Lucky Charms Bark

It’s funny how sometimes the simplest treats are the best and most popular. Bark is just melted chocolate covered with whatever you want and then smashed into pieces. Simple. 

To be completely honest I used to think bark was a stupid idea. I mean it’s just melted chocolate covered in whatever. It’s like why go through all that to make your own chocolate bar? 

But now, now I get it. Making your own chocolate bar is awesome! You can make it literally whatever you want! Because it’s so versatile it makes a great gift!

My friend has a love, which is somewhat un-natural, for Lucky Charms. Instead of just wrapping a box of Lucky Charms up for her birthday I thought I would try to be creative with them!

I had thought of a few over complicated things and instantly dismissed them because time hasn't been on my side recently. Then I thought, “keep it simple stupid” as the guys on Fast and Loud always say.

That’s when I thought about bark and then I made it for her a week late and then it took me two days and a lot of hand slapping before I got it to her. Hand slapping because I had to keep my husband from stealing it!

Lucky Charms Bark

150g of Lucky Charms cereal

50g of Lucky Charms marshmallows

400g white chocolate

200g milk chocolate

In two separate heat proof bowls gently melt the chocolate. In a tray bake tray lay out the Lucky Charms cereal. Once the chocolate is melted pour over the cereal in any way you like, but so that it covers the cereal completely. Then sprinkle over the marshmallows and gently press down. Leave in the fridge for at least an hour or so to cool before breaking up with a knife. Then bag it up fancy or just bag it up if you’re not giving it away.

notes: I used Chocolate Lucky Charms that I bought at a little newsagents under the parking garage in the Oracle, Reading. They sell lots of American treats and in a pinch that’s where I go! 

Baking Book Gift Guide

It is the day after Thanksgiving. 

Sometimes it's also known as Black Friday. In the states after Thanksgiving people start getting ready for Christmas. A lot of families will be putting up trees and other decorations this weekend, along with starting their Christmas shopping.

It makes a bit of sense really, if the stores know that people are going to be shopping over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend then why not entice them in more with some great savings? 

It suits both retailers and shoppers. One makes a lot of money while the other gets some great savings. I don't like the chaos and you will never find me going out on Black Friday, but I don't hate it either.

So, because a lot of people will be starting their shopping this weekend I though I would write up a quick "gift guide" based on baking and cook books that I own. Then at the end of the post I have included my book "wish list" for books I wold love to read!

I have chosen these books because I think they would make great gifts for bakers with particular tastes! Some are just because they are a good read! 

To me it's not just about the recipes, it's about what they have to say as well! I like a cookbook that I can read and get into too! 

 

Cake by Rachel Allen

This literally has every and any cake you’d ever want to make in it! A great book for cake lovers!

Cake Days and Home Sweet Home by Hummingbird Bakery

Cake Days is the book that really started my baking and blogging life. I can’t recommend it enough. It has amazing recipes perfect for every season. 
Home Sweet Home is just as good! Perfect for a new or experienced baker! 

Chocolat by Eric Lanlard

~ For the chocolate lover in your life! 

Crumb by Ruby Tandoh

It is one of the most informed baking books I have ever read. Perfect for a new baker! 

Fat Witch Brownies by Patricia Helding

I think this has some of the best bars and brownies I have ever come across! Perfect for brownie lovers!

Jamie Magazine

Not a book, but I love this monthly addition to my recipe collecting habit. I should probably get a subscription!

Kitchen by Nigella Lawson

 I find myself engrossed in this book whenever I read it. Perfect for any cookbook lover!

Leon: Family & Friends (book 4) by John Vincent & Kay Plunkett-Hogge

Great book for anyone who likes to cook for their friends and family! 

Naughtiest Vegan Cakes in Town! by Ms. Cupcake

Not just for Vegans, but a must this Christmas for the Vegan in your life!

Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Perfect gift for ice cream lovers! Make sure they have an ice cream maker!

Robicelli’s A Love Story with Cupcakes by Allison & Matt Robicelli
The funniest and most real cookbook I have ever read. For cupcakes biggest fan! 

Sprinklebakes by Heather Baird

 Need an artistic twist to your baking, then this is the book for you!

Sweet Treats for a Sugar Filled Life, Presented by Cakespy by Jessie Oleson-Moore

 This book is your guide to taking dessert above and beyond your wildest dreams!

The Vintage Sweets book, The Vintage Tea Party Book, The Vintage Tea Party Year by Angel Adoree

If you know someone who loves vintage, afternoon, tea, sweets, parties and more then this is the book for them! 

Warm Bread & Honey Cake by Gaitri Pagrach-Chandra

Great read and recipes in this book! Great for someone who loves to learn about food from all over the world. 

Now for the books I wouldn't mind appearing under my Christmas Tree this year!

