Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles and a review

The challenge for We Should Cocoa this month is chocolates as chosen by our lovely guest host Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen. The idea is to showcase chocolates and the treats must not be larger than three bites in size. I immediately thought of chocolate truffles and decided on a favourite flavour combination of mine - chocolate and peanut butter. Traditional truffles are made with cream but these are made with cream cheese.  It's a really simple recipe with only 3 ingredients.  I gave them away as a gift and they were very well received. The truffles were smooth and delicious with the taste of chocolate and peanut butter. They were not overly sweet but quite rich due to the combination of cream cheese and peanut butter. 

As mentioned, I'm entering these to We Should Cocoa which was started by Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog and Chele from Chocolate Teapot. The guest host this month is Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen. 

 only 3 ingredients required - cream cheese, smooth peanut butter and dark chocolate 

I was sent a 3 tiered cake stand from Red Candy to review. Redcandy.co.uk is a website dedicated to the celebration of red home furnishings and modern interior accessories. This cake stand is called the Koziol Betty Cake Stand which is made of plastic and is dishwasher safe. It has 3 tiers which gets progressively smaller towards the top. The cake trays are separate pieces so you can use them as individual serving trays or stack them together to form a cake stand. What I like most about this cake stand is that you can swivel each layer to form a different silhouette which is also perfect for presenting your lovely creations. 

My verdict - A great little cake stand which looks stylish and is easy to wash and store. It's light in weight but sturdy enough to hold cakes and treats without toppling over. The plus point is that you can swivel the layers to create a different look and makes for easy serving at parties.  The cake stand retails at £19.00 which is reasonable for what you get although it could be a little cheaper as the cake stand market is quite competitive. 

 Koziol Betty Cake Stand

 

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles

200g cream cheese, room temperature
250g dark chocolate
125g smooth peanut butter

• Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
• Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. 
• Stir in the peanut butter. 
• Finally stir in the cream cheese and mix well. 
• Place in a shallow bowl and refrigerate for a few hours until set.
• Use a melon baller or a teaspoon to scoop out small balls of chocolate truffle. Roll into a ball with the palms of your hands and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. 
• Roll the truffles in icing sugar, cocoa powder or sprinkles as desired.
• Keep refrigerated. 

Disclaimer: I was sent the cake stand for review purposes free of charge. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Carrot Cake Cupcakes and a review

I've been getting repeated requests for carrot cake at work so I decided to bake some but in a cupcake form instead of a layer cake. I wanted to give some away as a gift and it's much easier to present cupcakes as a gift than slices of cake. I used the recipe that I made up previously with a few minor changes. The first is a tip from my mum which was to soak the raisins in fresh orange juice overnight. The raisins were really plump and juicy and tasted great! I also added in a banana as I had one brown banana on the counter begging to be used and I think it adds to the moistness of the cake. I also omitted the nuts as one of my colleagues is allergic to walnuts. Overall, the cake got great reviews - it was moist, juicy and not too sweet. The cream cheese frosting was the perfect complement and the little carrot chocolate decorations were literally the icing on the cake. 

The cupcakes looked great after baking and decorating and were screaming to be presented in a lovely cake stand. I decided it was the perfect opportunity to use my new cake stand from dotcomgiftshop and to tell you a little about it. It's the Petit Four Botanical Cake Stand made of ceramic with a scalloped edging and glass top. It fits 3 cupcakes perfectly and will fit a small layer cake. It would also be good to display whoopie pies, cookies or mini cakes. The cake stand is surprisingly light but sturdy. The flowers on the glass stand are beautiful and I've taken pictures from different angles to give you an idea of what it looks like in 3D. 

