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Easter is just around the corner, so why not use that excuse to buy and use all of the readily available holiday themed chocolates?

I’m jumping on the bandwagon this week with a batch and sharing my take on a batch of mini egg cookie bars – with easter being just a few weeks away, it’s the perfect time to start getting those easter bakes made.

Cookie bars are always good idea, mostly because they’re quick, easy and super versatile – you can customise them to suit you and/or your occasion, which is perfect right?

For these I used a mixture of milk chocolate chips and mini eggs, which work perfectly together and when combined into the cookie dough – it all marries and comes together wonderfully.

If this sounds like a recipe you’d like to try, why don’t you give it a go? You have nothing to lose, only yummy cookie bars to gain.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

175g Butter, at room temperature.

175g Granulated sugar.

175g Light brown sugar.

2 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

350g Plain flour.

1/2 tsp Baking powder.

A pinch of Salt.

100g Milk chocolate chips.

150g Cadbury mini eggs.

Method:

Before you get into the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep. Start by weighing up all of the ingredients, lining a 8 inch square cake tin with parchment paper and grab a mixer and spatula. Don’t forget to preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start on the cookie dough, grab your mixing bowl and place the butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar into the bowl and beat for a couple of minutes or until lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Once that’s been achieved, you can give the bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Then you can add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well in between each addition – followed by the vanilla extract. You may notice that the consistency changes once all of the wet ingredients have been added and thats normal – don’t worry about it.

You’ll now want to give the bowl a good scraping down, again to incorporate any bits that haven’t been fully incorporated.

Next, you can add in the plain flour and baking powder, passing them through a sieve first. This is just to make the dough as smooth as possible, removing any lumps that may occur in the dry ingredients.

Now you’ll also want to add in the chocolate chips and mini eggs. You can always incorporate everything using a spatula but I find using my stand mixer works just as well – use whichever method works best for you.

Once you have batter formed, give the bowl a good scraping down to incorporate any bits that haven’t been fully incorporated.

Then you can transfer it into your line 8 inch cake tin, spreading it out to get it as level as you can – this is to help with the bake consistency. You’ll want to then bake this 10-12 minutes, then remove from the oven and top with a selection of mini eggs and place back into the oven and bake for a further 2-3 minutes or just until they are golden brown around the edges.

If you can resist, try not to cut these util they are fully cooled down. To make them fudgier and easier slice, once cooled down, place into th fridge for 6-8 hours or overnight. Trust me, that really helps to enhance the flavour and texture.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.

Whether you like it or not, carrot cake is a classic bake. Today I’m showing you how to make my take on carrot cupcakes with an orange cream cheese icing – sound good?

I know that carrot cake is in the classic cakes, like a coffee and walnut cake (or coffee and walnut cupcakes, if you fancy) but it’s not for everybody – which is perfectly understandable. That’s why I’m sharing my carrot cupcakes, smaller, easier to share and perfect if you only want a small amount of cake instead of a slice (or 2, I’m not judging).

For me, carrot cake has that spring or easter vibe to it and I can’t quite explain why. It’s different to most other cakes, especially considering it has grated carrot in. This helps add flavour, texture and moisture to the cake – which is important. Remember that carrot cake should be moist, not dry – so many shop bought or other recipes end up being dry and unpleasant but not this recipe.

Once you give this recipe a try, you won’t look back. To make this cake even better, I used a classic cream cheese icing but made it better by adding in orange zest – trust me, this simple little addition elevates this cake to the next level – so, what’s stopping you making these soon?

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

150g butter.

150g light brown sugar.

3 eggs.

150g plain flour.

1 tsp baking powder.

dash of cinnamon.

85g walnuts (optional).

100g raisins.

150g grated carrot

icing:

300g icing sugar.

50g butter.

125g cream cheese.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll eat to do some prep work. I recommend starting b weighing up all of your ingredients, preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, line a muffin tray with cupcake cases and get any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer and spatula ready.