Bake to Baking: 200 Timeless Recipes to Bake, Share, and Enjoy by Anna Olsen

My Paris Kitchen: Recipes & Stories by David Lebovitz

Sweet by Valerie Gordon

Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan

Baked Elements: The Importance of Being Baked in 10 Favorite Ingredients

& Baked Occasions by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Sugar Rush: Master Tips, Techniques, and Recipes for Sweet Baking by Johnny Iuzzini & Wes Martin

Huckleberry: Stories, Secrets, and Recipes from our Kitchen by Zoe Nathan

Marshmallow Madness!: Dozens of Puffalicious Recipes by Shauna Sever

What is your favorite baking and/or cookbook that you think would make a great gift? Any book that you think everyone you know should own? Just leave a comment below because I am always looking for new cookbooks!!

notes: To see my full list of baking books and a handful of my cookbooks check out the tab above! I really need to update it! All opinions and suggestions are my own I have in no way been compensated for this post by any of the publishers or authors. Please see my contact/policy page for further information. The black box on the top is intentionally a black box. 

Thinking of You

Whenever I catch sight of the post person or a delivery van out the window with a package I get super excited.

 It’s so much fun getting post!!

I know I’m not the only one who feels this way, because anytime I get the post both of my girls are all over me asking if anything has come for them!

When an unexpected package arrives it means someone was thinking of you! 

Sometimes it's because you bought something for yourself that you have been waiting for.

Either way it's fun, right? 

So, why not send someone you’re thinking of a gift and make his or her day?

Or of course yourself! 

Maybe you have a special occasion coming up? Anniversary, birthday, Easter isn’t too far away and right before that is Mother’s Day! Perhaps you just want to let that someone know you’re thinking of him or her!

That’s when you should visit Hampergifts, they have an incredible range of hampers; anything from food hampers to wine hampers or cheese hampers even sweet hampers and picnic hampers!

I’m drawn to the picnic hampers; maybe it’s a longing for spring to finally arrive!

However I finally choose the Lindt Chocolate Gift Basket, which arrived quickly and was packaged with care!

Full of chocolaty goodness what girl or guy would complain! There is enough to share, but not too much that you can’t keep it all to yourself!

There is nothing wrong with not sharing. I wouldn't judge you. Now all that’s left is who to send your Hampergift too?

notes: In association with Hampergifts, for more information please see my contact/policy page.

Dishes are the Worst Household Chore ... Ever!

For my birthday I asked for a new vacuum cleaner. The one I was using was completely useless and was so loud I used to get a headache from it. No one gave me a vacuum cleaner. I was actually disappointed.

I’m not against getting useful things as presents. I love useless, self-involved presents as well, but practical gifts are always appreciated! Anyway our dishwasher went kaput a few months ago. It leaked water everywhere and the floor needed to be replaced.  

I could not hand wash all the dishes a family of four produce, forever. Two or three meals a day times a family of four, plus the dishes added from my baking obsession equals a lot of dishes. They just take so much time and it’s never ending. Honestly dishes are the worst household chore ever.

I actually asked Santa for one, but just like my birthday and the vacuum cleaner one never appeared.

After the new tiles were laid and doing some research I started to think about what I wanted in a dishwasher, considering my husband refused to take the role, I finally decided on a Bosch dishwasher. I found mine at Argos online here.

It had everything I was after A+ energy rating, child locks (because kids of all ages love buttons), full size (which allows me to fit a days worth of dishes in), overflow protection (ahem), and it is affordable.

Now after a big baking/cooking session I can just throw (not literally) the dishes into the dishwasher and push a few buttons and they are done! Now this year for my birthday I am free to ask for useless self-involved presents! Or a new bed set?

notes: In association with Argos; for more information please see my contact/policy page. 

That's a wrap [birthday wrap up]

It’s not every day one turns 30, but I suppose that can be said about every birthday. It's been exactly a week since my birthday, it's time I stop going on about it.

That's what this post is about to wrap up my birthday and not talk about it again until next year. If I even admit I have a birthday next year. We'll see.

However this year I decided to make a big deal about my birthday and this is to share what I got up too and some of the awesome presents I got! 

It started the Friday (the 10th) before my birthday with a night out. I went to town with a couple of my girl friends. We started with cocktails at The Slug and Lettuce, then dinner with wine at Nando's, then back to The Slug and Lettuce for more cocktails. The 7 dwarfs served us, thankfully Sneezy didn't sneeze in our drinks and Grumpy tried to be really grumpy, but he didn't do a very good job of it. It was a good night. 

They bought me Joseph Joesph nesting bowls. Yay! They are awesome! Thank you Kim and Kirsty!

Then I went on a baking course for the day. Thank you Mom and Dad! See previous previous post to read all about my day at Cake Boy in Battersea, London. 

Then I had a party. Where friends and family came with drink and we were all very merry.

A few people brought bouquets. My favorite was My Floral Cupcake, it contains, blueberry roses, pink roses, Lydia spray roses, lisianthus, and chrysanthemums! Thanks Cathy! Looking forward to our date tomorrow (Friday)!

I also received this gorgeous cake stand! Thanks Sharon!

I also received chocolates, wine and a bottle of Jack, a picture frame, various gift cards, and lots of cards with the number 30 on them!

Oh and I have to include the gift from my husband... the Kitchen Aid! Thank you! I love you! 

