Recipe: Balsamic Chicken and Pasta

This recipe is always on my 'mum please make this when I come home from uni' list. I am such a fan of it I asked her for the recipe and now make it myself at uni. It's so easy to do, and is great for sharing with friends or making in advance to either freeze or eat a couple of nights in a row! Some of the ingredients might not seem very student friendly but once you have them in your store cupboard you can use them again and again!

Recipe: Winter warmer carrot and coriander soup

There's nothing I like more in the winter time than a lovely bowl of piping hot soup. A firm favourite of mine is this carrot and coriander soup that my Mum makes. She always sends me back to uni with a package of them. It's delicious, tasty, filling and warming. Here is the recipe for you to give a go this winter!

Recipe: Feel the Goodness Spinach and Chickpea Curry

I made this for my housemates and one nicknamed it the 'feel the goodness curry'. I'd raided the supermarket for a load of delicious spices and put them all in a pan with a heap load of healthy ingredients. This is a super easy quick and cheap meal to make for your flatmates, but equally it lasts really well in the fridge for the next day and freezes as individual portions for later dates.

University Cooking: Chilli Con Carne

When I first went to university cooking was quite the mission. In week one I essentially lived on sweet potato and cereal. However in the past six months I would like to think my cooking has come on quite a lot and I'd like to think that now I'm properly cooking, making things from scratch and actually enjoying it! So today I thought I'd start sharing some of the things I'm creating starting with one of the simplest things ever...Chilli Con Carne!

Recipe: Delightfully gooey brownies

Cake! Who doesn't love a good bit of cake! Combine it with chocolate and make it all gooey and you get one of my all time favourites...brownies! I can't remember the last time I made brownies, so I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out and I'm excited to share the recipe with you!

Recipe: Spring Raspberry Cupcakes

An easter spring get together with friends called for some cupcake baking. My friends always read the baking blog posts on HBH and request many things. I hadn't made these cupcakes before but they went down a storm so I thought I'd share the recipe with you all!

Recipe: I'm in Heaven Chocolate Mousse Cake

Sorry it's been a while since you've had a blog post from me (feel like everytime I've posted this year I've started with that - world's worse blogger alert), and it's definitely been a while since you've had a baking post. Being home for Easter weekend I have taken the opportunity to cook up a delicious chocolate cake with a rich chocolate mousse topping. With it being Easter, I topped this one with little mini eggs, but you could something like raspberries or strawberries for that lovely spring summer freshness. I would personally like to thank Mary Berry for the original recipe, that I've tweaked a little, because its a delicious idea - actually just thanks to Mary Berry for existing!

Recipe: Apple and Cinnamon Loaf Cake

 

 

It was a Wednesday Bake Off night and myself and my friends decided to meet up with cake. I was in need of a something quick, with ingredients I had in my baking stash! I turned to this Mary Berry recipe (seemed only fitting considering we were watching the bake off) and having tried it once, it's something I'll keep going back to and keep altering slightly to fit the occasion and what I need.

Recipe: Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn't love a good cookie? I definitely do, and I've adapted a recipe from the lovely Mary Berry to make what I think are some of the most delicious cookies I have ever tried. If you want to see how to make a gooey, chocolate delicious cookie, keep on reading!

 

The College Favourite Malteser Cake Recipe

During our A-Levels myself and my friends became fans of visiting the Starbucks café in college. The malteser cake they sold became a firm favourite. I've since to got a recipe and it gives me something pretty close to the real deal that college sold us. Here is the recipe for the cake that brightened up those stressful days.

My Nan's All Bran Cake Recipe

Today is a day for another recipe. My Nan was famous for her recipe books, her apple pies were particularly delicious, however today I'll be sharing with you what is likely to be the most simple of all her cakes - her All Bran Cake. Yes, cereal in a cake is something that you might be thinking should never have been created, however this is without doubt one of the most delicious cakes I've ever tasted, and possibly the easiest recipe I've shared on my blog.