To start on the cupcakes, take your mixing bowl and place in the butter and light brown sugar. Beat the two together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Give the bowl a quick scraping down, just to work in any bits that may to have been fully worked in.

Then add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well in-between each addition, ensuring each egg is fully incorporated before adding in another egg. the consistency of the batter will become more liquid like, which is normal.

Give the bowl another quick scraping down, just to incorporate any of the bits that may not have been fully incorporated.

After you have done this, you can then go ahead and add in all of the grated carrot along with the raisins/walnuts – then mix this in until its fully worked in.

Directly into the bowl, sift in the plain flour and baking powder – you can also add in the ground cinnamon.

You can then go ahead and mix all the ingredients together until a batter forms – it won’t be completely smooth seeing as there is carrot in the mic but you shouldn’t be able to see a trace of a single ingredient.

Divide the cake batter between your cupcake case and bake for 20-22 minutes in your preheated oven (the cupcakes should be risen and when a tester is inserted into the centre, comes out clean).

While your cupcakes are baking, you can make the cream cheese icing.

The icing is really easy to make. start by grabbing a large mixing bowl and placing in the icing sugar, butter and orange zest – then mix these together until they are combined, they won’t come together fully as the mixture is too dry at this point. By now, the mixture should be clumping together.

Add in the cream cheese and mix on a medium-high speed. At the start, the mixture may look very liquid – don’t worry, as you whisk it together, it thickens and becomes a much more stable icing to work with.

You’re looking for the perfect spreadable/pipable consistency, it should hold its shape but still be pliable enough to work with. Once you achieve this, you can transfer the icing into a piping bag fitted with your choice of nozzle and set aside until needed later on.

As an optional spring/easter themed topped, you could make a couple little sugar paste carrots to sit on top.

Once the cupcakes are baked and cooled and the icing has been made, you can go ahead and finish the cupcakes off. Start by taking the icing and piping however you like on top of the cupcakes, I used a 1M Wilton tip but you can use whichever nozzle you like.

If you’re using any sort of topper, you can place them on now and serve the cupcakes – it’s that easy.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.

This Black Forest gateau is one of the best and easiest cakes I’ve made to date.

If you know anything about my blog or YouTube channel, then you’ll know that I’ve shared various versions of this recipe since I started back in 2016 – each a little different to the last. If you’re interested, you can check out the other black forest recipes I’ve shared before now; Black Forest cookies, Black Forest gateau 2019, square Black Forest gateau, rectangular Black Forest cake and Black Forest pavlovas.

It wouldn’t quite be the same if I wasn’t to upload this cake, it’s ultimately become a tradition at this point. Just incase you haven’t heard of how I make my Black Forest gateau, here’s a quick run down. It’s layers of chocolate cake, sandwiched together with cream and cherry jam, then coated with lashings of fresh cream and finished with chocolate, cream rosettes and cherries.

This cake uses some products from the lovely people over at Cocoarunners. If you’re looking to use the best possible quality ingredients, you should check them out. They have an excellent baking and cooking range, including cocoa powder, cocoa nibs, milk chocolate, dark chocolate and unsweetened chocolate (also, check out the make your own chocolate bar).

This cake is the perfect alternative to make, especially for those who aren’t massive fans of buttercream and prefer something lighter and less sweet. I make this cake several time throughout the year as it’s my moms favourite, so whether its a retro throwback you’re looking for or juts a sweet treat, give this cake a try, you won’t regret it.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cake:

250g butter

250g granulated sugar.

4 eggs.

2 tsp vanilla extract.

220g plain flour.

30g cocoa power.

1 1/2 tsp baking powder.

pinch of salt.

milk (only if needed, to help with the consistency).

Cream:

600ml double cream.

100g icing sugar.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

cherry jam (use homemade or shop bought, its your choice).