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday special!! It was an awesome day and an awesome night!! :0) 

Rainbow Birthday Puppy Chow!!

also known as dog food, Muddy Buddies, Monkey Munch, People Chow, and Doo-Doo Butter Bites

I grew up with Puppy Chow so it can be hard to explain to the British people that it's not actual dog food, but a tasty delicious treat that is more addicting then crack. I did just type that. No other way to describe the fact that it never lasts more then a few hours and how you always regret it later! Enjoy!!

Rainbow Birthday Puppy Chow

350g chocolate milk or dark
1 cup smooth peanut butter
114g (1 stick/ ½ cup) unsalted butter (optional)
1 box (500g) Shreddies cereal (I used Sainsbury’s brand)
icing sugar about 500g I can’t be specific as I just sprinkle it on until I like what it looks like.
3-4 tubes of Smarties or M n M's or another other brightly colored candy/sweet

Melt chocolate, peanut butter, and butter if using together in a non-stick pan. Keep an eye one it, it won’t take long to melt. Then pour cereal into a large bowl. Pour melted mixture over the cereal and stir with a big spoon until covered. Or shake the bowl around a bit. Then pour in a little icing sugar and stir and shake. Make sure you have a cover for your large bowl or use cling film or foil to cover when shaking. Just add icing sugar until desired constancy. Since this is birthday puppy chow I added in a few tubes of Smarties to make it colorful like I did for the cookie jar!! I did see online some use white chocolate (too sweet for me) and add sprinkles to the icing sugar. The white chocolate would allow the sprinkles to show up better. Good idea, but not for me. 

notes: The first time I made puppy chow in the UK, everyone was very confused by the name!!An easy birthday gift is this rainbow birthday cookie jar I recently gave to my friend for her birthday!

Rainbow Birthday Cookie Jar!!

It was my friend Louise's birthday yesterday! We don't normally exchange gifts, but as we meet earlier in the week for dinner (sushi!!) I couldn't show up empty handed! So, of course it's my first thought to bake something.

However she is doing so well on her weight loss journey that I didn't want to sabotage it with a big batch of something that would need to be eaten within a few days. In comes the jar idea! I did look around and found the cowboy cookies in a jar on Bakerella's blog so I went with that. I changed the name to Rainbow Birthday Cookies!!

Here's what I did and/or changed to work for people in the UK (sorry I still used cups!!)

layer your jar in this order 
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup & leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooking oats
3/4 cup m&ms I used Smarties
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 – 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped



I put a cupcake wrapper to cover the lid and I made my label with an iPad app that I printed off and layered on colored paper.

I hand wrote the instructions which are:

add: 114g butter, soft (1/2 cup or 1 stick); 1 slightly beaten egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla
to make: Pre-heat oven to 180C/350F Pour jar contents into a large bowl, stir to combine. Then beat in butter, egg, and vanilla. Roll into 1 inch balls (walnut size) and place 2 in apart on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.

I've told her that it's probably best to use within 6 months although I did see some say that her's were good up to a year? Not sure I would push it that long. Baking powder/soda would probably lose their potency.

This was fun and easy to make! A perfect gift!!
Omit the nuts, of course, if the receiver is allergic.

Update: she couldn't wait!
And was kind enough to send me some pictures!!
:0)

Truffles!!

These truffles were for the teachers at our school. The PTO provides dinner and dessert so that the teachers don't have to go out on Parent/Teacher Conference nights. :) I used two different recipes to make Peanut Butter, milk chocolate, and strawberry truffles! 

Peanut Butter Truffles from Better Home andGardens:

2 cups sugar

1 x 5oz can evaporated milk

½ cup butter

2 cups tiny marshmallows

¾ cup creamy peanut butter

½ tsp vanilla

12oz dark or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 tsps shortening

finely chopped peanuts (optional)

1. Butter the side of a medium heavy saucepan. In the saucepan, combine sugar, evaporated milk, and butter. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until mixture is boiling. Reduce heat to medium; continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in marshmallows, peanut butter, and vanilla. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Chill for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until mixture is thick and can be molded.
3. Line a large baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment paper. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls; place on the prepared baking sheet. Freeze for 15 minutes.
4. In a medium saucepan, combine chocolate and shortening. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. Dip balls, one at a time, into melted chocolate. Let excess chocolate drip off balls. Place on a wire rack set over waxed paper. If desired, sprinkle with peanuts. Let stand until chocolate is set. Makes about 50 truffles.

Easy (Versatile) Decadent Truffles from allrecipes.com

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips, melted

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until well blended. Stir in melted chocolate and vanilla until no streaks remain. Refrigerate for about 1 hour. Shape into 1 inch balls.

Then this is what I did: I split the recipe in half and flavored one half with vanilla and the other half with strawberry extract. I coated them both in melted chocolate. For the strawberry truffles, I melted white chocolate and added 1/2 tsp strawberry extract and a drop of pink food coloring.  Then I drizzled it on top so everyone would know the difference in flavors.

To package: I used a 30 count egg container and glued scrapbook paper to the front for a label. For smaller amounts, you could use a cardboard egg carton wrapped in cellophane or cling wrap with ribbons at each end.