My verdict - It's a great little cake stand to display your baked goods. It's light and easy to wash and keeps your baked goods fresh. It is petit as the name suggests so don't expect to fit a large layer cake in there! A perfect gift for the baker in your family or a treat for yourself. 

 wholemeal flour, olive oil, muscovado sugar, ground cinnamon, ground mixed spice, orange, cream cheese, carrots, raisins soaked in fresh orange juice 

 adding in the ingredients to the flour mixture 

 ready to go in the oven 

 fresh from the oven 

 rows of pretty carrot cake cupcakes 

 cake stand 

 different view of the glass cover 

 yet another view of the glass cover 

 fits 3 cupcakes perfectly 

  view from the side 

 view from the top 

For the carrot cake
150ml olive oil
150g muscovado sugar
3 eggs
240g wholemeal flour
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
zest of 1 orange
100g raisins soaked in fresh orange juice overnight and then drained
300g carrots, peeled and grated
1 ripe banana (optional)

For the orange cream cheese frosting
300g cream cheese
150g icing sugar
zest of 1 orange
1-2 tablespoons fresh orange juice (depending on consistency of icing requred)

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, sugar and eggs until the sugar has dissolved and the eggs are slightly fluffy. 
• In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, bicabonate of soda and spices and add to the egg mixture.
• Add in the remaining ingredients and mix well. 
• Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool in the tins for 5 minutes before turning out to a wire rack to cool completely. 
• Meanwhile make the frosting by beating all the ingredients in an electric mixer until smooth.
• Spread the frosting on top of the cupcake using a palette knife and finish with a chocolate carrot decoration or as desired. 

Disclaimer: I was sent the cake stand for review purposes free of charge. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Lemon Frosting Cookies

I hate kitchen waste. I try to recycle as much as I can and I try to make use of all my ingredients if possible. I had quite a lot of leftover lemon buttercream frosting from making these lemon cupcakes and some leftover cream cheese from making these nutella whoopie pies. So I got to thinking about what I could do with them apart from eating it straight from the bowl. Yes that was a very viable option! Anyway, I started thinking about my frosting which is basically butter and sugar with some lemon juice. That sounded like the basis of a cookie to me - add some flour, an egg, leftover cream cheese and more lemon zest and you'll have cookies. Leftover lemon frosting cookies to be exact. I was really surprised at how well the cookies turned out. They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with the distinct taste and zing of lemon. I ate 3 straight from the oven as they were highly addictive!

I'm entering this to No Waste Food Challenge which is guest hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary and created by Kate from Turquoise Lemons. The theme this month is anything goes.

I'm also entering it to Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior.  This is a simple recipe using basic ingredients including homemade vanilla extract.

Addendum 24/8/13 - I am also entering this to Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. This challenge was created by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla from Fab Food 4 all. This recipe uses up a lot of leftovers so it's perfect for the challenge.

 leftover cream cheese, leftover lemon buttercream icing and lemon

 the dough is soft and sticky but don't worry as it bakes beautifully 

Leftover Lemon Frosting Cookies

Approximately 120-150g of leftover lemon buttercream frosting (I forgot to weigh it so it's a rough estimate)
60g cream cheese (optional)
185g flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon
20g caster sugar (I was worried that the lemon would be very tart)

• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Grease and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
• Place the leftover frosting, cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer and mix well (or mix by hand)
• Add in the egg.
• Add in vanilla extract and lemon zest.
• Finally stir in the flour and bicarbonate of soda.
• Place small scoops of dough spaced apart on a baking tray.
• Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
• Allow to cool on baking tray. 

Lemon cupcakes and a review

Cupcakes are one my favourite things to bake. I definitely class myself as more of a baker than cake decorator so when I was asked if I wanted to review Cupcake Decorating Lab by Bridget Thibeault I said yes as I wanted to learn some new techniques. It's a beautiful book published by Quarry Books. It has 144 pages in total with lots of colour photographs.

The book is divided into 10 chapters

It starts with an introduction from the author and also covers materials that you will need. The chapters are then divided into