Finishing:

200g dark chocolate, grated.

cherries, cocktail or maraschino – either work well.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. I like to start by preheating the oven to 180˚c/350˚f, weighing up all of your ingredients and getting any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer and mixing bowl, along with a spatula.

To start, take your mixing bowl and place in the butter and sugar, then beat the two together for around 7-10 minutes or until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Once you’ve achieved that, you can go ahead and give the bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bit’s that may not have been fully incorporated from earlier on.

Then you can add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition, don’t forget to add in the vanilla extract and mix in until its fully incorporated into the mixture. This will help you achieve the perfect consistency and lowers the chances of curdling/scrambling the cake batter.

Now the eggs have all been added, you can go ahead and give the bowl another good scraping down, this is again to incorporate any bit’s that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Add in the dry ingredients, passing them through a sieve first, just to remove any lumps that may be in the dry mix. Then you can go ahead and mix everything together on a low speed to start with, working your way up to a medium-high speed, adding a tablespoon of milk to help get the perfect consistency (use as much or as little milk as needed).

Take the bowl and give it a final good scraping down, this is just to incorporate any of those final pesky bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Split the cake batter between your prepared 3×6 inch cake tins and get it as equal as possible (you can do this by using scales and getting the total weight of the cake batter and dividing it by 3 and place that amount into each cake tin), I just eyeballed it and they all turned out pretty well, being honest.

Bake the cakes in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until well risen (and a tester comes out clean, when inserted into the centre of the cake).

Now is the perfect time to have a good clean down and get prepared for when the cakes are baked. This is also the ideal time to make the simple syrup – which is ridiculously easy.

To make the simple syrup, place the water and sugar into a small saucepan and mix. Then place on the hob over a medium-high heat until it reaches a boil, then remove from the heat and allow to cool before using. If you want to make this ahead of time, you can, its perfect to make ahead of time.

To make the cream, grab a clean mixing bowl and pour in your double cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract. Go ahead and whisk everything together until it starts to thicken, it should hold it’s shape. Ideally, it would be somewhere between soft and stiff peaks. It’s important that you only whip the cream up as you intend to use it, it’s best not made ahead of time.

To start the assembly of the cake, take your cake layers and level them off, so they’re flat and level. Brush the cake layers over generously with simple syrup, this will help keep the cake fresh and moist.

Take a cake stand/board/plate and spread a small amount of cream into the centre and press the first layer of cake into place, pressing down to secure it in place. Top the first layer of the cake with a generous of cream and spread it out, then add a heaped tablespoon of jam into the centre and spread it out until you have a good spread of jam.

Repeat this with your remaining cake layers – until its completely stacked. Then you can apple the cream coating – apply a generous layer of the freshly whipped cream, don’t worry if it get’s a few cake crumbs in it, you’ll be covering it all in chocolate anyway.

Ensure the cream coating is generously applied, you cannot be tight with the cream – it’s a celebration of course. Keep a small amount of cream back and place into a piping bag fitted with a piping nozzle of choice – store in the fridge until needed later on.

Then go ahead and apply the chocolate coating. This is just grated chocolate, ensure you have a good coverage all over the cake. You can do this using your hands or a scraper and drag the chocolate over the cake – whichever way works best for you.

Place in the fridge and allow to chill and firm up – around 30 minutes should be perfectly ideal.

To finish the cake off, take the cake from the fridge and the cream in the piping bag. Then go ahead and pipe rosettes around the edge of the cake, then top them with cherries and serve.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.

These chocolate ganache tarts are the perfect treat to make when you fancy a sweet treat but don’t have all the time in the world.

They are also perfect to make for Valentines day, chocolate doesn’t care whether you’re single to taken. You have a rich, buttery pastry case (using my trusty shortcrust pastry recipe) and generously filled with a silky smooth dark chocolate ganache… Even if you’re not a dark chocolate fan, you’ll like these.

Whether or not you have someone to celebrate Valentine’s Day with this year, these tarts are the perfect sweet treat to make and enjoy, whether on its own or with some whipped cream, ice cream or fresh fruit – the choices are endless.

