Lemon Bars - {recipe}

I live on a main road and were I have gotten used to the traffic and the bus that runs all night has almost become a comforting sound as it rolls by before drifting off to sleep or in the mornings when waking up.

It's also the lights of these buses that keep my company as I stay up late baking. I have always preferred to bake at night. I think it's because when I started baking I was a stay at home mom and I liked waiting until the kids were in bed and it was a way of de-stressing. Unless it didn't turn out and then I would stress more.

But generally speaking it was therapeutic weighing out the ingredients and mixing them all together before popping it into the oven and then cleaning up before taking it out of the oven to cool and going to bed. If it was cake it would get frosted in the morning and if it wasn't it would cool ready to be eaten in the morning.

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and so I found myself up late baking again, something I haven't done in a while. And as it was my birthday I baked something just for me. A treat that isn't found here in the UK (if it is I have never seen it), a treat that reminded me of home. Lemon Bars. I can't remember the last time I had one.

My extensive baking book collection uncovered several recipes for lemon bars and all of them were pretty much the same. So, here is how I made these buttery tart lemon bars.

Lemon Bars: 

crust:

180g plain flour
80g icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt
114g unsalted butter, cubed*

Grease a 9x9 inch square baking tin with butter, I use the wrapper of the my block of butter, dust gently with flour and tap out the excess. Heat the oven to 170C

Sift all the dry ingredients together and using your finger tips combine the butter into the flour, sugar, and salt until it resembles bread crumbs. Pour into the prepared baking tin and press it down into the corners and try to get it as even as possible. Bake for about 15 minutes. Allow it to bake and cool while get on with the

lemon filling:

3 large eggs
200g sugar
about 125ml lemon juice, freshly squeezed (2-3 lemons)
lemon zest from about 2-3 lemons
35g plain flour
pinch of salt

Beat the eggs until frothy using a hand mixer. Add the sugar little by little, until just combined. Beat in the lemon juice and zest on medium high for a minute or two until combined. Mix in the flour and salt and then poor over the baked crust and bake for 15 more minutes. The edges should be slightly browned and the top should have tiny bubbles. Leave to cool for at least an hour or if you're like me over night. Cut and sprinkle with icing sugar just before serving.

*tip - for the butter in the crust bring it out of the fridge just as you are measuring ingredients. You don't want it to be room temperature or worse melting.

Not only do I stay up late baking, I stay up late blogging too. I wonder why I don't like mornings, but I think it's pretty obvious that I stay up way too late! Wether you are a late night baker or not I hope you enjoy them! 

*inspiration from - Fat Witch Brownies by Patricia Helding, Betty Crocker Red Cookbook, and Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich

Amaretti Biscuits

Amaretti refers to amaretto or almond flavored macaroon that comes from Italy! The first time I had tried one was at a coffee shop sometime and became some what obsessed with them for a while. I was buying a big bag and munching on them with every cup of coffee I drank!

It never really occurred to me to make my own. It's crazy as I am a baker and although not every bake is successful, more on that in a minute, I have some experience in the baking world and the thought should have occurred to me.

I expected these to be like the bagged ones like and airy and crispy, but they were more dense and chewy, but still delicious! More like a macaroon and macaroons and I have never gotten on with. Never really had a successful macaroon experience, they were edible, but not pretty!

There is still a soft spot for the bagged airy crispy ones, but a new appreciation for the soft chewy almond-y home baked ones! Just a note when baking these that there is a whole hour wait time before baking.... so as always read through the whole recipe before baking so you know!

Amaretti biscuits

1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
160g caster sugar
95g ground almonds
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 eggs whites
30g icing sugar

Line your baking sheets with baking paper before sifting together the plain flour, cornflour, and ground cinnamon in a large clean bowl. Add half the sugar (80g), almonds, and grated lemon zest and gently mixing it together. In a separate clean bowl beat the egg whites with clean electric beaters until stiff peaks form before gradually adding the rest of the of caster sugar (80g).
Using a clean spatula or metal spoon fold the egg whites into the dry mixture until combined. Using a regular teaspoon heap it up with the dough/batter and drop on to your prepared baking sheet, continue to do this spacing them apart to allow for spreading, until all the dough/batter is used up! Leave to sit for an hour.

Heat the oven 180C/350F/Gas4 - Sift the icing sugar liberally and bake for 15-20 minutes.

My only regret is not being more liberal with the icing sugar, on the ones that had more there was a lovely caramelised finish and a lovely powdered sugar touch! I of course have had one or two or three of these with my morning coffee.

Wait I have one other regret... I hadn't made these sooner!!
Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Avocado Icing {Veggie Desserts + Cakes by Kate Hackworthy}

This week Kate Hackworthy had her very first book published Veggie Desserts + Cakes: Carrot Cake and Beyond! After having followed her blog for a few years and interacting with her on social media I was delighted to have the opportunity to check out her book!

