and Bake Show 2012", which turned out to be a chiffon cake, I have been wanting to make it. I adapted the recipe to make an orange chiffon cake. I followed the recipe and the end result was excellent. A very soft sponge with a very distinct orange flavour. I decorated it with a few "orange blossoms". They are more like daisies, but it makes it look pretty. Here is the recipe I used:

My Cousin's amazing cheesecake!

These are the  photos of my cousin's cheesecake and either mine or my brother's mini pies (I think I made them, but am not 100% sure). The cheesecake, from looking at the pictures, I think was chocolate, coffee bean and raspberry, but again I don't know exactly. The cheesecake looked amazing, although regretfully, I didn't try any because I wasn't a fan of cheesecake at the time. However, I know that it went down well with those who did have a piece. I always like to share the works of my family or friends because they deserve a little credit for such an amazing, edible masterpiece. The mini pies also look great, whoever they were made by.

Taste of Autumn food fair

At the start of Autumn this year, I visited the taste of Autumn food fair. There were many goodies on offer, with pies and pastries, cheeses and oils, apples and chocolates and cordials and marinades all over the place. There were a number of baked products, including cheesecakes and tarts, and the most delicious raspberry and apple pie. Although we did not buy one, we made one later that day which was equally as fruity and sweet.

 I had a lovely day sampling the various products, sampling a bit too much of some products, such as the flavourful smoked garlic oil at one stall, and the crispy turkey at another. I was particularly interested in all the bakes and cakes on offer. They certainly were stunning.

I have also added a few pictures of some nice things I saw in the gift shop. I hope you like these dainty delights as much as I did!

Chocolate orange cupcakes

Chocolate orange, a popular flavour, but how about in a cake? My cousin and I had a go at making our own chocolate orange cupcakes. We made the sponge and our own orange syrup to soak through the sponge and for the centre. Unfortunately  because the oranges were quite old, we could only use the juice and not the zest, so it was lacking some of that orange flavour. There is always next time, I guess. We topped our cakes with a little sugared orange slice sweet. This was my cousin's first time piping and he did rather well at it!

Chocolate digestive and lavender tea cupcakes

The day my friend and I made these cakes, we had decided to have a go at a bit of harmless experimentation. With a cupboard full of ingredients and an endless stream of ideas, we set to work baking our cupcake creations. Mine was a lavender flavoured cake with a plain buttercream, my friends was a chocolate digestive biscuit cake with, again, just a simple buttercream. The results were very tasty indeed. My only suggestion for my cakes would be that instead of using lavender tea, I use lavender flowers, of which we didn't have any at the time. Here are our end results. This was my friends first time piping, and it looked really good for a first go. Hers are the chocolate cakes and mine are the lighter coloured ones.

Gran Gran's homemade birthday cakes

Flower cake

My Gran, or as my brother, my cousin and I call her, Gran Gran, has made some stunning cakes over the years. She is not a professional cake maker but her cakes really are of professional standard. What ever we had asked for she had made even better than expected, making the most difficult cakes just for us. I am always proud to show people these cakes because I am able to say "My Gran made them"! So now I will share them with the world. The best birthday cake I could ever ask for. Thank you Gran Gran for these stunning cakes!