To make these tarts even better, use a good quality dark chocolate. That’s why I’m using the Cocoarunners 63% dark chocolate, which compliments this recipe just perfectly. Check out the rest of the range offered by Cocoarunners – cocoa powder, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, unsweetened, cocoa nibs and make your own chocolate bar set.

If these sound like something you’d like, give them a try. You only need minimal ingredients, a little times and effort and you’ll have some impressive treats to share (or not, I can’t tell you what to do).

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

1x shortcrust pastry (you’ll only need half for this recipe but the pastry freezes perfectly).

Chocolate ganache filling:

150ml double cream.

17ml liquid glucose.

135g dark chocolate.

55g butter, at room temperature.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, making your shortcrust pastry and get any equipment you may need, such as a saucepan and rolling pin ready. Don’t forget to preheat your oven to 200˚c/390˚f.

As mentioned above, you should have made the pastry and allowed it 1 hour to chill in the fridge before you intend on using it (this can be made up to 3 days in advance, if needed). You can the. go ahead and flour your work surface with a good amount of flour, then place the pastry on top and dust with a small amount of flour.

Using a rolling pin, roll the pastry out until you have around the same thickness of a pound coin, so relatively thin. Once you have achieved this, you can then cut the pastry into 4 roughly equal pieces.

Take a piece of the pastry and place into one of your tartlet cases and just press it into place, ensuring all the crevices have been reached. Then you can go ahead and trim away the excess pastry – you don’t need to throw this away, you can either re-roll it once more or roll it back up and freeze it). Repeat this with the remaining pastry.

Using a small piece of scrunched up parchment paper, place it into the pastry case and press into place, then fill right to the top with baking beans, repeating the process with the remainder of your cases.

Now you’ll want to blind bake the pastry cases, so place them into your preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, the edges should look a little ‘puffy’, this is the best way to explain it. Remove the baking beans and parchment paper – being careful as the baking beans will be very hot and would burn you.

Return to the oven and bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until the pastry cases are perfectly golden brown all over and the bottom of the tart is baked, nobody likes a soggy bottom, do they.

Once baked, allow to completely cool down before you intend on using them.

Whenever you’re ready and the pastry cases have been made, you can go ahead and make the chocolate ganache filling.

Into a saucepan, place the double cream and liquid glucose, place on the hob over a medium-high heat. Allow the mixture to reach almost a boil, before removing it from the heat.

Take the cream mixture and pour it over the dark chocolate and allow it to sit for around 1-2 minutes, then stir slowly but steadily and as you do, you will notice that the process of emulsification has taken place and you should have a rich and smooth looking chocolate ganache – this is what you’re looking for.

Before you go ahead and add the ganache into the baked pastry cases, you will want to add your room temperature butter and just mix that until its fully incorporated, this may take a couple of minutes but it will further enrich the ganache and help make it smoother, richer and tastier.

Grab the baked pastry cases and then fill them with the ganache. You will want to fill them all with the same amount so feel free to weigh how much ganache goes into each case or like me, you can just eyeball it – this works just as well.

Then place these into the fridge until they have firmed up and that’s all… They’re really that simple. When it comes to serving these, you can enjoy them on their own or with some lightly whipped cream, ice cream or fresh fruit (strawberries and dark chocolate compliment each other so well).

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.

Keeping things simple and straightforward with this batch of vegan rice pudding.

Just like a standard version, this vegan rice pudding is rich and indulgent but also reminiscent of the rice pudding you had when you were a child. There is a misconception that vegan food is bland and boring but this is massively wrong… This is a great example of a recipe that can be converted to vegan easily, without losing the flavour.

This is probably one of the easiest things to make as it only requires minimal ingredients, a little time and can be made to suit you – which is perfect!

Sadly this is the last vegan recipe I’ll be sharing during veganuary 2021… Although, if I have any suggestions during the year, I will give them a try.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

100g pudding rice.

