The Fun We Had

I wanted to share something with you. It's something that has been bugging me for a while and nothing to do with cake...

Like many other people I love my family and so take lots of photos and video when we are out and about. This is great and the kids love it the problem comes with what to do next. Do you develop your photos and put them in an album or just leave them in the envelope they came in? Do you add them to Facebook or Flicr maybe? And then what, press delete? Maybe you put them all on to CDs to cherish forever? There are problems with whatever you choose. Technology is changing all the time and CDs are becoming a thing of the past. What if your chosen website is no longer your favourite and you start to use something else. Your pictures will be scattered everywhere and no where at the same time! How will you show your children what they looked like when they were babies? You can't leave it all on your computer indefinitely.

So now what? I don't have the answer, only questions! And the reason i'm asking? Well isn't it obvious? My memory is filling up, my babies are growing up and I don't want to lose it all.

My mum and mother in law have beautiful albums all neatly written up. Something we really can cherish forever (well unless the house burns down!) However, I have to admit I do not have the time or if i'm honest the patience to do this, although i did start with our eldest - eldest always privileged right? More time and in awe of the tiny thing we have made? I also made DVDs of all the little video clips, you could see her every development. Sorry number two I love you just as much, but time just doesn't seem as abdunant now.

This is what I have done... I have found out that our iMac is amazing and can do the work for me. I have made slide shows of everything and loaded them on to iTunes. Now the children are watching, in amazement, themselves 12 months ago. I am feeling all teary eyed at how much they have changed. Am happy now, at least for the moment we can remember the fun we had!

Chocadores Hot Chocolate Cubes

As you are all aware, I don't do reviews very often but there are some things that are close to my heart and for these I will always save a space on my blog. Today it is Chocadores Hot Chocolate Cubes. These fascinate me. I love the idea of something that looks like a piece of chocolate and dissolves perfectly into a cup of hot milk. Now to make this a bit different I would like to borrow two minutes of your time...! Promise it's painless and the best bit is you can see the results!

Thank you Chocadores. A lovely indulgent drinking chocolate that truly dissolves to nothing in the cup!

If you would like to try some yourself they cost £5.95 for 150g bag

And excitement! order before 17th January and get a 10% discount! Just add the code HCC10 

Cake Decorating

Today is Christmas Eve and so my final day for blogging this week. I thought I would leave you with something a bit different. I know a few of you have asked me for various recipes and please keep an eye out as these will be following in the New Year. However, for today, I give you...

How to make a Penguin

Please forgive me, this is my first attempt at something for YouTube. I'm hoping between the three of us we will show you how easy it is to make these delightful little characters. My girls are only 2 and 4 years old, so if they can do it you can surely give it a go!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Making the most of your Double Cream!

So today is about my lunch. I fancied bread today and as I considered the option (it being late in the morning and so yeast bread wasn't an option) I landed upon the idea of soda bread! It's not as easy as that though as soda bread is traditionally made with buttermilk, something i didn't have. So today I give you...

Making the Most of your Double Cream!

Buttermilk

Take one 300ml pot of double cream and beat! That's it! It will start off by thickening and then all of a sudden separate. Strain this through a sieve and it's ready to use. Take the butter that is left over and squash into a dish. So now you have you own butter and butter milk!  

Brandy Butter

100g Soft Brown Sugar

100g Butter

6tbs Brandy

Cream sugar and butter together until combined. Slowly add brandy a spoonful at a time making sure thoroughly combined. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Soda Bread

200g Plain Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

100 ml Buttermilk

Preheat Oven to gas mark 6 (200)

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and add the buttermilk (you can always add milk if you run out!)

Kneed gentle to make a dough and shape into a ball

Flatten slightly to about 5cm high and flour all over

Place on baking tray and cut a cross in the top almost through to the bottom

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the base.

Cool and scoff with your own butter!

And so now when Christmas is done and you are wondering what to do with all that cream in your fridge, wonder no longer! Happy New Year!

Christmas Muffins

Today is the turn of my Christmas Muffins (click here to print out the recipe) 


This makes a lovely gift, so if there is someone you need a last minute present for just buy a jar and layer the dry ingredients. Then pop a note on the gift tag explaining how to make them! 

Christmas Muffins

Ingredients
300g Self-Raising Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
2 tsp Ground Mixed Spice
25g Ground Almonds
150g Mixed Dried Fruit (Raisins, Sultanas, Mixed Peel, etc.)
100g Dark Brown sugar
2 Eggs
300ml Milk
100g Butter (melted)

Preheat oven to gas 4 (180C/350F)
Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cinnamon, mixed spice, almonds. mixed fruit and sugar) together in a mixing bowl
Combine wet ingredients (milk, eggs and butter) in a separate bowl
Pour wet ingredients into the centre of the dry mix bowl, combine quickly, but do not over mix
Divide between 12 muffin cases and bake for 20-25 mins

Enjoy!!

Lebkuchen

When I was growing up my gran used to make these. It's something that really reminds me of Christmas. what I didn't realise was that across Germany, Austria and Switzerland each region has it's own variation so trying to recreate the recipe myself was not easy! After searching long and hard and making nice biscuits but not Lebkuchen, I bring you the closest thing to my Austrian Gran's recipe..

Lebkuchen


Ingredients


350g Flour
250g Brown Sugar
100g Ground Almonds
75g Mixed Peel (blitzed in food processor) 
1/2tsp Baking Powder
2tbs All Spice 
50g of honey
2 eggs
Rice Paper (not completely necessary but traditional and stops them sticking!)
1 egg yolk


Topping
50g Melted chocolate 
or
100g Icing Sugar
1 Egg White


Preheat oven to gas 4 (180C/350F)
Easy recipe this! Mix everything (except egg yolk) together until a dough is formed 
Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 mins, preferably overnight
Roll into balls about the size of small golf balls and place on top of a circle of rice paper, squash slightly
Brush with egg yolk
Bake for 20 mins


For topping 
Mix icing sugar and water.
Dip each biscuit in mixture and spread all over
Leave in warm place to dry

Christmas Count Down

So here we are on the Monday before Christmas. With snow piling up, here's hoping Santa isn't relying on Amazon this year! I have recently been asked for a few recipes for the Christmas period so I thought this week I would give you something new each day to try. 

Today, I would like to start with something for my gluten-free friends...

Chocolate pudding

Ingredients

100g Divine Dark chocolate with orange and ginger

(Please note this may contain traces of gluten so if needs be switch to something completely gluten free)

100ml Warm Water

100g Butter

1tsp Vanilla Extract

75g Caster Sugar

3 Medium Eggs separated

25g Rice Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1tsp Mixed Spice

Icing sugar to dust

Serves 4

Preheat Oven to gas mark 6 (200°C/400°F)

Melt butter and chocolate by breaking into small pieces and placing in a bowl over simmering water. Once this is done add water, sugar and vanilla extract and mix until throughly combined and smooth.

Lightly beat egg yolks and add

Sift flour, baking powder and mixed spice and fold into mixture

Whisk egg whites to stiff peaks and fold gently into mixture.

Pour mixture into pudding basin or 4 ramekins

Place into a bain marie of hot water and bake for 10 minutes (for the single bowl), then reduce the temperature to gas mark 3, 325°F, 170°C, for a further 20-30 minutes. If you are using ramekins, the puddings will be cooked in about 15 minutes without reducing the temperature. The pudding should be firm on top but still soft and fudgy underneath. Dust with icing sugar and serve hot with cream.