There are no illusions that sugar and flour and all the things you need to bake exist in her recipes. In my review (in previous post) I mentioned in that Kate didn't write her book to hide vegetables away in baked goods, but to show how they can shine!

There were so many recipes to choose from and this one, even though it has more of an autumn feel, stood out to me. I love pumpkin and the spices used with it! I was unnecessarily weary of the avocado icing - I thought "this is never going to work."

It did.

It turned out beautifully. The avocado I had might have been on the small side and I did need extra icing sugar to get in into a spreadable consistency. It was when I could coat my spatula in the icing and turn it around without it dripping that I felt I had it right. 

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Avocado Icing 

125g unsalted butter, softened 

125g granulated sugar

2 large eggs

150g pumpkin puree (canned or puree cooked pumpkin or butternut squash)

2 tsp vanilla extract

175g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp salt 

100ml milk

Avocado Icing

1 ripe avocado, pitted and peeled

250g icing sugar 

1/2 tsp lemon juice

Heat the oven to 170C and line your cupcake pan with paper cases.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time and beating each one in well, then beat in the pumpkin and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt.

Alternating, add one-third of the flour to the egg mixture and stir to combine, then one-third of the milk. Repeat until all the ingredients are combined.

Spoon the batter (I like using my medium ice cream scoop) into the cupcake cases until nearly full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

To make the avocado icing -
Puree the avocado with a hand blender until smooth and creamy, then transfer to a large bowl. Add the icing sugar and lemon juice and beat with an electric mixer until thick. You may need to add more icing sugar, depending on the size of your avocado, to get a thick piping consistency. Spoon into a piping bag and frost the completely cooled cupcakes as desired. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

*as I said above I needed to add more icing sugar - I didn't feel the need to pipe the icing I just used a palette knife to apply and smooth out the icing!

These cupcakes turned out great for me! The cake is nice and soft and has a great taste with all those great spices and pumpkin! The icing, as I mentioned above, I was weary of, but it turned out well! The avocado acting as the butter for the icing gave it an interesting flavor that complimented the pumpkin cake well!

Visit Kate's blog Veggie Desserts or see more of her delicious recipes on one of social media channels - Facebook or Instagram or Twitter! 

Check out how these other bloggers got on trying out Kate's recipes:

Chocolate Cauliflower Ice Lollies - on Recipes from a Pantry
Cavolo Nero and Orange Cupcakes - on The Hedge Combers
Beetroot and Vanilla Sorbet - on Natural Kitchen Adventures
Carrot Gingerbread - on Farmersgirl Kitchen
Carrot Gingerbread - also on Ren Behan
Avocado Lime Tarts - on The Veg Space (check out this post to win a copy of Kate's book!!)
Pea and Vanilla Cake with Lemon Icing - on Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary
Kale Apple Cake - on Tin & Thyme
Courgette Poppyseed Loaf - on Family Friends Food
Courgette Poppyseed Loaf - also on Baking Queen 74
Strawberry and Spinach Swiss Roll - on Foodie Quine
Pea and Mint Cupcakes with Rose Water Buttercream - on Kavey Eats

Easy Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Fudge

A while back I wrote a post on how easy fudge recipes were popping up everywhere and I wanted to put a couple of them to the test and so I had started with one that used condensed milk and this one using nothing but peanut butter, icing sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and chocolate chips.

It doesn't get any easier then this. Peanut butter could be replaced with any nut butter or something like Nutella, if you happen to like Nutella, I don't.

There is something to be said by proper fudge that uses a thermometer and takes time and patience, but sometimes in a world that is busy and full of other complicated things why not let something be easy and delicious! Like this chocolate chip peanut butter fudge!

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Fudge

250g creamy peanut butter
228g of salted butter
1 tsp of vanilla extract
450g icing sugar
100-150g chocolate chips, milk or dark

Prepare an 8 inch or 20 cm square baking tin by lining it with tin foil leaving it to hang over the top. In a heavy bottom sauce pan melt the peanut butter and butter together over a low/medium heat mixing until it's melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extra. Sift in the icing sugar and fold into the peanut butter until fully combined, then fold in the chocolate chips before pressing the fudge into your prepared baking tin and using the spatula smooth it out, cover with the excess tin foil and leave to chill in the fridge for approximately 2-4 hours or until firm. Cut into whatever size squares that you'd like.

This easy fudge is great to eat, but it's also makes a great gift to anyone who loves peanut butter!!

*Check out other fudge recipes I have tried Caramel Biscuit Fudge (easy) and Rum & Sultana Fudge (proper fudge)
*recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction blog

Buckeyes - Holiday Memories

When I was little my parents moved us to southern Indiana from Wisconsin and for me and my sisters it was just a big adventure and it was! The hard times were the holidays: for Thanksgiving and Christmas we didn’t have the extended family to celebrate with.