Vegan spread.

50g granulated white sugar.

700ml dairy free milk, I used oat.

A generous amount of freshly grated nutmeg.

1/4 – 1/2 lemon, zested.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Weigh up all of your ingredients, preheat your oven to 150˚c/300˚f and grab a small oven proof dish.

To start, give the pudding rice a wash, just to remove any starch that may be on the rice grains. You will also want to take your ovenproof dish and generously spread a layer of vegan spread all around it, ensuring every bit is covered.

Into the dish, add the pudding rice and granulate white sugar. Then start pouring in the milk, whilst you stir the rice and sugar into the milk.

Grate over as much or as little freshly grated nutmeg as you’d like and then zest in the lemon.

Place the baking dish into the preheated oven and bake for 2-2 1/2 hours or until its golden brown on top – it should still wobble slightly when shook.

It’s best enjoyed hot, so grab your bowl or serving vessel and as an optional finishing, add a spoonful of jam or leave it plain and enjoy.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.

Autumn may be in the dying days but this pudding is the perfect treat to enjoy on a cold evening. Today I’m sharing my recipe for a sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel sauce.

A classic sticky toffee pudding is already good enough but I thought ‘how could I make it better’ and that’s where I come up with idea of making a chocolate version. It may not be for everybody but it’s something a little different and if you’re anything like me, you’ll enjoy a warm and comforting pudding on a chilly autumn/winter evening.

For the sauce, feel free to skip the salt, this is just a little twist I tried and really liked when it came to adding a little something different. The flavour combination will work with just chocolate and caramel or with chocolate and salted caramel.

If this modern twist doesn’t cut it for you, don’t worry. I have a more traditional version in the form of a sticky toffee pudding traybake.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Chocolate Sticky Toffee Pudding:

150g Sultanas.

300g Stoned dates, chopped small.

2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda.

50g Butter.

400g Light brown sugar.

4 Eggs.

360g Plain flour.

40g Cocoa powder.

Pinch of salt.

Caramel Sauce:

50g Butter.

350ml Double cream.

400g Light brown sugar.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

Sea salt (optional).

Method:

Before you get started on any element of the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Weigh up all of your ingredients, bring the kettle to a boil, line a 8 inch square cake tin with parchment paper and grab a hand mixer/stand mixer along with a mixing bowl.

Start by placing the chopped stoned dates, sultanas and bicarbonate of soda into a small/medium bowl, then pour enough boiling water over to cover the contents of the bowl. The bicarbonate helps to soften the skin, making it not so chewy and easier to digest, so it’s an important step – please don’t skip this step.

Place the butter and light brown sugar into a mixing bowl and beat until they are combined. They won’t be light and fluffy; the ratios aren’t correct for this to work.

Once combined, add your eggs one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. You will notice that the consistency of the cake batter becomes much more liquid like, this is completely normal.

Next, it’s time to add the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt, passing them through a sieve first. Some dry ingredients are known for being problematically lumpy.

Mix the dry ingredients in over a medium speed until they are almost fully incorporated. At this stage stop the mixer and add in the fruit, which has been drained, then mix on a medium speed until everything is incorporated and is well distributed throughout the cake batter. Bake in your preheated for 35-40 minutes (or until a tester comes out clean when inserted).

Once the cake has around 5-10 minutes baking remaining, it’s the perfect time to make the caramel sauce.

 To start on the sauce, you’ll want to get a small-medium saucepan and place in the butter, double cream, light brown sugar, vanilla extract (and salt, if you’re using it). Place it on the hob over a medium-high heat. Stirring occasionally until everything is melted and started to combine, then you can start stirring continuously until you have a smooth.

Once the cake is out the oven, cut into 9 square portions and pour over the hot caramel sauce. If you don’t intend on eating it straight away, make the caramel prior to serving – the cake can be reheated in the microwave just before serving.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.