1. Icing basics - frosting with buttercream, piping with buttercream, tinting buttercream, striping with buttercream, chocolate ganache glaze
2. Sugared Fruit & Flowers - sugared berries, basket of peaches, candied flowers, candied citrus slices
3. Fondant - covering with fondant, silicone moulds, impression mats, stamping on fondant, stenciling on fondant
4. Royal Icing - piping on fondant, brush embroidery, royal icing decorations, sugar cookie topper
5. Flowers & Garden - single buttercream flower, buttercream rosettes, fondant rose bouquet, sugar blossoms, sugar flowers, butterflies in the grass, herb pots
6. Fun Themes - krispie S'more cupcakes, doughnut cupcakes, gone surfing, white chocolate snowman, cupcake cake, cupcake fondue, espresso cups tea party mojito
7. Kids & Babies - tutu cupcakes, ice cream cone clowns, movie night cupcakes, soft serve ice cream, owl cupcakes, egg nests
8. Weddings - tiered wedding cupcakes, monogram cupcakes, shot glass tiramisu, PBJ Mason jars
9. Cupcakes with a Twist - cheesecake cupcakes, cake truffles, cake push pops, rose bundt cakes, flourless chocolate cake
10. Presentation - pedestals & cupcake stands, ribbons, wrappings & packaging

Each chapter is beautifully illustrated with step by step photographs. There's a list of materials required on your left and a helpful tip box on each page. I chose to work with fondant as it still scares me and I also wanted to try something new. I bought some impression mats at a cake show last year but have not used them yet so this was a good opportunity.

I made my favourite lemon cucpcake recipe as I wanted something light and refreshing. I followed the instructions for using the impression mat and decorating the cupcakes and I am pleased with the results. 

My Verdict - I really like this book for the following reasons. It's clear and beautifully set out with lots of colour step by step photographs. It covers everything you need to know to decorate a cupcake from the basics of frosting a cupcake with a spatula to more complicated techniques such as brush embroidery. It also has cupcake recipes at the back in both metric and US measurements. If I did not receive this review copy, I'd put it on my Christmas wish list! 

 ingredients for lemon cupcake

 my recipe only made 10 cupcakes

 impression mats

 place fondant over the mat and press with your fingers or roll with a rolling pin 

 it works! 

 I also got to use my cute button mould

 These were the only colours I had but I think they worked out in the end 

 Place a small amount of frosting on top of the cupcake

 cover with fondant circle 

 ta-dah! 

 it could be neater but I think they look great

 I also decorated some with butterflies 

Disclaimer: I received a free review copy from the publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Crystallised Ginger Biscuits

It feels like I've not baked for a long time so it was really good to get back into the kitchen and bake something. Last month was hectic and I do apologise for the lack of posts here and will try to post more frequently this month. As I'm hosting AlphaBakes this month, I thought I'd better get stuck in and make something before the end of the month. The letter this month is G which immediately made me think of ginger which I actually hate. However, almost everyone I know loves ginger so I knew there would not be a lack of taste testers for the recipe. 

I chose a recipe from Jo Wheatley's A Passion for Baking. She quizzed her team of biscuit tasters to find out which flavour they preferred and the response was ginger. I didn't know this but Jo doesn't like ginger either! I have to say I did taste one and it really was very good although it was very gingery! The biscuits are crunchy on the outside with a strong taste of crystallised ginger. I loved the chocolate bit on top! 

As mentioned I'm entering this to AlphaBakes which I co-host with Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter this month is G for ginger. 

I'm also entering them to Feel Good Food hosted by Victoria at A Kick at The Pantry Door as the ingredient this month is ginger.

 lots of sugar and spice!

 crystallised ginger 

 the chocolate square did not melt into the cookie as I thought but remained whole and utterly delicious when you bite into it. 

Recipe reproduced with permission from the author Jo Wheatley. Taken from her book A Passion for Baking page 186

Makes 18-20

90g unsalted butter

110g demerara sugar

40g light muscovado sugar

250g plain flour

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon flavourless oil (sunflower or groundnut) * 

75g crystallised ginger, chopped

10 squares of dark or white chocolate

* I found my dough to be quite crumbly so I added an egg which worked well. Jo says that there was a typo in the book and the quantity of oil should be increased - I'll update once I know the correct amount. 

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Cream the butter with the sugars until lights and fluffy.
• Sift the flour, ground ginger and cinnamon into the bowl and mix again. 
• Add oil and ginger and process until combined.
• Add an egg or more oil until you get a smooth dough.
• Scoop a small mound of dough into your hand and roll into a ball.
• Place on a lined baking tray and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. 
• Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Cut each chocolate square in half and push one piece into the top of each biscuit. 
• Bake for 15-17 minutes until golden brown and firm.
• Cool on the baking trays.