The first Christmas we went home to Wisconsin and it was such a kerfuffle that it was the last time we did that. We did what we had to do, reinvent Christmas as our own without the extended family. Once we’d been there for a few years my parents made friends, Pat and Jim as we called them, they used to invite us around at Christmas time.

It was super boring.

They didn’t have kids my younger sister and my ages. It was an time were a book and a walkman were our only entertainment! The one thing I looked forward to on those visits were the homemade Buckeyes that Pat would make!

Peanut butter fudge like balls partially dipped in chocolate to look like the nut from the Ohio Buckeye tree.

When I came across this recipe for Buckeye’s in Sally’s Candy Addiction I knew I had to make them! This recipes makes approximately 32 buckeyes, but because of my abnormal rolling abilities I think I had like 38 or something? Anyway here’s how you make them using grams, cups and ounces are given in the book if you prefer!

Buckeyes

114g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
194g creamy peanut butter (not natural style)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
360g icing sugar
450g semi-sweet chocolate

Line two or more baking tins with greaseproof paper. Here in the UK freezer space can be awkward, so find tins/pans/sheets that fit in your fridge or freezer comfortably.
Beat the butter for a minute or two until creamy, add the peanut butter, vanilla, and salt and beat until combined. Switch the mixer to low and add a quarter of the icing sugar at a time until combined. I do this to stop the icing sugar exploding everywhere. It should be soft and slightly crumbly. Roll about a tablespoon of the mixture into a 1 inch ball, repeat until all the mixture is used. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
Place on the prepared tins/pans/sheets and place in the fridge or freezer for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Melt half of the chocolate in a double boiler or if confident enough in a small sauce pan, take it off the heat and add the rest of the chocolate bit by bit until it is all melted and silky smooth.
Dip the peanut butter balls in the chocolate using a fork or preferred method for dipping, be sure to leave part of the ball chocolate free, as shown in the picture. 
Place back on/in the tins/pans/sheets leave to set, once set then enjoy!

notes: See my review of Sally's Candy Addiction! or my review for Sally's Baking Addiction!

Irn Bru Cake - Birthday Traditions Gone Awry

When I was growing up we always got to decide what we wanted for dinner and what sort of cake we wanted for our birthday’s. So, it’s what I do for my husband and daughters. Last week my husband celebrated his birthday so, the customary questions applied. “What cake do you want and what do you want me to make for dinner?” 

He told me he didn’t have a preference of cake or his birthday dinner. How typical and extremely annoying.

When I was studying art at school they gave us a project. They said create an ad for this company (a company they made up) they gave us a brief and set us free. We were stuck before we got started. Without knowing what the company/brand wanted we didn’t know where to start. Was it a print ad? Do they have a logo or are we designing one? What sort of color schemes do they use or want? Who is the audience?


This is how I feel when given creative rein on a cake and even dinner when it’s not for myself. How do I know if he was actually feeling like a hamburger instead of the chicken quesadilla’s that I ended up making. What if was actually thinking of a chocolate dream cake?

I like knowing what people want so I can do my best to provide it. Perhaps it’s a good thing we’ve been together 10+ years and I managed to do things right with the Irn Bru Cake and chicken quesadilla’s. However, after 10 years I’m sure he’s smart enough not to tell me if I got it wrong.

Right. So, yes I decided to make him an Irn Bru Cake, due to the fact that he loves the stuff. Back in the beginning of my blog I attempted to make Irn Bru Cupcakes, but they didn't turn out as well as expected. So, even though I was a little weary of trying it as a cake I was curious to see if I could make it work.

It doesn’t have a strong Irn Bru flavor, but a very subtle, yet distinct taste that works. Before you get started I should warn you that it’s very sweet.

Irn Bru Cake 

165g unsalted butter
320g caster sugar
3 eggs
200g plain flour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
90ml Irn Bru
peach gel food coloring

Heat the oven to 170C and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper. If the short sides are exposed instead of messing around with more baking paper just lightly grease it with some butter. Anything to keep things simple.
Beat the butter and sugar together until lighter in color and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until just combined. Then beat in the flour and vanilla until just combined. Gently fold in the Irn Bru and a butter knife tip of peach gel food coloring with a spatula.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes. Use the skewer test to test if it’s done. Leave to cool in the tin a while you make the icing.