Cinnamon and Sultana Scones Recipe

 

For the past thirteen Fridays you've had a fitness related post from me - well this week, we're talking baking. Today I'm sharing a recipe for cinnamon and sultana scones. A little treat is OK every now and then! If you'd like to see how I've made these delicious, melt in your mouth scones then keep reading...

Recipe: 'On the Go' Breakfast Muffins

I'm one of these people that would easily skip breakfast if it meant an extra ten minutes asleep in bed. Not a good thing to do I know, but breakfast on the go is something I do far to regularly. Instead of grabbing something very unhealthy, that doesn't set me up for the day, I thought I'd look online for a recipe that satisfies my sweet tooth without being completely disastrous for my diet. I came across a healthy breakfast muffin recipe, had a go and here we are today. This is perfect for on the go mornings to grab and take with you! Enjoy!

Recipe: Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

I spent Easter with my Auntie, Uncle and Cousins. My Auntie made this incredible meringue with lemon curd and it tasted amazing! She gave me her lemon curd recipe and I wanted to try something a bit different so looked for inspiration online and found this recipe. I know the last recipe I did was lemon icing butterfly buns, so there's a definite lemon thing going on right now, however I couldn't not give this one a go. Here's how it went anyway...

Recipe: Lemon Icing Butterfly Buns

 

It's coming up to Easter and I thought this would be the perfect excuse to get the whisk out and start baking. I love chocolate as much as the next guy, but sometimes you want something a bit different so I thought I'd make some little butterfly buns for Easter instead! I thought I'd make them a week in advance so that if you fancy making them for Easter you have time!

 

Recipe: Valentines Cupcakes

 

Who doesn't love a good cupcake? Well, Valentines Day is the perfect excuse to heat the oven up and dust off the old muffin tray. These would make an ideal gift or a little treat for yourself - who says you need to have someone to share them with!

Recipe: Berry Pavlova

I've never made Meringue before so I browsed the internet and my cookery books to find some inspiration. I've tried it out and adapted a couple of Recipes. I took a lot of inspiration from Ruby Tandoh Crumb book, that I reviewed on Tuesday, and adapted it too make it even sweeter for my sweet tooth! Finally, after a couple of experiments, I came up with this Recipe, for a deliciously sweet Pavlova..

Review: Crumb by Ruby Tandoh

 

Ruby Tandoh started making waves in the baking world when she became a Great British Bake Off Finalist in 2013. Since then she has gone on to become a writer for The Guardian and Elle Magazine, and write her own book, Crumb, in 2014. I got this book for Christmas (signed as well! Ahh), and here is what I think of it...

 

Blogmas Day 21 | Recipe: Chocolate Truffles

A few year ago my I made some Chocolate Truffles for Christmas and they tasted AMAZING! But I haven't made any since. So this year I thought I would make some more. I took to the internet and found a James Martin Recipe on BBC Food and thought I would have a go.

The first attempt went in the bin (I'll explain why later on), but this is what the second attempt turned out like:

A very messy, but delicious looking plate

Carry on reading if you would like to see the full recipe:

You will need:

350ml Double Cream
400g Dark Chocolate, at least 60% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
3-4 tbsp. sifted cocoa powder
A variety of chocolate sprinkles (optional)

What to do:

1) Place the cream in a saucepan and heat on a medium heat. Do not let it come to the boil (I did this the first time I tried and the mixture spilt!)

2) Place the broken chocolate pieces into a bowl. When the cream is hot (slightly steaming) pour the cream over the chocolate

3) Mix well until the mixture is smooth and has the appearance of creamy melted chocolate

4) Set aside until the mixture has cooled

5) Place in the fridge for two hours until the mixture becomes firm

6) Sift the cocoa powder onto a plate. Using a teaspoon, curl balls of the chocolate and drop them into the cocoa powder and roll them about to cover them completely.

*TIP* You may need to place the chocolate back in the fridge halfway through creating the truffle balls, because a hot kitchen can cause them to go soft, and then it can get very messy!