Icing: 

approximately 125-150g of icing sugar
blue gel food coloring
1-2 tablespoons of Irn Bru
orange and yellow star sprinkles, to decorate (optional)

I tend to just throw icing sugar in a bowl and add liquid until I get the constancy that I want. Which is what I suggest you do, start with 125g of icing sugar and add a tablespoon of Irn Bru. Mix if you need more of one or the other adjust it until you get a smooth runny constancy. Add the food coloring gel and pour over the cake. Decorate with sprinkles of your choice, preferably orange/yellow colored!

notes: recipe was adapted from hummingbird bakery: Life is Sweet

Udi's Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes

These are a batch of gluten free but oh so chocolaty cupcakes!

I made these with Udi’s Chocolate Flavour Cake Mix and topped them with Sugar and Crumbs gluten free Chocolate Milkshake natural flavored icing sugar.

I thought about putting “Frosting! A butt load of frosting!” (Vanellope von Schweetz) on these cupcakes, but I don’t always like that much frosting.

Sometimes you just want cake.

Plus I have this really cool Baker’s Dusting Wand that I have wanted to try out! It totally made me feel like a baking fairy! No lie.

Udi’s Cake Mixes are a great way for people with gluten sensitivities! Just because one cannot have gluten does not mean they should miss out on cake of any kind!

This is something I feel really strongly about. 

These cupcakes have a very rich chocolate flavour and were a perfect accompaniment to my coffee.

Udi’s Chocolate Cupcakes:

1 box of Udi’s Gluten Free Rich & Delicious Chocolate Flavour Cake Mix

Plus the ingredients on the back of the box

1 tbsp of Sugar and Crumbs Milkshake flavoured Icing Sugar

Follow the baking instructions on the box for cupcakes. Then fill the magic dusting wand with icing sugar and dust away! Enjoy! 

The back of the box also has some great suggestions on how to take these cupcakes from yum to yummy. Or something like that! So, if you or someone you love or at least like has gluten sensitivities then you should brighten up their day by bringing them some of these amazing cupcakes!! 

I had way too much fun with that dusting wand! Now I will have to think of something else to use it on! 

notes: Udi’s have a great range of Gluten-Free products they launched here in the UK earlier this year. Check out the first post I did for them here and here! Also check out my instagram as I try out some of their other products! All the products (cake mix, baker’s dusting wand, and flavoured icing sugar) were sent for my review please see my contact/policy page for more details. 

Caramel Apple Cupcakes {National Cupcake Week!}

The word on the street is that it’s National Cupcake Week. Technically it starts tomorrow. 

I just thought I would warn you now because it means all of us baking junkies will be posting cupcakes on all our social media sites. 

I am not an exception so be prepared to be cupcake bombed!

The best part of cupcakes is that they take like 20 minutes to bake. Then throw some icing on top and Wa-La! Cake!

Yes, there are more complicated cupcakes out there that have many components and steps, but those are for special occasions.

These are "just because" cupcakes. But not "all the time" cupcakes. 'Cuz you know the whole in moderation thing.

Moderation is good.

These cupcakes are good. 

See how it all works out?

I used my cool cupcake corer and cupcake icing knife that OXO sent to me to try out and then I tried Sugar and Crumbs flavored icing sugar.

I chose Green Apple flavor because I wanted to make Caramel Apple Cupcakes. I wanted to make Caramel Apple Cupcakes because in the USA there is this sucker/lolly that is called a Caramel Apple Pop and it’s so good and not available here in the UK.

Hence these cupcakes!

They totally reminded me of those suckers/lollies so I am happy!

Here’s how you can be happy too!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes:

120g plain flour

140g golden caster sugar

1 ½ tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

40g unsalted butter, room temp

120ml whole milk

1 egg

¼ tsp vanilla extract

10-12 tsp caramel

Heat the oven to 170C and line your cupcake pan with 10-12 cupcake cases. Beat the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter until it’s a bit crumby! Combine the milk, egg, and vanilla together before gradually adding it to the crumby mixture. Once combined beat on high for a minute or two to make sure there aren’t any lumps and the mixture is smooth.

Using a trigger scoop fill each of the cupcake cases just about half way. Bake for 20-25 minutes. A skewer should come out clean. Leave to cool completely before using the Cupcake Corer to take out the middles and add about a teaspoon of the caramel to the middles. Put the sponge bit back in and top with Green Apple Icing Sugar!

Green Apple Frosting

1 pkg of Sugar and Crumbs Green Apple Flavored Icing Sugar

125g butter, room temp

1-2 tbsp of milk

Follow the instructions on the packaging.

to finish:

20-24 Dark Chocolate chunks

caramel

Put two chocolate chunks together and place on top to act an apple stem before drizzling the caramel over the top. Place in a baggie and snip the corner, but make sure the hole is small. Then drizzle on top!

notes: In association with Oxo and Sugar and Crumbs! Please see my contact/policy page for more details! Find out more about National Cupcake Week! And if you need to know what Caramel Apple Pops are just look here. I am also entering these cupcakes in Betta Living’s Betta Bake a Cupcake Competition #bettabakeoff