7) Place them onto a plate to serve. (Or if you are preparing them in advance of when you need them, place into a sealed container and back in the fridge)

I think this is the perfect sweet treat to go with a cup of coffee after you've indulged in Christmas Dinner or an ideal Christmas Gift. Depending on the size you'd like your truffles it can make quite a lot, so would be a lovely gift for friends.

Enjoy...

Love, Hannah x

Blogmas Day 19 | Recipe: Christmas Cake

I started making my Christmas Cake about a month ago because it was when I got chance and they last for so long it doesn't matter.

I thought I'd share with you a recipe that my Mum has used to make our Christmas Cake every year. It was originally a Delia Smith (a cooking queen) recipe and we haven't changed anything. It's tried and tested and is absolutely lovely so why change a recipe for success?

This recipe is for a heavy, dense, fruit cake, that serves 8 to 10 people.
The preparation time is 30 minutes, plus an overnight soaking, and the cooking time is 5 hours.

If you would like to make something that looks a bit like this, carry on reading for the full recipe:

You will need:

For the Cake:
450g currants
175g sultanas
175g raisins
50g glace cherries (rinsed, dried and finely chopped)
50g mixed peel (finely chopped)
250ml (approx.) sherry alcohol
225g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
225g unsalted butter
225g soft brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 dessertspoon black treacle
zest 1 lemon
zest 1 orange

To Decorate:
500g Natural Almond Marzipan
500g White Fondant Icing
Decorations (i.e. ribbons) of your choice


What to do:

Begin this cake 24 hours before you wish to bake it...

1) Add the dried fruit and mixed peel to a large mixing bowl and stir in the sherry as thoroughly as possible.

2) Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and leave the bowl to one side to absorb the alcohol for 24 hours.

Next day...

3) Preheat the oven to gas mark 1 / 275f / 140c.

4) Sift the flour, salt and spices into a large mixing bowl (raise the flour high to give it an airing)

5) In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk the butter and sugar together until it is light, pale and fluffy

6) Now, beat the eggs in a seperate bowl and then add them to the creamed sugar/butter mixture 1 tablespoon at a time; keep the whisk running until the egg is fully incorporated. (If the eggs are added like this they shouldn't curdle, but if they do, don't worry, all problems will be solved at a later date)

 

7) When all the egg is added fold in the flour and spices. Don't beat the mixture as this will remove any air.

 

 

8) Now fold in the fruit, peel, treacle and grated orange and lemon zests.

 

Now grease an 8in/20cm round cake tin and line with greaseproof paper. (Because the baking time is a long one - tie a band of brown paper round the outside of the tin for extra protection)

9) Transfer the cake mixture to the cake tin and level out with the back of a spoon

 

10) Cover the cake with a double square of greaseproof paper with a 50p size whole in the top (it looks really messy but this is again for extra protection during the long slow cooking time)

11) Bake the cake on the lowest shelf of the oven for 4 1/2 - 4 3/4 hours. It may take up to 1/2 hour longer than this but do not check the cake, or even open the oven till 4 hours have passed.

Cool the cake for 30 minutes in the tin, then remove it and place it on a wire rack

 


If you wish you can leave it looking like this or you can ice it in a traditional Christmas Cake style.

To decorate:

1) Roll out the marzipan. Place the marzipan across the cake evenly. (Don't worry if it breaks no one will see this bit you can patch it up with any excess you have)

2) Roll out the icing and place evenly over the cake - be careful not to break this! Push the icing to the bottom of the cake and cut it off around the base of the cake.

3)Decorate the cake with anything you would like such as ribbons or specific cake decorations. You can get these from craft and cookery stores.

And that is it.....your cake may look a little bit like this, or it may not depending on how you've decided to decorate it.

 

 

Hope you've enjoyed reading this recipe! Merry Christmas!

 

See you tomorrow for more blogmas....

 

Love, Hannah x